The Giants left Arizona hoping to find the answers to their early season problems in sunny San Diego, but instead emerged from Friday’s series opener against the Padres underneath bigger clouds of uncertainty.
George Kontos’ rough seventh inning headlined another bullpen blowup, one that followed a discouraging Matt Cain 2017 debut and sent the Giants to their third straight loss, a 7-6 defeat at Petco Park.
Brandon Belt’s two home run afternoon, including a sixth inning grand slam, was not enough to overcome the bad mound work, which has defined the first week of the season.
It began with Cain on Friday. The 32-year old right-hander took the mound knowing his grip on the final starter’s spot was tenuous and could not do anything to tighten it. Any hope for a smooth beginning to 2017 evaporated on Cain’s fifth pitch, which rookie outfielder Manuel Margot crushed over the left-field wall for his first career home run.
Cain (0-1) would ultimately surrender four runs on six hits in four and a third innings, including Margot’s second career homer two innings after his first. The brief outing continued a disturbing trend that goes back almost a full year. Once known for his incredible durability, Cain hasn’t lasted six innings in a game since May 21 of last season. Further, six of his last nine starts have failed to even cross the five-inning threshold.
Supporters of Cain’s bid to remain a constant in the rotation could always point to his consistent velocity, which had not yet gone the way of his command. But Cain sat at 86-90 miles per hour against San Diego and didn’t appear to have a feel for his secondary pitches. The loud contact off San Diego bats was constant and he threw just 45 of his 84 pitches for strikes.
Bruce Bochy is known for standing by his veterans and will undoubtedly give Cain every chance he can to turn things around. But reason for optimism has evaded the Giants and their postseason hero for the better part of the last three seasons and didn’t make any significant appearances on Friday. Cain left the mound grimacing and trailing 4-1.
Then, after Belt’s bases loaded round-tripper put the Giants ahead by a run, the bullpen gave away the Giants’ eighth lead in the team’s first five games.
Righty Neil Ramirez provided a brief highlight in the bottom of the sixth by retiring the Padres in order, but San Diego forged ahead for good an inning later. Kontos replaced Ramirez and didn’t record an out before Yangervis Solarte’s two-run double flipped the scoreboard.
Kontos figures to be a strength of the Giants’ relief corps but his poor outing was indicative of a unit still struggling to shake off the malaise of 2016. With Will Smith lost for the season, the orange and black possess few arms capable of blowing bats away for strikeouts in the late innings and thus rely on inducing weak contact, as they did a season ago. So far, the results aren’t any different: batted balls are finding holes and the Giants are watching winnable games slip away.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that neither Cain’s nor the bullpen’s struggles come as a surprise. The Giants entered 2017 knowing they were a strong team with a few areas that might require maintenance as the season progresses, and nothing from the first five games seems to indicate otherwise. Expect both to receive the chance to work through their troubles, but also for the organization’s leash to be shorter than in seasons past.
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