The San Francisco Giants have officially claimed one of the two NL Wild Card spots, but they needed the help of the Cincinnati Reds to do so. The Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 in an afternoon game at the Great American Ballpark to cap off what proved to be a heartbreaking season for the Brew Crew. I will have more to say about the Brewers once the NL Central is settled.

The fact the Giants needed some other team to help them clinch a Wild Card berth has been emblematic of how their season has been since early June. On June 8th, the Giants were 43-21 and owned the best record in MLB. Since then, the Giants have gone 42-52. The Giants were terrible from the middle of June to the middle of August going 20-36 over that two month stretch. In the midst of that stretch, the Dodgers overtook first place in the NL West for good. The Giants have played better of late. Since August 13th, the Giants are 22-16. Still, they are playing at nowhere near the level they were in the first two months of the season.

The Giants will face either the Pittsburgh Pirates or the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card game on October 1st. I don’t think it really matters if the Giants play the Cards or the Bucs. I can’t see the Giants surviving this game especially now that Angel Pagan just went down with season ending back surgery. Pagan isn’t a superstar, but he is a spark at the top of their order and a solid centerfielder. They were 56-35 when Pagan was in the lineup and 29-38 when he was out of the lineup.

I simply don’t see the Giants winning their third World Series title in five years.

Then again once the post-season begins everyone is 0-0.