San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: A Split in Milwaukee
3 DOWN
1 – On The Road, Again
Matt Cain continues to pitch like an ace at AT&T Park, and continues to pitch like the opposite on the road. Against Milwaukee, Cain allowed five runs in five innings while taking a loss for the fourth straight start (in his defense, two of those losses were tough luck when the offense couldn’t back him up). On the road, Cain owns an 8.40 ERA and 2.033 WHIP, and has surrendered six home runs in 30 innings. Compare that to his home stats (1.82 ERA, 1.240 WHIP, one home run in 34.2 innings), and it’s like there are two different pitchers taking the mound.
It’s not just Cain that is pitching so Jekyll and Hyde, either. Matt Moore has had the same problem this season, owning a 2.57 ERA and 1.086 WHIP at home and 7.94 ERA and 1.912 WHIP away from friendly confines. That’s a big part of why the Giants are 11 games under .500 on the road.
2 – Blown Leads
On both Wednesday and Thursday, the Giants held leads, and on both days they surrendered those leads. Ty Blach couldn’t hold a 3-1 lead into the fourth inning, and eventually took a loss after giving up five runs in six innings. Blach did show some impressive moxie, however, by going six innings despite not having anywhere near his best command.
On Thursday, it was expensive new closer Mark Melancon that let the lead slip away, and like Blach, it’s because he didn’t have that great command he’s known for. The first four batters Melancon faced reached base, and the potential game-winning run was on third base with no one out. To his credit, Melancon struck out the next batter, got some help from third baseman Eduardo Nunez on a line drive, and forced the final groundout to get the game to extra innings. His offense picked him up, scoring a quartet of runs to finally nail down the win.
3 – Left Field Remains a Black Hole
There’s still a lot of bad stuff happening in left field. In the first three games of the series with Milwaukee, Giants’ left fielders combined to go 1-9 with two strikeouts, a double play, and the lone hit was an infield single by Slater.
Luckily, Slater had a good day on Thursday to contribute to a victory. Not only did he hit his first career homer, but he also was hit by a pitch and drew a walk while scoring a pair of runs. Hopefully that gets him going in the right direction as a big leaguer, and the team can get some real production out of left field.
Next: Giants Take Flyer on Sam Dyson
Next up, the Giants have their second interleague series of the season, but they won’t get a designated hitter. They’ll play the Minnesota Twins (who have three former Giants on the roster: Ehire Adrianza, Chris Heston, and Adalberto Mejia) for three games at AT&T Park. The Twins lead the AL Central by one game.