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San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Losing Streak Snapped vs. Atlanta

By Sean Bialaszek

May 27, 2017; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Ty Blach (middle) is greeted by his catcher Nick Hundley (5) and first baseman Brandon Belt (9) as he waits on the mound to be relieved in the eighth inning of their MLB baseball game with the Atlanta Braves at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
May 27, 2017; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Ty Blach (middle) is greeted by his catcher Nick Hundley (5) and first baseman Brandon Belt (9) as he waits on the mound to be relieved in the eighth inning of their MLB baseball game with the Atlanta Braves at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports /
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San Francisco Giants
May 26, 2017; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Mat Cain (18) throws to the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports /

3 DOWN

1 – Another Caining

Matt Cain is no stranger to taking a loss on a day he pitched extremely well, and he did it again on Friday. He threw seven very strong innings, his longest outing of the season, and gave up just two runs (one earned). Unfortunately, his offense wasn’t able to back him up. The Giants were shut out in the series opener, hanging Cain with yet another tough luck loss.

Cain’s resurgent season continued with another strong start, but he’s still not immune to the good old-fashioned Caining.

2 – Law Out of Order

Derek Law was one of the bright spots from the 2016 bullpen, but he just hasn’t been the same pitcher this year. He’s still done a nice job of keeping runs off the board with a 3.22 ERA, but he has pitched through a lot of self-induced trouble and given up plenty of hard contact. In 22.1 innings, Law’s allowed 24 hits and eight walks for a rather high 1.433 WHIP.

Against the Braves on Saturday, his lone appearance in the series, he faced five batters. He got just two of them out, one of which required a nice play in center field by Span, and gave up two hits and a walk. One of those hits was a ninth inning, run-scoring triple that forced closer Mark Melancon into the game.

Law has had a big role bestowed upon him this season, and while he’s shown flashes of finding his 2016 form, he just hasn’t been able to put that together consistently. The Giants need Law to start getting outs regularly if they want to get back in this thing.

3 – Cueto’s Blisters

Johnny Cueto bounced back from a rough outing in Chicago with a great day against the Braves. Over six innings, Cueto struck out eight while allowing just one run on five hits, earning his first victory in five starts. But the blisters on his throwing hand continue to be an issue, even despite his strong start versus Atlanta.

After the game on Sunday, Cueto said that the blisters still gave him trouble later in his outing, and he changed the way he pitched because of the blisters. He threw more changeups than normal, and fewer cutters, because of the pressure the pitches apply to his finger. It’s extremely encouraging to see Cueto go out and put together another strong start, but his pitching hand continues to be concerning. Hopefully he can continue to make adjustments and pitch through it until they callous over.

Next: Despite Changing Roles, Blach Contributes

This next series is a big one for the Giants. They welcome the Washington Nationals, who lead the NL East by 8.5 games, to town for three games before getting on off-day on Thursday.

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