Post-game thread: Maybe the other teams are lucky that they get within one run

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Chris Young doubled. The Giants were up by a single run -- unfamiliar territory, for sure -- and Kelly Johnson was chugging around the bases, trying to tie the game. Then ...

... Aaron Rowand made an amazing play with his bare hand to pick a ball that caromed off the wall towards his face. It was a catching-flies-with-chopsticks kind of play -- the kind you watch on replay without figuring out how it happened. Then Rowand throw a perfect strike to ...

... Miguel Tejada, who was in great position to take the relay. It was a beautiful throw from Rowand, and Tejada wheeled around and fired the greatest relay in the history of relays to ...

... Eli Whiteside, who didn’t have to do a whole lot except catch it, which is harder than it looks, especially when you got the job when the last guy went on worker’s comp because of a situation just like that.

Three players combined on that play. Not one of them is especially good when compared to the other 747 players who are currently on an active major-league roster. But for one play, they were the right players at the right time, combining for one of the best plays of the season. Oh, and Whiteside extended the lead with one o’ them patented Whiteside triples.

It’s been a few weeks, but I can rehash this sentiment: I don’t want Rowand, Tejada, and Whiteside to fail. I want Rowand to repeat his last season with the Phillies, I want Tejada to win another MVP, and I want Whiteside to surprise with competent offensive and defensive play. They all seem like swell guys, and there’s no way to use "swell" without seeming sarcastic, but, dang it, that’s the word that fits. They all seem like teammates you could joke with in a clubhouse after a good win.

So with that in mind, there’s nothing I’d like more to be wrong about the players I don't think will do well in June, July, August, and September. The comp is Aubrey Huff. I expected him to fail. I hoped he’d be passable. He was amazing, and he pulled underwear out of his pants in front of a million people. He’s cool. You know, cool. I’d love for Rowajaside to be a Cerberus that spits out wins from here on out. Here’s hoping ...

And Madison Bumgarner needs only five more wins in a row before I lose the urge to punch win-loss records right in its smug face, the bastard.