by
Greek Giant

The Giants woes at Willie Mays Field continued with a gut-wrenching loss last night to the Pirates, 6-4. The Giants headed into the ninth with a 4-2 lead but no Will Smith who was unavailable due to back issues. With Smith and injuries to Trevor Gott and Reyes Moronta coupled with the trades that sent off Mark Melancon and Sam Dyson, the Giants basically have a completely rebuilt bullpen. That was the difference in this game.

Just when you thought things could not get any worse with the relief corps we find this out:

The Giants went into the game 55-0 when leading after eight innings. Long gone are the Santiago Casilla days of whine and woe is us… Or so we thought!

Brian Reynolds of the Pirates had the game-winning hit. Remember Reynolds? He was considered a fair to perhaps solid prospect in the Giants system when he was dealt to Pittsburgh in the McCuthen trade. This looks like a trade that will haunt the Giants for years to come.

Madison Bumgarner started and pitched well. He want seven innings allowing only two runs and looking in command for most of the game. Bumgarner is quietly having a fairly consistent and solid season. His numbers don’t tell the whole story as the Giants have won many games he started and did not get the “W.”

Last night’s attendance was announced as 26,826, the lowest since 2010. To make matters worse, that was not the actual attendance. That amount was the official number of tickets sold. The actual real live attendance was closer to 16,000. There were seas of empty seats in left field, right field and behind the third base dugout. It was kind of Candlestick-esque and a reminder of the Giants current state.

The Box

Tonight Johnny Cueto makes his season debut and first start at the big league level since his major Tommy John surgery. It’s shimmy time!