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The good news is that the Giants might not be cursed during baseball games anymore. The bad news is that the Giants might still be cursed with injuries. Brandon Belt was placed on the 7-day concussion DL on Monday, and Matt Cain was placed on the 15-day DL with elbow inflammation. Adam Duvall and George Kontos were called up, with Yusmerio Petit taking Cain's place in the rotation on Tuesday.
Belt was hit in the face with a throw during infield practice on Saturday, staying in the game long enough to hit an RBI double before leaving the game with dizziness. His 7-day stint is retroactive to July 20.
Cain was dealing with a "cranky elbow." Somebody get that elbow a cup of coffee! Ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha? Ugh. This DL trip is something of a milestone for Cain, as his previous three DL trips weren't for arm problems. He was afflicted with comebacker-related issues on two separate occasions and bitten by a sandwich, but after 10 years and 280 starts, Cain finally had to be taken off a roster because his arm hurt. It was a remarkable run, and it's a little depressing when you put it like that.
Petit probably isn't a downgrade on the Cain's we've seen this year, but he's certainly a downgrade on the Cain I was expecting for the rest of the season. Cain's DL stint is retroactive to July 11, so it's possible that he will miss just one start. It's also possible that the rest doesn't make everything better, considering it's already been 10 days since his last start and he didn't improve enough to make his next start.
The Giants did sign Mitchell Boggs to a minor league deal, though, so it's not like the news is all bad. Boggs allowed 81 runners in 36 innings for Triple-A Charlotte, while striking out just 18 of the 183 batters he faced, but I'm sure that was just a BABIP thing.
Good times, good times.