Jonathan Sanchez

Before I begin, let me plainly state as clearly as possible, I hope I'm dead wrong about this.

My beloved San Francisco Giants are two full games up in the National League Wild Card race and only seven games behind the division and MLB-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, for as much credit as General Manager Brian Sabean should receive for not trading away his prime prospects, there should be just as much ridicule for the increasingly irritating game-to-game decisions.

As the Giants continue to surprise people in the National League early on, and the need for an offensive upgrade becomes more evident with each passing series, a lingering question is on the minds of Giants fans everywhere:

Who do we give up to make this team better?

And the main player who is deemed expendable by a majority of Giants fans, bloggers, and columnists?

Jonathan Sanchez.

Rich Aurilia wanted to come out this season and be a major contributor for the Giants. On Sunday Afternoon he made his first big contribution.

Aurilia homered off Adam Wainwright to lead off the bottom of the seventh and give the Giants a one-run lead that they would not surrender for the rest of the afternoon.

The Giants started the game well taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with Randy Winn's sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals tied it up in the third inning with a Ryan Ludwick sacrifice fly. The game was tied 1-1 heading to the fifth.

One thing that could be said about the Giants and, in particular, Brian Sabean, is that they value pitching.

Perhaps too much.

Whether it be their approach to drafting, consistently using their top picks on pitching prospects over position players, valuing pitching in free agency over much needed hitting, or a reluctance to trade their only commodity (pitchers) for bats, the Giants have a clear and somewhat dogmatic philosophy towards building a competitive team.

 The Giants went 1-2-3 in the first inning. The Padres are up now and Scott Hairston is on base thanks to a walk by starter Jonathan Sanchez.

Sanchez has looked great so far and has struck out two of the first three batters.

Chad Gaudin is starting for the Padres. Last night the Giants made Padres' starter Chris Young look like Cy Young so let's see if Gaudin can do his own impersonation of Cy Young tonight as well.

I know, I know—I'm a tad late with this one. Not only have the San Francisco Giants already started their next series against the Colorado Rockies, but the first pitch for the second game is only minutes away.

And it's all the more inexcusable because the series I've been dragging on was a fantastic offering that saw our good guys slay the evil Los Angeles Dodgers twice in three chances.

The Giants really would like to put their Southern California road trip behind them tonight. After getting swept by both the Padres and Dodgers, they pin their hopes of ending their six-game skid on lefty Jonathan Sanchez.

They face a divisional rival for the third time in a row, and would like to take a series from at least one of them.

Sanchez takes the hill tonight for the second time this season against the D-backs. His last outing was less than stellar, giving up 5 runs in just 4.2 innings in a loss to the Peavy and Padres.

Never in the 126-year history of the Giants have fans endured five straight losing seasons.  But patrons passing through Willie Mays Plaza on their way to the bayside ballpark are faced with that formidable fact in 2009.

Usually, standing at the precipice of history suggests greatness is at hand. But for the Giants—with 2004 the last time a season ended in positive territory—it’s more like an abyss.

In June 2008, the Giants' young lefty Jonathan Sanchez recorded a 5-1 record with an ERA below three. However, in the rest of his starts that came in other months, the Giants hurler went 4-11, including a 1-7 mark in his last eight decisions. For the year Sanchez finished 9-12 with a 5.01 ERA.

I admit to riding the Sanchez bandwagon back in June 2008, but I was also the first one off come July. Apparently I was one of the few that jumped off.