Collapse continues as Giants surrender NL West lead

After 86 days alone in first place, the collapse is complete. Another pathetic effort by the Giants offense (a 2-0 loss Tuesday at Miami) combined with Los Angeles's win over Philly has seen San Francisco's one-daunting lead in the NL West dissipate like a fart in the wind.

After pounding out 18 hits on an 8-7 win on Monday, the Giants were limited to just three safeties. Newly-acquired starter Matt Moore was solid, in fact the two squads combined for just seven hits -- the same number Brandon Crawford had all on his lonesome the night previous, but the Marlins made theirs count.

Actually, you have to commend the Giants for their creative solution to the RISP problem. They'd gone 6-for-21 Monday when runners were in scoring position, the continuation of a season-long problem. Tuesday there were no such issues, you don't worry about RISP when you don't put runners in those spots.

Manager Bruce Bochy, who probably wish he'd stayed in the hospital, told the media "we're just not firing on all cyclinders." Really?

Since the All-Star Break the Giants have yet to win a series, with only a home split of a four-gamer against Washington staying out of the loss column.  Heck, they got swept by the lowly comic book Padres. There's plenty of blame to go around. In addition to the poor offense, Giants starters had provided just six quality starts, and one of those was Moore's losing effort.

But the bats. Oh, the bats. Joe Panik is 4-for-40 since returning from the DL and hit into a game-ending double play with Posey on deck. Denard Span has just five hits in his last 24 at-bats. Hunter Pence has three hits in his last 24 trips with 12, count 'em, 12 strikeouts. And the Giants can;'t look to the bench for help. Grego Blanco is a robust 5 for his last 39.

They made a hero of Marlins starter Tom Koehler, who allowed two hits over seven frames, striking out six and walking three. The only real threat came in the eighth when releiver Brian Ellington allowed a single by Angel Pagan and walked Brandon Belt with two out, but Crawford lined out to quash all hope.

There was a brief glimmer when Conor Gillaspie reached on an error to open the ninth, but a Pence strikeout was followed by Panik's DP grounder to close the book.

Moore uncharacteristically walked five in his six innings of work but allowed just three hits. Unfortunately Giancarlo Stanton's broken-bat double off the wall cued a two-run Miami first that accounted for all the scoring. There was no shower of cork or cascade of superballs to confuse left fielder Angel Pagan (who proably should have made the play) but Bob Engle immediately collected the shards of bat for x-rays. We suggest the ball all be examined for traces of Nos, or at least a carburetor.

So now the G-men have to contemplate the results. Although it's a observation more than a rule, a squad with that kind of lead at the break is pretty much assumed to be a lock to win the division (sorry, '95 Angels). But most teams don't fall off a cliff.

San Francisco is 7-16 since the break; no team in baseball has been worse. They've played just six of their 24 games on a friendly field (they're 3-3 at AT&T Park) and are 0-6-1 in seven series. That allowed a 6 1/2-game lead over LA to evaporate, and now the NL West is a dog fight.

It's likely to get worse if the team can't turn it around immediately, and the task is formidable. They'll finish up Wednesday in Miami and then get a break in the travel schedule with 15 of the next 19 at home. Unfortunately The weaklings the Giants beat up for three months aren't on the docket as Baltimore, Pittsburgh and New York's NL squad come calling.

It all starts Wednesday with Jeff Samardzija (9-8, 4.40 ERA) trying to recapture the form that made him 7-2 through May and slough off the carcass that has pitched low grade batting practice since. Of course, some offense wouldn't hurt either. They'll get a shot against David Phelps (5-5, 2.45 ERA), who has been pressed back into the Marlins rotation thanks to trades and injuries.

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