SF Giants nearly suffer embarrassing blunder in loss to the Cincinnati Reds

The SF Giants nearly started the top of the eighth inning without a right fielder in an 8-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. They narrowly avoided an embarrassing blunder, as Jerar Encarnación ran out of the dugout right before the start of the inning.

SF Giants nearly suffer embarrassing blunder in loss to the Cincinnati Reds

Giants manager Tony Vitello told Justice delos Santos of The Mercury News that Encarnación could not find his glove. Vitello referred to the near blunder as "elementary."

Baseball has a funny way of working. The first ball put in play in the top of the eighth inning found its way to Encarnación. Encarnación recorded that out with ease.

Nothing has gone well for the Giants to start the year, and that was yet another example of it. They are off to an abysmal 6-12 start, and their -27 run differential is a sign that they have played a lot of bad baseball. Most of the games they have played have not been particularly close either.

The tough times continued on Wednesday. The Reds came into the three-game series as one of the worst offenses in baseball, along with the Giants. They launched four home runs, including two home runs from Sal Stewart. Stewart now has seven home runs on the year, and has two fewer than the Giants have as a team.

Encarnación entered the game as a pinch hitter. It was actually one of the few interesting maneuvers in a game that was otherwise forgettable. The Giants recalled Will Brennan and Drew Gilbert on Wednesday, and Tony Vitello inserted both of them into the lineup. Lefty pitcher Brock Burke was on the mound, and Vitello went with Heliot Ramos and Encarnación as back-to-back pinch hitters.

Both players recorded a hit, including a run-scoring single from Ramos. This was one of the few times that Vitello has been able to play the matchups late in the game. The bench started the year without any left-handed bats, so there were few in-game maneuvers that Vitello could make. The lack of flexibility has played out as expected.

However, the maneuvering led to a nearly embarrassing moment for the Giants and Encarnación. They avoided that, but did not avoid yet another defeat.

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