Recap: Giants Lose 5-4, Cain’d Again

Sep 18, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets left fielder

Jr. (22) hits a single in the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Cain pitched 7.2 innings of stellar baseball against the Mets at Citi Field tonight. The Giants cruised all game and seemed headed for their 5th straight victory.

Then the bullpen happened.

The Giants turned a 4-1 lead in to a 5-4 defeat to the Mets. Josh Satin hit a 2 out bases loaded single to left field to score 2 runs off Sergio Romo and offically the Giants will have a losing season. This was their 82nd loss in 2013, a number none of us expected.

Even the poor birds back in San Francisco felt the sting of this one.

All night long the Giants were in control. Matt Cain threw 7.2 innings, only giving up 1 run, and allowed 6 hits while striking out 6. This was his 11th straight start surrendering 3 or fewer runs.

The Giants took the lead in the top of the third inning on a Gregor Blanco 2 run HR to right field. His 3rd this season. They also missed an opportunity to add-on as the bases were loaded with 1 out and Pablo Sandoval at the plate.

But this is 2013, and Pablo grounded in to the 6-4-3 inning ending double play.

They added a run in the 4th on an error by right fielder Andrew Brown to make it 3-0. It was extended to 4-0 in the top of the 5th when Brandon Crawford drove in Buster Posey with a 2 out base hit to left.

But there was no more adding on to be done. The Mest cut in to the lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th to make it a 4-1 ballgame.

Bruce Bochy wanted to stay away from close Sergio Romo this evening, but Santiago Casilla didn’t give him the chance. Casilla walked Brown to lead off the inning. After striking out Lucas Duda, on 3 pitches, he then walked Juan Lagares. Bochy had no choice to but to go to his weary closer.

Pinch-hitter Zach Lutz greeted Sergio with a double down the left field line to cut the lead to 4-2. Rookie catcher Juan Centero then collected his first big league RBI on a soft liner towards Brandon Crawford. Crawford made a great play just to keep the ball from going to the outfield.

Matt den Dekker then walked to load the bases. Romo got pinch-hitter Omar Qunitanilla to fly out to shallow right field. The runner on 3rd stayed put and the Giants remained in the lead.

After throwing Josh Satin 4 straight sliders to open the at bat, Romo threw a fastball that Satin turned on and he singled to left field to bring both the tying, and winning runs home. The Giants lost 5-4.

It was ugly, it hurt, and it summed up the whole season. They just keep finding ways to lose instead of the other way around. Giving up 4 runs in the 9th was a new one for this team.

The series wraps up tomorrow at Citi Field as Madison Bumgarner (12-9, 2.83) faces off against Jon Niese (7-7, 3.88). It’s baseball and brunch as first pitch is scheduled for 10:10 am pt. They can still win the series with a victory tomorrow. But let’s be honest, this one is going to hurt for a bit.