SAN FRANCISCO — The same mistakes sunk the Giants to an eighth loss in their last nine games. Jake Peavy (5-9, 5.42 ERA) allowed three home runs in the 7-5 loss and the Giants squeaked out only one hit with runners in scoring position. It’s the 18th straight game the Giants were held to three hits or less with runners in scoring position. Here’s how Monday evening played out.
The big moment
Jay Bruce’s second home run (and the Reds’ third) was all they needed to skirt past Peavy and the Giants. This swing by Bruce was the 19th home run allowed by the Giants in the second half, more than any other team in baseball.
At the plate
The Giants appear to be better off scoring runs without runners in scoring position. They entered Monday’s game hitting .125 with runners in scoring position since the All-Star break, and faltered in five of those chances in only the first couple innings.
But Brandon Belt and Angel Pagan both capitalized with a runner on first base, as they teed off for two-run home runs against Anthony DeSclafani. The team’s only hit with runners in scoring position came by the way of Buster Posey, who gave the Giants an early lead with an RBI single while getting thrown out at second base.
Pagan’s home run drew the Giants within a run of the Reds, and Belt’s smash pushed the Giants ahead, 5-4. The Reds are exactly what the slumping first baseman needed to get out of his funk. Belt went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a home run, and is hitting .523 against Cincinnati since last season.
The Reds’ bullpen, with 47 more runs allowed than any other team, allowed one hit over the game’s final four innings.
On the mound
After three commanding, hitless innings, the same story played out again for Peavy. He carved through the first 10 hitters he faced on 32 pitches, but the narrative changed as he navigated the Reds’ lineup for a second time. He was tagged for two, two-run home runs that scored a pair of full-count walks issued in the fourth inning. By the time the Giants were sunk in a 4-1 hole, opposing batters were hitting .318 with 10 home runs off Peavy in their second plate appearances.
The right-hander couldn’t contain the damage, even after a quick fifth inning. He faced the middle of the Reds’ lineup for a third time and Jay Bruce walloped his second two-run homer of the night. That marked the MLB-worst 19th home run allowed by Giants pitchers since the All-Star break.
It also marked the end of Peavy’s outing, with three of the four hits allowed leaving the ballpark, and the Reds ambushing him with the long ball for the second time this season. Peavy allowed a season-high eight runs and four home runs in Cincinnati on May 4.
In the ‘pen
Derek Law continued his good run of pitching, needing only 16 pitches to breeze through the sixth and seventh innings. He’s allowed a leadoff single in the eighth before departing, bus has allowed just five hits in his last 7 1/3 innings.
Javier Lopez relieved Law, and set down Bruce and Joey Votto before Hunter Strickland entered as the third pitcher of the inning. The hard-throwing right-hander walked Adam Duvall after pinning him in an 0-2 count, but induced an inning-ending ground out from Brandon Phillips.
Strickland allowed a pair of singles to begin the ninth inning, and the Reds stretched their lead with a successful squeeze play by Billy Hamilton.
On deck
Matt Cain (1-6, 5.88 ERA) is still looking for the groove he left back in May. In a three-start stretch two months ago, he allowed four runs over 21 innings against the Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and Cubs. Since then, Cain’s endured a pair of DL stints and has allowed eight runs in his last 7 2/3 innings. He faces lefty Cody Reed (0-4, 6.75 ERA) at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Catch the action on KNBR 680.
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