Those deadline deals are really paying off, eh?

After Sunday's crushing loss to Baltimore, the Giants hoped to get well Monday by welcoming, then beating up on, old buddy Ryan Vogelsong and his new Pittsburgh Pirates teammates. So much for that. The Giants followed Sunday's blueprint, grabbing an early lead then watching the pitching staff serve up runs like bowls of soup at the shelter in another maddening loss, falling 8-5.

For the second straight game San Francisco clubbed double digit hits yet found a way to make it matter not in the least. Eleven hits didn't come close to doing the job as Pittsburgh clubbed 12 of its own off of five Giants pitchers and the visitors didn't waste opportunities. The ongoing drama of the Giants minimizing their own opportunities showed itself for the eleventy-fifth time in 2016, and they paid mightily for it.  

Falling to 66-52, the Giants saw their lead in the NL West dwindle to just half a game over idle Los Angeles. The Dodgers may have watched the from their hotel in Philadelphia, if they didn't mistake the farce for Comedy Central.

It was a better homecoming for Vogelsong, who got the win, than it was a home debut for Matt Moore. He fell to 0-3 as a Giant and unlike his previous outings, this loss wasn't about non-support. The G-Men unquestionable should have gotten more out of the offense, but Moore continued to struggle with his command and simply couldn't get off the field when things started going south. He wasn't alone

The Giants struck first, getting one in the home first on a "rally" that had a decidedly-May feel; meaning the Giants left a lot of opportunity unrealized. Angel Pagan doubled, Brandon Belt singled him to third, and two walks pushed home the run before the Giants left the bases drunk.

That's not how they showed this in the Tom Emansky videos. (CSN Bay Area)

In the second San Francisco finally got an RISP hit; and had nothing to show for it. Trevor Brown walked and Moore laid down a sacrifice. Denard Span singled but Brown dropped anchor halfway to the dish and left fielder Starling Marte easily threw him out.

The run San Francisco bagged in the third followed a more traditional script. Belt bounced a double over the center field wall then challenged the arm of right fielder Gregory Polanco on Brandon Crawford's fly to right, taking third. Hunter Pence followed with an RBI slash up the middle.

Still there was bad with the good. Eduardo Nunez dumped a two-out hit into right center. Pence made third easily but swung wide before slamming on the breaks and got picked off for his trouble.

Starter Moore hadn't surrendered a hit through three innings but three straight one-baggers loaded the bases with one down in the fourth, and Moore returned the free-run courtesy with a four-pitch walk of Francisco Cervelli. Polanco then dumped a two-run single into right, the fifth straight Pirate to reach, and Pittsburgh had the 3-2 lead.

Those Pence and Brown could-have-been runs started looking mighty big, and we were lamenting missed opportunities. There's been a lot of that lately.

Is anyone having worse second half than Roberto Kelly? Pence appeared to stop on his own despite the beleaguered third base coach waving him home. It's been that way for about a month. Not only has every close decision seemed to go awry, the times he's been overruled or ignored have made him look bad just by proximity.

The fourth did have some entertainment value. After a strikeout of Vogelsong, Pence put away the third out in dramatic fashion, tripping over the bullpen mound on Josh Harrison's foul popup and making the catch while lying on his back. 

We'll lay 2-to-1 odds that's a bobblehead next season.

It got worse. The glove work continued, Nunez made two plays from his backside in the fifth, but there was no defending the two-run meatball Polanco launched into the arcade. Pirates 5, Giants 2.

Nunez got one back in the bottom of the inning, leading off with a golf shot into the seats in left. Two outs later Span cleared the right field wall, and the Giants were back within a run at the two-thirds pole.

Our choice for player of the game. (CSN Bay Area)

The era of good feeling lasted four pitches, which was all George Kontos was allowed to throw in relief of Moore. Singles by Harrison and Jody Mercer put runners at the corners and Kontos was yanked to give Sergio Romo a shot at Andrew McCutcheon.

When the gods hate you, this happens. McCutcheon's jam shot is caught under most circumstances. With the infield playing in it falls into short left for an RBI single: 6-4 Pittsburgh.

An out later Marte bounced a slider inside third. Mercer scored, the Giants were down three again, and the fan who played the ball got ejected but may have saved the Giants a run. Maybe he deserves a bobblehead.

Felipe Rivero served up a single to Belt and a walk to Crawford as the Giants got the tying run to the plate with no one out in the seventh. That chance fizzled faster than the audience for "Suicide Squad".

A pitch that got past Cervelli inexplicably failed to advance the runners, and Pence eventually struck out. Another wild pitch did provide a free 90 feet but Panik fanned. Nunez faced Neftali Feliz, and his liner was snared by a diving McCutcheon. Damn, these guys are clutch.

Did you think they were gonna rally? Yeah, neither did we, especially after Will Smith allowed two walks and a two-out RBI single in the eighth to make it 8-4. Moore and Smirh: Bobby Evans's trade deadline failure was in full display, and we miss Matt Duffy more than ever.

Two singles and a passed ball allowed the Giants to add a run and get the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but the drama was minimal.

Stunningly, Pittsburgh did all of it's damage after the fourth inning, grouping hits and going 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Giants were 4-for-12 and left 11 men on base.

San Francisco tried to dig out of yet another series hole on Tuesday, sending Jeff Samardzija (10-8, 4.23 ERA) to the hill against Jameson Tallion (3-2, 2.86 ERA). The Bucs have won six of his last seven starts. Hey, that's great.

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