Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants’ new toys were present, and they took a peek at one of them.
But a once-upon-a-time new Giants toy was better Tuesday.
Mike Leake, who did not pan out as the Giants’ 2015 trade-deadline acquisition, silenced San Francisco over 7 1/3, two-run innings in a 3-2 loss to the Diamondbacks at Oracle Park.
A sparse crowd of 28,262 saw the Giants (65-67) fall 5 ½ games back of the Cubs in a wild-card race that, if it’s not history after a brief, two-game sweep from Arizona, is severely fading.
On a day Scooter Gennett was banished in favor of Mauricio Dubon and Trevor Gott was placed on the IL with Tyler Rogers up in his place, only Rogers got a first look in an impressive, 1-2-3 eighth inning. If there were a different hue to how the Giants looked, there also was one to how the Giants felt; moments like the frame from Rogers — a submariner who has been with the organization since 2013 — were cheered, which is how the season began. The result felt almost perfunctory.
The Giants could muster little off Leake, who pitched solidly into the eighth, letting up four hits and a final walk to Mike Yastrzemski that knocked him out of the game.
The Giants followed by mounting a rally, Brandon Belt powering one deep into center off T.J. McFarland that just escaped Jarrod Dyson’s outstretched glove, Belt winding up on second and Yastrzemski sliding into home safely.
Kevin Ginkel walked Evan Longoria, but Alex Dickerson’s liner to Eduardo Escobar turned into a double play, and that was the Giants’ last best chance.
For a change, the Giants’ pitching problems came from their bullpen. Bruce Bochy pulled Jeff Samardzija a bit early, wanting to give Joey Rickard’s bat a chance in the bottom of the fifth. Rickard grounded out, and Sam Coonrod did not help Bochy’s move, allowing three straight singles in the sixth, the last – by Adam Jones – giving the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead. Coonrod, once one of those new toys, still has been a potent weapon, and his final strikeout of Nick Ahmed was impressive.
An inning later, it was Reyes Moronta who got into trouble, allowing a walk and Christian Walker RBI single that made it 3-1 Arizona.
Jeff Samardzija was not dominant but was solid for a 10th straight start, a span since July 1 in which he has a 1.99 ERA. He only lasted five innings, his 92 pitches piling up, but he surrendered a single run on three hits and three walks.
In a bit of a rarity, the Giants’ best offensive player was Belt, batting out of the two-hole. Belt scored the game’s first run when, after he singled, he stole a base, advance to third on a throwing error and then touched home on a Stephen Vogt single.
Belt having a nice moment was another positive in a season that has taken a real turn for the longtime Giant. But if moments are cheered and results aren’t, this season is not about 2019, but 2020.