What’s worse? An 8-6 loss decided in the 9th, or an 8-3 loss pretty much decided in the 1st?
Trick question, because they’re all the same to the Giants at this point.
Some teams can look at Friday’s walk-off bummer, highlight the solid situational hitting that got them six runs, cull the bullpen performances while noting the aberration of Coors Field, and move on to the next day, knowing that those tough losses inevitably pepper the calendar of a 162 game season.
For the Giants right now, who have now lost five games in a row and dropped to 14 games below .500 — they don’t have the luxury of compartmentalization or perspective. There is nothing positive to glean from the tumble they just took down the basement staircase. They’re clinging to the last step, a half-game above Colorado in the division standings, and unable to feel their legs. Technically, they haven’t reached the damp cellar floor, but technically they’re still falling so what’s the point in splitting hairs? They can’t see anything, they’re breathing the dank air. There is no light, no way forward, no future.
Any sense of hope from the grand slam parade of the previous weekend has been replaced by dread. Fans see the hollowness in the coaches’ and players’ gazes as they peer around the baseball field. This is a no man’s land. They expect the worst, and the worst knows it, playing with their expectations, sowing doubt, malaise as they wait.
I’m fairly certain I saw Adrian Houser pause on the mound right before he threw his first pitch. His sad-dog eyes lingered on the baseball in his hand. He brought the ball up to his mouth, muttered something to it, before shaking it like an 8-ball and peering into it again.
What did he ask? What was the response written in the seams? Not sure, but I can guess: Outlook not good; Sources say no; Better not tell you now.
Houser actually had a decent May — especially compared to the 7.12 ERA he logged over his first six starts. In four games this past month, he posted a 2.82 ERA (22.1 IP) with a couple of quality starts.
Shawn Estes, during the pregame show, was optimistic. He felt if Houser could keep locating his fastball as he had been, he’d do okay.
Houser couldn’t locate his fastball. He threw five of them to lead-off hitter Jake McCarthy and four of them missed. The Giants right-hander would go on to face 8 Rockies hitters and throw nearly 40 pitches in the first inning. He walked two – both scored, one on a Willi Castro single and the other on an errant 3-2 sinker with the bases-loaded that hit Sterlin Thompson.
While Giants pitching was funding early rallies for Colorado, Giants offense somehow got Oracle’d at Coors.
Willy Adames and Bryce Eldridge both drove balls to deep left off starter Ryan Feltner that died on the warning track. Eldridge’s opposite field shot would’ve left the yard in 26 MLB parks. It should’ve tied the game in the 2nd if not for a breeze pushing the ball back over the field.
Should’ve and would’ve aren’t the most inspiring team rally cries. The expression on Adames face after his ball got caught wasn’t one of righteous anger, or I got robbed! — rather one of dull resignation.
But there were homers to be had to right.
Jake McCarthy (3-for-4, 4 RBI) didn’t have trouble clearing the wall in the 4th, doubling Colorado’s lead and fast-tracked Houser’s early exit. Pinch hitter Kyle Karros extended the lead again in the 7th off Ryan Borucki as part of a three-run frame.
And Drew Gilbert got a hold of one in the 8th to rescue San Francisco from the embarrassment of a shutout at Coors.
Thank god no one was embarrassed.
Opposing starter Ryan Feltner needed just 63 pitches to complete 6 shutout frames in his return from the IL. He hadn’t pitched since April 23rd and had posted a 6.30 ERA in his first five starts. Facing the Giants line-up though was a breeze. He allowed just four hits. Twice, in the 3rd and 5th, lead-off singles were immediately erased by double plays. Their two hits (in 10 AB) with a runner-in-scoring-position didn’t come until the 8th and 9th innings when they were already down by eight.
And yeah…that was it. Be sure to tune in to watch the Giants feel around in the dark today too!