© Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
ANAHEIM — Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels (14-7) left the San Francisco Giants (8-12) still seeking their first series win, and Derek Holland in search of his first win of the year.
As they did on Friday night, the Giants struck first via home run. This time, it was a two-run shot off the bat of Brandon Belt in the second inning, which made for some temporary confusion.
#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/U6GsV3QPM8
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) April 22, 2018
With Pablo Sandoval, who reached by swinging at a wild pitch for strike three, on first, Belt hammered a fastball towards the right field bleachers. Mike Trout made a leaping attempt to catch the ball as it barely got over the fence, but it bounced off the auxiliary scoreboard on the other side of the wall and back onto the field.
As Sandoval and Belt sprinted on the base paths, right fielder Chris Young threw the ball back towards the infield. Sandoval was easily tagged out at home, but was safe as the umpires ruled Belt’s hit a home run.
Yet, the Angels tied the game 2-2 with a pair of two-out solo homers in the second and third innings off Holland.
One inning after Jefry Marte hit his first home run of the season, Trout launched the second pitch he saw over the center field wall for his eighth homer of the year.
Holland pitched through the sixth inning, but not before the Angels grabbed a 4-2 lead with a two-run home run from Albert Pujols. Holland threw 100 pitches, allowing five hits, four runs, striking out six, and walking one.
The home run is not something Holland has struggled with this season, but he matched a career-high with three allowed on Saturday night. Over 15.2 innings pitched in his first three starts, he’d only allowed one long ball to Christian Villanueva in his last outing against the San Diego Padres.
As it happens, the Angels came into Saturday night with 28 home runs, tied with the Colorado Rockies for the most in the major leagues. Trout entered the game with the most home runs in the American League (7).
As Austin Jackson struck out in the eighth inning, the Giants surpassed their previous season-high of striking out 13 times in a single game. Starting with 11 strikeouts recorded by Angels’ starter Garrett Richards, the Giants struck out 17 times by the game’s end.
With two outs in the eighth, the Giants built a rally that ultimately came up short.
After Andrew McCutchen coaxed a walk, Sandoval doubled him home. However, the Angels intentionally walked Belt to face Evan Longoria, who struck out to end the inning.
Pablo's doing his thing to keep it close
#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/OwnZnbSo5s
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) April 22, 2018
Sam Dyson came in to pitch the eighth inning and gave up a one-out double to Trout. Shortly after, he stole third and tripped up with Longoria, who attempted to recover after the ball skirted by him. Longoria went over Trout as he moved towards home plate, but came back to third limping. The inning ended with a double play that kept the Angels off the board and Trout appeared to be fine.
The Giants wrap up their series against the Angels on Sunday at 1:07 PM, a finale that will feature Johnny Cueto on the mound against Jaime Barria.