Joe Puetz-USA TODAY Sports
The pitchers used: Logan Webb, Burch Smith, Sam Coonrod, Shaun Anderson, Conner Menez, Kyle Barraclough.
The late-game outfield (left to right): Joey Rickard, Mike Yastrzemski, Jaylin Davis.
The late-game infield (left to right): Corban Joseph, Mauricio Dubon, Donovan Solano, Chris Shaw, with Aramis Garcia the catcher.
The Giants have transformed into the River Cats. And Triple-A teams are not normally good enough to beat major league teams, as the Giants fell 10-0 to the Cardinals on Thursday, losing three of four in the series before heading to Los Angeles for a three-game set.
If it weren’t already audition time for a team whose results only matter because of the manager’s record — Bruce Bochy fell to 1,993-2,016 with 22 games to play — this wipeout by the Cardinals announced the inevitable.
The Giants managed four hits and just one before the eighth inning, Kevin Pillar, Dubon, Shaw and Rickard the only ones to beat Cardinals pitchers. Dakota Hudson was untouchable, lasting six one-hit innings with two walks, a young Cardinals pitcher dazzling for the second time in three days. Jack Flaherty baffled them Tuesday as St. Louis put on display what a quality, green pitching staff looks like.
Webb has shown flashes, but he’s not at that level.
The 22-year-old rookie was destroyed, not escaping the third inning in his worst start of the four he’s made. The final line read 2 2/3 innings, eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits. It started ugly and got uglier by his finish.
The Cardinals tagged him for the three in the first inning, the big blow a Paul DeJong two-run homer to dead center, Webb leaving a fastball down the middle of the plate.
It came apart with two outs in the third, when Yadier Molina, with first and third, fisted a single for their fourth run. Matt Carpenter, also with runners on the corners, slapped one into the second-base hole, with Dubon throwing to a Brandon Belt who was scrambling to first. Both Belt and Webb converged at the bag, the throw coming to Belt, who couldn’t find first in time. Another run scored, the inning continued, and Webb shouted into his glove.
After Webb’s walk to load the bases, starting pitcher Dakota Hudson came through with a single to make it 7-0 Cardinals and end Webb’s day.
So began the medley of mostly unproven relievers, most of whom pitched well. Anderson’s clean inning was the best he’s looked out of the pen this year. Smith went 1 1/3 innings without incident. Menez struck out two without giving up a run in his frame. Only Barraclough struggled, giving up a two-run shot to Rangel Ravelo in the eighth.
The Giants didn’t raise the white flag until the bottom of the seventh, when Pillar, Stephen Vogt, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt were lifted. Of the quartet, only Pillar got a hit, the center fielder continuing to rake and finishing the series 5-for-8.
For a game that started 10:15 locally, the rest of the Giants lineup seemed asleep. They erupted for nine runs Wednesday, but combined for one run in the other three games in the series. They have seven more games to win if they want to get Bochy to 2,000, and 22 more to play to see who exactly should be sticking for next season. At this point, that is all there is to play for.