San Francisco Giants four-game winning streak snapped by the Reds with a solo home run in the 10th

Sep 15, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants outfielder Jarrett Parker (47) runs the bases after his go ahead home run in the fifth inning of their game with the Cincinnati Reds at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Like a lot of our Giants I’m on the DL. I started to write a post about the Tuesday night game, but I found I was writing in circles and at one point even I had no idea what I was talking about. After I felt a little better, I looked it over, made some adjustments, and put it out for you to read if you’d like. This is what I had to say about Tuesday night’s game:

San Francisco Giants baseball isn’t just torture‒it’s cruel and unusual entertainment. Tuesday night’s game is the perfect example. Unfortunately, at times it’s like a train wreck‒too horrifying to watch but you simply can’t tear your eyes away.

The Reds scored first, in the first inning no less, by plating runners who got on board with a couple of walks, a single and the big one‒a two RBI triple. It looked like the game was going to turn into an ugly bloodbath. A really ugly bloodbath.

Chris Heston was on the mound for the Giants and manager Bruce Bochy got Yusmeiro Petit warming up in the bullpen right away. But Heston, who often takes a little time to get settled in, got his pitching groove on and stayed in the game. He went five innings and gave up three runs on three hits and four walks. He struck out eight.

The Giants rallied in the fourth. Kelby Tomlinson and Matt Duffy hit back-to-back singles and then Buster Posey came along and hit a home run. You couldn’t script it better. The game was tied.

The Giants added on in the fifth, rookie Jarrett Parker came into the game to pinch-hit for the pitcher and he hit his first big league home run, putting the Giants in the lead. That’s one way to let the powers-that-be know you can be counted on in the clutch. The Giants added on a second insurance run in the sixth‒Marlon Byrd reached on a Reds throwing error and Belt doubled him home.

That was all before the Reds had their big seventh inning. You know the kind of inning I’m talking about‒the Giants call it a “magic wandoo” inning. The Reds scored five runs on a combination of walks, errors, base hits and a hit batter. The Reds didn’t have a great inning because they were playing great baseball, they had a great inning because during that inning the Giants weren’t playing great baseball.

As Kuip would say, the Giants had a lot of work to do. They scored one run in the eighth‒Buster drew a walk, Byrd reached on a walk and the Reds brought in another pitcher. And we’re not talking about a rookie September call-up pitcher. They brought in Aroldis Chapman, one of the filthiest closers in the bigs. His fast ball is off the charts. That’s who our next hitter‒our ace, Madison Bumgarner, had to face. Bumgarner was brought in to pinch hit for the pitcher (who else?)  and he worked the count from an 0-2 to (what else?) a walk.

But the Giants had him talking to himself, and when Ehire Adrianza came up to the plate, he worked the count to a 2-2, mostly fouling off pitches until the seventh pitch when Chapman skipped one off the top of Ehire’s foot. And because the bases were loaded, that brought Buster home, and brought the Giants one run closer.

Coming up in the ninth, the Giants needed two to tie and three to go home. And when Pagan hit a ground rule double I knew we were going to see some magic happen. It did, but not as much as I wanted. Duffy hit a single–that and a throwing error by the Red’s third baseman–that scored Pagan. The error also allowed Duffy to take second.

Then Buster was up. There was just one out and one man on‒and it was Duffy on second, so a base hit would tie the game. And that’s just what happened. But then Belt and Byrd both popped out, so the inning ended with a tie. We couldn’t go home yet. It was on to extra innings.

Sergio Romo took the mound for the Giants. The first hitter he faced took a look at two of Romo’s offerings‒a ball, and a called strike, both fastballs‒then he smacked the third fastball over the left centerfield wall. The Reds took a one run lead in the tenth. Turns out that’s all they needed.

The Giants came to the plate in their half of the tenth, got two quick strike outs, a ground rule double and a pop up that ended the inning, the game and my hopes. All gone with one swing of the bat. The final score was: Giants 8, Reds 9

Here’s the good news: we’ve still got tomorrow. Today! And I don’t care what you say, it ain’t over yet. And even though we didn’t gain any ground because we lost, we didn’t lose any either because the Dodgers lost too. Remind me to send the Rockies a thank you note, would ya?

Still enjoying the ride? I know I am, bumpy though it might be, I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing than rooting for our Giants, win or lose. How about you?

I still believe.