» GIANTS DROP THIRD STRAIGHT GAME
SAN FRANCISCO — With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the San Francisco Giants know they only have a few opportunities left to make an impression on their front office and convince executives they can compete for a postseason berth.
Their last-minute efforts aren’t going well.
After being shut out twice in Thursday’s doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants scored just once in their first eight innings against the D’backs in a 7-4 loss that dropped the club four games under .500 (15-19) on the season.
Brandon Belt, Wilmer Flores and Brandon Crawford all delivered extra-base hits in the top of the ninth, but they weren’t enough to overcome the six-run deficit the Giants faced entering the final frame.
An offense that was so reliable over the last two weeks has gone mostly silent over the last two days, carrying over Thursday’s struggles into Friday’s series opener against D’backs right-hander Zac Gallen. The Giants’ pitching staff hasn’t picked up a struggling offense, either, as left-hander Tyler Anderson became the fourth consecutive starter to fail to make it out of the fifth inning.
Six days after tossing his first career complete game in a start in which he didn’t allow an earned run, Anderson had his worst night of the season against the same D’backs team he dominated last weekend. The Giants left-hander didn’t allow much hard contact, but Arizona racked up nine hits and seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings.
The D’backs scored one in the first, two in the third and four in the fifth, capitalizing on three softly hit singles that all left the bat at under 80 miles per hour in Anderson’s final inning. Anderson has one of the best pickoff moves in the majors and caught designated hitter Andy Young leaning off first base to end the fourth, but he threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt in the fifth that allowed Starling Marte to score from third.
D’backs manager Torey Lovullo expressed frustration with his hitters for chasing pitches early in counts and failing to stick to the team’s game plan against Anderson on Saturday at Oracle Park, but Arizona had a patient approach on Friday and forced Anderson to work from behind in the count for much of the game at Chase Field.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris have spent the week chatting with executives around the league about possible deals and three consecutive losses could make the front office duo more inclined to part with veteran players.
A seven-game win streak that ended Thursday against the Dodgers allowed the Giants to climb back into the postseason race, but the club has plenty of competition for one of the final playoff berths. It’s unlikely the Giants’ front office would go immediately into “seller” mode following Friday’s loss, but Gabe Kapler’s team is under pressure to perform over the final two games of the series leading into Monday’s deadline.