sf giants

Giants Observations: What We Learned in Quiet 3-0 Loss to Reds

What we learned as Giants' bats go quiet in loss to Reds originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

BOX SCORE

The Cincinnati Reds came to Oracle Park as the highest-scoring team in the big leagues, but the Giants pitching staff was up for the challenge. Their lineup, however, was not. 

There was no bailing the hitters out on this night, as they managed just two hits in a 3-0 loss to the Reds that snapped a four-game winning streak. The Giants had 13 runs in their first two games this year but have just 18 in eight games since. They're batting .192 as a team, a huge issue that was partially obscured by the rotation's brilliance the last week. 

Here are three things to know from a quiet night when just 3,662 showed up to the yard ... 

The Drought Continues

Evan Longoria had more than 1,000 feet worth of outs, but other than that, it was a quiet night for the bats once again. The Giants entered the night with a .204 team batting average, and they managed just two hits off journeyman lefty Wade Miley. Hard-throwing righty Tejay Antone appeared to be piggybacking Miley and followed with 3 2/3 hitless innings. 

Of the 13 position players who got an at-bat Monday night, only five are hitting above .200. Mike Yastrzemski grounded out as a pinch-hitter to drop to .121, Wilmer Flores went 0-for-2 to drop to .136, and Mauricio Dubon dropped to .111 after also taking an 0-for-2. 

Five Was Enough

Aaron Sanchez was fine in his second Giants start, allowing two earned on three hits in his five innings. He got six swinging strikes on his curveball but just two on his fastball, which continues to sit around 91 mph and topped out at 93 on a cold night. Both runs Sanchez gave up came in the third, when Tucker Barnhart drew a walk at the bottom of the order and leadoff hitter Jesse Winker crushed a grooved fastball out to center. 

Sanchez was pulled after 66 pitches, with manager Gabe Kapler opting to send pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella up with a runner on first and two outs in the fifth. La Stella bounced out to second. 

Giants starters have now gone at least five innings in all 10 games and allowed three-or-fewer runs, their longest streak to start a year since 2002. 

Heavy Load for Jarlin

Left-hander Jarlin Garcia was a setup man at times last year, but he looked more like a long reliever on this night. Garcia threw 2 1/3 innings, his longest outing as a Giant. The assignment wasn't too foreign to Garcia, who was briefly a starter for the Marlins early in his career, and he mostly handled it well. 

Garcia gave up a solo homer to Joey Votto in his first inning but allowed just one more hit and struck out three. Votto's blast landed in the cove, making it the 52nd Splash Hit by a visiting player. It was the first by a Cincinnati Red. 

Download and subscribe to the Giants Talk Podcast

Copyright RSN
Contact Us