45-44 at the All Star break, after last night’s desultory 3-1 loss to the Dodgers, the Giants couldn’t seem to gain ground as the first half came to a close.
Jason Schmidt pitched well enough to win (again), but hasn’t since his 16-strikeout gem, which makes me wonder if he (and Felipe) left a little too much out there going for history. He also pitched well enough to lose, a common result over his last six starts. Yes, the Giants haven’t scored much for him in those starts, but he’s been behind early in 4 of those six starts, and these Giants aren’t built for the come from behind wins.
Anyway, the Giants had 37 wins at the break last year, so we’re talking about an 8 game improvement with Bonds at half strength, Moises missing two months, and Matt Morris struggling to get back to .500 after a 2-7 start to his season. All in all, that ain’t too shabby. Health remains the Giants biggest concern for the second half push. If Moises can stay in the lineup, the Giants should be able to stay in contention in the NL West. Whether this is a championship contender is still in doubt, but at the least, they are a solid team, (albeit, boring as hell to watch).
