PHOENIX — Some 400 miles of distance, a different ballpark and a downgrade in competition from the first-place Dodgers to last-place D-backs wasn’t enough for the Giants to shed their slow start to the second half.
Held hitless for more than half the game Monday, the Giants dropped the opener of this three-game series with Arizona, 7-0, leaving them winless in five games since the All-Star break. The five-game losing streak — their fourth of at least that long this season — has dropped them back to .500, all but negating their 7-2 stretch to finish the first half.
“The hardest part is we kind of had this before. We’ve done this once already,” said starter Jakob Junis, who left a scoreless game after 4⅓ innings in his return to the rotation, referencing the club’s 4-14 stretch that preceded their hot play before the break. “It’s not fun when you’re losing that many games and things start to pile on.”
The Giants couldn’t muster a hit — or a base runner — off D-backs starter Merrill Kelly until the sixth, when Luis González led off with a double that just cleared the first-base bag. That failed to spark the bats, though, as two bunt singles amounted to their only other offense Monday night.
Brandon Belt’s 403-foot fly out to end the seventh was the Giants’ hardest- and furthest-hit ball of the night, and one of only two to leave the bat at more than 100 mph. The shutout was the fifth time they were blanked this season, and their three hits matched their second-fewest in a game.
They brought 28 men to the plate, one more than the minimum, because González was doubled off second after his double in the sixth and picked off first after bunting for a single in the eighth.
“I messed up,” González said. “That can’t happen on my part.”
It might be too kind to call Kelly the Giants’ Kryptonite, only because this team doesn’t appear to have any super powers. But it’s tough to find a starter who has shut down the Giants as well as the 33-year-old Arizona State product this season. In three starts this season (all since July 6), Kelly has limited the Giants to four runs and 10 hits in 21⅓ innings (a 1.69 ERA).
“He really commanded glove side, and it was keeping both our right-handed and left-handed hitters off balance and unable to get their best swings off,” said manager Gabe Kapler, who when filling out his lineup card Monday referenced previous groups that had success against Kelly but to no avail. “I think when a good pitcher is on his game – it’s very similar to when one of our best pitchers is rolling – it’s hard to kind of slow things down. The best thing we can do is put guys in the batter’s box who feel comfortable against Kelly and trust they’re going to do their best work.”
Making his first start since straining his hamstring on June 10, Junis left the game before he had allowed a run — or the Giants had gotten their first hit. Kapler came out with the hook with one out in the fifth (Junis was on a pitch count and finished with 63), and Jarlín García allowed the runner he inherited from Junis to score on the first batter he faced.
“He was efficient and effective and left the game with zeros on the board,” Kapler said. “We just weren’t able to protect the tie for him.”
García faced three batters and didn’t record an out. The Giants’ bullpen troubles continued the following inning, as Sam Long walked the first batter he faced and proceeded to give up a three spot, punctuated by Carson Kelly’s two-RBI double and Josh Rojas’ RBI single that officially put the game out of reach.
Between González’s baserunning blunder and a couple uncharacteristic plays from Austin Slater in center field, Kapler reasoned the club might be pressing as the search for its first win since the All-Star break drags in to its sixth game.
After ranging far toward right field and setting himself up to make a highlight-reel catch, Austin Slater let a deep David Peralta fly ball glance off his glove and go for a double in the fourth. Slater’s throw home on Alek Thomas’ RBI single in the fifth landed midway up the third-base line, allowing Gerardo Perdomo to score without a play and Thomas to advance to second. (Perdomo was only on second because Joc Pederson was so slow getting to the ball he hit into shallow left field.) The next inning, another errant throw from Slater allowed Rojas to take second base on his RBI single, even though Kelly crossed the plate well before the throw arrived. And, oh, Joey Bart also dropped a foul pop (though the batter was quickly retired, anyway).
“Sometimes overthrows when it comes to cutoff men, it’s just a result of a guy trying to do too much,” Kapler said. “Like, ‘I’m gonna be the guy that turns things around; I’m gonna make the big play.’ They try to take it on themselves and try to do too much and you overthrow a cutoff man, and that’s what happened there.
“Sometimes when things aren’t going the way you want them to as a club … what happens is you press a little bit too hard. You get a little tight when the best thing you can possibly do is play loose. … You can’t play this game tight. You’ve got to play it loose. You’ve got to play it with freedom. And right now, guys are probably trying to do a little bit too much.”
Rookie David Villar, however, provided a couple highlights at third base, charging a hopper to throw out Thomas to end the third, then diving to his right to nab a line drive from Christian Walker for the second out of the seventh.
After going 17-2 against Arizona last season, the Giants fell to 3-4 this year and lost for the third time in four games at Chase Field. In their last visit here at the start of this month, they were at risk of falling below .500, and they’re right there again, at 48-48.
A loss Tuesday wouldn’t only be their sixth straight to start the second half, it would end the majors’ longest active streak without a losing record, dating back to the start of last season.
Source: www.mercurynews.com