Stratton solid, but bats silenced in 3-1 loss to Marlins
S.F. manages just three hits in loss to the Marlins
MIAMI >> Fewer than 7,000 patrons took in each of the first two games of San Francisco’s series in Miami, but those that did purchase tickets have witnessed a rather surprising development.
The Giants are unraveling at the hands of the last-place Marlins.
After falling 3-1 on Tuesday, the 33-34 Giants have a losing record for the first time in more than a week.
“We just got shut down offensively,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “They did a job on us. Three hits, that’s not going to work. We had a hard time getting guys on base and just getting something going. That’s the ballgame.”
For the second straight night, the Giants played like a sub .500 team trying to tread water. With two straight defeats to open a four-game set, that’s now what they are.
Despite having a starter log seven innings for just the second time in the club’s past 34 games, Chris Stratton’s quality start wasn’t enough to offset a troubling night for the offense. Stratton and third baseman Evan Longoria each lined singles while Hunter Pence reached on an infield tapper scored as a hit, but that was all the production Bochy’s offense managed.
For a Giants club that opened the month of June by winning seven of its first nine and taking series from three contending teams — the Phillies, D’backs and Nationals — a significant amount of good will the team drummed up with its fan base has vanished quickly. After losing three separate leads to fall in Monday’s series opener, the Giants opened Tuesday’s contest by missing a golden opportunity to take control
of the game in the first inning. San Francisco did secure a 1-0 lead on a Brandon Crawford RBI groundout, but the Giants failed to push across multiple runs despite having runners on second and third and no one out with the heart of the order coming up.
“We had them on the ropes there,” Bochy said. “(Crawford) smoked it and they just made a great play. We got one run out of it, but after that, I was surprised because of the way we’ve been swinging the bats.”
The first inning turned out to be the only one in which the Giants scored against Marlins rookie Trevor Richards, who earned his first career win in his seventh major league start. Richards tallied five scoreless innings against San Francisco, but he didn’t exactly blow the Giants away. Richards picked up just five swinging strikes — three alone in a fifth inning at-bat by Pence — and only struck out two Giants hitters, but induced plenty of weak contact.
“We tried to fight every inning and every at-bat,” center
fielder Gorkys Hernández said. “When you have a pitcher like that, you have to make adjustments. We tried to make adjustments and nothing happened.”
Richards’ counterpart, Stratton, retired the final 13 hitters he faced, but his quality start wasn’t enough. Stratton worked through the seventh Tuesday and ran into trouble just once, but a three-run third proved to be the right-hander’s downfall in Miami.
“I hate to let that third get away from me,” Stratton said. “I honestly made some really good pitches. They really battled.”
The Marlins plated the game-tying run on a Starlin Castro RBI single before J.T. Riddle ripped a two-run double that decided the outcome. Miami hit the ball hard enough to extend its lead, but a diving catch from Pence in left field and a 1-5 double play turned after Stratton snagged a line drive took away a single that likely would have led to two more runs.
After catching a break with the line drive double play, the Giants had a chance to cut into the Marlins lead following a one-out walk by Hernández in the top of the fifth. A Stratton sacrifice bunt advanced Hernández into scoring position, but catcher J.T. Realmuto picked off the Giants center fielder at second base to end the inning and punctuate another costly situational mistake.
“If (Joe Panik) hit a single, I would have scored easily,” Hernández said. “But I mean, I would say that’s part of the game sometimes. Picking off at second base or picking off at first base. We learn by making mistakes, and we’ll get them tomorrow.”
• After undergoing an emergency appendectomy June 2, first baseman Brandon Belt will take batting practice for the first time today and join the Giants in Los Angeles this weekend. Belt will be evaluated by the Giants medical staff before the club decides whether to reinstate Belt or have him begin a rehab assignment.