SAN FRANCISCO - The momentum generated by Christian Arroyo and Michael Morse late Wednesday night lasted just a few hours. By the end of this four-game series, the Giants were left with a harsh reality: Even with two injections of new blood, they are not hitting.
Arroyo drove in another run Thursday, but that was it for a lineup that couldn't support Matt Moore's effort. The bullpen, which had kept Bruce Bochy's guys in close games all series, finally broke in the 10th. The Dodgers walked away with a 5-1 win and a split of a series that was rather uninspiring for both sides.
After scoring 10 runs on the last road trip, the Giants scored just eight during the four games against the Dodgers. Three of those RBI came from Arroyo, called up Monday. A fourth came from Morse, called up Wednesday.
"We've got to get this offense going," Bochy said. "It's a better offense than what we're doing right now. You need to find a way to put a few runs on the board. We had our chances, we just couldn't find ways to get the big hit."
With Denard Span out for at least another week, Bochy moved Hunter Pence to the top of the lineup. His temporary No. 3 hitter against lefties, Eduardo Nuñez, has one hit in his last 20 at-bats. Buster Posey, the cleanup hitter, is batting .357, but he has driven in just three runs this month. With two on and one out in the eighth, he bounced into a double play. The production closer to the bottom of the order has been nonexistent, leading to constant shuffling that has moved Nuñez and Belt to left at times. Bochy said the staff will continue to search of a lineup that works.
"You talk about it and do thing to adjust, and it will get better, but right now we've got some guys who aren't swinging the bat well, to be honest," he said. "You look at the order and we don't have a lot of guys swinging well."
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The list does not include Arroyo, the rookie who will eventually have to deal with adjustments from pitchers. It doesn't appear that'll be a problem. Arroyo has been making adjustments from at-bat to at-bat. He did so against Sergio Romo for his first career homer and said he learned about the depth of Julio Urias' curveball during their first two battles Thursday. In the sixth, the 21-year-old Arroyo drove in the game-tying run against the 20-year-old Urias. The lefty had walked Posey to face Arroyo, who singled up the middle.
"He handles himself so well," Bochy said. "They walked Buster and he smokes the ball. This kid has shown he's not in awe. The upper deck, the bright lights, he comes to play."
Arroyo's effort briefly backed Moore, who was sharp in seven innings. Moore struck out eight, six of them looking, but he didn't get much help and the bullpen fell apart in the 10th with a series of walks.
Bochy challenged his starters on Saturday at Coors Field and they responded with a strong series back home. The bullpen was tested during the first week but - Thursday's result aside - it has settled down. The Giants are not as worried about their pitching as they were as they flew back from Denver. They know, however, that this team is going nowhere if two runs per game continues to be the nightly output.
"We'll tweak it again," Bochy said of his lineup. "We'll see if we can get this thing right."
