Noah Way!

It's official -- the Giants are coming. No one, it seems, is playing better baseball than the boys from San Francisco. Last night they rode another sterling performance by a starting pitcher, this time Noah Lowry. The rookie is unbeaten in thirteen Major League starts, and upped his record to 6-0 after mowing down the Astros for his second complete game of the season. The Giants have won 18 of their last 20 vs. Houston. The starting rotation is 9-1 with a 2.24 over the last 12 games.

Less than seven weeks ago, the Giants trailed the Dodgers by 8.5 games, and Nomar Garciaparra signed with the Cubs. Despite a negative O Zone factor (that is, stranding more of their own runners at second and third than those of the opposition), and a bullpen so anomymous that some folks on the East Coast think that Rob Nen is still the closer, San Francisco now find themselves --however bizarrely -- in the driver's seat.

How have they done it? There has been no shortage of opinion. Joe Morgan, one of the few reasons worth listening to ESPN, has his own thoughts on the fortunes of September's best ball-club. First and foremost, he credits Bonds, Schmidt and Felipe Alou for carrying the team through trying times -- otherwise known as the first four months of the season.

Indeed, the true measure of this team is not so much how well they have played in recent times, but how on earth they managed to stay in the hunt with so few reliable performers. Some commentators allude to the offense as a beacon of consistency -- only St. Louis has scored more runs in the league -- yet no one has yet to crest the 100 RBI plateau, nor is anyone other than Bonds hitting over .300. The key to their success (aside from Coors field) has been timely hitting. At one time or another, a couple of players have carried the offense. One has always been Bonds, whose harrowing .656 on base percentage might help to explain the team's inflated run total. Bear in mind that the Giants have also left the most men on the base in the National League.

Still, looking for answers in the offense is like looking for Bin Laden in Iraq. Pitching is the currency of this game. And boy, have the Giants learned that one the hard way. Schmidt, for his part, might have lost his case for the Cy Young, but his performances -- including a 13 game winning-streak -- kept this franchise from implosion. Remember that Brian Sabean was on the verge of a firesale in early June. Without their achor in the starting staff, that ship would have set sail -- and we'd be, in all likelihood, toasting the merits of Neifi Perez at short, second, and perhaps even in the rotation. Faster than you can say Tomko, the landscape has changed.

Ichiro Suzuki, meanwhile, is batting .443 since the All-Star break.