Sam Coonrod. Cody Glenn-USA TODAY Sports
There were a lot of strange numbers to surface out of Oracle Park on Monday night. The game featured one balk and one missed fly ball. There was one ninth-inning Little League double-steal of home and second by the Nationals, as the Giants threw from home to second to home to second, all unsuccessfully. There were six mound visits by the Giants – maxing out in the eighth. There were 214 pitches thrown by Giants pitchers and eight walks allowed.
And the other one: 0 runs scored by San Francisco.
It all looked sloppy in a loss that could have been more lopsided, 4-0 to the Nationals, in an ominous start to an important, nine-game homestand in front of 32,366 unsatisfied fans.
An offense that had been buoyed by Alex Dickerson has taken on water without him. After a brilliant July that catapulted them from surefire sellers to on-fire needle-threaders, the Giants are 1-4 in August and have fallen 3 ½ games back of the second NL wild card. With six more games in six days at home against the Nationals and Phillies, they can either do real damage or watch a suddenly losing team (56-57) accept that moniker.
Jeff Samardzija did not have great command, but Sam Coonrod showed off what wildness really looks like in the fifth inning. The righty, who entered with a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings, watched that number balloon to 2.45. He walked the bases loaded before balking in one run. Matt Adams lofted a lazy fly ball to right-center that Kevin Pillar couldn’t find, throwing his arms out. Earlier, his catch saved two runs; his miss cost one. It dropped and the Nationals scored, making it 3-0.
Coonrod threw 39 pitches in his one frame, while Trevor Gott, Reyes Moronta and Sam Selman looked better in finishing the game out.
The Giants’ best threat came in the third, when a Samardzija double and Mike Yastrzemski single put runners on the corners. But with two outs, Buster Posey flew out against Washington starter Erick Fedde, who threw six scoreless innings.
Samardzija tried to nibble around the Nationals. And while he was never bit too badly, he didn’t last long. It took 98 pitches for him to get through four innings, in which he allowed three hits and three walks. He was saved by a couple timely pitches and one tremendous catch.
The Nationals put together a two-out rally in the third to put up their first run. Adam Eaton singled and then was running on the pitch to Anthony Rendon, who hit an opposite-field single that brought Eaton all the way around. Samardzija didn’t give up another run in the inning but did throw 13 more pitches to get one out, as he couldn’t finish hitters off all night.
An inning prior, it was not Samardzija’s arm but Pillar’s glove that bailed out the Giants. With runners on first and second and one out, Kurt Suzuki lined a fastball that seemed at least destined to be a single. But Pillar, racing to his right, never stopped running until he was horizontal, soaring through the air for a catch that preserved two runs. Samardzija lifted his arm in appreciation, as Bruce Bochy playing Pillar in center over Steven Duggar paid off.
It could have been much worse for Samardzija, who was amid his best stretch of the season. He pitched 38 2/3 innings in July with a 2.09 ERA.
