Recap: Winning Streak Ends, Giants Lose 6-5

Aug 18, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Hector Sanchez (right) has his hand examined by the medical staff after injuring himself during the fourth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants had a chance at a winning multiiple city road trip for the first time this season. Once again the Marlins crashed the party and beat the Giants by a final of 6-5. The Giants wrapped up the trip with a .500 record (3-3) after taking 2 of 3 from Miami.

Hunter Pence got the Giants going in the right direction in the 1st inning. With Gregor Blanco on base after a lead off single, Pence drove one deep over the center field wall for a 2 run HR. Buster Posey had the day off and Pence was batting 4th today.

He had gone 104 AB’s since he last hit one. Originally it was estimated at 420 feet. ESPN had it at 459 feet, which would be the third longest homer by a Giants player this season. And apparently, the second longest in Marlins Park history.

The Marlins got on the board with a Jeff Mathis solo shot off Madison Bumgarner in the bottom of the 3rd inning. They took the lead in the 4th and the see saw game was on.

Giancarlo Stanton led off with a single followed by a Logan Morrison pop out. Justin Ruggiano then reached on catcher’s interference by Hector Sanchez. It looked as if Hector reached out for the ball as Ruggiano swung. He knocked the catcher’s mitt clear off his hand and the ball smacked Hector in the exposed hand. He was hurting, but he stayed in the game. Ed Lucas singled to tie it, and Adeiny Hechavarria smacked a 2 out single to LF to give the Marlins the 3-2 lead.

Oh but this game went back and forth. The Giants tied it right back up in the top of the 5th on a single, a walk, and a 2 out base hit by Pence.

Holding to form, the Marlins took the lead back in the bottom half of the inning. Donovan Solano reached on a one out base hit, and Logan Morrison joined him on the bases after a 2 out hit. The it got weird. On ball 4 to Ruggiano the ball got away from Sanchez. He was unable to locate it behind him and Solano came all the way from 2nd base to score the lead run. Bumgarner got out of the inning without any more damage.

The Giants tried to put together a rally in the 6th inning after the first two men reached base. But on this day the boys were leaving runners on base again. In fact, after going 18 for 53 in the first 5 games of the trip, the Giants managed to only go 1 for 11 with RISP this afternoon.

Brandon Crawford led off the top of the 7th inning with a solo HR to RF to tie at 4. It was a 2 strike pitch from left handed reliever Mike Dunn. Crawford’s 2nd HR off a left hander this year. With 2 outs in the inning Sandoval hit a sharp single to CF. Hector Sanchez followed that up with a 2 out run scoring double down the right field line. The Giants had the lead again at 5-4.

The Marlins tied it again in the bottom of the 7th off Guillermo Moscoso. Christian Yelich walked to lead off the inning and was brought around on a Solano double to the gap between CF and LF. The Giants then used 3 different relievers to get the 3 outs in the inning and keep the game tied at 5.

Weird baseball was the theme all weekend, and the deciding run in this game was no different. With one out and Lucas on 1st base, Jeff Mathis hit a line drive towards Andres Torres in CF. Seeing that Blanco was backing him up Torres went for the dive to catch the ball. He missed, and instead of just rolling past him to Blanco, the ball kicked off his shoulder and over to the vacated area in left field. Solanbo sored and Blanco recovered in time to throw Mathis out at 3rd trying for a triple.

The damage was done, the Marlins had a 6-5 lead.

Buster Posey made an appearance in the 9th inning, but it was not to be as he grounded in to the game ending double play. The Giants lost 6-5 to the Marlins to drop their record to 55-68. They now have the same amount of losses on August 18th as they did during the 2012 season.

The Giants come back to AT&T Park and start a 7 game homestand tomorrow. First up it’s 3 games against the Red Sox. The probables for tomorrow night’s 7:15 PT start are Jon Lester (10-7, 4.31 ERA) for the Sox and Tim Lincecum (6-12, 4.38 ERA) for the hometown nine.