San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Missed Opportunities, Shaky Defense, Injuries

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss multiple missed opportunities, some uncharacteristic defense, and the piling injuries.

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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Friday, the Giants dropped their sixth straight game to open the second half, falling to the New York Yankees, 3-2. Andrew Miller was the winner, moving to 6-1, while Josh Osich took the loss, falling to 1-2. Aroldis Chapman shut the door for his 20th save.

The Los Angeles Dodgers also lost on Friday, dropping a 16-inning affair to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3. The four-game lead in the National League West remains the same. The Colorado Rockies have won two straight, but still sit 12 games back in third place.

Here’s what went on Friday.

1 – Missed Opportunities

The Giants had plenty of opportunities to score early in the game against Yankees’ starter Masahiro Tanaka, but found ways to squander them.

In the second inning, Buster Posey led off with a walk, and Brandon Crawford followed with a single. The next three hitters, Conor Gillaspie, Jarrett Parker, and Ramiro Peña, went down in order. In the third inning, Gregor Blanco reached on an error to get things started, and Denard Span continued with a basehit to move him to third. Then things got weird.

Angel Pagan lined a ball to shallow right field, where Carlos Beltran made the catch for the first out. Blanco broke for third, and Beltran, who has a reputation for a strong and accurate throwing arm, made a strong and accurate throw, gunning down Blanco at the plate despite the attempt from the runner to make a miracle slide into home. Judging from third base coach Roberto Kelly‘s reaction, Blanco went on his own.

In the fourth, the Giants loaded the bases with one out on singles by Posey and Gillaspie, and a walk to Parker. Peña would pop up behind the plate, and Blanco would strike out to kill another threat.

But still, the Giants fought back into it, and did so against the first two arms in the Yankees’ No-Runs DMC bullpen trio. Against Dellin Betances in the seventh, they brought in a run after another Parker walk, a Span double, and a wild pitch. Against Andrew Miller in the eighth, they tied the game at two following singles from Trevor Brown and Grant Green, and a pinch-hit double from Mac Williamson.

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Even after the Yankees pulled back ahead, the Giants had another chance to re-tie the score. Blanco led off the ninth against Aroldis Chapman, blooping a double to left field off of Brett Gardner‘s glove. But he would not move, being stuck as the final three Gants went down in order.

It’s been a recurring problem over the first six games post-All-Star Break. As a team, the Giants are hitting just .132 (7-53) with runners in scoring position over the past six games. The floodgates have to open soon.

2 – Uncharacteristic Defense

The Giants committed four errors on defense yesterday, with three coming from their Gold Glove shortstop, Crawford, the first three-error game of his career. The left fielder Pagan also had an error in the second when he overran a soft single hit his way.

The first two errors by Crawford didn’t hurt, as Bumgarner stranded a runner on third following an errant throw in the first inning, and worked through the two-out gaff in the seventh. The third error, however, is the one that really hurt. With runners on first and second and none out in the eighth, reliever Josh Osich got Austin Romine to ground a ball to the shortstop. Crawford picked it, but rather than shovel it to Green at second, took it himself and spun 360 degrees before unleashing another wild throw to first base. Belt knocked the ball down, but it trickled far enough away that Chase Headley, who was running hard the entire way, could round third and score what would be the game-winning run.

It was a creative way for the Giants to lose a game, with their defensive stud shortstop having probably the worst game in the field of his career. Even the best aren’t perfect.

3 – Injury Updates

As long as there is a laundry list of injuries to talk about, let’s make this a daily thing.

Hunter Pence and Joe Panik were both held out of the River Cats’ lineup yesterday as the Giants continue to “slow play” their recovery. Luckily, there was no setback for Panik, and when Bobby Evans said he wasn’t feeling great on Thursday night, he meant in terms of timing at the plate. Good news.
Ehire Adrianza did finally transfer to Triple-A, but wasn’t in the lineup yesterday either. He was stuck in traffic on his way to the game, and didn’t get to the ballpark in time. No “Doug Mirabelli helicopter” moment for him.
Buster Posey was pulled from the game in the fifth inning yesterday after fouling a ball off his back foot. While visions of Adrianza’s fracture on an extremely similar play danced in our heads, Posey’s x-rays were negative and he’s day-to-day.
Reliever Cory Gearrin threw from a mound yesterday, going full bore, and should be good to begin rehab soon. Matt Duffy could also begin rehab within a week.
Triple-A reliever Steven Okert, who saw some time in the big leagues earlier this year, was injured on a play at first. He left the game before throwing another pitch with a noticeable limp. Okert’s been having a nice season with the River Cats, with a 3.38 ERA and nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings in 30 games.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Susac Heating Up

And that will do it for another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants will once again try to get their first win of the second half, playing a day game (mid-afternoon in New York) against the Yankees. Jeff Samardzija and Ivan Nova are the scheduled starters.

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