Giants can’t keep leads in loss
Marlins react with runs every time they fall behind
MIAMI >> Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
But if Sir Isaac dreamed up a fourth, it might have stated that for every Giants run, the Marlins would react with a run of their own.
That law has applied for each of the first three games of San Francisco’s series in Miami, as the Giants fell 5-4 on a walkoff sacrifice fly by rookie Brian Anderson on Wednesday.
“They’ve played better ball than us these past three games,” right fielder Andrew McCutchen said. “They’ve taken three away from us. It definitely doesn’t feel good when you’re going in knowing these are ballgames you should be winning.”
The Giants lost three leads in Monday’s defeat, one on Tuesday and three more on Wednesday, with the last one coming after Evan Longoria poked an RBI single to push the Giants ahead 4-3 in the top of the seventh.
Before Monday, the Marlins hadn’t come back from three deficits in a game to win since July 19, 2010. They’ve achieved the feat against the Giants twice in three days.
“We’re having a hard time holding a lead and that’s what’s frustrating,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. “They just nicked us for a run tonight a few times. It seems like the walks are hurting us.”
All three of the advantages the Giants lost Wednesday came after a Marlins leadoff hitter reached base, which occurred twice due to leadoff walks.
Starter Andrew Suárez and set-up man Sam Dyson were both offenders in the walkoff defeat, as Suárez’s leadoff walk in the fourth keyed a two-run rally while Dyson’s free pass in the eighth preceded a game-tying double.
“I just didn’t really have a feel for a lot of pitches later on in the game,” Suárez said. “I just think with all the humidity and sweating so much the ball was a little slick. I had to compete and try to keep throwing strikes.”
The final lead the Giants surrendered stung the most, particularly after Longoria hit a 100 mile per hour fastball from Tayron Guerrero up the middle to score Buster Posey in the seventh. The third baseman delivered his team-leading 34th RBI of the season on an 0-2 count and on the seventh pitch of an at-bat that featured six pitches faster than 98 miles per hour.
After Suárez allowed two runs in the fourth to spoil a 2-0 edge supplied by McCutchen’s seventh home run of the season in the first inning, it was Mark Melancon who let the Marlins overcome a 3-2 deficit in the sixth.