Maybe a trip to the desert would soothe the Giants’ weary spirits after being publicly embarrassed by the Los Angeles Dodgers. A series-opening win in Arizona, perhaps?
Nope. Nothing but a mirage.
The early hopes of this season are starting to seem like a mirage.
There are holes in this team’s sails that are only tearing further. On Monday, they were shutout by a Merrill Kelly gem, as the bullpen imploded with some assistance from more wretched defense in a 7-0 loss.
The start was almost promising, as the defense, for a moment, seemed better! … Until it wasn’t. There was a nice first-inning play from Wilmer Flores to catch a runner at home, then a nifty double play in the following inning.
But old habits are hard to break.
Two innings later, Austin Slater made a slo-mo, backpedaling jump. Hold your breath, and… he dropped it. Fumbled it just about off his chest.
Don’t worry, it continued. In the fifth, as pictured above, Joey Bart went fishing for a popup behind home plate, caught his knee against a barrier, stumbled, and dropped a would-be out off the tip of his glove.
Later in the game, Slater opted to miss the cutoff man, something he is apparently all too fond of.
The only person who can’t be considered at fault for the loss was Jacob Junis, making his first start since being placed on the 15-day injured list about a month-and-a-half ago.
He was expected to go about three innings, but came out for the fifth after keeping a low pitch count. What a banner moment.
He was relieved in treacherous fashion by the only two lefties the Giants have in their bullpen.
Jarlin García came first, failing to record a single out. He faced three batters, then headed to the bench with the Giants trailing by a pair, allowing a double, walk, then single.
John Brebbia eased their suffering by closing out the inning, but Sam Long had some wretched plans of his own in the sixth.
He opened with a four-pitch walk, secured a lineout… then allowed back-to-back doubles. A Josh Rojas single a couple batters later capped off the three-run inning with the Giants trailing by five.
The bullpen bleeding continued, inconsequentially, in the eighth, when rookie Gregor Santos allowed a couple of runs to come in.
It didn’t matter because there was no offense on offer from San Francisco’s side.
If you want some perspective on what the Giants’ hitters were able to achieve against Merrill Kelly, well, ruminate on the fact that two of their three hits were bunts.
Kelly pitched eight shutout innings, striking out seven and walking none. He confounded Giants hitters, for not the first time this season.
The Giants’ first hit didn’t come until the sixth inning, when Luis González pulled a double down the right-field line.
He was criticized by broadcaster Mike Krukow for peeking down that line at the ball instead of watching third base coach Mark Hallberg. Two plays later, he was caught too far off second base on a Mike Yastrzemski floater that found the glove of Rojas. González was doubled off at second.
Those were not the last of his misguided escapades on the basepaths.
He bunted his way on with two outs in the eighth… and was promptly picked off at first.
So, for those of you counting at home, that’s three hits (two of which were bunts), three questionable baserunning plays, three defensive mishaps and three relievers who allowed runs.
This is a team which entered this game, as unbelievable as it may seem, with the fifth-most runs scored in the league. Despite their tepid nature, they’ve driven runners in this season. It just doesn’t ever feel reliable.
The Giants are now back to .500 at 48-48 with a week to go before the trade deadline. If you’re Farhan Zaidi, are you really going to bet on this team contending the rest of the year?