Giants drop game, series to Dodgers

So this is how the season might go. It might be a subpar goodbye to the characters we've loved for the last few seasons, a farewell that's beneath them. Sure, Season 2 was depressing and Season 4 was just the worst, but the other ones were golden. They were perfection. Maybe they set our expectations too high.

Even if we get a spinoff, there's no way it will be as good. Sure, I'll DVR every episode of Mad Bum Fix It, but there's no way it'll be the same with just him. He's been carrying the show up until this point, so it's not like it would be a huge difference, but the ensemble cast was really the best part. I can't believe they're canceling it, but it sadly seems like it's overdue at this point.

In the series the Giants just lost to the Dodgers, some familiar characters had some one-note storylines. We went over Tim Lincecum on Monday. Tonight was Ryan Voglesong's turn, and it's always worth remember when the show introduced his character. His backstory was so absurd, it took the show in a strange, new direction. A better direction, you might argue. It set up the penultimate episode of Season 5, and you couldn't even argue with that unlikely hero because of the foundation laid by Vogelsong.

We've seen this happen. The Office. Parks and Rec. Some things just can't sustain that kind of brilliance because nothing can. I'll watch the rest of the season, and maybe it'll be renewed after all. I'm not optimistic, though, not without some serious changes.

I'm gonna watch a bunch of reruns.

★★★

Sorry about that. Just wasn't sure how to stretch out "that game wasn't fun" for 1,000 words without filler. That game sure wasn't fun, though. Ryan Vogelsong needs to hit his spots to be effective, but maybe he thought, "What did those spots ever do to me?" before the game. Maybe he wasn't sure about the morality of it all. Those spots had a right to be there. They deserved to be spots without some hotshot hitting them with baseballs all the time. It wasn't a particularly pleasant game to watch, but it was ethical.

Vogelsong didn't hit his spots. He was beat on the curveball (twice) and he was beat on the fastball (twice). He was beat on a boat, he was beat with a goat. The last 10 times a Giants starter gave up four homers in the same game:

The good news is that the Giants won the World Series after the last instance. The other good news is that Cain still had several good seasons in him after his disastrous outings. The other good news is that Correia made the All-Star team after that, and he's in the Giants' system right now! Livan Hernandez resurrected his career after that outing. I mean, the signs are all there. This is probably a good thing!

Unless it's a bad thing. The Giants clawed and scratched and ...

Yes! That. They didn't just get one two-out hit -- they got a pair of them, perfectly timed and placed. They don't get that sort of break often. The scrappy nine-man crew scored a first-inning run against Zack Greinke, and they were going to ...

Then the other team went dinger dinger dinger, and the Giants never came back. It was a jarring juxtaposition. Doesn't seem sporting to hit that baseballs over the fence. Doesn't seem sporting, probably isn't legal. Will investigate tomorrow.

I'm not ready to write off Vogelsong because of a bunch of dumb dingers. But even if I were, it's not like the Giants have a bunch of options until Cain comes back. If those spots are allowed to run footloose and fancy free, though, without anyone putting them in their place, it's going to be a long season.

★★★

Yusmeiro Petit update: The Giants are 0-8 when he comes into the game. Over the last two seasons, they're 5-30 when Petit comes into the game as a reliever, not including the postseason.

We're about two or three more blowout appearances away from Petit making a Zorro costume out of bed sheets and fighting crime as The White Flag. He would show up after murders and make sure the assailants didn't steal any of the silverware on the way out. "Why don't you use your superpowers to prevent the murders in the first place?" people ask.

You cannot understand The White Flag. How dare you. His methods are his own.

(Let him start, dang it.)

★★★

Brandon Crawford is up to .235/.350/.471 on the season. He just might be the best player on the team right now. Look at this dinger, will you?

He's going to get Pablo money if the Giants aren't careful. For now, though, I'm just glad he got out of that ghastly Brandon funk that was going around earlier in the year.