GIANTS FALL BACK AGAIN

I guess the Giants and Padres love these 1-0 games! They played their second in a row today and fourth this season. This time the teams reversed roles as the Padres won, going back up by a game in the National League West. I love 1-0 games too. Every pitch means somethin, every at bat, every inning. This is like playoff baseball. But it's because every pitch means something that I am so frustrated with this game.

Home plate umpire Jerry Crawford had a bad day. The Padres starter today Tim Stauffer, a converted long-reliever, has a 2-seam fastball like Greg Maddox used to have. It's like a hard screw ball that he can throw off the plate and it comes right back over the outside corner for righties or inside corner for lefties. But today, Yorvit Torrealba was setting up way off the outside corner and if Stauffer hit the glove, it was a strike.

The Giants were frustrated all game long with the strikezone. Buster Posey struck out in his first at bat on the fastball off the plate. He was calm about it, but when he came up for his second at bat, it was a different story. The first pitch was called a strike on that same outside pitch, he got heated. He started arguing with Crawford, and I read his lips a little. He said something to the effect of, I can't hit that pitch, not in those words, but you get the point. Then the bench started arguing and Crawford got into it with them.

Madison Bumgarner pitched his most efficient game to date and was in no trouble all game. He gave up 3 hits in seven innings of work, only throwing 79 pitches, 55 for strikes. Unfortunately, Bumgarner is a different pitcher than Stauffer. He doesn't throw that come-back 2-seam fastball. The only blemish was a homerun right into the cheap seats down the right-field line by Giant killer Yorvit Torrealba. It seems like. He does something every game he plays against his former team. He did it when he was with the Rockies too. Not only did he get the game winning hit, he got the game ending out when he threw out Darren Ford for a double play when Heath Bell struck out Buster Posey on the pitch.

Ford was running for Aubrey Huff, who washit in his right elbow by Heath Bell, in basically the same place that he got hit in last night's game. Hopefully he will be ok to play tomorrow. I haven't heard any word about that yet.

Tomorrow is going to be the best pitching matchup of the series. Revived Tim Lincecum faces the Major League leader in ERA, Mat Latos. The Giants will either be tied up again in the West, or be right back where they were when this series started at 2 games back. Everybody ready for another 1-0 game?