It appears that the Giants have been shut out once more

I made a joke on Twitter today, and as I made it I realized it wasn’t actually funny.

So naturally I’m going to make it again on a different platform. But I’m not actually going to take the time to write it, because then I’d have to confront how unfunny it was. So I’ll just do that annoying thing where I embed my own tweet into my own article, as though quoting myself somehow gives me added authority.

Yes, the San Francisco Giants lost 6-0 to the Oakland A’s, a day after losing 6-0 to the Oakland A’s. I’m not a betting man, but if someone gave me halfway decent odds on the Giants losing 6-0 to the Oakland A’s on Sunday, I’d put my life savings on it.

Prior to Friday, the Giants had not been shut out in a nine-inning game all season (they had, however, been shut out in a seven-inning game on three different occasions).

It didn’t help that Mike Yastrzemski missed both games with a strained right calf. It didn’t help that Alex Dickerson missed the second game after being placed on the Paternity List. It didn’t help that the Giants were trying to play formidable defense with Wilmer Flores, Donovan Solano, and Darin Ruf all occupying defensive positions.

And it didn’t help that the were playing the A’s, a team that’s just flat out better than the Giants.

But at least the Giants do well against other good teams, right? ..............right?

Oh. Oh dear. Well that doesn’t bode well for the postseason, does it?

Even before this game started, the Giants didn’t look like a team that should win. They looked like what many expected them to look like going into the season. They were starting the aforementioned trio of defensively-challenged players. They were also starting a rookie catcher who is slumping something fierce. They were also starting Daniel Robertson and Luis Basabe, two players who simply are not starting-caliber players for good teams right now.

As evidence, I present each player being designated for assignment earlier this season by actual good teams.

And that was kind of it. The Giants have had a competitive season because they’ve managed to field a lineup that looks surprisingly competitive, even on paper. This lineup did not look very competitive, even on paper, and it suffered results befitting its lack of competitiveness.

In fact, the Giants were so not competitive, that neither the Giants Twitter page nor the Twitter page for the company that broadcast the game could find a single video highlight to share with viewers.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Kevin Gausman continued to impress. He pitched 6 innings, and gave up just 1 hit, 3 walks, and 1 run, while striking out 6. He kept the Giants in the game, even if the offense never looked like they were up to the task of overcoming a 1-0 deficit.

And so the Giants dip below .500, and have now gone 0-5 against the A’s with a -26 differential. They’ve mustered nine hits in this series, with eight of them being singles.

Things are bad. But in baseball, things are only bad until they’re not bad, so ... I dunno, there’s a lesson in here, maybe.