Twenty one hours and 10 minutes elapsed between the last out of the Giants’ come-from-behind win Monday night and first pitch Tuesday.
That, apparently, was enough time for the Angels to think of their best revenge.
In their first chance on a clean slate since the Giants erupted for six runs in the ninth inning Monday night, the Angels foiled manager Gabe Kapler’s opener strategy with a four-run first inning that, returning to their light-hitting ways for much of the night, they were unable to climb out of in a 7-5 loss.
Wilmer Flores continued to do his darnedest to carry the team on his back, driving in four of their five runs with a pair of hits, including a two-run homer that closed the deficit to one in the eighth, but received little help from the rest of the order, which went back into hibernation after briefly awakening in Monday’s late rally.
The Giants mustered only three hits besides Flores’ and came up empty — seven total no-hit innings — between Flores’ two-RBI single that capped a three-run rally in the third inning and Patrick Bailey’s single to put a man on for Flores’ two-run shot in the eighth. Extending his on-base streak to a career-high 19 games, Flores went 2-for-3, but the rest of the lineup combined to go 3-for-29 (.103).
The Angels (57-58) snapped a seven-game losing streak while preventing the Giants (62-52) from clinching their first road series win since their first set out of the All-Star break.
The Giants trailed 4-0 after the first inning, after the Angels strung together five hits against opener Scott Alexander and Jakob Junis, who entered after Alexander failed to retire any of the three batters he faced.
The strategy backfired Tuesday, but has largely been a success this season. The Giants were 15-5 with a 2.72 team ERA in these games entering Tuesday.
The decision to open with a lefty in Alexander gave them the favorable matchup against Shohei Ohtani, but it also flipped switch-hitting leadoff man Luis Rengifo around to his strong side (.896 OPS vs. LHP, .655 vs. RHP), and both batters beat Alexander, who allowed all three batters he faced to reach base and score.
Splitting bulk duties Tuesday, Junis (3 IP) and Alex Wood (4 IP) combined to limit the Angels to two runs from the second through the seventh innings.
Luke Jackson allowed the Angels to pad their lead in the eighth in his second consecutive poor outing, raising his ERA to 2.45 from 1.38 before this past weekend.
The Giants’ bullpen leads the majors in ERA since May, but they have also logged the most innings. That combination explains much of their success despite rolling with only two regular starting pitchers. But after opting not to upgrade at the trade deadline, is it a sustainable strategy the rest of the way?
Of the Giants’ 484⅓ relief innings entering Tuesday, nearly half — 234⅔ — had been logged by starters in a past life such as Junis and Wood. That group, which also includes Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling and rookies Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn, is now designated bulk-inning pitchers, or in Kapler’s parlance: “featured guys.” Only two of their traditional relievers, Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers, rank among the top 75 in appearances league-wide.
MLB released the postseason schedule Tuesday afternoon, and in the National League, teams will have days off after Games 1 and 2 in the Division Series — potentially big for a team that might use its bullpen for Game 3.
Notable
— Pinch-hitting for A.J. Pollock in the third inning, Matos gave the Giants their first hit of the game, eventually coming around to score one of three runs in the inning. Pollock, making his first start in center field since being acquired at the trade deadline, was lifted with left side tightness, the club announced.