8th inning: 9-9

The Giants got a walk-off hit from Late-Inning LaMonte last night to beat the Guardians 5-4 in the 10th. That was the team’s 144th game, the end of the eighth seasonal inning. There are 18 games left to play–a mere 1/9 of the 162 we started with. The 74-70 Giants (.514) are in third place in the NL West, 1-1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks who happen to have the third Wild Card spot by the same margin. Here’s how we got here:

1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 10-8

3rd inning: 12-6

4th inning: 12-6

5th inning: 9-9

6th inning: 10-8

7th inning: 6-12

8th inning: 9-9

This last stretch of games featured six straight losses. If you prefer a monthly breakdown it’s Mar/Apr 11-15, May 17-12, June 18-8, July 12-13, August 12-15, and September 4-6.

Since the All-Star Break their record is 25-29 (.463). They can’t afford to do that (8-10) as 82 wins will likely not be enough. A 10-8 record and 84 wins seems like an absolute minimum. Maybe they can really turn it around and pop off another 12-6 stretch. After all they’ve done it twice already.

Sean Manaea and Cal Quantrill square off tonight at 6:45 in the battle of the big ERAs (5.00 vs. 5.70). Go Giants!

–M.C.