Even after their 4-2 loss Tuesday afternoon that dropped their record to 13-13, the San Francisco Giants still are in position to make a late-season run and possibly represent the National League in the World Series. The reason for this is Barry Bonds, as it has been for the last 14 years, and the good core of veterans who know what it takes it win in the postseason. As it always seems to do, the Giants have to start with the health and production of their leftfielder Barry Bonds. Bonds, who started out very slowly and had some around baseball wondering if he could make it through the year, now seems to have found his stride at the plate. If Bonds can just be a force on a regular basis in the middle of the line-up, then the Giants will be in great shape. This has a lot to do with the resurgence of Moises Alou in addition to the continued steady play of Omar Vizquel at shortstop and Randy Winn in the outfield. For one of the first times since Bonds? arrival, there is a legitimate supporting cast in front of and around him, which helps out in overall run production. This has to be music to the ears of a pitching staff that can carry a team for a stretch of time, but shouldn?t be asked to do it on a regular basis. The staff is led by longtime ace Jason Schmidt, who still isn?t up to his Cy Young form of a couple years ago, and Matt Morris, the off-season addition that looks to be regaining his old form that earned him recognition as one of the top young pitchers when with the St. Louis Cardinals. If this staff wants to be one of the best, the Giants will need prized prospect Matt Cain to be more consistent and have Noah Lowery take his stuff to the next level. They will be aided by a strong back end of the bullpen with Tim Worrell and Armando Benitez, who should be lights out once he gets his legs under him. The rest of the bullpen is a little shaky, so it will be imperative that the starters go deep into games on a consistent basis. On top of all this, they have one of the best managers in the game in Felipe Alou and one of the best general managers in Brian Sabaen, who will make the necessary move at the deadline to put this team over the top. Now age and injury concerns can easily derail this team during the long summer months, but if they can pull through in a weak division, this is one team I wouldn?t want to face come October.