San Francisco Giants Drop Their Third, So does Joe Panik

The San Francisco Giants started off the season in OK fashion, but by the end of the series on Sunday, most were left grasping for silver linings. After today’s loss to the Mariners, there virtually are no silver linings.

It was ugly from the start as the San Francisco Giants fell behind 4-0 before they even got a chance to hit. Dee Gordon reached base to start the game as Crawford kicked around a ball hit into the hole while trying to beat Gordon’s speed. Segura bunted and got on, and Nelson Cruz walked. After that it was like a merry-go-round as the first eight batters cashed in for four runs in that inning.

The Mariners tagged Blach via Reyes Moronta, for two more runs in the fifth thanks to a Robinson Cano double, and a sacrifice fly from Guillermo Heredia. That made it 6-1 at the time, and pretty much put the Giants out of reach.

Joe Panik hit his third homer of the year, which was a nice solo shot to right field. Evan Longoria followed up in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two run shot of his own, giving him his first hit, and homer in a Giants uniform.

The Giants really got things going in the eighth, as Gregor Blanco had a lead-off double, followed by a Kelby Tomlinson single. Austin Jackson got Blanco home on a sac fly and the Giants got another on base through Panik’s single. McCutchen just missed a chance to take the lead, and Posey’s speed caught up with him on a hard hit grounder that gave Jean Segura some issues. Ultimately, the went quietly in the ninth as the Mariners got their third win of the year.

Three Things

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1. Pierce Johnson had a nice outing from the pen. It took a bloop and one walk to for the Mariners to get on base. I actually like the thought of him keeping a spot as a multi-inning guy for the Giants. On the flip-side, Reyes Moronta was not good and probably compounded the issues that Ty Blach left him. He got lucky that Marco Gonzalez came up to bail him out of his mess.
2. The comeback attempt was awesome. It finally got some energy back in the clubhouse, even if they fell short. They won’t be kicking themselves for that effort in the final innings, and the Giants should be proud of what they almost did. This should serve as a good building block, especially if they get the win tomorrow.
3. This is not related to the game one bit, but I have to give our staff writer, Taylor Wirth proper credit for coming up with the headline. He originally was going to write the recap, but then realized he was assigned the follow up story. So, with permission, I stole the headline from him. Go give him a virtual high five for creativity.

Next: 60 Giants seasons from worst to greatest: 1985

The Giants will continue this series with the Mariners tomorrow, as Johnny Cueto and Felix Hernandez will face off in what should be a fun matchup. First pitch is at 4:15 pm.