So much for the reboot; can we use the Beta version?

At first glance, Giants 2.0 wasn’t much of an improvement over the launch version. The failures that have produced a 4-12 record since the All-Star Break were in full evidence on Tuesday as the Giants got thumped in Philadelphia 13-8.

The pitching was awful, defense unraveled and the bats, well, the bats finally awoke but it wasn’t enough to overcome the many faults on display. And in the ultimate middle finger to both fate and fans, two of the key figures were new arrivals who are supposed to help guide San Francisco to the promised land.

That was a serious malfunction.

Eduardo Nunez, the Minnesota All-Star shortstop who is supposed to replace Matt Duffy and third, committed an error that led to four unearned runs. After the offense fought back, new reliever Will Smith entered a tie game and got hung with the loss. The third new arrival, lefty starter Matt Moore, will debut on Thursday and probably spent most of the game in a corner of the dugout, hands raised saying “It wasn’t me, I just got here.”

The newbies weren’t alone. The slide has been punctuated by wretched efforts from the rotation, and ace Madison Bumgarner showed he wasn’t exempt (and he needs to snap out of it because he’s killing our fantasy team). It was made worse because the bats rallied from a 6-0 deficit to give him a lead; a lead than didn’t last through the next half inning.

The Giants trailed 2-0 just four pitches the game thanks to a single and Aaron Altherr’s two-run blast. It got in inning later when Nunez tried to field Tyler Goeddel’s grounder with a boxing glove. Trying to throw with the same implement made it worse, and the flood gates opened thanks to an elusive third out. A bunt for a base hit, and single and Maikel  Franco’s  three-run homerun all came with two gone and put the Giants in a 6-0 hole.

And the Giants fought back. Imagine that! Lead by the Brandons both missing in action for the past three weeks, the offense sprang to life. Brandon Crawford clubbed a solo homer in the fourth and a two-out, two-RBI single in the fifth.  Belt followed with a mammoth blast just inside the right field pole for a three-run homer than knotted the score at 6-6.

Bumgarner couldn’t hold it. For the first time in his Big League career he gave up eight runs and double digit hits. Yeah, four of them were unearned after Nunez’s misplay but Nunez didn’t throw the meatballs that followed. Note for future reference: the Phillies may have a woeful record but they are major leaguers, and major leaguers hit balls in the middle of the plate.

Manager Bruce Bochy left his ace out there to twist. Jake Peavy was sent to the pen thanks to Moore’s arrival but he threw four innings on Saturday. Albert Suarez held the role before Peavy, but he was on a plane headed back to Sacramento.  With Bochy suddenly unwilling to tap dance his way through the pen (something he’s done all year) Bumgarner had to eat it.

Bright spot, Crawford drives in three. (AP Photo)

After Bumgarner surrendered the lead in the six (technically it was due to a runner Hunter Strickland inherited but it still counts), Angel Pagan got it back with a two-run homer that gave the Giants an 8-7 edge but the unraveled in the eighth. With the score already tied, Smith whiffed his first hitter as a Giant then gave up a cue-shot single and a double off the right field wall. Serio Romo then proceeded to throw BP in a five-run Philly eighth. He allowed hits to his first three foes, and Cameron Rupp’s three-run shot ended the drama.

Looking for a happy note, the Giants did get 10 hits and, despite being two for nine with runners in  scoring position managed eight runs, with six coming on three big swings of the bat. Belt had three of the hits with Crawford and Pagan adding a pair each.

  

At 61-45 the Giants positioned themselves to weather a slump but their mulligan is gone. Thanks to a 7-3 loss to Colorado the chasing LA Dodgers stayed two games off the pace but they’ve made up six games over the skid. Extending the malaise will likely be deadly.

The standing make it prudent to do something we’ve avoided all year, and that’s taking a look at the wildcard standings.  Assuming the dreaded flip with Los Angeles, the Giants have five teams within eight games of them in the win column with a lot of baseball still to be played.

The Giants will hope to avoid starting another losing streak Wednesday behind Johnny Cueto (13-3, 2.63 ERA); still looking for his first victory since the All-Star Break. He's 0-1 with a 5.84 ERA in five starts at Citizens Bank Park so it’s an uphill battle. Phil Klein goes for Philly (0-1, 5.19), making his first start and ninth appearance of 2016.

The bullpens may want to start getting loose.

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