Cain Looks To Pad N.L West Lead Against Dodgers: What to Watch For, Lineups

The Giants bumped their lead in the National League West to 5.5 games last night after prevailing 5-3 behind Marco Scutaro’s two-run single. The Giants look to extend that hefty lead today with Matt Cain on the mound.

Cain surrendered five runs to the Cubs nearly a week ago. He will oppose Chris Capuano who allowed two big home runs to the Diamondbacks in a 5-4 loss in his last start.

Andre Ethier.... Adrian Gonzalez.....

Ethier comes into Saturday’s game with a .472 (25-53) batting average off Matt Cain. And the sample size isn’t tiny either. However, none of those 25 hits have resulted in home runs, and only three are extra base hits. Gonzalez, though, is hitting .321 (18-56) off Cain, with four home runs and 13 RBIs. Nine of his 18 hits off Cain are have been for extra bases.

Angel Pagan Is Hotter Than the Sun

OK, maybe I’m over-exaggerating, but the above statement isn’t far from the truth. The Giants’ center fielder is hitting .341 over the past 20 games. Not to mention that he has scored 22 runs, collected nine doubles, three triples, and one home run during that span as well. Pagan is 2-7 off Chris Capuano lifetime.

Cain Back Home

Cain should receive a warm welcoming when he trots out to the mound in the first inning considering that he hasn’t made a home start since August 11th. During his four road starts since the 11th, he posted a 2.96 ERA, and went 4-0. However, home should be a welcoming site for Cain, who boasts a stellar 2.24 ERA in his friendly confines. The Dodgers though, won’t be quite as welcoming. Despite finding success against them this season (14IP 2.57 ERA), his career stats aren’t as respectable (4-8, 3.45 ERA).

Beating Up The N.L West

In their last 16 games against N.L West foes, the Giants have won 12 of them. That trend should seemingly work in their favor, as their 24 remaining games are against N.L West teams.

Kemp Out

There’s not much to say here. Details of why Kemp is out of today’s lineup are unavailable, but my best guess is that his hamstring in tightening up again.

Lineups

Giants

1. Angel Pagan (S) CF
2. Marco Scutaro (R) 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Hunter Pence (R) RF
6. Joaquin Arias (R) SS
7. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
8. Gregor Blanco (L) LF
9. Matt Cain (R) P

Dodgers

1. Mark Ellis (R) 2B
2. Shane Victorino (S) CF
3. Adrian Gonzalez (L) 1B
4. Hanley Ramirez (R) SS
5. Andre Ethier (L) RF
6. Luis Cruz (R) 3B
7. Juan Rivera (R) LF
8. A.J. Ellis (R) C
9. Chris Capuano (L) P

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SF Giants: Why This Giants' Team Is Better Than the 2010 Team

In 2010, a team with Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell in the middle of the order won the World Series.

Now, in 2012, that same team has Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence in the middle of the order. Oh, and they've got some pretty good pitching too.

San Francisco managed to win the World Series in 2010 despite a lack of offense and experience. Edgar Renteria hit a three-run home run in Game 5 of the World Series to power the Giants to their first championship since moving to San Francisco.

And now, that same team is trying to do it again.

During the first half of the season, the Giants had lots of trouble on offense and bringing in runners in scoring position. However, after the All-Star break, San Francisco leads the league in batting average with runners in scoring position.

And, thanks to Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, Marco Scutaro, Angel Pagan and others, the Giants are in the top half of the league in runs scored.

Ryan Vogelsong has been struggling, as his ERA has shot up by more than a run in just five starts (from 2.27 to 3.29). Madison Bumgarner's last two starts have been poor, and Tim Lincecum has a 5.21 ERA. Oh, and Barry Zito hasn't been too sharp lately.

Vogelsong got a good amount of luck early in the year, as he had great stats despite his inability to miss bats. However, he is in a funk now, and he's allowing a lot of home runs. Vogelsong has thrown a lot of pitches, and he hasn't been able to slam the door with runners on base.

Zito may not be earning a 126-million dollar contract, but he's been pitching well. Zito has a 10-8 record and a 4.51 ERA, and San Francisco is 16-11 when he pitches (although Zito has benefitted from some run support).However, the Giants still have a great pitching staff.

Madison Bumgarner has kept his ERA around 3.00 for the whole season, and Matt Cain has a sub-3.00 ERA and a perfect game. Lincecum has an ERA around 3.00 and a winning record since the All-Star break, and Barry Zito has great stats for a No. 5 pitcher.

Zito may not be earning a 126-million dollar contract, but he's been pitching well. Zito has a 10-8 record and a 4.51 ERA, and San Francisco is 16-11 when he pitches (although Zito has benefitted from some run support).

Even though the Giants have received some poor outings from starters, they've still won 11 of their last 14 games. Clutch and timely hitting, unexpected contributions and good management has aided the Giants, who lead the Dodgers by 4.5 games for first place in the NL West.

Marco Scutaro, who was acquired in a midseason trade with the Rockies, is hitting .288 and has been a great on-base guy and run-scorer. He had a walk-off hit Monday against the D-Backs, and Scutaro has 24 RBI since joining the Giants.

Angel Pagan has also been great in the top of the order, and he and Scutaro have formed a formidable 1-2 punch. Pagan's batting average climbed above .290, and while it is back under .290 now, he's still been hitting very well.

Posey has hit about .400 since the All-Star break, driving in key runs left and right. He has been key to San Francisco's success, as his WAR (wins above replacement) is higher than 5. Posey has knocked in a lot of runs and made some nice plays on defense as well.

Overall, the Giants have a great team. Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval, Matt Cain and others are better than they were in 2010. Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence and Marco Scutaro were great pickups, and Brandon Belt and Joaquin Arias have been great too. San Francisco has lots of offensive and pitching talent, and they've been using that to their advantage.

And, while the road to a championship will be harder than it was in 2010, this Giants team is better than the 2010 team. What does that mean?

The Giants can most definitely win the World Series this year.

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2-Run 9th Inning Fuels Giants To 7-5 Victory Over the Cubs

Matt Cain was surprisingly uncharacteristic, but the Giants came back from a 5-3 deficit in the later innings to prevail 7-5. Not only did they win, but they completed a very successful road trip, posting a 5-1 record on trips to Houston and the windy city. That marks the second consecutive time that they had a 5-1 road trip, with the other occasion being against the Padres and Dodgers.

[BOX SCORE]

Cain is generally one to feast on the Cubs. He had a 20 inning scoreless streak at Wrigley Field coming into the game, but that streak was snapped in the bottom of the third inning when David DeJesus singled home Darwin Barney.

Run support is also wary when Cain is on the mound. But the Giants’ surging offense backed their pitcher early with three-third inning runs. Xavier Nady reached base by the way of the walk to begin the explosion. Angel Pagan drove him in with an RBI single. Then, the Giants started some two out thunder as Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey each drove in a run. Those runs came after Anthony Rizzo casually picked up what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt, and threw wide to first base, allowing Cain to reach.

DeJesus continued his success against Cain in the fifth with a one out single that Hunter Pence bobbled in right field, allowing Barney to score for the second time in the game. The Cubs would work some two out magic of their own.

Cain laid a fastball right out over the plate to slugger Alfonso Soriano, and even with the wind blowing in, the ball soared into the bleachers. Cain knew it right away, as he slammed his glove on the ground immediately following the mistake. And just like that, the Cubs took the lead, 5-3 on Soriano’s three-run jack.

At home, a comeback would seem far-fetched, but the Giants have played much differently on the road this season. They instantly fired back with a two-run inning. Brandon Belt tripled with two outs on a slicing line drive that Soriano was unable to coral in, scoring Nady who reached base four times on the day. Then, Belt proceeded home on a wild pitch from Manny Corpas to even the score at five.

In the ninth, Nady reached base for the fourth time and Gregor Blanco was put in to pinch-run for him. Blanco created plenty of havoc and ultimately scored the go-ahead run on a Pagan RBI single. Marco Scutaro padded their lead with an RBI single of his own to score Crawford.

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Arias, Sanchez Spark Clutch Ninth Inning Rally Leading to 3-2 Win

Joaquin Arias and Hector Sanchez each contributed pinch-hit RBI singles in the ninth to lead the Giants to a 3-2 victory over the lowly Astros.

Matt Cain yielded Houston to just two runs over 7 1/3 innings. However, the Astros stringed together a couple of base runners to regain the lead in the eighth. Cain allowed a free pass to Jonathan Paredes to leadoff the inning. Brett Wallace followed with a single, and the cleanup hitter, Jason Castro bunted them over. Though the Astros wouldn’t need a hit to take the lead, as Paredes raced home on Cain’s 3-2 wild pitch that skipped through Buster Posey’s legs.

Santiago Casilla was summoned to dampen the Astros spark. He did just that, carving his way out of the inning unscathed.

Angel Pagan continued his hot streak. Bud Norris, who surrendered just one run over 6 2/3 innings, salvaged a solo home run to Pagan in the fifth, his eighth blast of the season. Although, Pagan’s blast was answered with an Astros’ blast in the bottom half of the inning off the bat of Fernando Martinez.

The Giants only hit with runners in scoring position came from Hector Sanchez. The hit just happened to be the go-ahead run. Multiple opportunities were wasted quite simply.

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Pagan Paves the Way in Giants Fifth Straight Win

If there’s anyway hotter than Angel Pagan right now, please let me know. The streaky center fielder fell a home run shy of the rare cycle. And if it wasn’t for the brisk air and high walls, Pagan probably would’ve earned that cycle. The cycle wasn’t, needed, however, as the Giants prevailed 5-3.

Pagan led off the third inning with a double. He eventually scored on Pablo Sandoval’s RBI double off the facing of the wall in left-field. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Sandoval raced home as the ball squirted away from the catcher and he made it, tying the game at two.

Pagan sparked another big inning in the fourth frame. Ben Sheets delivered a fastball that was left out over the plate, and Pagan smacked it off the bricks in right centerfield. It skipped away from the right fielder, and Pagan found himself at third. Marco Scutaro would plate him with an RBI single.

And just for the heck of it, Pagan led off the sixth inning with a single. Although he didn’t trot across home plate this time around, the Giants scored.

Ryan Vogelsong got off to a wobbly start as Jason Heyward took him deep in the first inning. The real killer, though, was Freddie Freeman who homered off Vogelsong twice. First in the second inning, and second in seventh.

After Freeman clocked his second home run of the game off Vogelsong, Bochy yanked his pitcher from the game with one out in the sixth. Ultimately, Vogelsong rebounded from tough very unordinary outings, and collected a much needed win.

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Arias Drives in 5, As Giants Complete Sweep of Dodgers, 8-4

A Buster Posey-less lineup is generally a sign of the Giants salvaging a game, but Wednesday night was quite the opposite. Perhaps Joaquin Arias sniffed an opportunity to shine in the wake of Posey’s hamstring injury. The utility infielder pumped out five RBIs, including a two-run homer in the first inning that sparked a good overall offensive night for the Giants who prevailed 8-4.

The definition of a catalyst has essentially been Angel Pagan during this three game series against the Dodgers. Once again, he led off the game with a hit (double), and scored the first run of the contest. After he trotted across home plate on Pablo Sandoval’s sacrifice fly in the first inning, it marked the third straight day that he scored the first run of the game.

Matt Cain, who was working without his battery mate in Posey, seemingly clicked with Hector Sanchez behind the dish. The big right-hander yielded the Dodgers’ bats to just a lone run over seven innings. Hunter Pence looked like a lost duck while attempting to track down Andre Ethier’s fly ball. He spun around multiple times only to have the ball drop on the warning track. His misplay led to the first Dodgers’ run, and Cain’s only blemish.

The Giants kicked their offense into full gear during a three run sixth inning. Pagan led off the inning with yet another hit, Marco Scutaro followed with a ground rule double that hopped over the short left field wall. Sandoval would drive in Pagan, Arias would drive in Scutaro, and Justin Christian capped off the inning with a bases loaded walk to extend their lead.

The Dodgers wouldn’t go down easily, though. A three-run eighth inning kept the tiny hope alive to craft a comeback. Clay Hensley began the inning, but after coaxing two straight hits to the heart of the Dodgers’ lineup, he was lifted from the game in favor of Jeremy Affeldt. Affledt wouldn’t help the situation, though. He loaded the bases, forcing skipper Bruce Bochy to bring in Santiago Casilla, who inherited the tense situation. He wasn’t able to close the gap as Luis Cruz slapped a two-run broken bat single into shallow centerfield. Though he stopped the bleeding by starting an inning-ending double play.

Cain surrendered five hits, but didn’t allow any free passes, walking none and striking out five en route to his 13th win of the season.

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Lincecum Fuels 4-1 Win Over Dodgers

Behind Tim Lincecum, the Giants cliched a series win on Tuesday night, beating the Dodgers 4-1.

Lincecum had some of his best stuff on Tuesday. His fastball was clicking as well, hitting 94 MPH occasionally in the early stages of the game. In spite of all the positives, he was taken out with two outs in the sixth inning.

Lincecum put two runners on for Shane Victorino in the sixth. Victorino singled to shallow centerfield where Angel Pagan reared back and fired a one-hop seed to home plate, gunning out A.J. Ellis trying to score from second.

Lincecum wouldn’t escape the inning unscathed. Matt Kemp, who came into the game with 17 strikeouts against Lincecum, hit a booming sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field. Just like that, his night was in numbered.

Lincecum finished with just four strikeouts, and only one walk. He also allowed five hits, over 5 2/3 innings.

Angel Pagan proved to be the cataylst. He stroked three hits including a run and an RBI. Marco Scutaro also picked up two hits and a run to continue his recent hot streak.

Pagan and Scutaro were driven in by Buster Posey in a two-run first inning. Brandon Crawford drove in a run as well on a looper that landed in front of Shane Victorino in left field.

Stripped of his closer duties, Santiago Casilla pitched two perfect frames. And Javier Lopez would slam the door shut on the Dodgers for the second consecutive night.

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Bumgarner Fans 10 as Giants Hold On to Take Sole Possession Of First Place

Two of the game’s best southpaws took center stage on Monday night in Los Angeles, and only one prevailed. Behind Madison Bumgarner, the Giants held on to take game one of this crucial three game series, 2-1.

Bumgarner, who came into Monday’s game with a 4-2 record against Los Angeles, cruised through eight dominant innings against the quiet Dodgers’ bats. The southpaw fanned ten over eight eight innings. In the process, he threw a season-high 123 pitches, one short of his career-high of 124.

The Dodgers’ 1-5 hitters united to produce an 0-16 line off Bumgarner. He induced four strikeouts to Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, and Andre Ethier combined.

Angel Pagan jumpstarted the Giants’ offense with a leadoff double to leadoff the game. Pablo Sandoval would drive him home with a shallow sacrifice fly two batters later. Pagan, who came into the game 4-16 off Clayton Kershaw, collected two hits and scored the only two Giants’ runs in the game.

A leadoff single off the bat of Clayton Kershaw dribbled into right field to spark a stressful inning for Bumgarner. Shane Victorino followed the pitcher by reaching on a fielders choice, then swiped second base with the bat in Matt Kemp’s hands. On a full count, Bumgarner got Kemp to chase a slider in the dirt to end the threat.

However, a rematch shaped up in the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs, Hanley Ramirez stepped in to face Sergio Romo. And Ramirez’s game-winning two-run homer off Ramirez earlier in the season wasn’t forgotten. However, Ramirez got the best of Romo once again, as he smacked a solo shot that pulled the Dodgers within one.

Javier Lopez came into the game to face Ethier, and he would induce a slow roller to first base to close the game.

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San Francisco Giants: Why They Won't Miss Melky Cabrera

Ever since the Giants won the 2010 World Series, being a Giants fan has been pretty fun.

Fans got to celebrate a World Series title they craved so much. A band of misfits celebrated something they couldn't have imagined in their wildest dreams. A whole city was brought together, thanks to 25 guys hitting and throwing baseballs.

Then, after a somewhat disappointing season in 2011, the city was brought back together in 2012. A savior by the name of Melky Cabrera appeared out of nowhere, hitting .346 and smacking 11 homers for a team in desperate need of offense.

Giants fans loved Cabrera from the start, and they started calling him the "Melk Man." He stayed hot for the first four months of the season, and a group of lifelong Giants fans showed up at every home game dressed as Melk Men.

However, things have gone downhill. Cabrera was suspended 50 games for using performance-enhanding drugs. Then, according to ESPN.com, he was accused of creating a fake website to avoid a suspension. Now, a lot of Giants fans are mad at him for letting the team down.

His contract expires this year, and his chances of staying with the Giants have dramatically decreased. Teams will take a chance on him and see if Cabrera can still perform well without the influence of drugs, but I doubt the Giants will be one of those teams.

San Francisco has Hunter Pence, Angel Pagan and Gregor Blanco in its outfield right now. Top prospect Gary Brown played left field for the first time in his career Saturday, which could be a sign that Cabrera's days as a Giant are numbered. Right now, Justin Christian is the only reserve outfielder for San Francisco.

In 21 games with the Giants, Scutaro has two homers and 18 RBI. Pence struggled when he first arrived in a trade, but he's been hitting well in San Diego. Posey raised his batting average from .289 at the All-Star break to .333, and he now has 19 homers and 77 RBI. Sandoval's batting average has been hovering around .300 for the duration of the year.

Even though Cabrera's offense and outfield play will be missed, the Giants' offense will be fine. In the three games since his suspension, San Francisco has averaged more than seven runs per game. Marco Scutaro, Pence, Pagan, Buster Posey, Joaquin Arias and Pablo Sandoval have picked up the slack in Cabrera's absence.

San Francisco's offense has been on fire lately.. San Francisco is 2-1 without Cabrera, and even though that's a very small sample size, the Giants don't seem to miss him.

They have Posey, who's a sure MVP candidate. They have Pence and Sandoval, power hitters who play good defense. They have Pagan and Scutaro, who are good defensively and know how to get on base.

Add that to a superb pitching staff and a good bullpen, and you have a great baseball team.

Sure, they could've been a little better with Cabrera. However, the Giants will get him back if they go deep in the playoffs, and they're already a great team.

So, as long as every Giant continues to play like they're playing, the Giants will be fine without Cabrera. 

This article was originally published on Bleacher Report.

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Giants' Offense Erupts for 10 Runs En Route to 10-1 Slaughtering of The Padres

Yes, Melky Cabrera is still fresh on the minds of the Giants and their fans. Yet, that didn’t seem apparent on Friday night. Matt Cain cruised through eight innings and the Giants offense scored ten runs behind him en route to a 10-1 slaughtering of the Padres. For good measure, the Giants have never scored double digit runs at the spacious Petco Park.

The Giants, who are the second best offensive team on the road in the National League, proved that once again against the Padres. San Francisco has won 10 of their last 14 road games, outscoring their opponents by nearly 60 runs during that span.

Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro were the prime offensive producers. They combined for five hits on four RBIs, two a piece. Scutaro smashed a solo home run in the first inning that skipped over the left field wall to spark the offensive outburst. Though the real spark would come in the third inning.

Every Giant reached base during the third, as they accumulated eight runs to blow open the game. Brandon Crawford, who has quietly totaled a .429 batting average over the past week, jumpstarted the eight run outburst. He doubled and scored on Pagan’s triple. He came around again to score on Pagan’s second hit of the inning. Even Matt Cain got in on the act with an RBI single of his own.

Hunter Pence, who came into the game hitting an abyssal .038 against San Diego this season, lined an RBI double in the third. Pablo Sandoval and Gregor Blanco also recorded RBIs in the inning.

While the offensive performed and overshadowed Cain’s dominance, the Giants’ right-hander essentially the same script he has followed all season. He took a no-hitter into the fifth, but Yonder Alonso tainted his no-hit bid with a double. Alonso would score the Padres only run on Everth Cabrera’s RBI single.

However, Cain would go on to pitch eight strong innings, striking out six on four hits and no walks.

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Giants-Padres Game Update

 

The Giants are rolling in San Diego as we speak, scoring 8 runs in the top of the 3rd inning to lead the ballgame 9-1.

Angel Pagan already has 3 hits, and Brandon Crawford's 2 hit's (scoring 2 of the Giant's 9 runs) brings his hitting streak up to 9.

Matt Cain has been dominant, stymieing the Padres offense to allow only 1 run on 2 hits and a hit batter through 5 solid innings.  With a ground-out from Posey, Cain will take the hill again at the bottom of the 6th inning.

--

 And that's the ballgame.  Matt Cain get's his 12th win of the season, as the Giants win 10-1 in game 1 of a 3 game series against the Padres on the road in San Diego.

Barry Zito will look for his 10th win of the season tomorrow at 5:30 PM.

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Giants Lose the Finale 3-1, Spilt Series to the Cards

After scoring at least one run in the first inning in each of the first three games of the series, the Giants failed to push that streak to four, falling to the Cardinals 3-1.

Instead, the Cardinals decided to take a page out of the Giants’ book. With a runner on first, Carlos Beltran crushed a cutter on the inner half of the plate into the seats. After putting a massive 15 spot on St.Louis last night, the Giants were held to just one run by Adam Wainwright.

The steaming hot Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a leadoff single in the sixth inning. Though Wainwright got Joaquin Arias to swing through a loopy curveball to end the threat.

Madison Bumgarner allowed just three hits on three runs over six innings. Despite recording his sixth straight quality start, his offense wasn’t able to bail him out of his seventh loss of the season.

The Giants put together a one out rally in the top of the fifth. Arias and Bumgarner hit back to back singles. Angel Pagan followed with a four pitch walk to load the bases for Marco Scutaro, who made history last night by driving in a career-high seven runs. He didn’t hit a grand slam for the second consecutive day, but he lined a sacrifice fly into right centerfield to score Arias. Though that’s all the damage the Giants would do against Wainwright on Thursday.

Aside from a mini comeback in the fifth, the other two of the Giants’ five hits were scattered. Scutaro singled in the fourth and Brandon Crawford singled in the sixth.

The Giants had their fair share of opportunities to craft a comeback. But San Francisco went 0-5 with runners in scoring position, and left eight runners on base.

The tying run came to the plate in the ninth, but pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez struck out on a fastball from Jason Motte to end the game.

Overall, the Giants wrapped up a very successful road trip, finishing 5-2. With the loss today, though, they loss a half game on the Dodgers, and could possibly loss ground on the Diamondbacks as well depending on the outcome of their game.

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Giants Continue to Struggle With Runners in Scoring Position

It should go without saying, but the Giants are terrible with runners on base, let alone with runners in scoring position. They can get runners on base, they just can’t get them across the plate, which is the goal, right? 

Some teams can rely on the long ball to put runs on the board, simply because those teams have the personnel to think home run. We’re talking about the Yankees, Rangers, and Blue Jays, not the Giants who have only hit 62 home runs this season, ahead of just the Dodgers for the worst mark in the National league. To their credit, playing 81 games at the spacious AT&T Park won’t help their chances, either. But plain and simple, don’t be expecting the San Francisco bombers to be making an appearance anytime soon. 

Without power, though, there’s just a couple alternatives--- consistent hitting with runners in scoring position, and using small ball tactics to manufacture runs. Unfortunately, the Giants do neither, at least consistently. They are hitting just .232/.312/.342 with RISP, and .188/.287/.283 with RISP and two outs this season. Even with an improvement in the speed department (Angel Pagan, Gregor Blanco, and Melky Cabrera), manufacturing runs has been a rarity as well and don’t think for one second that the Skipper, Bruce Bochy hasn’t taken any heat some heat for not using the tactic more often in tight games too.  

Let’s take Saturday’s game against the Dodgers for example. Buster Posey leads of the second inning with a double, and at that point, the game was just 2-0.  Sure, it’s the middle of the order and bunting isn’t particularly logical, but with that said, it’s expected of the middle of the order guys to a least make productive outs. 

So the number five batter, Angel Pagan follows Posey by flying out to shallow left field on the first pitch he sees.  Productive? No, not at all and with Pablo Sandoval out of the lineup, someone like Brandon Belt or Brandon Crawford has to come through with a hit. Granted, both Belt and Crawford have both had their moments of glory (Crawford’s walk off on Wednesday and Belt’s game tying two-run double on Friday), it can’t be expected of them to be clutch. 

However, the most important thing going to waste, is the fact that their pitching staff practically always keeps them in games. It’s a waste of chances, and as the stretch run looms, hitting with RISP is going to be the Giants biggest area to improve upon. 

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