I have not posted in awhile - I went on vacation, and although I have been back a few days I am still transitioning back to doing things like 'work', 'laundry', 'self-grooming', 'updating website' and so on. But tonight, I am watching two teams that I have taken an interest in lately - the Giants and Cardinals .

The pitching matchup was a good one - Matt Cain vs Adam Wainwright . So far, so good - St. Louis leads 1-0 in the 8th inning. But the Giants are threatening, thanks to a double and a blown call by the first base umpire.

The Cards have spent a good chunk of the season (56 days , to be exact) in first place but have lost 6 of 7 and are now a couple of games behind the Brewers. Albert Pujols is really, really hot - but incredibly, he is the only player on the Cardinals with an OPS+ above 100 (he's at 213, the best in baseball).

St. Louis ranks 8th in the NL in runs scored per game - but by my crude calculations, if you were to replace Pujols with, say, Ryan Howard , they would drop to 15th. It's really hard to imagine that any player is more valuable to his team than Pujols has been.

(The Giants scored one run in the 8th to tie the game - Pujols has singled in the 9th and stolen a base, waiting for someone else to get a hit...)

The Padres are dead last in runs scored, but have three regulars and two bench guys with an above-average OPS+. The Nationals have four regulars and five bench players over 100. The Giants, who aren't a juggarnaut either, have two regulars and two bench players. Even the woeful Athletics have two regulars with an OPS+ over 100.

Anyways, I'm sure it is only temporary - they have some guys who are slumping and will hit better. But it sure looks weird right now.

(The Cardinals got a walk, and loaded the bases on a fielders choice - Molina grounded to short, but the pinch runner Greene beat the short throw to second. But Joe Thurston strikes out)

The Giants, incredibly, have the second-best record in the National League. They are, to date, the Team I Am Most Wrong About. As expected, they are a horrible offensive team - only the Padres have scored fewer runs, and when you take parks into account it is likely that the Giants are the worst-hitting team in the NL. They've even developed an exciting new star this year - Pablo Sandoval - and are still horrible.

But they've compensated by allowing the fewest runs in the league. Yes, their young studs got plenty of hype before the season, plus they acquired Randy Johnson and still owe Barry Zito the GDP of Iceland - there was the potential for a very good starting staff, but even that, I didn't think, would be enough to get them into contention.

Young stud #1, Tim Lincecum , appears to be en route to another Cy Young Award.

Young stud #2, Matt Cain - the unluckiest pitcher in baseball - has gotten some luck this year and has pitched great, and is 9-2 (though the Giants only scored one run for him tonight)

Young stud #3, Jonathan Sanchez - not so good, 2-8 with a 5.45 ERA. Still getting strikeouts, but his command has been brutal.

Young stud #4, Brian Wilson - the closer has been so-so, 21 saves but also four blown saves and a 3.50 ERA. The new Billy Koch - throws a 100mph fastball that is very flat.

Johnson and Zito have eaten up innings, but both have slightly below-average ERAs. So that's two great starters, two OK starters, a bad starter and an average closer - not bad, but not enough to make up for the bad hitters.

But the middle relief - wow. Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Medders, Justin Miller, Bobby Howry, Merkin Valdez, and Sergio Romo have combined to throw 154 innings with a 2.80 ERA (tonight's game is now in the 10th - Romo and Affeldt have combined for two more shutout innings. Romo appears to be a little hyperactive out on the mound - he's been mentioned as a Potential Closer, but he may need to take a sedative before handling 9th-inning duties).

Wilson may be the closer, but Affeldt is the guy that everyone trusts. He's had an epic career - a former top prospect with the Royals who had a fingernail surgically removed to prevent blister problems. After years of career drift, he was dealt to the Rockies for two players the Royals didn't want, and established himself as a left-handed specialist. He continued to pitch well for the Reds last season, then signed with the Giants and has been lights-out.

And as I type, Colby Rasmus hits a game-winning homer off of Howry - two pitches after Sandoval dropped a pop-up in foul territory. The Cardinals are reportedly hot-to-trot to pick up Matt Holliday from the Athletics; it's also possible that Troy Glaus will come back this season. The Giants... well, two years ago, they were reportedly in talks to acquire Alex Rios from the Jays. If you believe the reports here in this city, they can now pick him up for nuthin'.

(with that game over, I switch to the Angels-Rangers game - Juan Rivera hits a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the 9th to tie the game at 7-7. Bottom of the 9th, cute teenage girls cheer their team on by doing "the Byrd" - the Byrd strikes out, but Hank Blalock hits a game-winning homer to centre. That was a busy eight minutes)

(funny thing about baseball - cute teenage girls love going out to games and doing silly dances - so long as they are there, I guess the teenage boys will keep coming out as well)