The Giants lost another game to the Dodgers, I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but they’re just not very good this year, and it appears as if their failures are naked and on display in front of the baseball world

Look, I’m going to write the same damned thing every night for the next two months, give or take. So bookmark this page if you need it, because it’s not going to change much. With every game, every dumb loss, I’m going to pretend like there was a positive buried in it. It doesn’t matter what the specific positive is. All that matters is that I tried.

In this game, Ty Blach pitched well.

He reminded you why the Giants continue to use him in the rotation.

He pitched like someone worth sticking with, even after the weirdness of this season.

He went up against the best lineup in the National League, and he stymied them, for the most part. He was using his command and control, and he was mixing them and matching them at will. Comtrol. Conmand. He was throwing the baseball where he wanted to, and it makes a difference against a team with an organizational philosophy of “wait for the mistakes.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Blach annoyed the Dodgers for years. May we all have that as a life goal.

The best moment of the game was when the Dodgers had a run in and the bases loaded with one out. While a part of us was absolutely aware that the game was already over — imagine the Giants scoring two runs — another, dumber part of us was thinking that a double into the gap would really end the game. Blach was facing Yasiel Puig, who would have farted glitter on second base as a way to humiliate the Giants further if he hit said double.

Puig hit a high chopper back to the mound.

It was a reminder that Blach does everything well. He fields. He throws strikes. He can even hit a little bit. On this play, he jumped up high and snatched the ball out of the air. He twisted his body to throw home and start a 1-2-3 double play, which might be the best kind of double play.

These are the moments you have to enjoy in a season like this. The Dodgers are so, so much better than the Giants in every capacity, and they might win the World Series this year. The Giants have to give you brief samples of Ty Blach pitching like an effective fifth starter, and you have to accept them graciously. There is no room for negotiation. This is all you get.

Did you realize the Giants are seven games behind the Padres? Seven games. The Padres are horrible. By design. They gave up and had a fire sale years ago. And the $200 million Giants can’t come within seven games of them.

They should have the no. 2 pick in the draft next year, though. I’m keeping an eye on the White Sox and Reds, who might screw everything up, but there’s a chance we’ll be showered in confetti in 2025, thinking, man, I’m sure glad we lost all of those games back then to get Kumar Rocker. There’s also a chance that the Dodgers will win five straight World Series, and the Giants’ first-round pick flops, but I’m thinking positive, here.

In this game, Ty Blach pitched well.

Really, if you want to list the positives of this game, it would go something like this:

1. Ty Blach pitched well
2. Hunter Pence hit a long home run, his second home run of July
3. Carlos Moncrief took a walk
4. Wait, Carlos Moncrief is on the Giants?
5. [googles frantically for more information]
6. I mean, of course he is.
7. Brandon Crawford had a hit and a walk
8. Cory Gearrin struck out two batters
9. The Giants were hitless with runners in scoring position in just two plate appearances
10. Kelby Tomlinson took a walk

Those are, without exaggeration, the best parts of the game for anyone watching from a Giants perspective. The Dodgers built a lineup with four different hitters with an OPS better than Buster Posey’s in the first four slots. Then they proceeded to outhit and outscore the Giants. Sometimes, it doesn’t have to be so complicated.

If you want a microcosm of how the season has gone for the Giants, you can find it here:

Was the initial effort so good that the Giants should have succeeded? Probably not. It was weak contact.

Should the Giants have done better than this, at least? Yeah, probably.

Did they fail? They failed.

Why did they fail? Partially because of luck (the ball wasn’t three inches over to the left), but mostly by design (Denard Span’s legs used to be his bread and butter, but they’re not what they used to be). And don’t forget the most important part (that the Dodgers are sort of better than the Giants at everything).

But in this game, Ty Blach pitched well.

In this game, Ty Blach pitched well.

In this game, Ty Blach pitched well.