Epic bullpen failure(s) doom Giants

Albert Suarez and Kendall "Jenner" Graveman were the respective starters, but bullpens wrote the story of Tuesday's Giants-A's clash. Did we mention the book was a horror story? Both teams saw relievers get knocked around like hotdog wrappers at Candlestick Park but the Giants arms did decidedly more damage in and embarrassingly-disappointing 13-11 loss.

"Mu kingdom for a bullpen!" (AP Photo)

The bullpen was twice handed three-run leads it failed to hold. Seven Giants relievers (and there was no relief involved) surrendered 10 runs on nine hits, adding four walks and a balk to the mix. Two inherited runners were charged to the unfortunate starter, who could do nothing but watch the meltdown. And they did it all in 4 1/3 innings. Overachievers, eh?

With the setback the Giants fell to 49-39 and saw their lead in the NL West, eight games going into the series, shaved to six as Los Angeles beat Milwaukee 6-5. It also marked the first time since June 7 San Francisco had lost consecutive games.

A cautionary note: three times the Giants have carried leads if eight or more games into late June. Twice they failedmtomwin the division. Absent a bullpen overhaul itmight  be three of four.

It started well enough. The game was already an improvement on the previous night as Suarez got past the second inning unscathed. Then in the third, San Francisco got something it hadn't seen yet in the series: a lead. 

Brandon Crawford did the honors. His two-out shot split the gap in right center, not quite into triples alley, but the double plated a pair with Angel Pagan and Buster Posey having singled prior. Gotta love those two-out RBIs.

The shutdown inning has become an endangered species among Giants hurlers, and Suarez was no exception. Khris Davis's one-out solo homer cut the lead in half. It was a bent-arm golf shot that had no business going out, but apparently physical laws didn't apply.

Marcus Semien heads for home. The A's did that a lot. (AP Photo)

San Franciso had an answer. Ramiro Pena and Conor Gillaspie singled to open the home fourth, Suarez moved both up with a sacrifice and Denard Span drew the semi-intentional walk to set up the potential inning-ending double play. Sinkerballers like Gravemen live for double plays. They count in them. They don't count on hit hitters. Pagan's grounder to the right side found a hole and put two more runs on the board.

And then, the shutdown inning. Suarez retired the side in order. We checked MLB At-Bat to be sure, then waited for the ruling from Politifact. It's was true. Imagine that.

Suarez showed signs of tiring in the sixth. A lead off walk to Jed Lowie and Davis's two-out single put the tying runs on base with two out and got Suarez early to the post-game buffet. He'd allowed just three hits, striking out five and walking three on 91 pitches. 

He was charged with three runs thanks to more bullpen failure. George Kontos hung a two-strike slider to Stephen Vogt, and the double scored both inherited runners. The defense further complicated matters when Gillaspie threw wide of first on Marcus Semien's grounder. Belt saved the throw but there were runners at the corners rather than in the dugout where they belonged, and we'd seen this

movie enough to know that  Jason Voorhees was behind the kitchen door.

Kontos further ratcheted up the drama, walking Yonder Alonzo to load the bases for pinch hitter Billy Butler. Kontos's disastrous outing was complete when Butler lined a single up the middle. Two scored, Oakland led 5-4, and Suarez had been robbed. Hunter Strickland came on to get a fly-ball out, closing the proverbial barn door about the time Alydar hit the top of the stretch.

Remember that thing about shutdown innings? A's fans know the pain. Gillaspie led off the Giants' sixth with a single off of John Axford, and Jarrett Parker walked. Denard Span doubled down the left field line to drive home the equalizer and put two in scoring position with nobody out. It also got Axford an early shower.

Enter one-time Cardinals closer Mark (checks Baseball Prospectus for spelling) Rzepczynski, who almost got out of it. He retired Pagan on a short fly ball and Belt on a weak bouncer with no damage. Posey was walked intentionally to bring up Crawford. 

Sucker. Crawford found the left-center gap this time, taking a 2-0 fastball for a three-run triple to give the Giants an 8-5 lead. The Giants had eight runs and Crawford had driven in five of them, giving him 51 RBIs on the season.

Rzepczynski had one final act, drilling pinch hitter Gregor Blanco in the back, and he was gone in favor of Ryan Dull. Ramiro Pena flied out to end a wild inning. In that sixth frame, each team sent one men to the plate and scored four times.

Josh Osich pitched a quiet seventh but you just knew it couldn't be that easy. Cory Gearrin walked the first two hitters of the eighth to bring the tying run to the plate, and Semien singled to make it 8-6 with still no one out. Gearrin was gone.

Javy Lopez surrender a bolt to Josh Phegley but Denard Span ran it down, making a spectacular leaping grab then  making a twisting throw to keep the trail runner anchored.

It didn't matter. Jake Smolinski took Lopez over the wall in left for his first career pinch-hit home run and it was 9-8 Oakland. It wasn't over. Coco Crisp doubled, Jed Loweie singled him home, and the A's had put up a five spot. Lopez did get a fielder's choice before leaving, but it was too little, too late. Derek Law got the third out but Oakland had sent nine men to the dish for the second time in three innings.

San Francisco's offense still had six outs to work with, but the seagulls were already circling. They knew.

And Pagan continues to hit. You'd think his own guys were pitching to him. (AP Photo)

A walk and two singles plated a run in the eighth with Pena getting the RBI, but Gillaspie was set down for the first time in five at bats, popping out to end the threat.

Then our old friend Santiago Casilla removed all doubt. He was hit harder than a tackling dummy at Raiders camp (the Niners haven't hit anything since JimHarbaugh left), giving up three runs in the ninth on three hits, two walks and the aforementioned ball. Yep, he still sucks. On this night he had company.

Parker and Span gave one last glimpse of what might have been, launching solo shots to start the bottom of the ninth. When Pagan followed with a walk the tying run did come to the plate, but the heart of the order went quietly to add to the frustration.

The ineptitude on the hill wasted a 18-hit attack, led by Crawford's five RBIs and Gillaspie's 4-for-5 night. Pagan also had two hits and a pair of RBIs, and Posey drove in two.

The series shifts to Oakland for two games beginning Wednesday. The Giants will look to Jake Peavy (4-6, 5.22 ERA} to stop the bleeding. Sean Manaea (1-4, 6.02) gets the call for the Athletics.

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