Any time you lose to the Dodgers it’s a frustrating loss but somehow this loss felt even more frustrating than usual. The Giants drop the first game of the year against the Dodgers 2-1. A game in which the offense pounded out 12 hits but could only bring home one run to score. The Giants ran themselves into a couple of outs on the base-paths and it got me wondering if this was the style of ‘Bochyball’? The Giants were definitely aggressive last night but all they had to show for their efforts was one run.

Let’s recap some of the highs and lows:

Highs

• Lowry looked very good. His control was good and his breaking ball was snapping nicely. I didn’t see him throw the change much but the curve kept the Dodgers off-balance. After Lowry’s poor spring I was worried about him but this start puts to rest some of those fears. Bottom line, dude looked good. He finishes with a line of 7ip 6h 4k 2bb 1er.

• Omar has looked a little sluggish to start the season, both on the field and at the dish, but he turned a sweet patented ‘Omar Double Play ™’ hopping high over the sliding baserunner at 2nd while firing a strike to first.

• Durham went 2-2 with 2 walks and has looked quite comfortable hitting #4. I think Ray will do well hitting behind Bonds this season, though I would like to see the Giants add another bat to the lineup.

• Am I dreaming or did the bullpen look serviceable again? For the second straight game, don’t wake me up, the bullpen looked alright. Correia in particular looked very nice coming out and throwing hard strikes (his fastball was clocked around 95mph a couple of times) and Taschner, with a little luck, helped bail out Chulk after he gave up 2 consecutive hits.

Lows

• All the caught-stealing which lead to losing at least one run in the first inning. The failed hit and run with Klesko was particularly brutal as it resulted in a strike ‘em out throw ‘em out. I’m not a huge fan of stealing bases, unless Roberts is the one doing it, but Bochy needs to realize that he can’t run into outs on the basepaths with this offense.

• Despite the 12 hits, the offense is still looking weak. I really don’t like Molina and Feliz hitting back to back and would much rather see Winn hitting 6th or 7th than Feliz. So far into the new season the Giants starters have been solid but the offense is still struggling. We should probably get used to this bullet point.

• Lowry’s consecutive throwing error and wild pitch which turned a potential single into a triple really hurt as it was the difference in the game. Pedro then totally misplayed a grounder that was hit to third resulting in the run scoring.

• We all know that Flannery is a cool guy but he’s seriously giving me Wendell Kim flashbacks. The play at home in which Feliz got thrown out really shouldn’t have happened. Pedro got beat by a pretty good margin. It took two great relay throws to nail Pedro, who was trying to score from first on Winn’s double. I know he’s trying create runs but please Tim, do it smartly. Some of my Padre friends forewarned that Flannery likes to get guys thrown out at home. I hope they end up being wrong on that one.

• Bengie Molina looking like a dork rocking the toboggan under the batting helmet. This isn’t a good look for anyone Bengie.

• Cammy Blackstone.

So there you have it. A mix of good with a slightly bigger dose of bad. Your typical Giants game? Maybe. But, if it’s one thing I can chant it’s the mantra of “It’s still early, it’s still early”. I get the feeling that offense is going to be the weak point of the Giants all year long. Bonds and Durham will hit but many other players are dotted with question marks.

Today game 2 of the series takes off with Russ Ortiz making his first start for the G-Men. I’ll really be watching this game closely to see how Russ performs and if his spring stats are any indication of him becoming a serviceable 5th starter. For the Dodgers, Derek Lowe takes the mound. This Lowe guy has a 13.50 ERA, surely we can beat him!