DeSclafani shelled, Giants drop first series this season
QUEENS, New York — If there has been one weak point in the San Francisco Giants’ strong starting rotation through the first two weeks of the season, it has been Anthony DeSclafani, the pitcher the club handed its longest contract to this offseason. DeSclafani simply got hit around by the Mets in a 6-2 loss Thursday. Hard.
DeSclafani surrendered five runs on nine hits over five innings, including a pair of home runs that served as a warning for more trouble ahead. After signing a three-year, $30 million contract this offseason, the five innings completed by DeSclafani on Thursday marked his longest yet most laborious outing of the season. His ERA sits at 6.08 through his first three starts.
“He just doesn’t have his best stuff right now,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “It’s just one of those things where you have to hang in there with him. We trust Tony. He was a great pitcher for us last year, and he went through some starts last year when he didn’t have his best stuff as well.”
DeSclafani served up a fastball to Francisco Lindor, the second batter of the game, that the Mets shortstop belted into the upper deck in right field that snapped a streak of 308 consecutive batters Giants pitchers had faced without allowing a home run.
It took only three more batters for DeSclafani to serve up another, this time to Eduardo Escobar leading off the second inning, which landed not far from where Lindor placed his. The Mets added on again in the third, with two more runs on three hits, capped by a two-RBI single by Mark Canha.
“Definitely didn’t feel crisp today at all,” DeSclafani said. “I feel like I’m coming off the ball kind of early and not staying back and stuff’s getting left up in the zone. The two home run pitches were supposed to be down and I just left them up in the middle of the plate.”
The Giants pitchers’ homerless stretch was the longest active streak in MLB, almost double that of any other pitching staff. However, with a home run to fly ball rate of only 3.1% entering Thursday, it was unsustainable. No team in MLB had allowed fewer fly balls to leave yard, and while the Giants also ranked second-last in the category last season, their rate this season was one-third of their 10.1% rate last year.
“We weren’t going to not give up a home run all year,” Kapler said. “I think we understand that part of pitching is giving up home runs, walking guys. Having hard contact is part of the game. When you go through a stretch where those things aren’t happening, you’re pleased with the results, but you also always know that there are going to be some times that aren’t perfect.
“We’re not going to be too high or too low in these situations. When guys aren’t giving up homers, we’re not going to pom-poms and cheering go on. And when guys are giving up homers, we’re going to understand that that’s part of baseball.”
For as much success as the Mets found against DeSclafani, the Giants were equally stumped by his counterpart on the mound for New York. After Thairo Estrada’s RBI single in the second inning, driving in Brandon Crawford, Carrasco retired 18 straight batters, a streak snapped only by a throwing error that allowed Mauricio Dubon to reach base to begin the eighth inning. And, making matters worse, Dubon was immediately erased on a double play, just before Mike Yastrzemski stepped to the plate and slugged a solo shot to right field that finally knocked Carrasco from the game.
After the past four days, Citi Field might as well be a house of horrors for these Giants.
They head to Washington, D.C., having lost a starting pitcher to a strained groin, an outfielder to an oblique injury, and their once-sterling 7-2 record that is now 8-5 after dropping their first series of the season.
Late Wednesday: Rodón, Giants top Mets
QUEENS, New York — With every fastball launched out of Carlos Rodón’s left hand, the Giants’ chances of leaving their doubleheader sweep behind and embarking on a new winning streak looked better and better.
That’s because Giants hitters provided the power-pitching left-hander ample support before he even took the mound Wednesday evening at Citi Field, and once he did, there was little the Mets could do to touch Rodón. With a 5-2 win Wednesday, the Giants improved to 8-4 and avoided dropping their first series of the year, with a chance to secure a split in the matinee finale of the fourgame set Thursday.