What We Learned When the Giants Dropped Below .500 in Loss to the Marlins originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
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SAN FRANCISCO – There was no late comeback this time. Just another chapter in the 2024 Giants’ book of missed opportunities.
Bob Melvin’s ballclub was unable to generate much offense against a pitcher who had just one win in his previous 13 starts. When they did get something going, the Giants failed to follow through and ended up on the wrong end of a 4-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
Michael Conforto hit his 15and home run of the season, while Mike Yastrzemski and Tyler Fitzgerald both drove in runs, but those were about the highlights on a cold evening at Oracle Park.
The Giants left six runners on base, three of whom were in scoring position, continuing a frustrating trend that has plagued the team all season and is one of the main reasons San Francisco has failed to make a serious bid for the MLB playoffs.
Time is also running out.
With 25 games remaining in the regular season, the Giants (68-69) trailed the Atlanta Braves by 6 1/2 games in the battle for the third wild-card spot in the NL.
Mason Black, who was called up for the game from Triple-A Sacramento, performed well in his first MLB start in more than three months, but Miami reached San Francisco’s bullpen after Black (0-2) was removed.
It didn’t matter much how the Giants struggled with Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera. Cabrera entered the game with a 5.60 ERA and wasn’t dominant, but he did enough to break down San Francisco’s sporadic offense.
Cabrera’s fastball clocked in the high 90s early, and he drove 5 1/3 innings on the heater. Cabrera allowed six hits — five singles and one double — and surrendered two runs.
The Giants fell behind early when Griffin Conine — son of two-time MLB All-Star and two-time World Series champion Jeff Conine — hit a 1-2 pitch from Black into McCovey Cove. The two-run blast was the first of the rookie’s career after making his major league debut earlier in the week.
San Francisco pulled back to 2-1 in the fourth inning on a groundout by Mike Yastrzemski, but the Marlins extended their lead with runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Conforto gave the crowd of 36,087 a boost with his solo home run to center field in the eighth inning, but the Giants were unable to score and lost for the third time in four games.
Here are the key points from Saturday’s match:
Black is not bad
Black didn’t get the win, but he did have a pretty solid night on the mound in his first start since May 23.
The Giants right-hander struck out a career-high six batters and went hitless for the second time in his previous three outings. Black allowed two runs, both in the second inning when he needed 31 pitches to get through the inning.
He finished his night strong by retiring the last seven batters he faced, including the Marlins’ final two batters in the fifth inning.
Baserunning blunder
The Giants have had their fair share of baserunning problems this season. The problem arose again in the second inning of Saturday’s game, when Jerar Encarnación attempted to stretch a single into a double.
Encarnación grounded out that Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez misplayed, and the ball rolled into short left field. Encarnación has good speed and kept running for second, but was thrown out easily. That proved to be a big mistake in a game decided by one run.
Smeared milestone
Taylor Rogers made the 500and the start of his career, but it was certainly no reason to celebrate.
While this milestone is noteworthy in its own right, Rogers allowed hits to three of the four batters he faced, including a home run by Miami’s Connor Norby.
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