Arroyo deals with slump

If Christian Arroyo were any other 21-year-old, the Giants might be tempted to send him back to Triple-A amid a 3-for-24 slump to regain his stroke in a less pressurized environment and prevent his dauber from getting down.

Because Arroyo is Arroyo, he is staying where he is, enjoying the confidence of a staff that sees a mature rookie who simply needs to adjust at the plate, as all hitters do.

“He’s a quick learner,” batting coach Hensley Meulens said. “Hopefully, it’s not a long struggle.”

When Arroyo arrived, he proved he could turn on inside fastballs, so right-handed pitchers have been throwing everything on the outside corner or outside, period. Meulens is getting Arroyo to move closer to the plate so he can reach those pitches.

Arroyo’s mental state is not an issue. He proved that Tuesday night when he played second base for the first time in the majors and made several good plays, including a throw home to nail Justin Turner.

Arroyo is “doing fine,” Meulens said. “He’s going through that first rough patch. We’ve basically got to keep things simple for him. He understands that he’s learning and he understands that he’s got to make some kind of adjustments to produce. He did in his last at-bat. He got a base hit.”

That was Tuesday night. On Wednesday, he took an 0-for-4 but had a good third at-bat against Clayton Kershaw and lined out.

Closer back: Mark Melancon was throwing in the bullpen in the ninth inning with the Giants down 6-0. It was not a burst of Giants optimism. Melancon had not thrown since Monday and was going to get in his work one way or the other after he was activated from the disabled list before the game.

Melancon said he feels no discomfort after rehabbing a strained right pronator, a forearm muscle.

The Giants optioned infielder Kelby Tomlinson and restored an eight-man bullpen.

Briefly: Eduardo Nuñez’s first homer of the year, against Sergio Romo in the ninth, extended the Giants’ streak of homering to 10 games. Their past 13 have been solos . ... The Giants fell to 6-4 against the Dodgers this season.