Offensive futility continues in defeat
about having a No. 3 hitter who was hitless in 19 at-bats and 5-for-46 before he singled in the eighth inning, responded by suggesting he has nobody better than Eduardo Nuñez for the spot.
“You look at the order and we don’t have a lot of guys swinging real well,” Bochy said. “It doesn’t really matter where you put them. We’ve tweaked things, and we’ll tweak them again if we have to. Nuney is a big part of the offense. You saw what he did early in the season.”
Nuñez’s .389 start over nine games seems like eons ago.
Hunter Pence did OK as the leadoff hitter in the four games against the Dodgers, who used four left-handed starters. No. 2 hitter Brandon Belt continues to do a good job drawing walks but has struck out 23 times in 80 at-bats.
Buster Posey is hitting an extremely soft .357. He has three RBIs and three extra-base hits. On Thursday, he grounded into two double plays, including one against 20-year-old pitcher Julio Urias, who made his first start of the year.
Denard Span and Brandon Crawford appear to be out for a while. Joe Panik, the team’s most consistent hitter, cooled over his past four games before Bochy gave him a start off Thursday.
Assuming Ryan Braun is not on a plane heading west to join the Giants for this weekend’s three-game series against the Padres (not happening), somebody other than Arroyo needs to produce.
Arroyo drove in the Giants’ run with a two-out single in the sixth after the Dodgers walked Posey intentionally with Belt on third base. Arroyo stepped to the plate and rifled a single through the middle that would have clocked Urias in the head had he not jerked it out of the way and raised his glove in self-defense.
Arroyo, sounding as erudite as his 4.4 high school GPA suggests he would, explained his approach after the Dodgers decided to face him and not Posey.
“I think it’s an important part of baseball to be able to be confident, especially when you’re hitting,” he said. “When they walked Buster, I figured I really needed to lock in and get the run home.
“I tried to stick to my plan and get a pitch over the plate. All I was looking for was a single. I just wanted to get a good pitch and barrel it.”
The Giants had six other hits, none for extra bases.
After Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth in a 1-1 game — Corey Seager’s first-inning homer was the only blemish against Matt Moore in seven innings — the Giants’ bullpen surrendered four runs in the 10th.
Cory Gearrin, Steven Okert and Hunter Strickland each issued one unintentional walk, Strickland’s with the bases loaded, making it easy for the Dodgers to win at AT&T Park for just the sixth time in their past 24 games.