MVN: Most Valuable Network

OK so just breathe a little.  First we get swept by the hated Angels who then went on to lose to the Dodgers.  Then we sweep the Rangers to balance out the karma of the universe in Giantsland.  Then we go into Oakland and take two of three from a team already struggling.  Finally, we march into Milwaukee and lose in heartbreaking fashion, followed by an uplifting performance by Ryan Sadowski in his first ever major league start.  Now today we watch as the offense explodes for 10 runs while Tim Lincecum throws a two-hit shutout.

Put simply, the Giants are bipolar.  We have on one hand the sad-sack losing Giants that can't score a run or work a count to if someone held a gun to their head.  On the other hand, we have the world-beating, run-scoring, shutout-throwing juggernauts with the second best record in the National League.  The sad-sack Giants are frustrating at their best, and downright heartbreaking at their worst.  World-beating Giants bring joy and rapture to the souls of fans everywhere and make us believe that they're one hitter away from a playoff berth.

Today, the world-beating Giants gave us hope for the rest of the four game set against the Cardinals, as well as for the rest of the season.  Tomorrow, with Chris Carpenter pitching, the sad-sack Giants might make an appearance and make us think that there's no way in any realm that we can contend.  So which one are we right now?

To be honest, I'm leaning towards world-beating Giants for a few reasons.  One, the pitching staff from the rotation to the bullpen is absolutely dominant.  Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson nailing down the final three innings is enough to feel good about any lead in the late innings.  Two, Pablo Sandoval, Nate Schierholtz, and Travis Ishikawa are demonstrating an ability to hit major league pitching and then some.  Sandoval should be an All-Star, while Schierholtz and Ishikawa are finally coming into their own.  On top of all this, John Bowker is waiting down in Fresno while sporting a .346/.446/.602 with 14 homers and 45 walks to 47 K's.  Third, the Giants have demonstrated the ability to beat good teams (see Cardinals, Rangers, et al).

For each of these pros, there are bound to be cons that seem just as reasonable, but to be honest it feels way better to have a reason to be optimistic, however cautious this optimism may be.  The next two games we're facing Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, so this warm fuzzy feeling may be short-lived, but that still leaves us a chance to split the four game set and head home with some confidence after getting our souls crushed in Milwaukee.