Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants lost another game and perhaps gained some perspective.
They entered play Sunday 4.5 games up in the division, winners of 10 of 11, soon to let their aces take down the Dodgers and without any peek of a letdown.
They finished play Thursday clutching a half-game lead on those Dodgers, the letdown in full effect and owners of their longest losing streak of the season.
Johnny Cueto was clearly not feeling his best and the Giants’ late-game rally never appeared in a 5-3 loss at Chase Field, their fourth straight defeat in a season that had never seen a dip like this.
And if the Giants’ eyes close, even for a minute, their eyes must quickly open to see how quickly a terrific season can unravel in an ultra-competitive NL West.
With the loss, the Giants (50-30) are just a game up in the loss column to Los Angeles, which has taken six of the nine matchups from San Francisco including Monday and Tuesday against Anthony DeSclafani and Kevin Gausman, and 2.5 up on the Padres.
The Giants’ offense has scored eight runs in four games. Until the ninth inning, they only had a baserunner reach scoring position once, and the next batter was Cueto, who struck out. So it was not the clutch hitting but the everyday hitting that disappointed on a night on which Merrill Kelly became the fourth pitcher this season to complete seven innings against them, and he didn’t walk a batter.
The Giants managed three runs off Kelly, who’s probably Arizona’s best pitcher right now, and they arose from a one-out home run from Mike Yastrzemski in the first and a two-run bomb from Wilmer Flores in the fourth.
First it looked like the Giants might have the makings of a rally against the Diamondbacks’ bullpen in the eighth, when Yastrzemski walked to lead off, but Noe Ramirez settled them down from there, including striking out Alex Dickerson. The left fielder is yet to get going this season and 1-for-15 with seven strikeouts in his past five games.
Then they put two on to start the ninth against Joakim Soria, but Donovan Solano grounded into a back-breaking double play, and Darin Ruf struck out.
The Giants said Cueto has not been feeling well, and that is how it looked through five innings in which he allowed five runs.
The five swings and misses he induced were the fewest he’s caused in a start this year. His four-seam fastball averaged 90.8 mph, a significant tick below the 92.2 mph he has averaged on the pitch this season. His stuff was noticeably worse, as were the results.
Spotted a 1-0 lead from Yastrzemski, Arizona went ahead in the second. Back-to-back doubles by Josh Reddick and Josh VanMeter put one run on the board, and a looping single over Wilmer Flores’ head at third base from Kelly — the opposing starter entering the at-bat 1-for-77 lifetime — gave the Diamondbacks the lead.
It is possible Cueto, who was so good against Oakland his last time around, was feeling effects from a play he and LaMonte Wade Jr. made to lead off the second inning. Christian Walker hit a soft tapper toward first that a pouncing Cueto could not field cleanly, but he realized Wade could, and he kept running toward the bag. Wade picked it up, and Cueto caught the flip with his barehand to record the out, but he was doubled-over a second later. Trainers looked at the veteran righty, but Cueto remained in.
Just your everyday 1-3-1 putout ? pic.twitter.com/Ew7j849jfF
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 2, 2021
The Giants briefly retook the lead with Flores’ 429-foot shot — his longest since Statcast has measured (since 2015). But a well-placed triple, in which Steven Duggar and Dickerson nearly crashed, followed by a Reddick home run gave the Diamondbacks an edge they would only add to in the fifth inning, when Pavin Smith crushed another home run off Cueto.
Cueto’s ERA bounced from 3.63 to 4.00; Dickerson’s on-base percentage fell to .290.
And the Giants blinked, and their lead has been sliced to a half-game.