ShareThisSAN FRANCISCO - Buster Posey crinkled his nose, squinted his eyes, shook his head and made a face that looked as if he had just taken a foul tip south of the border.
All I asked him was what the San Francisco Giants learned about themselves in their recent 3-6 skid against contenders.
"I don't know if you can say what we learned," Posey said with a shrug and a smile. "I mean, we've just got to play better baseball. That's it."
Truer, albeit simpler, words may have never been spoken by the Giants' truly simplistic rookie wunderkind. Especially when you consider the speed with which the Giants went from purported contenders to supposed pretenders in the span of nine games.
Before Monday night's 11-2 defeat of the N.L. Central-leading Cincinnati Reds, the Giants dropped two of three games each to clubs with whom they are in direct competition for a potential playoff spot.
And the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals all exposed the Giants in doing so.
Fortunately for the Giants themselves, they are not as hysterical as their fans. And I mean that in the most clinical and definitive way possible, what with so many euphoric highs followed so quickly by so many depressing lows. Often in the same week, if not game. Hysterics.
"At this point of the season, with the amount of games left," Posey said, "we look forward to every series. Because every game is important."
With 36 games remaining, the Giants pulled within one game of the wild-card-leading Phillies. And after the Reds, with N.L. MVP candidate Joey Votto and N.L. Manager of the Year contender Dusty Baker (remember him?) skip town, the Giants have an opportunity to get fat, so to speak.
The six teams against whom they close the season had a cumulative yawn-inspiring .482 winning percentage entering Monday, 27 games under .500.
Plus, they play only one team -- the Padres -- that's at least five games over .500.
But the Giants must get their starting pitching right, especially Tim Lincecum.
And they must get out of their own way.
The non-waiver trade deadline acquisitions of relief pitchers Javier López and Ramón Ramírez made sense because they addressed a specific need without mortgaging the future.
Picking up right fielder José Guillen for a relative pittance was a stroke of genius, as long as his bat is as powerful as his legs appear sluggish.
But getting infielder Mike Fontenot seemed a bit overkill, even as it seemed to light a fire under second baseman Freddy Sanchez.
And the latest move, the one that landed the Giants Cody Ross on Monday, is a true head-scratcher. At best, it reeks of desperation and a superfluous need to tinker. At worst, it was a desperate move that backfired.
Talk around the McCovey Cove campfire was that the Giants didn't really want Ross; they simply put in a waiver claim to block the Padres from landing him. Instead, the Florida Marlins let Ross walk.
"I knew the situation when I heard," Ross said. "But I'm not going to play manager or general manager. I'm just going to go out and play. Be a good teammate and a team leader."
Still, the Giants need six outfielders? Really? And reliever Guillermo Mota came down with a left knee so sore, he went in the disabled list to make room for Ross on the 25-man roster? At least Mota rubbed the correct leg when approached by reporters.
It's enough to make you crinkle your nose, squint your eyes and shake your head in amazement. And joyful hope.
(Contact Paul Gutierrez at pgutierrez(at)sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit Sacramento Bee
