Giants follow Bochy’s 1,000th win with loss to journeyman
NEW YORK — When the Giants gathered in the visiting clubhouse after Tuesday’s series opener against the Mets, they doused Bruce Bochy in beer and proposed a toast following the manager’s 1,000th win with the club.
They had no reason to keep the party going on Wednesday.
The Giants (25-35) snapped a threegame win streak in a 7-0 loss to the Mets as journeyman left-hander Jason Vargas needed 117 pitches in a complete game shutout. Vargas, a 14th-year veteran, tossed the 11th shutout of his career and his first since June 2, 2017 when he blanked the Cleveland Indians while pitching for the Kansas City Royals.
New York pushed six runs across in five innings against Giants right-hander Tyler Beede including four in the fourth as the rookie starter battled command issues in the middle innings.
“He didn’t have his fastball command, walks got him and it looked like he lost a little confidence in attacking the strike zone,” Bochy said. “The long ball got him tonight.”
Prior to the penultimate game of a three-city road trip, the Giants announced that catcher Buster Posey was headed to the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. The transaction is retroactive to June 2 as Posey hasn’t played since Saturday when he injured himself running to first base on a groundout.
An MRI revealed a mild strain, but the Giants believe Posey could be healthy enough to return from the injured list when he’s eligible on June 12. Reserve Aramis Garcia started in Posey’s place Wednesday and is expected to split time behind the plate with veteran Stephen Vogt.
After Beede turned in the best outing of his career in his last start against the Marlins, the rookie unraveled in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s matchup against the Mets after losing his fastball command. Beede allowed a home run, two walks and another home run before recording an out in the fourth as the Mets took a 5-0 advantage over the visiting Giants.
“Sometimes you get away with (mistakes), sometimes they pop them up or make weak contact and other times they do what big league hitters usually do and that’s hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Beede said.
Against Vargas, the Giants mustered just five hits and only two in the final five innings. Vargas had recorded just one quality start this season prior to facing
the Giants, but a Joe Panik leadoff double in the first inning was the team’s lone offensive highlight and only extra-base hit against the Mets starter.
“We got the leadoff hitter on, we just couldn’t get him over or get him in,” Bochy said. “That didn’t set a great tone and after that, we couldn’t do anything.”
The loss snapped a streak of four straight games in which the Giants had scored at least six runs. It marked the team’s first four game stretch with at least six runs per game since April 10-14, 2016.
The Giants are determined to give Beede every opportunity to prove himself as a member of their starting rotation this summer, but his early 2019 results have been mixed at best. Beede gave up eight runs in his first start of the year against the Reds on May 3, but had given up just two earned runs over his last 8 2/3 innings entering his outing against the Mets.
With off days on Monday, June 10 and Thursday, June 13, the Giants can choose to option Beede to Triple-A and recall him the next time the club needs a fifth starter. Doing so would allow San Francisco to add an extra arm to its bullpen, which could come in handy this weekend when the club hosts the first-place Dodgers at Oracle Park.
The Giants have not announced their rotation for the weekend, but Bochy said he plans to do so prior to Thursday’s series finale in New York.
Mariners sign Mac Williamson — Former Giants outfielder Mac Williamson signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday and was promoted to the major league roster on Wednesday .
Williamson takes the place of outfielder Braden Bishop, who was placed on the 10day injured list with a lacerated spleen. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Bishop is the older brother of Hunter Bishop, the outfielder out of Serra High (San Mateo) and Arizona State who the Giants selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.
Williamson was designated for assignment by the Giants on May 25 and cleared waivers. He elected free agency after spending the last seven seasons in the Giants organization.