Things that matter

[dales]

The AL won the All-Star game.....................bummer.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Home field should be who has the best record of the two teams in the WS not the outcome of an exhibition game.

A buddy of mine went to the game (and the HR derby) with his son. He'll tell me all about it tonight on the way to an AA meeting. he's a drunk too

[dales]

Get rid of the DH rule.

[Gob]

Steve Smith took three late wickets to swing the momentum towards Australia despite a third consecutive Ashes hundred from England batsman Ian Bell on the opening day of the second Test.

Leg-spinner Smith, who did not bowl in Australia's 14-run defeat at Trent Bridge last week, removed Bell, Jonny Bairstow and Matt Prior as England slipped from 271-4 to 289-7 by the close at Lord's.

England, who won the toss, had fallen to 28-3 in the first hour of play but were hauled out of trouble by Bell's superb 109 and half centuries from Jonathan Trott and Bairstow.

Smith's dramatic late intervention, however, ensured Australia will be the more satisfied of the teams as they look to level the five-match series.

England's predicament could have been worse had Bairstow not enjoyed a significant stroke of luck midway through the afternoon session.

The Yorkshire batsman was bowled by Peter Siddle for 21 but reprieved when television replays revealed a no-ball by the narrowest of margins.

He went on to score a further 46 in a fifth-wicket partnership of 144 with Bell that looked to have put England in control.

[dales]

Buster Posey had to think about it for a second, but yeah. Going back to high school, college and the pros, this is the first time he really has learned about life on a losing team.

"I would say so," Posey said, "but at the same time, I would say the season is not over. I hesitate to even recognize a losing anything because there still is whatever we have, 65 or 70 games to go."

The actual number is 68, and sure, anything can happen. However, after a 43-51 first half, the Giants might not get 68 games to keep this ship from running aground.

Between now and July 31, general manager Brian Sabean has to decide whether his team still has a legitimate shot to win a weak National League West, then act accordingly by the nonwaiver trade deadline, either by dealing prospects to fortify the major-league roster or trading big-league players to restock a farm system that has little advanced talent.

As any mariner knows, a big ship needs a lot of time to reverse course. Fortunately for the Giants, a baseball team does not.

Salvation can come as soon as this weekend, when the Giants open the second half with three home games against first-place Arizona, which they have beaten six times in nine games this season.

The Giants trail the Diamondbacks by 6 1/2 games. If they win two of three, they will knock a game off that deficit. If they sweep, they could end the weekend 3 1/2 games out of first place, depending on what the second-place Dodgers do in Washington.

This is simple math that manager Bruce Bochy wants his team to forget. He said the last thing his players should do is treat this weekend like the final three games of the season.

"It doesn't matter who you play," Bochy said. "It's all about playing better and finding ways to win ballgames and taking series. When we play games out of our division, we have to win those, too."

The Giants' plunge from World Series champs to potential deadline sellers ranks among the most surprising stories in baseball this season.

All looked fine May 12, when the Giants won their third in a row against Atlanta and stood at 23-15. Then, starting with a 1-5 trip through Toronto and Denver, the Giants began a free fall that left them with the NL's sixth-worst record at the break.

Health has played a role. After dodging significant injuries through 2012 the Giants have been hit with many maladies ranging from pesky, such as Marco Scutaro's chronic back woes, to season-altering injuries such as Ryan Vogelsong's broken hand and the hamstring surgery that will leave the Giants without their leadoff hitter, Angel Pagan, for most or all of the rest of the season.

But as reliever Jeremy Affeldt said, "We didn't lose half our team."

Indeed, injuries alone cannot explain the Giants' nosedive. They were getting healthier during a 5-19 stretch that preceded their three-game win streak in San Diego over the weekend.

"I think it just has to do with consistency," Affeldt said. "The pitching staff gets on a roll, and then it gets off. Maybe the starters get on a roll and the bullpen's not doing well. Our offense is scoring 10 runs and we're not pitching enough. We give up two runs and only get one."

Even if the Giants discover consistency, that has to translate into wins, and fast. So it goes when you need an eight-game winning streak simply to reach break-even.

This team's chances of winning the West and returning to the playoffs are slim.

Once again, the players cannot think that way.

"What I've felt over this stretch in the last month is, you really have to simplify things when you're going like this," Posey said. "You have to go pitch by pitch more than ever, on defense and offense. You can't think ahead to later in the game. You can't look ahead to the next game. You can't look at trying to win 10 games at once."


True, but if the Giants do not win a lot more games than they lose during the 10-game homestand that begins the second half, the front office could decide that the way to simplify things is to start looking toward 2014.


Injury update

OF Angel Pagan (left hamstring surgery): Pagan was not having a standout year when he got hurt May 25, but his switch-hitting presence atop the lineup has been missed and has forced manager Bruce Bochy to play supposed platooners Andres Torres and Gregor Blanco together too many times. Pagan probably is done for the year.

RHP Ryan Vogelsong (broken pinkie): The injury to Vogelsong, who was hit by a pitch May 20, exposed an organizational void in big-league-ready starters. The only blessing was Chad Gaudin's emergence as a starter. Vogelsong hopes to return in early August.

2B Marco Scutaro (mallet finger, back): Although he has not gone on the disabled list, his injuries have impacted his swing at times. He is not the same hitter he was when he came to the Giants last season but still provides a valuable presence in the No. 2 slot.

RHP Santiago Casilla (right leg surgery): A cyst that lodged in his right tibia, near the knee, finally became too painful and was surgically removed May 28. The right-handed setup man returned to the mound Sunday, reintroducing stability to the back end of the bullpen.

3B Pablo Sandoval (left foot strain): The Panda ran out of hamate bones to fracture, but this injury cost him two weeks in June, plus the time he needed to get his plate timing back when he returned.

C Hector Sanchez (right shoulder injury): Sanchez provided some danger last year as a switch-hitter with a bit of pop off the bench, but this injury has ruined his season. He is on the disabled list, eligible to return Wednesday.


3 hits

1. Madison Bumgarner: Still only 23, the left-hander has emerged as a true staff ace, with the stuff, guile and power to pick up 10 first-half wins on a losing team and beat any hitter at the plate.

2. Chad Gaudin: Recent news of his arrest on a lewd-conduct charge sullied his personal reputation. On the field, he saved the bullpen early in the season when starters consistently got knocked out early, then saved the rotation when he replaced an injured Ryan Vogelsong.

3. Dodgers-Giants: With the Giants coming off another championship and the Dodgers starting to play up to their payroll, the rivalry has become feisty again. Nothing is more fun than watching these teams and their fans get riled at one another.


3 misses

1. Pitching, hitting and defense: That just about covers it. The Giants failed for extended stretches in each of these facets of the game. Fortunately for them, it was not often simultaneous. If it were, their record would be a lot worse than 43-51.

2. Injuries: Good health marked their 2012 championship season, and every prediction for 2013 started with, "As long as they stay healthy." They haven't, and that has contributed to their downfall.

3. Road woes: The 18-31 record away from AT&T Park is incomprehensible. The Giants lost 35 on the road all of last season. The pitchers fell behind early, the hitters could not catch up, and that made for a lot of quiet plane trips.


Unit reports

Rotation: As always, the Giants live and die with their starters. They have done a better job of late, but a terrible start and inconsistency throughout the unit are a big reason for the team's decline. All-Star Madison Bumgarner was the only completely dependable starter. For nearly one month, from mid-June through last week, he was the only starter to win.

Bullpen: The relievers did a creditable job in light of the turnover and Santiago Casilla's injury. Twelve men pitched in relief in the first half, often shifting roles based on what the team needed on a particular day. The bullpen's 3.22 ERA ranks fourth in the league.

Hitting: Injuries to Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro and Pablo Sandoval hurt, but health was not the lone reason the offense plummeted as spring turned to summer. The Giants averaged 4.5 runs a game through May 31 and 3.4 runs between June 1 and the break. They put plenty of runners on base but could not buy a hit in the clutch for more than a month.

Defense: The Giants' inability to catch the ball came at a bad time, earlier in the season, when they were not pitching, either. A defensive slump contributed to some losses, but this was not the team's biggest concern. Big improvement is necessary for throwing out base stealers. Their 23.3 percent success rate ranks third worst in the league.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman

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[Gob]

Hey dales, why not start your own thread huh?

[dales]

I was contributing to the "Things that matter" thread.

I can post updates on CM if you prefer.

I'll try to control myself in any case.

[Lord Jim]

Hey dales, why not start your own thread huh?

What, like when we start a thread about baseball or football, you Limey Lot act with complete respect?...

[Gob]

But this is important, it's cricket fer fuck's sake....

[dales]

I must agree, Cricket for fcuk's sakes.........sez it all.

[Lord Jim]

But this is important, it's cricket fer fuck's sake....

Well not exactly The Cuban Missile Crisis...

[Gob]

"It's not a matter of life or death, it's far more important than that."

Bill Shankly

[Lord Jim]

"It's not a matter of life or death, it's far more important than that."

You cricket fans really need to re-think this...

[dales]

damning with faint praise dept........

Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended.
~ George Bernard Shaw

[Gob]

Second Test, Lord's (day two):

England 361 & 31-3 v Australia 128


England took a major stride towards retaining the Ashes as Australia's batsmen self-destructed on day two of the second Test at Lord's.

Australia were largely to blame for their own demise as they crashed to 128 all out in reply to England's 361, with Graeme Swann taking 5-44.

On an extraordinary day when 16 wickets fell, England stuttered badly at the start of their second innings, losing Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen cheaply to close on 31-3.

However, with a lead of 264 and seven wickets in hand, England will remain confident of batting a demoralised Australia out of the match and all but guaranteeing a 2-0 lead in a five-match series which the tourists must win to reclaim the Ashes.

Australia's paltry total was their lowest at Lord's since 1968, thanks to a batting display littered with errors.

Chris Rogers, Usman Khawaja and Phil Hughes fell to reckless shots, while Ashton Agar - their hero in the first Test at Trent Bridge - was needlessly run out.

[Sean]

So why didn't England make them follow on? It'd be over by now...

[Lord Jim]

It'd be over by now

So there is at least a hope of that eventually happening then?

[Gob]

[Gob]

Did you see the run out of Agar Sean? Boy did I chortle.

All the wickets are here.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/ash ... 2qaj3.html

[Daisy]

So why didn't England make them follow on? It'd be over by now...

I don't understand why they didn't force the follow on either.