FINER DETAILS SLIP THROUGH CRACKS
Errors, mental mistakes cost Giants in loss to Padres, snapping win streak at three
SAN FRANCISCO >> In a game of inches, punctuality is just as critical as precision.
The Giants were neither on time or on the mark Friday against the Padres and it cost them in a 6-2 defeat to the last-place club in the National League West. Manager Bruce Bochy’s squad unraveled in a sloppy top of the sixth inning, committing one physical error and at least two other mental mistakes that helped ignite a decisive two-run rally for the Padres.
“Tonight, I think you look at it, and we hurt ourselves,” Bochy said.
After winning three in a row to climb back to .500, the Giants dropped to 3839 with Friday’s loss and fell five games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the division.
The Giants are a veteran club filled with experienced players at nearly every position, but Friday they came undone in the top of the sixth following a slew of mistakes characteristic of rookies.
After second baseman José Pirela opened the inning with a groundout, third baseman Cory Spangenberg beat Giants starter Chris Stratton to first base on an infield hit that would have been an out if Stratton raced off the mound to cover the bag following a sensational diving stop by Buster Posey.
“The biggest play of the game is me not getting over to first base there,” Stratton said. “My thought was it’s probably going to be foul there, but Buster
THE SCORE
PADRES 6, GIANTS 2
Up next: Padres (Lyles 2-4) at Giants (Suarez 2-4), today, 1:05 p.m., NBCBA
made a heck of a play and you just can’t be late.”
A Freddy Galvis single advanced Spangenberg to third, and another mental error from the Giants allowed San Diego to break a 1-1 tie.
“It ended up losing us the game,” Stratton said. “That one is 100 percent on me.”
Following a wild pitch from Stratton,
catcher Nick Hundley attempted to throw out Galvis running to second, but Hundley’s throw sailed wide of the base and into center field.
Even if Hundley delivered a strike, middle infielders Brandon Crawford and Alen Hanson appeared to be too far from the bag to field a throw.
“We just yanked the throw a little bit to the left,” Bochy said. “That’s what that was.”
Trouble continued in the top of the ninth for the Giants, when a rookie did commit two miscues as reliever Pierce Johnson walked a pair of Padres
hitters to open the inning. Johnson was relieved by lefty Will Smith, but Eric Hosmer poked a two out, two-run single to left field to pad San Diego’s advantage.
A series of mental mistakes crushed the Giants, particularly on a night when Stratton allowed just two earned runs over six innings of work. Stratton didn’t help his own cause by failing to cover first in a timely manner, but the Giants offense did little to challenge Padres lefthander Clayton Richard.
“We just couldn’t do much offensively,” Bochy said. “We hit a lot of ground balls, and that’s what he induces with that sinker. We just couldn’t get very much going.”
The Giants finally sustained a rally against the Padres in the bottom of the seventh, as San Diego skipper Andy Green needed four pitchers to combine for three outs while a Pablo Sandoval RBI closed the Giants’ deficit to 3-2.
The matchup between Stratton and Richard pitted a pair of starters with nearly identical ERAs against each other. Despite their performances this season, though, Stratton and Richard entered with vastly different track records against their Friday opponents.
Stratton tossed seven innings of one-hit ball in his first start against San Diego this season and boasted 13 2/3 career scoreless innings against the Padres. In two prior outings against the Giants this year, Richard surrendered a combined 10 earned runs and entered AT&T Park with a career 4.58 ERA in 22 outings against San Francisco.
Richard appeared destined for another rough night at China Basin when Giants leadoff hitter Gorkys Hernández slammed a double into the right center field alleyway to open the first inning, but that was the only hit the club recorded in that frame and the only hit the team posted until Hernández yanked a two-out double past Spangenberg in the bottom of the sixth.
Despite a long flyout from Buster Posey and a pair of hard ground balls, the Giants couldn’t find another gap in the Padres’ defense in the first inning. Richard did his opponents a favor, though, tossing a wild pitch past catcher Raffy Lopez with two outs in the frame that allowed Hernández to scamper home from third and score the game’s first run.
• After throwing 73 pitches in four innings for Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday, right-hander Jeff Samardzija (shoulder tightness) may be ready to rejoin the Giants rotation. However, the club has yet to make a decision. Bochy said the team is weighing whether to have Samardzija to complete an additional rehab start or return next week against Colorado.