Costly mistakes against inferior teams piling up for Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO — Exactly two weeks ago at Oracle Park, the Giants shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers, finishing off a sweep that seemed like it might jumpstart the reigning NL West champions after a lackadaisical stretch of baseball. After that game, manager Gabe Kapler stood in his office and tried not to make too much of the sweep.
“We’re gonna not get too high or too low,” he said.
It’s a good thing that’s his gameplan.
The Giants on Sunday hit a low point, falling 10-3 at home to the Cincinnati Reds, a team that is on pace for 106 losses but has taken both series against the Giants this season. It was not just that the Giants lost two of three this weekend, it was how they did it.
There are going to be days when the lineup can’t handle a tough starter or the staff can’t make enough pitches. That’s baseball. They existed last season, too, although not in great quantities.
What is so surprising about this year’s Giants team is that pretty much the exact same roster that won 107 games has given away so many games by simply piling up the mistakes. All 10 runs the Giants allowed Sunday came with two outs, and seven came after Anthony DeSclafani cruised through the first two innings and then got two quick outs in the third. Then the wheels came off.
DeSclafani missed his location badly with a 3-2 sinker to Brandon Drury and gave up an RBI triple. Tommy Pham got a hanging 0-2 slider and drove it back up the middle. Joey Votto lined a double, and then came the real backbreaker.
With two on, Matt Reynolds hit a high fly ball to center and DeSclafani took a couple of steps toward the dugout. The inning should have been over, but Austin Slater had broken in on the ball. It kept carrying and landed over his head, driving in another run and keeping the inning going. DeSclafani would never get that third out.
With two outs in the fifth, the Giants got another ball that should have ended an inning and stranded runners. But Jarlin Garcia was late getting to first and Brandon Belt’s throw got away from him anyway. For a moment, as Reds continued to circle the bases, the ball sat in the dirt in front of the visiting dugout. Finally, Curt Casali ran over and scooped it up.
That play was the backbreaker for many of the 32,000 in attendance, and it was hard to blame them. Groans and some boos were heard from a crowd that does not generally come to Oracle Park to…