Season’s lows keep coming, even at altitude
DENVER — Their animated conversation down a long hallway in the visitors’ clubhouse lasted longer than the bottom of the ninth. Mark Melancon and Buster Posey broke it down in private, and no one bothered them.
It was getaway day, but the closer and his catcher were in no hurry to shower, pack and leave Coors Field, where the Giants were swept in a four-game series that was capped with the sorriest moment in the sorriest season.
Melancon threw a first-pitch fastball to Nolan Arenado, who hit his second career walkoff home run and completed his first career cycle to send the Giants out of town with a 7-5 loss.
Melancon accepted a $62 million contract in the offseason to erase last season’s bullpen problems, though the Giants’ woes run far deeper than a single reliever. Melancon retired his first batter but yielded four straight hits to blow his fourth save opportunity (he has converted seven) and balloon his ERA to 5.09.
“My performance has been absolutely ter-
rible,” he said. “I need to be better. That’s it.”
Thus, the talk with Posey, the 2012 MVP, four-time AllStar and three-time world champion. Posey stood against a wall, and Melancon faced him. Each took turns getting his point across, and Melancon afterward called it a positive exchange.
“It’s good to talk,” he said. “Those conversations are about learning and getting on the same page. It’s valuable to capture those moments and thoughts each other has. That’s where you get better.”
Posey called for a fastball in. Hoping for a double-play grounder, Melancon threw it in at 92 mph but a bit up from Posey’s target. Arenado sent it 374 feet over the left-field wall for a three-run homer, and the Giants lost their sixth in a row and 15th in 19 games.
And to think, the vibe in the Giants’ dugout was all good moments earlier. Hunter Pence hit his first career pinch homer in the top of the ninth to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead, and Brandon Crawford added an RBI single.
That made Melancon’s meltdown admittedly tougher to take.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “I mean, gosh. When we have the lead in the ninth, it’s a special day, and I want to capture that. For Hunter to step in and pinch hit and do that, it’s awesome. That’s a positive we can take away and start building on.”
Maybe not. But that’s the way ballplayers tend to think. Pence, the eternal optimist, pointed out positives in the game. Indeed, Crawford had three hits, including a homer. Denard Span reached base four times and stole two bags. Ty Blach entered the seventh leading 2-1 before giving up homers to Trevor Story and Pat Valaika.
But what could be said of Melancon, who insisted his elbow (he was on the disabled list last month) is fine and his recent inactivity (no save opportunities since June 8) didn’t affect him?
“I know how hard he works,” Pence said. “I know the kind of guy he is, and I believe in him 100,000 percent. These things happen.”
The postgame clubhouse was more quiet than normal except for a few cuss words heard in the distance, a few beer bottles opening, a few packed bags tossed into the middle of the room and one player murmuring the start of a tune, “Oh, happy day . ... ”
In the manager’s office, Bruce Bochy said Melancon threw good pitches, and balls weren’t hit hard until Arenado homered. For the first time, the Giants got swept in a fourgame series by Colorado, which has beaten them nine straight times.