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It was a memorable weekend of celebrations and honors for the Giants at AT&T Park. But they're sounding plenty ready to be done walking down 2010 Memory Lane and getting on with the business of charting a more focused path for 2011.

"There's no question," said Buster Posey, who was honored in a lavish Rookie of the Year ceremony Sunday before a 6-1 loss to St. Louis in which the young catcher didn't even play. "For me, I know, and I would think most guys would feel like that, too."

As it turned out, the Posey pageantry was as exciting as it got all day for the Giants after two ultra-dramatic victories to open the home season. Cardinals right-hander Kyle Lohse limited the Giants to five singles and a lone run over the first eight innings, and St. Louis finally broke through in a three-run sixth against San Francisco starter Barry Zito and kept adding to it to end the Giants' three-game win streak.

"There might have been a little hangover today," admitted manager Bruce Bochy. "It's been a very emotional first couple of games here."

Without a doubt, while the Giants reveled in the moment of all the ceremonies of their World Series championship, the new season is nine games old now, and several players are ready to stop talking about the past.

"You try and enjoy all this because it's something that doesn't happen very often," said Posey. "But at the same time, I think everybody's looking forward to getting down to business now and getting into the groove of the season."

"It's been a little bit difficult (with all the hoopla) because we don't have time to stretch and prepare for the game," added Pablo Sandoval, who drove in the Giants' run with a first-inning single. "Now it's going to be different."

Indeed, the Dodgers come to town tonight, and perhaps the last real order of old business will be presenting former Giant Juan Uribe his World Series ring. So there will be one last brief ceremony.

"Yeah, but not for us," said Aaron Rowand. "It'll just be for him."

For his own part, after a forgettable 2010, Rowand has become a central figure for the Giants again in 2011. He'll likely be the starting center fielder throughout the Los Angeles series with the uncertainty surrounding Andres Torres. After receiving the MRI report, Bochy said after the game that Torres has a mild left Achilles tendon strain, and the club will keep him in a walking boot until Wednesday and then re-evaluate his situation.

Rowand might have been able to minimize the damage against Zito in the sixth had he been able to haul in Skip Schumaker's deep drive to left-center with two on, one out and a run in. Rowand appeared to have a bead on the ball, but it caromed off his glove. The ball was ruled a double, and two runs scored on the play.

"I took a good angle at it, and I was outstretched, but it just caught the very tip of my glove," he said. "I thought I had it, but it was tailing away from me a little bit."

The upshot was that it resulted in the end of a disappointing day for Zito, who despite some control issues made it through five innings with the score tied 1-1. But after retiring Albert Pujols to start the sixth, he walked Matt Holliday and Allen Craig back-to-back and paid the price. David Freese doubled home one run before the Schumaker shot that broke open the game.

"Just the walks," Zito said. "All day I was battling the timing in my delivery. The ball was getting up, and that's the core of my frustration in the outing was not throwing strikes. I'd been throwing strikes all spring."

Like so many of his teammates, Zito is ready for 2010 closure.

"It's a huge deal what the San Francisco Giants accomplished last year, and it's a huge deal for the city," he said. "But the reality is we have games to win today, tomorrow, the next day. I think the ceremonies were amazing. They did them as good as they could have. But now we can just move forward and focus on the games."

Cardinals, Pujols unlikely to reach deal before Wednesday deadline

The St. Louis Cardinals have made a spirited last-ditch effort to sign Albert Pujols before his self-imposed noon deadline Wednesday, offering him an eight-year contract believed to be worth in excess of $200 million, people familiar with the talks told SI.com. However, several people connected to the negotiations believe the sides will not have an agreement in place before the deadline, setting the stage for free agency at year's end for the three-time NL MVP.

According to sources, the Cardinals' latest offer is short of $30 million per year. Pujols, 31, has been seeking a deal greater than the record 10-year, $275 million contract that Alex Rodrguez signed with the New York Yankees before the 2008 season.

Both sides have made concessions during talks that have stretched over months, but in recent days no one was expressing great hope for a quick resolution.

While the main goal for Pujols was always to top A-Rod, Pujols' agent Dan Lozano at one point in the negotiation with the Cardinals proposed that part of a deal include a piece of the storied team for Pujols, which would have made Pujols a player/part owner, in just one of the attempts by either side that still appears to be going nowhere.

Hours before the noon deadline, there is little evidence the sides will bridge the large gap that has separated them for months. While the Cardinals' exact offer is not known, it presumably has to be higher per year than the $25 million salary the Phillies gave Ryan Howard last season.

Lozano's apparently unsuccessful attempt to acquire a piece of the team is unconventional and perhaps even unprecedented, but it is not explicitly disallowed by baseball rules, which only prohibit part ownership of a competing team by a player. Had Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt agreed to take Pujols as a limited partner, commissioner Bud Selig would have had to approve the complicated arrangement, which would have had to allow for a provision for transfer of Pujols' shares in the event he were later traded (although for a practical matter, that may not have mattered since Pujols already has veto rights over trades as a 10-and-5 player). So while Lozano's request wasn't technically impossible, it would have complicated things.

Lozano, as well as Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt and general manager John Mozeliak have been scarce in recent days as they've been sought to talk publicly about negotiations -- though that shouldn't necessarily be taken as a sign they are busy making serious progress. A source familiar with the talks suggested the sides were "speaking different languages" as of a week ago, and so far apart in talks that a deal by Pujols' deadline had virtually no chance of being completed by Wednesday. Pujols' camp has said that if no deal is done by Wednesday, he will not discuss money with the team during the season, almost guaranteeing he will become a free agent.

In a brief interview with SI.com last Novermber, DeWitt expressed his belief that the Yankees must regret their $275 million investment in A-Rod, though the Yankees have not said that's the case. The Yankees are also in better position to do a longer deal since they will have the DH as an option in the last years of Rodriguez's contract.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa opined Tuesday that the players union is trying to coerce Pujols to try to go for a record contract in free agency, an assertion that players union chief Michael Weiner denied. La Russa, a lawyer as well as a manger, might just be trying to set things up for blame for someone other than his Cardinals or his favorite player should a deal not get done.

"It's not accurate at all. We've had no conversations with Albert Pujols or Dan Lozano about the numbers of the contract," Weiner said in a phone interview. "Albert is a sophisticated and experienced player and he has a very experienced agent."

Other teams are not allowed to discuss publicly Pujols' situation, but speculation around the game is that Pujols may be able to get his 10-year deal elsewhere, perhaps even from the Chicago Cubs. Two competing executives said they believe the Cubs, who have the resources and need, not to mention several big contracts coming off their books after the season, to do a monster deal to steal the greatest star from their archrivals.

Should Pujols become free, there's no telling who may get involved. But while he would be extremely coveted by many teams, one person familiar with the thinking of the Yankees, the biggest free-agent players with the most money, suggested that star Mark Teixeira's presence would make them an illogical fit for another A-Rod type deal for a first baseman, even an all-time great first baseman.