What we learned as Giants dip below .500 with loss to Marlins

What we learned as Giants dip below .500 with loss to 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 wasn’t able to generate much offense against a pitcher who had only one victory in his previous 13 starts. When they did get something going, the Giants failed to follow through and wound up on the wrong side of a 4-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

Michael Conforto hit his 15^th home run of the season while Mike Yastrzemski and Tyler Fitzgerald each drove in runs, but those were about the extent of the highlights on a chilly night at Oracle Park.

The Giants left six runners on the bases, three in scoring position, continuing a frustrating trend that has plagued the team all season and is a primary factor in why San Francisco has been unable to make a serious run at the MLB playoffs.

Time is running out, too.

With 25 games remaining in the regular season, the Giants (68-69) fell 6 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third NL wild-card spot.

Mason Black, called up from Triple-A Sacramento before the game, did a decent job in his first MLB start in more than three months, but Miami got to San Francisco’s bullpen after Black (0-2) was removed.

It didn’t matter much the way that the Giants were scuffling against Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera. Cabrera took a 5.60 ERA into the game and wasn’t dominating, but he did enough to handle San Francisco’s sporadic offense.

Cabrera’s fastball was clocking in the high 90s early, and he rode the heater for 5 1/3 innings. Cabrera allowed six hits – five singles and one double – and gave up two runs.

The Giants fell behind early when Griffin Conine – son of two-time MLB All-Star and two-time World Series champ Jeff Conine – crushed a 1-2 pitch from Black into McCovey Cove. The two-run blast was the first of the rookie’s career after he made his major league debut earlier in the week.

San Francisco pulled within 2-1 in the fourth on Mike Yastrzemski’s groundout, but the Marlins padded their lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh.

Conforto gave the crowd of 36,087 a lift with his solo home run to center in the eighth, though the Giants couldn’t add on and lost for the third time in four games.

Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s game:

Black Not Bad

Black didn’t get the win, but he did have a fairly solid evening of work on the mound in his first start since May 23.

The Giants right-hander had a career-high six strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter for the second time in his previous three outings. Black allowed two runs, both coming in the second inning when he needed 31 pitches to get through the frame.

He ended his night strong, retiring the final seven batters he faced, including fanning the last two Marlins batters in the fifth.

Baserunning Blunder

The Giants have had their share of issues running the bases this season, and the problem cropped up again in the second inning on Saturday’s game when Jerar Encarnación tried stretching a single into a double.

Encarnación hit a grounder that Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez misplayed, and the ball rolled into short left field. Encarnación possesses good speed and continued running for second but was easily thrown out. That turned out to be a big mistake in a game decided by one run.

Tarnished Milestone

Taylor Rogers made the 500^th appearance of his career, but it hardly was the type of thing to celebrate.

While the milestone in itself certainly is worth noting, Rogers gave up hits to three of the four batters he faced, including a leadoff home run by Miami’s Connor Norby.

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