The thought of having to absorb the loss of all-star Melky Cabrera probably terrified San Francisco Giants fans.
But while they find a way to succeed, the Arizona Diamondbacks have dug themselves into a deeper hole.
As of Sept. 3, the Giants are 13-6 since the suspension and have been widening their first place lead in the NL West. It is now up to 4.5 games for the second place Los Angeles Dodgers and 11.5 for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The D-backs at one point were able to shrink the gap, but have recently lost nine of their last 11 games. The D-Backs are slowly eliminating themselves from contention after a strong showing last season.
Although Arizona still has two series to play with the Giants, San Francisco is looking very strong, even without its biggest contributor for this home stretch.
After Pablo Sandoval’s return, alongside a recent upbringing of outfielder Xavier Nady, the NL West leaders don’t look to lose their lead anytime soon.
Even an underperforming — and almost hopeless — Tim Lincecum has turned in two solid starts in his past three.
An already achieving and potentially playoff-bound Giants team equipped with a Melky Cabrera arrival and some old Tim Lincecum sightings? Now that’s scary.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
