Return to AT&T provides no relief
Giants closer Hunter Strickland stood late Monday night in an otherwise empty and silent clubhouse and shouldered the blame for a 5-4 loss to Miami that spoiled a solid outing from Andrew Suarez and got a critical portion of the schedule off to a lousy start.
The Giants dropped to three games below .500 as they started a span during which they’ll play 20 of 26 games at home, wasting an early-inning three-spot, a sparkling defensive night from Kelby Tomlinson and the efficient outing from Suarez.
“It’s unacceptable,” Strickland said after his ninthinning meltdown allowed the Marlins to overcome a 4-2 deficit. “… Obviously, I’m not thrilled about it right now. I didn’t do my job, so I’ll go watch video and figure out what I have to do be better. …
“Nothing seemed to be right or working for me. It just sucked, in general.”
Strickland retired only one
batter in the ninth, allowing three runs on two walks and three hits, including a Miguel Rojas single to right that scored Cameron Maybin for the go-ahead run. The Giants had generally cruised until then as Suarez needed only 79 pitches to get through 61⁄3 innings and was greeted with a standing ovation from a crowd of 36,743 as he exited in the seventh.
The 25-year-old rookie lefthander struck out seven and allowed only two runs on five hits. He confidently pounded the strike zone with a good fastball-slider combo after being provided a 3-0 lead in the second inning. The Giants knocked Marlins starter Caleb Smith around in that frame and took advantage of some good fortune.
The rally started with what appeared to be a harmless fly to center off the bat of Buster Posey, but the ball landed several feet from Lewis Brinson, who couldn’t judge the ball’s flight in the swirling winds. After a Mac Williamson groundout, Joe Panik singled home Posey, and Pablo Sandoval followed with a two-run home run just over the wall in left.
The Giants tacked on a run in the third inning when Andrew McCutchen scored on Williamson’s single through the left side of the infield, and that could have been enough for Suarez, whose only laborious inning was the fifth.
After waltzing through the first four innings on 41 pitches, Suarez allowed two runs in the fifth. Maybin led off with a single to right and moved to third on Brinson’s double off the left-field wall. Rojas’ single to left scored both runners to trim the Marlins’ deficit to 4-2.
Suarez gave way to Sam Dyson in the seventh, and the right-handed reliever induced an inning-ending double play. Dyson also posted a 1-2-3 eighth inning, but Strickland couldn’t close the door, blowing a save opportunity for the second time in his past 13 chances.
Strickland walked Brian Anderson to open the ninth, allowed an RBI double to J.T. Realmuto and walked Justin Bour before recording his only out. Brinson and Rojas had back-to-back singles to bring home the game-tying and go-ahead runs.
“If you look at the job (Strickland has) done, there’s no reason to have a leash on him,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s really pitched well. The numbers show that. He probably would take a couple pitches back from tonight, but you’ve got to stay behind these guys.”