There’s no shortage of blame for the Giants’ collapse Friday night in Game 2 of the NLDS.

Had Pat Burrell not turned Derrek Lee’s sixth inning single into a double by kicking the ball in left field, maybe the Braves don’t score on the next play to cut the Giants’ 4-0 lead to 4-1.

Had Sergio Romo not allowed the only two batters he faced in the eighth to reach base, maybe Brian Wilson allow three runs to tie the game at 4-4.

Had Pablo Sandoval honed his craft at third base during the regular season, he wouldn’t have helped Wilson give up those three runs by making a throwing error in that fatal eighth inning.

Had Andres Torres played fundamental baseball and lifted a sac fly into the outfield instead of striking out with runners at first and third with one out in the seventh, the Giants would have finished with five runs instead of four.

And had sensational rookie Buster Posey not grounded into a double play in the bottom of the 10th with bases loaded and only one out, the Giants would be up two-games-to-none in their best of seven series with the Braves.

But alas, things didn’t go the Giants’ way last night and they only have themselves to blame for their 5-4 collapse. Like so many times throughout his career, they wasted another fine performance by Matt Cain and once again like so many times throughout the past couple of years, their offense couldn’t step up when the club needed it to.

Give credit to the Braves, who never gave up despite trailing 4-0 after only two innings. Starter Tommy Hanson settled in after giving up a 3-run dinger to Burrell in the first and the bullpen was absolutely outstanding the entire night. Kyle Farnsworth stepped up enormously in extra innings when Billy Wagner went down, and got the double play in the bottom of the 10th that allowed Rick Ankiel to hit the game-winning homer in the 11th (which was an absolute moon shot into McCovey Cove).

Now the series shifts to Atlanta for two games, where the Braves finished with a NL-best 56-25 home record. They’ve also seized all the momentum and can close out the series at home on Monday if they can scoop up two more wins.

We’ll see what the Giants are made of over these next three days, because they’ve definitely put their backs against it.

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Offseason Movement: The Royals signed free agents 1B Mike Jacobs, 3B Willie Bloomquist and RHP Kyle Farnsworth, while acquiring OF Coco Crisp from the Red Sox in exchange for Ramon Ramirez. The club also signed RHP Kyle Farnsworth, formally of the Tigers.

Top Prospect: Mike Moustakas, INF
Moustakas is a high-A prospect selected with the second overall pick in the 2007 draft. Moustakas played shortstop at the collegiate level, but his arm strength will allow him to move over to third base at the next level. He struggled hitting the ball at the start of last season, but finished with a respectable .272 average in 496 minor league at bats. As long as his hitting continues to improve, he should move through the minors this year and get a shot at the big leagues in 2010.

The Big Question: Does this club have enough pitching?
Gil Meche (14-11, 3.98 ERA, 210 IP) and Zach Greinke (13-10, 3.47 ERA, 202 IP) each found success last year, while the third spot in the rotation has been given to 25-year old Kyle Davies, who hasn’t allowed a run yet in spring training. The rest of the rotation is spotty, however. The club signed veteran Sidney Ponson to a minor league contract and is expected to challenge Brian Bannister, Horacio Ramirez and Luke Hochevar for the final two spots in the rotation. After posting a winning record in 2007, Bannister took a step back in his second full season last year, going 9-16 with a 5.76 ERA. If he can bounce back to his ’07 form, the Royals could have the makings of a nice staff. But that’s also assuming Meche and Greinke produce winning seasons again, and the youngster Davies comes through in the third spot.

Outlook: There’s plenty to like about the Royals and there’s plenty to dislike. The top of their rotation is pretty solid, but questions remain about their fourth and fifth starters. The bullpen features one of the better young closers in the game in Joakim Soria, but will the addition of Kyle Farnsworth be enough of a boost for the rest of the unit? The lineup might be the best thing going this club, with Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs joining Jose Guillen and breakout candidate Billy Butler in an above-average offense. Many things have to come together for the Royals to be successful this season, but do they have enough to overtake the Indians, Tigers, White Sox and Twins (assuming Joe Mauer is healthy, that is) in the AL Central? The division isn’t a powerhouse, but teams like the Indians and Tigers are expected to have huge bounce back seasons, which likely means that KC will be left in the dust.

Projection: 5th AL Central