Barry Bonds presence in the lineup contributed to a second straight comeback against the first place Padres, as the Giants won 5-3 behind Noah Lowry’s team-best 13th win. Bonds walked twice and singled and his presence has clearly energized the team.
The Giants go for the sweep today, with Matt Cain looking to build on his sensational 2-hitter. And really, today is everything. They have to win today to have any hope at all of catching the Padres. 4 games behind with 18 games to go is very difficult, but 6 is impossible.
More than likely, they’ll be facing the Padres with Bonds on the bench, perhaps available as a pinch-hitter, but if Cain can continue to dominate, anything is possible. Still teasin’? Maybe. It’d be one of the greatest comebacks in all of sports history if Bonds were somehow able to carry the Giants to the postseason, and it would cement his legend for all time. I’d love to see it happen.
UPDATE: Well, that pretty much ended the season. A two-out, two-strike, two-run double off of Benitez (Unbelievable. What a pair of terrible, absolutely devastating collapses by him down the stretch) ruined both the stellar start by Cain, the clutch eighth inning rally, and any chance the Giants had to make a serious run at the NL West title.
And hasn’t that been the story all season long? When they’ve hit, the starting pitching has failed them. When they’ve gotten great starts, the hitters have been in a coma. When they’ve had leads, the bullpen has collapsed. It’s always something, some bad play, or bad call, or bad pitch or whatever. *sniff* And I allowed myself to care.
