the long ball.

Florida Marlins at San Diego Padres 7/30-8/01

Game 1: Marlins 4 Padres 2

HR: Ross, C (10, 4th inning off LeBlanc, 0 on, 2 out), Sanchez, G (12, 6th inning off LeBlanc, 0 on, 1 out)

Game 2: Marlins 6 Padres 3

HR: Stanton (9, 2nd inning off Correia, 1 on, 1 out), Uggla (23, 6th inning off Correia, 0 on, 1 out)

Game 3:

Padres 5 Marlins 4

HR: Ramirez, H (14, 3rd inning off Garland, 0 on, 0 out)

Note: Marlins would have won if Marlins starting pitcher Josh Johnson had given up at least twice as many runs as his ERA would imply he should.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres 5/14-5/16

Game 1: Dodgers 4 Padres 3

HR: Kemp (8, 7th inning off Gregerson, 1 on, 1 out)

Note: Huff almost did the exact same thing in last nights game.

Game 2: Dodgers 4 Padres 1

HR: Loney (4, 2nd inning off Correia, 0 on, 0 out)

Game 3: Dodgers 1 Padres 0

Note: Billingsley out duels LeBlanc

Remember the one game the Giants won against the Padres was because of a two run blast from Torres. Also, don't forget about that solo shot by Uribe off Padres closer Heath Bell that tied the game in the ninth.

The 2000 San Francisco Giants hit a combined 226 HRs and 889 RBIs. The team went on to win 97 games. The problem of course was pitching. So far this season the Giants have 105 HRs and 484 RBIs with only 45 games left. Take a look at the four best teams of 2010:

Los Angeles Dodgers: 145 HRs and 739 RBIs

Philadelphia Phillies: 224 HRs and 788 RBIs

Los Angeles Angels: 173 HRs and 841 RBIs

New York Yankees: 244 HRs and 881 RBIs

Last season, HRs and RBIs decided how successfull your team was going to be. They are calling this season the season of pitching. The problem for the Giants is that their pitching isn't as good as it was last year at this time and they aren't as good at pitching as the Padres this season. They need to make up for it by having better hitting. Pablo hasn't come around and Posey isn't a good fourth place hitter as he lacks consistency and sufficient power. The Padres have really good pitching and defense. So opposing teams can't expect to drive in too many runs against them without the long ball. For example, Luke Gregerson is the Padres top set up man but he has given up five home runs.

I miss Barry Bonds.