Confession: I never enjoyed the string section

There are slow starts, and there's whatever the hell this is. A 9-3 drubbing in the desert dropped the Giants to 1-3 on the young season, and thank whatever deity you recognize that there are still 158 games left to get the stink off.

This is not a happy Shark.He's not the only unhappy camper. (AP) 

This is a full-body stink; that kind that starts between your toes and migrates upward until vultures are circling and lesser birds are falling from the sky, and no amount of Axe or Irish Spring is gonna keep your eyes from watering.

So far the Giants have proven two things: (1) they know how to grab a lead, and (2) they know how to cough one up.

In the four games this year, Giants pitchers have coughed up seven leads. Yup, SEVEN. Four of those have come at the expense of the starters and each one of them has been guilty. And that was supposed be the team's strong suit. Oy vey! Of course, the bullpen has looked awful as well because it's virtually the same bullpen as last year, and that one was awful too. Imagine that.

San Francisco has had a lead in every game, meaning hopes and dreams are getting crushed on a nightly basis. Thursday was no different as the Giants struck first. Aaron Hill spelled Joe Panik and the move paid off as the former Diamondback bit (sorry) his former team when he uncoiled (stop it!) a solo blast in the third off Robbie R

Aaron Hill rounds the bags; Jake Lamb ponders his revenge. (AP)

ay. San Francisco doubled the lead in the fourth but but it didn't last.

Jeff Samardzija's weakness has always been the long ball and Chase Field surrenders enough rockets to be an auxiliary launch site for NASA, so there was little surprise when David Perralta and Paul Goldschmidt went back to back in the home fourth off the SF starter. Perralta had the typical Chase fly ball that just kept going but Goldschmidt's blast is still in a holding pattern st Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. 

(Side note: if your choice is being stranded at Sky Harbor or having bamboo shoved under your fingernails, pick the latter and be thankful it's not a harder wood).

The Giants retook the lead in the sixth when Buster Posey lined a double inside third to chase home Hunter Pence, who had opened the inning with a walk before moving up to second on a pitch in the dirt. It was the 100th, and last, pitch of  the night for Ray and just the third hit he had allowed; but all three of the safeties chased home runs.

San Francisco had a chance to add on versus veteran reliever Jorge De La Rosa, who walked a pair to load the bags with two out. Chris Marrero continued finding out his excellent spring matters little when games are played for real; the baby outfielder flied out with the bases-loaded to end the frame.

Half a frame later it was the usual suspects that left the Giants wishing they'd taken advantage. Perralta led off  with a four-pitch walk, Goldschmidt followed with a base hit, and perennial Giant killer Mike Lamb made boom-boom; 5-3 Arizona.

Another walk and base hit finally chased Samardzija. The inherited runner that Hunter Strickland allowed to score mattered little. The Giant' goose was already royally charbroiled, and the three runs tagged on in the eighth courtesy Ty Blaach's two-out disappearing act were just fodder for the stat geeks, and it certainly didn't help his bid to be the fifth starter following Matt Cain's pending flameout.

So what now? The Giants head off to San Diego, which is where last season's second-half free fall began, and they make the trek with more questions than answers. You can't point to anything and say "That part of the operation is working." The most entertaining aspect of the series was counting the number of times Eduardo Nunez lost his helmet. BTW, the answer is five and we bet the under. 

Whatever the reasons, the Giants will try to get the taste of crap salad out of their mouths Friday afternoon -- I suggest seafood at the Chart House. 

There will be a minor shake-up with Hunter Strickland missing the series for paternity leave (best excuse ever), Steven Okert takes his place.

Yes, it's early in the season and there's so much yet to see. Of course, they can say that about icebergs, too, and I'm starting to hear the first echoes of a violin.

(box)