CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device
SAN FRANCISCO — Before and after the Giants’ golden era at the beginning of the decade, the franchise stumbled through some lean seasons.
But until Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Padres clinched a series defeat, it had been 36 years since the franchise lost four straight series to open the season.
“We’re not happy with where we’re at,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “You have to understand there are other good teams that haven’t gotten off to a good start either. You have to remind yourself there’s a lot of baseball left.”
After dropping a four-game series in San Diego and a three-game set in Los Angeles, the Giants returned home at the end of last week confident that a club built on pitching and defense would take advantage of the chance to play at Oracle Park.
Instead, San Francisco dropped two of three to Tampa Bay and closed out a three-game set with another lackluster offensive output on Wednesday. For the first time since 1983, the Giants have lost four straight series to begin the year, but they’ll have a chance to turn that around in a four-game set with the last-place Rockies this weekend.
What else did we learn about the Giants? Here are three big things.
1. Is Dereck Rodríguez the new Matt Cain?
There is a term Giants fans used throughout Matt Cain’s storied career that can all-too-regularly be applied to right-hander Dereck Rodríguez.
When Cain would turn in an impressive effort, receive little run support and earn a no-decision or in many cases, suffer a loss, fans called it getting “Cain’d.” Rodríguez has spent less than one full season in the big leagues, but he already knows the pain of getting “Cain’d.”
In Wednesday’s series-finale, Rodríguez fired seven innings of two-run ball and allowed just four hits against a potent Padres lineup.
If third baseman Evan Longoria fielded a bunt cleanly in the third inning, Longoria could have fired to second base for a forceout and given Rodríguez a chance to escape the frame unscathed. Instead, a Longoria error allowed a runner to advance into scoring position and moments later, a Manuel Margot single gave the Padres a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth, one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks in baseball gave a rare gift to a hitter, as a routine flyball hit down the right field line by Manny Machado had just enough carry to land on top of the brick wall. Statcast said the 336-foot solo shot had a .110 expected batting average, but thanks to a short right field porch at Oracle Park, Machado delivered the go-ahead hit.
“That wasn’t a good pitch, I was trying to go in on him and he put a swing on it,” Rodríguez said. “I didn’t think he got it. I’ve seen better balls hit that didn’t go out.”
The Giants also had a chance to take a one-run lead on a fifth-inning groundball, but instead of sliding at home plate, catcher Eric Kratz went in standing up and ran his way into an out.
“Kratz thought he was out so he was trying to actually stay in the lane and maybe get hit by the ball,” Bochy said. “So he didn’t slide and we had a couple of empty at-bats there in key situations. That was the difference.”
Rodríguez had plenty of reason to be pleased with his outing, but the Giants’ offense regressed after scoring 12 runs in the first two games of the series. San Francisco couldn’t capitalize on a handful of Padres mistakes and the Giants again made rookie starter Nick Margevicius look like a seasoned veteran.
After suffering the loss Wednesday, Rodríguez has now received a no-decision or a loss in 11 quality starts.
“That’s the thing about a team, that’s out of your control,” Rodríguez said. “You just try and hope for the best and those guys will back you up and pick you up. It happens, that’s baseball.”
2. Hot zones and “damage” control
Kevin Pillar has wasted little time becoming one of the San Diego Padres’ worst nightmares.
After the Giants’ offense lulled the Padres to sleep in the opening weekend of the season, Pillar arrived following a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays and has provided San Francisco with an instant jolt of energy.
Pillar racked up eight RBIs in the first two games of the series and took the team lead with his ninth on a 109-mile per hour home run in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game. The speedy center fielder owns the three hardest hit balls by a Giants player this season and credited the work of his new team’s coaching staff for helping him make some quick adjustments.
“You can look at pitches that you do more damage on, areas of the plate that you do more damage on where you hit for a higher average and slug a little bit higher on,” Pillar said Tuesday. “Them understanding that, me having a better understanding of where I drive the ball best, what pitches, what location and really trying to eliminate other spots of the strike zone, it’s kind of an easy fix.”
Pillar isn’t the only Giants player taking advantage of pitches in his “hot zones,” this week. Shortstop Brandon Crawford improved his hit streak to 11 games Wednesday with a single and has demonstrated impressive bat control over the last two weeks.
Crawford appears to have shortened up his swing and is doing an excellent job waiting on breaking pitches. Though Crawford isn’t hitting for power right now, the Giants have had significant issues just having runners reach base (as evidenced again Wednesday) and their shortstop is one of the only regulars doing his part to rectify that.
3. A platoon this soon?
For the third straight day, the Padres used a left-handed starter against the Giants and for the third straight day, second baseman Joe Panik began the game on the bench.
After one of the most impressive springs of his career, the veteran is off to a slow start (5-for-26) and as a result, he’s losing playing time to switch-hitter Yangervis Solarte.
Bochy said Wednesday that Panik will still play against some lefties, but he admitted he likes the “presentation” of the Giants’ lineup better against southpaws with Solarte in a starting role. With the way Crawford has swung the bat of late, Bochy said it’s been easier for the Giants to sit Panik and use Solarte at second than to pull Crawford from the order.
“It also keeps Panik out there occasionally against left-handers so he does see them once in awhile,” Bochy said. “But I do like the way he’s swinging the bat right-handed. I think it’s fair to say we’ve had our struggles against left-handers so I like the lineup that we can throw out there now against left-handers.”
The Rockies will start three right-handers against the Giants in this weekend’s four-game series, so expect Panik to return to the lineup against Colorado.
