KANSAS CITY — With their place in the standings at this point in the season, all that really matters for the Giants is how other teams value their potential trade candidates.
All things considered, Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Royals was a mixed bag.
Tyler Mahle, potentially making one of his last starts for the team he signed with last winter, was solid but unspectacular and far from efficient. He threw 91 pitches and departed without recording an out in the sixth inning, surrendering three runs to raise his ERA to 5.31.
The performance likely didn’t do much to change how teams view him. A veteran set to be a free agent again this winter probably won’t be making any postseason starts, no matter what uniform he’s wearing, but he could still be a buy-low option to boost a team’s pitching depth.
Mahle employed the Giants pitching staff’s special combo to begin the sixth — a walk to Isaac Collins to lead off the inning, followed by a hit-by-pitch of Salvador Perez — and handed off the jam to another pitcher who could be of interest to teams in need of left-handed bullpen help.
Sam Hentges, however, didn’t help the situation. He fell behind on Vinnie Pasquantino, who laced a grounder up the middle to tie the game. Hentges hit another batter, loading the bases, and manager Tony Vitello decided he’d seen enough, calling on Keaton Winn.
Winn, a less likely trade candidate, got two strikes on Nick Loftin and threw him a sinker well below the zone. The pitch got the intended result — a swing and a ground ball — but it was struck well enough and in the right place, out of the reach of either Casey Schmitt or Willy Adames, that it scooted into left field and allowed the Royals to take a 3-2 lead.
Both of the base runners put on Mahle and inherited by Hentges came around to score.
Less than two weeks to go until the Aug. 3 deadline, possibly the best thing the Giants did to help maintain the value of any of their trade chips’ came in Vitello’s lineup decision.
Luis Arraez, their top asset, was held out of the lineup for only the sixth time this season. He wants to play everyday but has been hampered by the right foot that seems to be a magnet for his foul balls. One less game meant one less chance for Arraez to more seriously hurt himself.
The Giants were apparently so intent on keeping Arraez off his feet that Vitello kept the National League’s second-leading hitter on the bench in a prime pinch-hit opportunity.
Trailing 3-2, Jung Hoo Lee singled to lead off the seventh and made it to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Jesus Rodriguez. But in spite of having the potential tying run in scoring position and the bottom two spots in the lineup coming up, Vitello didn’t call on Arraez.
He allowed Drew Gilbert to go down swinging for the second out, which brought up Christian Koss, who started in place of Arraez at second. Koss had walked and singled in his previous two times up but popped out to short to end the inning.
What it means
After notching a win in their first game after the All-Star break, the Giants have dropped all four games since. It’s San Francisco’s sixth losing streak this season of four or more games.
The loss dropped the Giants a season-high 17 games below .500, at 42-59, the furthest under water the franchise has been since it ended the 2017 season 64-98, the second-worst record in the Giants’ 68 seasons in San Francisco.
Who’s hot
The temperature of the Giants’ tempers reached a point early that home plate umpire Lance Barrett paused the game to tell the visitors’ dugout to pipe down with the chirping.
San Francisco was especially upset by a check-swing call that went against Willy Adames in his first at-bat, ending in a strikeout to start the second inning.
Adames, who later booted a ball at shortstop to begin the bottom of the seventh, was a victim of another odd call that earned the umpiring crew no friends among the folks in gray uniforms.
The Giants believed Adames should have been awarded first base in the sixth when his swing appeared to connect with the glove of Royals catcher Carter Jensen. Vitello requested a video review to check for catcher’s interference, and although it appeared to show exactly that, the lengthy replay process led to the no-call on the field being upheld and Adames popping out.
Who’s not
Bryce Eldridge continued to be an on-base machine, lining a single in his first time up to get on safely for the 53rd time in 59 games since he was called up on May 4.
But after a strong start to the second half in Seattle, the rookie slugger has had a rough go of it this series. Before he wasn’t able to make a difficult play on the game-winning squeeze bunt Monday night, he struck out three times, and he went down on strikes two more times Tuesday.
There was always going to be some swing and miss paired with Eldridge’s power stroke, but it has been prevalent lately. In 16 games this month, he has struck out 24 times and drawn nine walks. He had struck out 24 times in his previous 27 games, with 14 bases on balls.
Up next
Landen Roupp takes the mound against Seth Lugo as the Giants wrap up their series against the Royals on Wednesday (11:10 a.m. PT) before heading home to host a third straight sub-.500 interleague opponent, the Angels, beginning Friday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
