Giants lineup lifeless in series-opening loss to Marlins
MIAMI >> The Giants' second batter of the game, Mike Yastrzemski, made it all the way to third base while they made Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara labor through 25 pitches in the first inning.
And that was it in a lifeless 3-0 loss in the opener of their four-game series in Miami, falling to 3-4 on a three-city swing through the Eastern time zone that featured three opponents with records below .500.
Alcantara, one of the top starters in the National League, lowered his ERA to a league-leading 1.81 while mowing through the Giants for the following six innings. It was no match for a solid start from Alex Wood. After Yastrzemski's first-inning double, the Giants managed only two hits the rest of the game, kept out of the scoring column for the third time this season.
WAIT, WAS THAT CAMILO DOVAL IN THE SIXTH INNING? >> Yes, manager Gabe Kapler called on his closer as the first man out of the bullpen. It was the earliest the hardthrowing right-hander had appeared in a game all season.
It probably didn't go as Kapler envisioned.
Giants starter Alex Wood tossed 5 innings and had allowed one run when he left the game, but he would eventually be credited with two earned runs. Kapler came to get him in favor of Doval after Jorge Soler reached on a one-out single.
The idea was likely that the Giants were staring down the highest-leverage situation of the game: a one-run deficit, a runner on first base and the Marlins' 4-5-6 hitters due up. But like Kapler's decision to pull Carlos Rodón after five innings the previous night in Philadelphia, this also blew up in his face.
Doval allowed a double to the first batter he faced, Jesus Aguilar, and surrendered another run on a single to Miguel Rojas. The Giants trailed 1-0 when their closer entered the game and the deficit had widened to 3-0 by the time he recorded the final out of the sixth inning.
After posting a 2.22 ERA in April, the second-lowest mark in MLB, the Giants bullpen was the worst in the
majors in May (a 6.26 ERA), and through two games in June, this month isn't off to any better start.
WHY DID JOEY BART STICK
OUT? >> In a snoozer elsewhere on the field, rookie catcher Joey Bart put together a nice game, something that was badly needed for someone with one hit and 12 strikeouts in his past 20 at-bats.
Bart singled off Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara in his first at-bat, then drew a walk in his second trip to the plate. Behind the plate, he gunned down former Giant Luke Williams on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play that ended the fifth inning. Bart hadn't reached base twice in a game since May 15, letting his batting line fall to .153/.294/.306 (a season-worst .600 OPS) entering Thursday, after doing so 11 times in his first 22 games.
Maybe, after “one of the better moments of his career” coming this past series in Philadelphia, this is the breakout folks have been waiting for from Bart.