Giants lose series finale to Cubs in underwhelming fashion
San Francisco looks forward to much needed day off
SAN FRANCISCO – Since the calendar turned to July, the Giants have played with such a high level of confidence that they arrive at the park on a daily basis with certainty.
The Giants have started to believe it’s no longer a question of if they’ll take over a ballgame and emerge victorious, but rather when they’ll do so.
On the rare day when a game-winning rally doesn’t materialize, when they turn in the kind of flat performance that was a staple of the first half of the season, it defies their own expectations.
That was the case in the Giants’ underwhelming 4-1 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday.
With two-out singles in the ninth from Donovan Solano and Alex Dickerson, the Giants brought the tying run to the plate against Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel. The magic that’s been on display for the last week at Oracle Park finally ran out, though, as Brandon Belt flew out to left field to end the game.
“Even at that time, you feel like something good is going to happen,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We came up a little short today, but the most important thing is we still got the tying run up there. We looked a little flat today.”
Rookie Tyler Beede’s marvelous start to the month came to a halt as he surrendered three home runs while an offense that’s made a habit out of producing late fireworks couldn’t provide a spark.
A deflating loss in a series the Giants already clinched is not enough to diminish what the club has accomplished over the last four weeks. The Giants are still 16-4 this month, still a threat in the National League Wild Card race and still positioned to make another move in the standings with upcoming series in San Diego, Philadelphia and Denver.
An inability to sweep the first-place Cubs will make building a closing argument ahead of the July 31 trade deadline slightly more difficult, but the club is optimistic Thursday’s off day will serve the team well.