San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: The Second-Half Slump Reaches Game Four

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the second-half slump as it reaches its fourth game.

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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Tuesday, the Giants dropped their fourth straight game to open the second half, losing to the Boston Red Sox, 4-0. Rick Porcello was the winning pitcher, improving to 12-2 on the year, and keeping his perfect home record, now 9-0, in tact. Jake Peavy took the loss to fall to 5-8.

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals on Tuesday to kick off a three-game set. Coupled with the Giants’ loss, San Francisco’s lead in the National League West to 4.5 games, the closest the race has been since early June.

Here’s what went on Tuesday.

1 – The Slump Continues into Game Four

Peavy didn’t pitch terribly on Tuesday, limiting mistakes for the most part. But the mistakes he did make, he paid for dearly. That’s not surprising, as the Red Sox owns the most potent offense in baseball.

In the third inning, after Peavy had retired the first eight hitters he’d faced in order, he challenged ninth-place hitter Brock Holt with a full-count fastball. Holt smoked it into the big part of the yard for a solo home run. In the fourth, with an 0-2 count, he left a fastball over the middle of the plate to Xander Bogaerts, resulting in a single to left field. The very next pitch was a lazy cutter in the wheelhouse of David Ortiz. He didn’t miss, crushing a three-run home run that turned a one-run game into a four-run game.

But the Giants’ offense made it so that Peavy needed to be perfect on Tuesday. One mistake was one too many, and that four-run deficit after Big Papi’s home run may as well have been 90 runs. The Giants mustered just five hits and a walk, and couldn’t cash in in the first inning, the only time a Giants’ baserunner reached scoring position.

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After Denard Span and Angel Pagan opened the game with back-to-back singles in the first inning, the heart of the order went down in succession, all striking out. That set the offensive tone for the day, and summed up what has been a rough four post All-Star break games.

The Giants have put together just 10 runs in four games in baseball’s unofficial second half, with five runs coming from four home runs on Saturday. On Friday, they scored just one run on five hits. On Sunday, they came up with three runs, but only two hits. One of those hits was a three-run home run from Conor Gillaspie, against a pitcher, Edwin Jackson, that looked out of gas in the seventh inning of a no-hit bid.

The slump is amplified by the middle of the order, the same three hitters that struck out with runners on during Tuesday’s first inning. Third hitter Brandon Belt is 0-16 with eight strikeouts and one walk since the break. Cleanup hitter Buster Posey is 3-16 with a walk. All three of Posey’s hits came on Saturday. Fifth hitter Brandon Crawford is 2-16 with six strikeouts. That’s a combined 5-48 (.104) from the three guys from whom the Giants need production.

In the lineup, the top two hitters have done a good enough job setting things up for the meat of the order. Span and Pagan, hitting one and two for the Giants, are hitting a combined .313 (both are 5-16 since the break) with three walks. But they’ve only scored twice, one of them being on Pagan’s home run Saturday. Those guys are setting the table, but they need the guys behind them to bring them to the plate.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Pros and Cons of Backup Infielders

And that will do it for another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Red Sox close out their season series with San Francisco looking for a win and a split. Matt Cain returns from the disabled list, while the Giants will see a familiar foe on the other side. Former San Diego Padre Drew Pomeranz makes his Boston debut.