Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Drew Pomeranz was electric but imperfect.
On too many days, that isn’t enough for this Giants offense.
In moments the bats had to be loud, they went quiet again, their 3-4 hitters (Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval) being the biggest culprits, as the Giants fell, 2-0, to the Rockies at Oracle Park in front of 40,018 on Monday, another listless loss for a team (33-44) that has had plenty.
The Giants’ offensive, perhaps still sleeping after its trip from Los Angeles and Arizona, was missing when it was needed. Posey and Sandoval combined to go 0-for-7 with a walk, and on Day 11 of the 20-games-straight stretch, the Giants were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. They got a bit of traffic against Jon Gray and Colorado’s bullpen but never could cash in.
The growing cult of Alex Dickerson also went quiet, the lefty hitter going 1-for-3 with a single and a costly strikeout. Another flier outfielder, Mike Yastzemski, got the biggest hit of the game for the Giants, but it amounted to nothing.
Down 2-0, Joe Panik opened the seventh with a shot up the middle that bounced off Jairo Diaz, who relieved Gray. Donovan Solano followed with a shallow flyball, and Brandon Belt struck out. But Yastrzemski launched a double to left-center, and with two outs, third-base coach Ron Wotus sent Panik. The throw easily beat him, though the tag was much closer. Panik was ruled out on replay review, and the Giants were left wanting again.
You be the ump. Safe or out? pic.twitter.com/MjZvXOCFhl
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 25, 2019
Two innings earlier, with runners on first and second, Yastrzemski and Dickerson struck out, the new and young(ish) top of the lineup failing to come through.
Pomeranz (2-8) did. In a strange season for the southpaw, he recovered – both from a tough outing and tough inning.
The 30-year-old was dominant, leaving Rockies hitters hacking at air for much of the night. He struck out 11 in five innings – the first Giant to notch double-digit strikeouts since Johnny Cueto two Aprils ago – and these were not cheap. He recorded 15 swinging strikes and got ahead of 15 of the 22 batters he faced.
So often he has watched starts go haywire and then never bounced back, including a five-inning stretch to finish May in which he lasted four innings and allowed 13 runs. In his last start, he let up three first-inning runs to the Dodgers and never got on track, going 4 1/3 innings of seven-run ball.
This time, Pomeranz met the first run through the Rockies order with dominance, striking out six of the nine batters by mixing in an effective curveball and low-90s fastball. The second time through the lineup is where he hit the speed bump.
Charlie Blackmon blooped in a one-out single in the third before David Dahl went the other way and the ball never stopped traveling, getting just over the left-field wall for a 2-0 Rockies lead. Colorado followed with back-to-back singles, but Pomeranz didn’t lose control. He struck out Ryan McMahon and got Raimel Tapia on a fly-out.
Only one batter reached the next two innings, and that arose from Pomeranz pitching around Tony Wolters to get to Gray.
Pomeranz was lifted at 93 pitches, and as impressive as he was, he hasn’t made it six innings since April.
