San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Home with the Padres
3 DOWN
1 – Hold the Lead!
The Giants had a legitimate chance to win all three games against San Diego. They took the opener on Arroyo’s home run after the early lead got away, and took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning on Saturday. Chris Stratton and Neil Ramirez combined to give up 11 runs in the sixth and seventh innings. They took a 2-0 lead into the ninth on Sunday, but Mark Melancon and some poor defense combined to let that slip away.
They can not afford to let these winnable games slip away, when winnable games seem to be so few and far between. It’s made even worse when the Padres are supposed to be the worst team in the NL West, and the team is handing away games to them.
2 – Outfield Production
Hunter Pence has been the only constant in the outfield, and he’s had a pretty okay start to the season. Other than that, the center field and left field positions has been revolving doors, and the production has just not been there.
Brandon Belt has taken up left field duties in recent days in an effort to fill the void while Michael Morse gets some time at first base, but it’s just not enough. He had a two-run single on Saturday, but the rest of the outfield continues to flounder. Drew Stubbs hasn’t made any kind of impact, and while Gorkys Hernandez has actually been okay the plate in the last week or so, okay isn’t enough.
Mac Williamson might not be ready at Triple-A on his rehab stint (he’s hitting .185 with nine strikeouts in seven games) , but the team might have no choice but to throw him into the fire in the coming days. They need some kind of thump, and some kind of help out in the outfield. Even putting Kelby Tomlinson out there could help.
3 – Give Your Starter Some Support!
Giants’ starters put together three solid starts this series, and they all came away with nothing to show for it. Jeff Samardzija had one mistake on Friday that resulted in a two-run home run, but an error later in the inning resulted in another run that would erase his chances of getting a win. Cain went five innings (he was pulled for a pinch hitter when the team needed some offense), and had chance to get a win before the bullpen blew up. It was the same story for Ty Blach on Sunday, as the bullpen erased a seven shutout inning performance from the young lefty.
Next: Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Rivals in Town
It’s not just the offense that needs to support the starters, although getting them a few more runs would be a fantastic start. The bullpen’s got to help them out too. Someone has to stop the bleeding.