Commence with expected bullpen rant

The abomination that is Giants bullpen has struck again. 

There has to be some kind of conspiracy aimed at keeping Madison Bumgarner away from the win column. Handed a late two-run lead Tuesday evening, San Francisco's relief corpse coughed up four runs (along with Bumgarner's 10th win) before completing a single frame of action in the Giants 7-3 home loss to Colorado.

Giants bullpen (artisit's rendeing)

For the 18th time this season the pen gave away a game the Giants controlled. Just think about it: 18 times. If the pen had just managed to hold onto half of those chances, the race for the crown in the NL West is a joke. Instead it's the relievers who are the laughingstock, and the punchline just isn't funny anymore. The 42-percent conversion rate on saves is 14th in the NL, only Cincinnati is worse -- and the Reds flat out suck.

Bumgarner wasn't at his best but pitched six innings of shutout ball, getting some spirited defensive help along the way. Then it all unraveled, and the demolition began literally with the first batter faced by a reliever.

The Giants ace gave up just four hits and a walk in his six innings of work but departed after throwing 96 pitches; just 57 for strikes. His next outing he may beg to throw 150, just to keep the relievers away from the mound. It might take tactical nukes to get him off the hill. 

San Francisco needed five arms to get through the final three innings and only Javy Lopez didn't contribute to the carnage. Combined, the pen allowed seven nine hits and walked three more for a solid staff ERA of 21.0 and a WHIP of 2.25 on the night; or about what you'd expect in a slowpitch softball game. For some of these guys, that should be their next stop. It won't be, if for no other reason than the Giants front office has shown little inclination to address what is a obvious and glaring weakness.

"Really, what do I have to do?" (SF Gate Photo)

Far be it for us to challenge the wisdom of Bruce Bochy, but the match-up thing isn't working. Five relievers in three innings? That kind of mass substitution with this group is playing Russian roulette with three loaded cylinders. 

Bumgarner deserved better, but then again, so did we all. He pitched around a lead-off single in the first and the Giants' bats went to work. Colorado's gloves, not so  much. Angel Pagan started it off with an routine grounder to first, with pitcher Tyler Chatwood covering the bag, As Duane Kuiper noted, first baseman Mark Reynolds must have thought Chatwood was taller or had longer arms because the underhand toss was was off by an Olympic shot put. Pagan tagged first and kept going, taking the extra base as catcher Nick Hundley backed up the play but bounced his throw.

"It looked like a snowball fight," was the Mike Krukow quote of the night, and there is one every night. A new regular  feature? You decide. Operators are standing by.

A ground ball moved Pagan to third, and Brandon Belt cashed in the opportunity with a soft liner into center: 1-0 Giants.

Things got hairy for Bumgarner with two gone in the third when DJ LeMahieu doubled, Nolan Arenado walked and Carlos Gonzalez's infield single beat the shift. Trevor Story lofted one into the right field corner that had three-run double written all over it; until Mac Williamson snagged it sliding from fair ground to foul.

That really should have been the play if the night. There was a problem; Bumgarner again having to toil on with little offensive support. At the midway point the Giants clung to that one run lead but had been outhit 4-2.

Pagan snapped that funk, lining a shot off the bricks in right that eluded Gonzalez on the carom for a three-bagger to start the home fifth. A four-pitch walk to Jarrett Parker later, Belt struck out on a slider that went through the wickets of Hundley. Pagan sprinted home with San Francisco's second run.

Chatwood gave up just three hits through five innings and Bumgarner scattered five hits over six frames, but pitch counts meant earlier exits for both.

That also meant three innings for the beleaguered San Francisco pen, and it was no surprise what happened next. George Kontos got dibs and gave up consecutive singles to start the seventh, putting runners at the corners. Parker got a big jump on a sinking drive, snagging it in short left to keep the runners put. Javy Lopez was next, striking out Charlie Blackmon on three pitches and departing for Cory Gearrin.

We're getting sick to death of this guy. (SF Gate Photo)

It almost worked.  LeMahieu's hopper to third meant a bare-handed do-or-die play, and Gillaspie's throw was wide and the run scored.  Those plays happen, but you gotta limit the damage. This is the Giants' bullpen; like that was gonna happen. Gearrin went fat to Arenado, hanging a slider that screamed in agony as it rocketed into the seats for 4-2 Colorado lead.

Maybe it wasn't the ball screaming; it could have been us.

It was Arenado's 23rd home run of the season and all have come against the Giants. At least it seems that way. Actuallly he does have 21 RBIs against the Giants and it's only June. He had 24 against San Francisco a year ago, and we thought he owned Giants pitching then. Maybe it's about time he just got four wide ones, eh?

It got worse for Gearrin, who gave up a walk and single with one out (another Williamson web gem) in the eighth before he was yanked. Then Hunter Strickland made Gearrin look downright respectable. He gave up four consecutive singles followed by an RBI walk to make it 7-2.

A popup and a comebacker ended the inning, but by then the Muni platform was getting rather crowded.

Another defensive misadventure allowed the Giants to add an inconsequential run in the eighth. Reliever Boone Logan failed to cover first on Crawford's grounder, allowing him to reach, and Williamson eventually singled the run home. Yippee.

The giants got just six hits to Colorado's 13, with Belt getting two safeties and Pagan scoring twice. Pagan, Crawford, Pena and Williamson had the others.

The Giants (53-33) got a break with LA's 4-1 loss to Baltimore, meaning their NL West lead stayed at five games. Other than that, nothing good came out of Tuesday. 

Johnny Cueto (12-1, 2.57 ERA) will try to stop the bleeding on Wednesday, squaring off against Colorado's  Jorge De La Rosa (5-5, 5.98). May his arm be made of rubber.

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