It’s fitting that the Giants will close out the year with Fan Appreciation Day at AT&T Park on October 1 against the Padres.
Because the fans that still manage to appreciate San Francisco after its 2017 season know all about the Giants’ struggles against the Padres.
San Diego has scored fewer runs than every other team in the Major Leagues and it boasts a pitching staff full of starters most casual fans have never heard of. The Padres are in the midst of a massive rebuilding project, but there’s reason to believe that eventually, the club will have enough pieces to compete in the National League West.
If and when San Diego is able to make a future playoff push, the Padres won’t have to worry about figuring out how to beat the Giants. Their young players are already experts at that.
On Wednesday evening at Petco Park, San Diego beat San Francisco for the 11th time this season, recording a 5-0 win that clinched its fifth consecutive series victory over the last-place Giants. It marked the 10th time this season the Giants have been shut out.
The Padres’ dominance is bizarre, but it’s very real. Since last year’s All-Star break, the Giants have won just seven of their last 26 games against a team that hasn’t cracked the code against other opponents, but seems to be able to translate Morse against Bruce Bochy’s team.
Even though right-hander Jeff Samardzija dazzled with a three-hit shutout on Monday night to lead the Giants to a 3-0 series-opening win, San Francisco still found ways to drop the final two games of the series. If not for a split in a four-game series last September, San Francisco would have eight straight series defeats at the hands of a team that lost 94 games last season and may lose about five fewer this year.
While the Giants’ Opening Day payroll was well over $100 million more than that of the Padres, San Francisco never found a way to take advantage of its luxuries on the field this year.
When these two teams meet, wild stuff transpires, and Wednesday’s series finale was no different.
Rookie Ty Blach took the ball for the Giants against fellow southpaw Travis Wood, but it was what both pitchers did with their bats, and not their arms, that dominated early storylines.
In the second inning, Blach singled to give the Giants a pair of base runners, but center fielder Denard Span flew out to end an early threat. In the bottom of the third inning, Wood received the chance to swing the bat, and he redirected a Blach changeup over the left center field wall to give San Diego a 1-0 lead. Wood is no stranger to home runs, as Wednesday’s smash marked the 10th of his eight-year career. He’s no stranger to hitting them against the Giants either, as he smoked one off of reliever George Kontos in the 2016 NLDS when he was pitching for the Cubs.
Wood’s home run took the spotlight off of Blach, who had earned it with his single and a second inning assist on a unique 1-4-3 putout. With Yangervis Solarte at the plate, Blach delivered a 3-1 fastball that Solarte rocked back toward the pitcher’s mound before Blach stuck his foot out to stop the ball. Solarte’s bid for a hit caromed toward the right side of the infield, where second baseman Joe Panik dove to his left to stop it, stood up and fired to first just in time to throw Solarte out.
And for a Giants’ team that hasn’t exactly played great defense this season, Panik’s putout was only the start.
Later on in the game, Hunter Pence made a leaping catch at the wall, Denard Span made a tumbling play in center field, and Brandon Crawford hopped over third baseman Kelby Tomlinson while throwing a batter out at first base. It was a rare night on which a multitude of defensive players flashed the leather, but ultimately, the Giants never packed a punch with their bats. That last part of the script is far from unusual, though.
The Giants’ best opportunity came in the fifth inning, when Padres’ manager Andy Green gave Wood the early hook after the Giants loaded the bases with just one out. Green summoned Craig Stammen from the bullpen, and he promptly struck out Pence before inducing a Nick Hundley groundout to end the threat.
San Francisco had plenty of other chances –the Giants ended up leaving 10 men on base– but the club couldn’t cash in on any of its opportunities. It resulted in the team’s 10th shutout loss of the season, and left the Giants reeling from a 1-5 road trip.
The Padres were built to finish in last place, and now that there’s one month left in the regular season, the Giants trail San Diego by 7.0 games in the division.
The Giants do get a bit of a reprieve, though, as they won’t play the Padres until the final weekend of the year. Between now and then, the club has an extra month to build up some good will, and give fans a series against San Diego they can finally appreciate.