Rally fizzzles; Cain rocked as skid hits five games

Trailing 8-0, the Giants rallied to within a run and had the bases loaded with none out in the top of sixth. Then the air came out of the balloon.

Boom goes the .. something.

Really it was more like watching the Hindenberg explode. Actually, the air ship wasn't even a "thing' the last time the Giants won at Fenway. Heck, the Titanic wasn't a thing yet. What the hell, we'll get 'em next time; it's only been 101 years.

Consecutive pinch hitters failed miserably, then Hanley Ramirez answered when he launched his third homer of the night in San Francisco's 11-7 loss at Boston.  The Giants were dead. We're wondering if the season might be as well. 

The struggling Orange and Black  have dropped a season-high-tying five straight, and it hasn't been pretty. Really, it hasn't been competitive. The team that put up the best mark in MLB prior to the break is MIA, and the Amber Alert for the pitching that carried them has turned up nada.

Lost in the multitude of late-inning offensive, pitching and (yes) managerial failures was the return of Matt Cain, which was an unmitigated disaster. Despite a quick first frame, Cain only survived 2 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits -- three of which left the yard.

Ruben Tejada was DFA'd to make room for Cain. Somewhere Tejada was on a plane checking the GameCast and wondering how in the world that move made sense.

Cain didn't have "it", and he wasn't lone. (AP Photo)

Of course, Cain wasn't the only culprit. His replacement during injury was his replacement on this night and Albert Suarez similarly stunk, lasting only three innings and giving up another five runs. The main difference between Cain's and Suarez's tenures was that Boston had to work a little harder against Suarez, needing eight hits to get their runs.

The awful pitching (Josh Osich also gave up a homer) wasn't an aberration. Since the break, every member of the starting rotation has made one start and each allowed at least two home runs. The rotation has an ERA of 8.14 over the skid, and it's not like the relief corps has been much help.

Bottom line, the Giants do not have a pitcher that they can send to the mound with confidence. That kinda sucks since the last time we looked, fielding a pitcher was required.

It didn't start out that way. Cain looked good early but started to come unhinged in the second. Ramirez blasted a two-run shot and Travis Shaw added a solo bomb as Boston grabbed a 3-0 lead. The door came totally off the frame in the third when Xander Bogaerts's single was followed by Ramirez's second homer of the game. That was it for Cain, who had a good seat for Suarez's Act II. 

A double by Jackie Bradley Jr. greeted him, and a two-out triple from Sandy "The Human Weeble" Leon added to the total. Doubles by Brock Holt and Mookie Betts made it worse and the Giants were down by eight.

And they actually tried to rally. Fools. Who do you guys think you are, Don Quixote? It did provide an interesting water cooler question, however: How the @#$&* do you get 15 hits and lose?

There had to be something entertaining here.

Old friend Drew Pomeranz, making his first start since being paroled from San Diego, got blasted in the fourth. Mac Williamson followed a walk to Buster Posey and a Brandon Crawford single with a three-run blast that showed at least the potential for some offense.

Grant Green singled and Trevor Brown, catching because Posey gets to DH in AL parks, launched a rocket that thumped into a banner strung between the light standards atop the Green Monster. The Giants were within three and Pomeranz was gone.

BTW, we think Ted strung the banner there right before Giovanni Ribisi tore him in half. Seth Macfarlane has the video.

An inning later the Giants found themselves up against former farmhand Heath Hembree, who showed why he was traded. Two-out RBI singles from Ramiro Pena and Denard Span had the Giants within a run, and we were actually thinking they had a chance. Silly blogger.

Then came that awful sixth. San Francisco loaded the bases when Brandon Belt singled to snap an 0-for-19 funk, Posey also singled and Crawford walked. Williamson, the scheduled hitter, was called back in favor of Gregor Blanco. Manager Bruce Bochy later explained Blanco was less of a double play rick but a double play is exactly what was produced. Blanco grounded to first, Ramirez stepped on the bag and threw home in time to get Belt.

The play was challenged and the replay seemed to favor the Giants, but the verdict from New York was the dreaded "inconclusive". Yes, we screamed and cursed, but you had to know it was gonna go that way. Replay has not been the Giants' friend in 2016, and the next break they get will be the first. A pop-up snuffed out the last glimmer of life.

Ramirez got to Suarez in the last of the sixth clubbing his third two-run homer of the night, killing any lingering momentum and becoming the first opponent to get three homers and six RBIs in a game since Jeff Cirillo 16 years ago. Leon went yard an inning later off Osich, and the deed was done.

That spoiled a three-hit night for Brown, who also drove  in three. Span, Crawford and Angel Pagan also had multi-hit games. Just think what they might have done with some timely hits: San Francisco was just 3-for-14 with RISP.

Since taking the mid-summer break, the offense is hitting a paltry .237 and that's the highlight. They are a robust 6-for-41 with runners in scoring position, with half those hits coming on Wednesday. Yikes. 

Thank God (and four home runs) that Los Angeles lost. The Dodgers were battered 8-1 in Washington and still sit 4 1/2 games behind the G-Men in the NL West. But those results also mean the Nationals have caught San Francisco in the fight for the league's best record: both are 57-38.

The Giants will get a day off to look for some pitching before making their firsst trip to the new Yankee Stadium starting Friday. Madison Bumgarner (10-5, 2.12 ERA) gets the assignment against scheduled starter Masahiro Tanaka (7-2, 3.15), although a late report on RotoWire has Tanaka possibly being pushed back a day. 

At this point, it doesn't matter. The Giants just need a win.

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