Day Two: Victory Nears

So, the second game of the Giants season wasn't quite as bad as the first. We'll take things in steps this year.

Still a loss, but not a turn the children's heads away from the screen kind of loss. 5-3 is how decent teams lose games. Couple of quick notes:

• Barry Bonds is good. Barry Bonds is old: In his first at bat the octogenarian took Chris Young deep, which is what should happen when center fielders pitch for the wrong team. H was off balance, looked terrible, but was able to poke it to the opposite field and jut sneak it over. He also made a great shoestring catch, running almost to the bag at third. Unfortunately he came up slowly, looking every bit the 83 year-old ex-drug addict he may or may not be. And it showed the rest of the game, culminating in a terrible at bat against Cla Meredith, striking out on what was a very good breaking pitch in the dirt.
• Matt Cain is good. Matt Cain is young: Matt Cain is not a stopper sort of pitcher -- meaning basically he can't be counted on to win the large majority of his starts yet -- but I'm going to enjoy seeing him come around the rotation. Cain was sharp for around four innings, consistently hitting 93-94 on his fastball and putting it where it needed to be. But in the fifth things didn't work so well. Kruko said he was overthrowing. Either way, he left two pitches over the plate and that lost it right there. It seems like those things can be fixed though, as Cain came back and had a good sixth, finishing 6.0/3/1/6/2 (IP, R, BB, K, HR). How Barry Zito has a lower ERA right now ...
• Bengie: I am not enjoying this Bengie Molina character. Batting sixth Wednesday he was 1-4 with five left on base. It appears we got the oldest, slowest, fattest Molina brother, who has lost any semblance of hitting ability. May I be proven wrong. But at this point I'm hoping he scores some free Great America tickets and takes the weekend off. I'm trying to imagine some scenario where NotGardo makes it back in the lineup without harm coming to Bengie. Not that type of guy. Haven't found one yet, but I'll keep at it.
• W3BMLB: Pedro Feliz. Angry yet? OK, I'll continue. Petey had one shinning moment, driving in a run in the sixth to tie it. Unfortunately beyond that he continued hacking, laying off only one pitch in the dirt that I saw (He followed that up by striking out on the exact same pitch. You think other teams know?). I can't imagine that Kleskrilia couldn't put up better numbers with almost the same defense. Someday maybe, but not today. Sigh.
• I saw it!: Last night was the first time I've used MLBtv, and it was fun. I was able to switch back and forth between the Dodger and Red Sox games while I was waiting for the Giants to come online, and the picture wasn't terrible at full screen. It's weird though, since the majority of video I watch online is highlights, the whole time I felt like the game was happening in the past. I'm sure I'll get over it. Though I do have a strange need to play pong ...