With a 6-2 loss to the Oakland A’s, the Giants have finished the first half of the season. The team will enter the All-Star break two games above .500 and 3.5 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. The Giants finished at the bottom of the division last season, but as a team that entered the year with the oldest roster in the National League and one of the highest payrolls in baseball, that improvement means little if it does not include a playoff berth.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said for the team to finish where he wants it to, improvements will be needed offensively.
“I’d say more than anything, it’s just getting consistent with putting runs on the board,” Bochy said. “We stalled again today. Their guy (Sean Manaea) did a pretty good job on us. He shut down the heart of our order.”
Specifically, Bochy said, the Giants need more power.
“We have to probably drive the ball a little bit more,” Bochy said. “I think we only had six home runs this month. Whether I need to give some guys a break a little bit more often, that’s what we’re missing probably as much as anything is some power. And not just home runs, but we’re not driving the ball like I think we can. But we’re going to have to get some guys hot. We had some guys that had a tough series here.”
Bochy commended his pitching staff, adding that they’d need more run support moving forward.
“We’re going to have to throw the ball well,” Bochy said. “The bullpen has done a nice job. I think overall these starters have done a pretty nice job and that’s going to have to continue. But you know, you give up four or five and hopefully, you can go out there and put some runs on the board, but we didn’t have a lot of threatening (offense) going on today and that was frustrating.”
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