PHOENIX — The Giants brought all their scouts and front office officials to Scottsdale this week to begin the process of mapping out coverage for next June’s draft. They still don’t know which pick they’ll have, but Tuesday night’s game certainly helped the cause of any team officials quietly hoping to pick first overall.
Matt Moore got hammered at Chase Field and the Giants lost 11-4 to the Diamondbacks. The loss was No. 96 on the season, and it pushed the Giants back into the worst record in baseball. The Phillies, who had been tied, beat the Nationals earlier in the night. The Tigers and White Sox also lost, so they’re still in the race.
The loss made this the fourth team in franchise history to lose 96 games. Here are some more fun facts …
Franchise-worst season: J.D. Martinez’s grand slam made it 8-0 and came on what likely will be Moore’s final pitch of the season. He walked off the mound after 1 1/3 innings, having allowed eight runs — only seven of them were earned. Moore has a 5.52 ERA, which is the highest by any Giants starter who has made at least 30 starts. The previous record was 5.41, by Kirk Rueter in 1999.
Eyes on the prize? Basically the entire Giants front office is in the general manager’s suite this series, so they had a good view when Martinez — a free agent in five weeks — hit his 28th homer in 58 games for the Diamondbacks. He has 44 overall this season. Again, he will be a free agent.
Fallback option? Bochy pulled both his catchers — Buster Posey and Nick Hundley — in the fourth inning. His third catcher, Tim Federowicz, promptly hit a two-run bomb in the top of the fifth. If Hundley doesn’t return, you can bet the Giants will try to bring Fed-X back. They don’t have a lot of catching depth in their system.
Losses piling up: The other Giants seasons with at least 96 losses: 1943, 1984, 1985. If the 2017 Giants lose two more, they’ll tie the 1943 team for second-most losses in franchise history.
