San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: They Can’t Have It All

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the Giants still not having everything working at once.

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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 the series opener to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-5. Kenta Maeda (13-7) was the winner, while Madison Bumgarner (12-8) took the loss. Kenley Jansen finished it off for his 36th save.

The Giants’ downward spiral continues. They are now two games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, their biggest deficit since April. San Francisco still holds the first wildcard spot by 1.5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Here’s what went on Tuesday.

1 – Can’t Have It All

The Giants sent their ace to the mound on Tuesday, and they scored four runs while he was in the game. That should be enough for a win, but that wasn’t the case against Los Angeles. Bumgarner struggled in the first inning, fairly commonplace for him, but the unusual part came in that the ace didn’t settle in afterwards.

He allowed a run in the first inning on three hits, and gave up a solo home run in the second to newcomer Rob Segedin. The Giants scored two runs of their own to tie things in the top of the third, but Bumgarner relinquished that tie by allowing another run in bottom half of the inning. The Giants fought back again, tying it at three apiece in the fifth, but that immediately vanished as well. The Dodgers scored twice in the bottom, taking a lead that they would keep for the rest of the game.

They padded it with two more in the sixth off Cory Gearrin, who has struggled badly since returning, and another pair in the ninth, one each coming off George Kontos and Javier Lopez. The Giants wouldn’t score again until the ninth, when the red hot Denard Span hit a two-out laser beam for a solo home run just inside the pole.

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As has been the case far too often, things just haven’t clicked at the same time. They scored three runs off Maeda and chased him after five innings with 103 pitches. They added another run in the sixth off the bullpen, with another red-hot hitter, Ehire Adrianza, singling home a run. With Bumgarner, their number one and an NL Cy Young Award candidate, throwing, that should stand. But Bumgarner wasn’t himself.

When the lineup is putting up runs, the pitching can’t keep the other guys off the board (like on Tuesday). When the pitching is working, the lineup can’t back them up (like on Sunday). This recurring theme has taken the Giants from a comfortable lead in the division, to barely holding a lead in the wilcard race. It has to change soon, or the postseason will be but a goal for 2017.

2 – Smith Finally Shows What He Can Do

Positives from the pitching staff were few and far between, but Will Smith shined on Tuesday. The newly-acquired reliever pitched 1.1 perfect innings, striking out two. His two strikeouts came against a pair who did plenty of damage, Justin Turner and Adrian Gonzalez, and both came on very nasty breaking balls.

Before this outing, Smith had given up six runs in 5.2 innings as a Giant, on nine hits and three walks. He’s got the stuff to be a big-time player in the bullpen, but just hadn’t had the command he needed. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for him.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Pitching Matchups vs. LA

And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. The Giants will try yet again to look like a contending team on Wednesday, in game two against the Dodgers. Johnny Cueto will take on Rich Hill, who is making his Dodgers’ debut.