Yesterday's Game

[SF11704]

I've really come to hate losses like yesterday. Just seems so damn frustrating to lose a game where you only give the other team 2 freaking runs. So I decided to take a quick look at how many games we have lost when giving up 3 or less runs and the number was 13. That's a 29% rate (out of 45). That seemed rather high to me so I went and looked at two other leaders with good pitching. WASH has lost 10 of 44 with only giving up 3 or less runs. That's 23%. ATL has lost 13 of 47 with only giving up 3 or less runs. That's 27%. Actually surprised me. Seems that a lot of the good teams drop a good number of their games (25%ish) while only giving up 3 or less runs. Still, our percentage of 29% is a little on the high side. Still think we make the playoffs providing we don't have another June-like meltdown. IMHO we have a window right now and I'm not sure if we have one next year. How much are we willing to 'go in' to preserve this window. What costs are we willing to incurr. Just having a 'window' doesn't mean we win anything. just means we are and can be/will be in the running. For me the big questions are: What will Pagan be like when he returns? What is a reasonable replacement for Cain? Peavy? Hope not. Price? Never happen? I'd take a stable #4 from anywhere at this time. Petit may actually be an in house answer. Not sure how much better we'll get on the outside. 2B is a black hole! We need to get someone with some offense. Just can't keep parading the medoza line team out there day after day. I'd love Zobrist but I don't see that happening. I think our 2014 season may wind up in the hands of Dan Uggla. Maybe a playoff run will energize him. Maybe it's another Cody Ross movie script. Crawford needs to refind his swing. I just don't think 235 will help much in this drive. His glove will keep us close but we'll still be in the 2-1 and 3-2 scoring more. Just depends on what side of the score we are on. The pen is stellar at the moment but how much longer can they hold us in these games? Heart is a great thing to talk about when your winning. This team definately has it. But for the last 60 games it's going to be about talent! The boys need to up their game and management needs to give them some additional fire power. These next two months are going to be torture ......