Even when SF Giants get a win they look incompetent while doing it

Bad baseball teams find ways to lose games. The SF Giants nearly did that on Wednesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Maybe it was the pressure of trying not to lose nine straight games to Arizona or maybe it was the fact that Bob Nightengale of USA Today was in attendance and they were nervous and wanted to put on a real good show for ‘ole Bob.

Whatever it was, the wheels started to come off in the eighth inning. Ryan Walker was on the mound which is a good ingredient for any number of recipes that result in a Giants disaster.

Yet, Walker really wasn’t entirely to blame for the calamities that ensued while he was on the mound. Yes, he did throw a wild pitch but shortstop Christian Koss couldn’t pick up a ball to record an easy out at second and then made two ill-advised throws, one to third base to try to get a runner who was going to be safe no matter what which deflected off him and allowed a run to score.

Then, he made an even more baffling decision to throw to first base trying to get a runner who rounded the bag a little too far thinking about a double which deflected off him and went into the dugout. Thankfully that run did not score.

I like Christian Koss. I’ve written about how I like him many times. But he lost his mind in that inning. Those weren’t the only things he did in the game that were worthy of scorn though. Earlier in the game when he singled he was on first base with two outs and on a fly ball to center field he went halfway and started retreating to first when the fielder caught it because he did not know how many outs there were. It didn't matter as the outfielder caught it to end the inning but it's just a bad look.

Giants continue to do all of the little things wrong

What is it with this team not knowing how many outs there are? Does first base coach Shane Robinson know how many outs there are? Does anyone in the dugout? 

With Koss, maybe he can be cut a little slack because he was just called up from the minors after Matt Chapman was placed on the IL. Koss hasn’t played much since he injured his wrist in Triple-A and only had a few rehab games in rookie ball before rejoining the big league club so maybe he’s just a little rusty. 

Still, this team’s grasp of the most basic details of the game are so lacking that it makes one wonder how it got so bad. How can big league players not be aware of the count or how many outs there are? How can a pitcher not know he’s on a pitch count? How can Ketel Marte steal second and third base in the same inning when he only had one steal on the year entering the game?

It’s just bizarre on so many levels and it makes one have so little hope for the team even when it wins. Buster Posey said he wanted a manager who was obsessed about the details and he’s fielded a team and hired a coaching staff that seems to care so little about the details.

The Giants will trudge on but for a team that clearly has a poorly constructed roster and does the small things wrong so often there’s just so little to be truly hopeful about right now. 

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