Giants Blow Golden Opportunity Against Orioles, Fall Further Back In NL West
Victories, let alone comeback victories, have been rare for the San Francisco Giants since they started their plummet to the NL West’s cellar in late May.
On Friday night, San Francisco had an opportunity to do just that: register a comeback win. That attempt fell just short, though.
Chris Tillman carved up the Giants through eight innings, surrendering just one run. He struck out nine, walked just one and allowed scattered four hits.
Aug 9, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis (19) after scoring a run against the San Francisco Giants during the tenth inning at AT
When Tillman departed with a 2-1 lead, the Giants mustered their comeback. Brandon Belt singled to lead off the ninth inning, and Buster Posey laid off a host of Jim Johnson sinkers to take a free pass. Hunter Pence then tied the game with a singe that skipped past Johnson and trickled into center field, knotting the score at 2-2.
Pablo Sandoval grounded out with Belt and Posey occupying first and second base, no outs. Roger Kieschnick followed with by swinging through Johnson’s sinker, and Gregor Blanco lined out sharply to second base.
San Francisco’s inability to win the game in the ninth came back to haunt them a few moments later, when Chris Davis’ towering fly ball split the Giants’ shifted defense, plating two runs while silencing AT&T Park.
Javier Lopez is considered to be one of the best lefty specialists in baseball, but he was the victim of Davis’ clutch hit. And as the Giants licked their wounds, Matt Wieters delivered an RBI single seconds later.
Earlier, Ryan Vogelsong, who had been on the shelf since May due to a fractured hand, returned to register six solid innings. Perhaps his performance was lost in the midst of a thrilling finish, but he struck out four, yielded six hits and issued three walks.
While the right-hander was still settling in, the Orioles rendered two quick runs. Manny Machado doubled with one out, setting the stage for Adam Jones’ RBI single. Vogelsong’s second blemish came off of a lazy curveball that J.J. Hardy narrowly flipped into the left field bleachers.
Flipped merely describes Brandon Belt’s 13th home run of the year that cut the Orioles’ 2-0 lead in half in the sixth inning. Belt’s blast ticked off the left side of the divider in Triples Alley and swooped into the seats. ESPN tracked it at 431 feet.
Tillman limited San Francisco’s scoring opportunities, and when he did allow a glimpse of moment to surface, the Giants couldn’t come through–the same combination of Kieschnick and Blanco failed to boost San Francisco’s scoring chances in the second, as they both struck out after Pence singled and Sandoval walked with no outs.