Among plenty of inconsistencies in the second half, losing is about the only thing the Giants have seemed to repeat. There was no momentum to be carried over from Monday’s dramatic win, and the Giants fell 2-0 to the Marlins. Matt Moore delivered six solid innings, but allowed two runs too many as the team went hitless in their only three at-bats with runners in scoring position.
The loss jeopardizes the Giants’ place as National League West leaders. Should the Dodgers beat the Phillies, they’d tie the Giants for first place, ending the club’s 86-day reign as lone NL West leaders. Here’s more on Tuesday night in Miami.
The big moment
The Giants struggled all night against Marlins right-hander Tom Koehler. Five base runners over seven innings didn’t lend itself to many rallies until Don Mattingly dipped into his bullpen for the eighth inning.
Brandon Crawford came up with two on and two out against Brian Ellington, but there would be no late-game magic akin to Monday night. Crawford flew out to left-center and extinguished the Giants’ final rally.
At the plate
Riding high off Crawford’s seven-hit performance and a four-run comeback, the Giants fell flat on Tuesday. Fittingly, Crawford took an 0-for-4 as the Giants mustered less than half the hits he collected the day prior. Angel Pagan and Conor Gillaspie notched the team’s only hits off Koehler, who’s allowed only two runs over his last 27 innings.
After catching every pitch of Monday’s five-and-a-half-hour marathon, Trevor Brown started in place of Buster Posey. Manager Bruce Bochy, who returned to manage after spending Monday in the hospital with an irregular heartbeat, insists it was a regular off-day for Posey. The Giants catcher jammed his finger on a slide the night before.
On the mound
Despite battling his command again, Moore appears equipped with the same important trait the Giants’ other top arms have: endurance. He lasted six innings despite issuing five walks, with Tuesday’s start coming on the heels of a six-inning, six-walk debut against the Phillies last Thursday. The Marlins got to Moore for a pair of runs in the first inning and 46 pitches over two frames, but that was the brunt of it. He reached the sixth-inning finish line for the 12th consecutive start, dispensing 111 pitches and exited on a high note.
The sixth inning was Moore’s only perfect one, and he struck out Jeff Mathis to end the frame with his seventh strikeout. The early struggles were abnormal for Moore, who usually gets beat the third time through the order in the fifth and sixth innings. Dee Gordon led off the first inning with a four-pitch walk, and Martin Prado set the table for Giancarlo Stanton with a shallow single to left.
Stanton offered a true power display, not hitting the ball over the fence, rather breaking his bat on a double over Angel Pagan’s head in left field. The barrel landed out near third base, and Gordon landed on home plate with the game’s first run. Marcell Ozuna hit grounded out to shortstop with the infield back to score Prado from third.
In the ‘pen
Jake Peavy entered the seventh inning, pitching as a reliever for the third time in four games. He allowed a pair of runners before recording the second out of the inning, but Javier Lopez bailed Peavy out.
Sergio Romo was superb in the eighth. He needed 14 pitches to strike out two in a perfect inning.
On deck
Badly in need of a positive start, the Marlins might be exactly what Jeff Samardzija (9-8, 4.40 ERA) needs. The right-hander allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings against Miami earlier this season, in the midst of a hot start that’s seemingly forgotten as his struggles in the pennant race persist. It’ll be David Phelps (5-5, 2.45 ERA) starting for the Marlins at 9:10 a.m. Catch the action on KNBR 680.