Post-Game Thread: Melky, Posey, and Cain

Buster Posey was having a good year before tonight. He was hitting .350 at the end of April, but everyone kind of knew he was doing it with hits he was stealing out of Brandon Crawford's locker. Still, even when his numbers came down to earth in May, he was still having a good year.

But he hadn't taken over a game yet. He hadn't politely knocked on the door of the other clubhouse and said, "Hello, I would like to assert my dominance and superiority today" in the same way he'd tell Mr. Pemberton he was there to take out his daughter. He'd given the Giants well-timed, clutch hits, and he'd been involved with a lot of their success, but he hadn't taken over a game.

Tonight, he took over the game. And he didn't do it in the polite manner described above. He did it like a jerk across the lake in a summer-camp movie, crumpling up a nerdy kid's kite in front of the cute girl. I watched this video ten times. You probably know that I'm a .gificionado, and I'll make moving images of anything. I went to gif the home run, but that'd be a travesty. It's the sound it makes. You were watching the center fielder, hoping that it'd be one o' them standard home runs, and then it made that sound.

The sound, man. Today, you were reminded that Buster Posey was one of the best players on the planet, not just a guy who can help a team. And on the throw from Melky, he got the hell out of the baseline, and did a nifty little swipe tag.

He's just the best, guys. Gonna put some Tiger Beat foldouts of him in my office after I'm done here. He fell down swinging when I was writing this, but the point still stands.

Oh, I can't stay mad at you, .gif. Here's Posey's home run in .gif form. And you can use this as your ringtone. The best part of the home run was everything, but I especially liked the part where it almost hit Nyjer Morgan on the way down.

And here's Melky's throw. I have a note jotted down that I've been meaning to do something with for a while. Here's the whole note: "Is Melky fast?" That's it. He is, of course. I'd give him above-average speed. But I had this idea of him lumbering around -- Pat Burrell with five fewer years and a better yoga instructor -- that just isn't true. He can stretch out a triple when he needs to.

I knew he had an okay arm, but I didn't know that he had an adamantium hose. I knew he wasn't a total hacker, but I didn't give him a lot of credit for his patience after last year. I figured he could hit for an somewhat-empty batting average and play a decent left. That was what I figured he could give the Giants, and seeing how those are two more things than I was expecting Jonathan Sanchez to give the Giants, the deal made sense.

But Cabrera's kind of good at everything. I understand what the Royals were trying to do, but it sure looks silly on May 22. Considering that Cabrera is playing in every game, and that he's $18 million cheaper, I'm not sure that I'd rather have Carlos Beltran. Remember that I can go back in and edit this in August, but I'm believing it right now.

Romo gets a gunslinger because he made Rickie Weeks look like a juco player with his slider:

Matt Cain gave up seven extra-base hits today -- five doubles and two triples. This is the first time that he's won a game while giving up more than five in a game. He had his strikeout pitches working -- really, Kirk Rueter would have his strikeout pitches working against this Brewers team right now -- and he pitched out of jams, but it was nice to have his offense (and Melky) pick him up again for the second-straight game. If there's anything like karma in this game, Cain's good for a few Bob Welch seasons.

In a game like tonight, though, when he could have wilted at any point, he gave the Giants innings when they desperately needed them. The bullpen was more than a little fried, and we might have seen all kinds of Edlefsen if things didn't go well. So while this wasn't Cain's start, this is the kind of start that might be described on the dust jacket of an ode to Matt Cain. He's amazing, even when he's only okay.

Just a game back from the second wild card. It's still annoying that exists, yet it's completely awesome because of obvious reasons.