San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Finished with Frustrating Fish

3 DOWN

1 – The Dumb Stuff

Boy, where to start with this one. Hunter Strickland blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning on Monday, surrendering three runs to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. He threw a ball up-and-in to Marlins’ center fielder Lewis Brinson (almost certainly unintentional, as Strickland’s control was awful during the appearance). When Brinson tied the game with a single just seconds later, he turned and jawed at Strickland running down the line.

Here’s where it gets really dumb. Strickland was yanked later, and had words with Brinson, who was standing at third base. The Giants’ closer, never known for his cool temperment and level head, punched a door and broke his hand. His pitching hand. The one that he gets paid to pitch with. That’s dumb.

The animosity continued the next day, with Rodriguez plunking Brinson on the first pitch of his first at-bat. Then Marlins’ pitcher Dan Straily took aim at Buster Posey with a pitch that travelled a bit too far north for everyone’s comfort. Straily, as well as manager Don Mattingly, were ejected and that was pretty much the end of it for this series. It was ugly. It was stupid. It should be over, but Strickland held a grudge with Bryce Harper for three years, so who knows.

2 – The Bullpen

The Giants’ bullpen has been their biggest strength for the majority of the season, but they just haven’t been able to shut down the Marlins in the past couple weeks. As already discussed, Strickland blew a save on Monday, then blew his season by punching a door. But it wasn’t just that one inning for the Giants’ bullpen.

For the first time since his return to Pittsburgh, Tony Watson showed signs that he is human, and not a pitching robot. He allowed a pair of inherited runners to score on Wednesday, the first time he’s failed to strand inherited runners this year. In the ninth, Sam Dyson nearly followed in Strickland’s footsteps. He allowed four hits and got only two outs (in his defense, Hernandez losing a deep flyball in the sun is less than ideal), giving back a pair of runs to make it 6-5.

Before he could let the game completely get away, Bruce Bochy made the switch and brought in rookie right-hander Reyes Moronta. The burly fireballer needed just four pitches to get the final out, nailing down his first career save. Moronta owns a 1.91 ERA, has held opponents to a .167 average, and is striking out 10.6 batters per nine innings. That won’t be his last save chance.

3 – Another Injury

Strickland is going to miss six-to-eight weeks, but the Giants lost another player in this series. In the first at-bat of the bottom of the first on Wednesday, Alen Hanson fouled a ball off his left knee and had to be helped off the field. It’s been tabbed as a contusion and x-rays were negative, but the Giants have had terrible luck with injuries this year.

Next: Giants Prospects Shine in All-Star Games

Hanson has been a revelation after signing as a minor league free agent this past offseason. He’s hitting .314/.344/.628 with 10 doubles and five home runs over his first 31 games as a Giant, and has played improved defense at multiple positions since coming off the disabled list. Any extended amount of time without Hanson is bad news.