What we learned when Giants’ late collapse ended in a tough loss for Pirates

What we learned as Giants’ late collapse ended in tough loss to Pirates originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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The red-hot Giants appeared to find their way through eight innings to extending their win streak to five straight games to begin a six-game road trip.

And then came the ninth inning in the Giants’ 7-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday at PNC Park.

Giants reliever Luke Jackson had a four-run lead to start the ninth and needed one pitch to record the first out of what should have been the final inning of the night. But a walk and a double brought in closer Camilo Doval, who walked his first batter, was the recipient of a costly error by Marco Luciano with the bases loaded and blew the save as the Pirates tied the game on Oneil Cruz’s double down the right field line. .

Cruz’s three hits had exit velocities of 121.5, 120.4 and 116.3.

Erik Miller on the first pitch of the bottom of the 10th^e inning allowed a walk-off single up the middle.

Starting pitcher Logan Webb gave up two earned runs on six hits in six innings. Webb also struck out six and walked just one. Tuesday was Webb’s third straight game with at least six innings, and he has now done so in eight of his 11 starts this season.

While Webb got through six innings, the Giants’ offense kept Pirates starting pitcher Martin Perez sweating all night. Perez threw 98 pitches in 4 1/3 innings, and only 57 percent were strikes. He walked three Giants and fought through several long at bats.

Here are three takeaways from a tough Giants loss.

Up and down fifth inning

The Giants gave themselves a three-run lead in the fifth inning. First, Jorge Soler led the inning, putting Perez in his eighth 3-2 strike of the day before drawing a walk, then Thairo Estrada followed by hitting a two-run homer on a cutter that didn’t cut.

Estrada’s shot traveled 400 feet, had an exit velocity of 103.1 and would have been a home run at all 30 ballparks.

Eight Giants batted in the fifth inning. They knocked Perez out of the game after just 4 1/3 innings. The Giants also had the bases loaded with only one out and smoked a great opportunity. The result was two consecutive pop-outs for infielders to end the top of the inning.

Webb allowed one earned run in the bottom half of the inning, showing how important Estrada’s two-run explosion was. More importantly, as the Giants later learned, the bases remained loaded and nothing came of it in two consecutive at-bats.

Matos’ encore

Matos was named National League Player of the Week on Monday, the first Giant to earn the honor since Brandon Belt in 2018. He then followed up the honor by executing the little things perfectly in the first inning on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old kept his hands back on a two-strike exchange and managed a single up the middle, moving Thairo Estrada from first base to third base. Two batters later, it looked like Estrada would be stuck 100 feet from a target. But Cruz lost a Wilmer Flores flyball in the sun, allowing not only Estrada to score, but also Matos, who sprinted around the bases – perfect heads-up baseball as Matos displayed.

Matos went 3-2 in his second at bat and walked on six pitches. It was his first walk this season in his ninth game played. He grounded out in his third at bat and hit a deep fly ball to left-center in his final trip to the plate.

His flyaway went 330 feet, had an exit velocity of 99.8 mph and would have been a home run at one park: Wrigley Field.

McKenna makes Giants debut

On the same day Matos was named NL Player of the Week, the Giants submitted a waiver claim for outfielder Ryan McKenna. The Baltimore Orioles recently DFA’d McKenna, which opened a door for him with the Giants, who suddenly found themselves with a 40-man roster spot when Jung Hoo Lee went to the 60-day injured list due to season-ending shoulder surgery .

But McKenna’s Giants debut wasn’t exactly one to remember.

McKenna saw six pitches in his first at-bat before striking out on the perfect description of a pitcher’s pitch. Perez put a 90-mph fastball into right field corner, freezing McKenna for the first of the second inning. McKenna again saw six pitches in his second at bat, but ultimately popped out to second baseman Nick Gonzales.

When McKenna’s spot in the order came up for the third time, he wasn’t the one walking up to the plate. Mike Yastrzemski was. While right-handed reliever Luis Ortiz replaced Perez, Giants manager Bob Melvin sent Yastrzemski, a lefty, to McKenna. He showed up on first baseman Connor Joe instead of playing the numbers game and driving in a run.

The next four starters the Giants are expected to face are right-handed, meaning the next start McKenna will likely get will be Sunday against former Giants pitcher Sean Manaea in New York.

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