Giants can’t overcome terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad 5th inning in 4-3 loss to Tigers

The San Francisco Giants tripled their scoring from the first two games in Detroit. Their pitchers struck out 16 Detroit Tigers, their relievers gave up only two hits and a HBP in four innings, and the defense played eight errorless innings. Heliot Ramos hit his 10th home run of the season. But the 5th inning was bad enough that the Giants endured a 4-3 loss and a series sweep.

Look, the account that normally posts videos of every MLB error seems to have taken an extended break from posting due to the Memorial Day holiday, so this was the only video I could find of Matt Chapman’s error that started the 6th inning. According to the infallible robot translators at Google, the caption says:

“An error by perhaps the league’s best defensive 3B ended in a catastrophic inning for the Giants, a comfortable lead, and Roupp’s work.”

“Baseball punishes, and that’s how it is.”

Baseball did indeed punish starter Landen Roupp, who struck out seven Tigers through four innings, yielding just two hits, one on the infield. But in the 5th, No. 9 hitter, catcher Jake Rogers, reached on a routine grounder to Chapman, one of the best defensive players in baseball. And then, like Kyle Kirkwood’s car at the 2023 Indianapolis 500, the wheels came off for the Giants.

Kerry Carpenter singled, then Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases. First baseman with the name of a race car driver Colt Keith doubled in two runs, and that was it for Roupp’s afternoon.

Mike Yastrzemski bobbled the ball down the right field line, which let Keith get to second. Reliever Randy Rodriguez entered in an unenviable situation with runners on second and third and no out, and nearly saved the day. He struck out the next to Detroit hitters on just eight pitches, then just missed the bottom of the strike zone on a 1-2 slider to Justyn-Henry Malloy. His next pitch was a fastball down the middle, and Malloy turned it into a two-run single.

Rodriguez ended up striking out four Tigers in his two innings of relief, followed by Tyler Rogers striking out the side on eight pitches in the 7th, and Ryan Walker overcoming a hit batter and a double in the 8th with two strikeouts of his own.

Another adventurous outing from Walker may have been too much for Bob Melvin, who announced after the game that old closer Camilo Doval would be replacing him as the Giants closer. That’s why he used Walker in the 8th, though Melvin explained he’d made the decision “a few days ago.”

The Giants had a real chance to come back to tie or take the lead, until 35-year-old Tommy Kahnle entered the game in the 8th inning. Willy Adames reached on catcher’s interference to lead off the inning off the Giants’ old friend John Brebbia, then Late Afternoon LaMonte Wade, Jr. came through with a double, putting runners on second and third with no out.

In a move that invites plenty of second-guessing, Melvin pinch-hit Patrick Bailey for Sam Huff, who had three hits, a walk, and a home run in his last seven plate appearances. Presumably this was done to get the platoon advantage, though both Bailey and Huff are hitting below .200 against right-handed pitching this season. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch responded by bringing in right-hander Tommy Kahnle, who got Bailey to pop up his first pitch into shallow left.

The question here is, does Melvin know he doesn’t have to pinch-hit a catcher for a catcher? Luis Matos is slumping badly, but wouldn’t Tyler Fitzgerald or Casey Schmidt have been a better option off the bench? Christian Koss hit for himself and bunted foul twice before striking out, then Kahnle got Yaz to ground out.

He also threw a scoreless 9th, which means it’s now been 12 days since the Giants scored more than four runs in a game. Thanks to their pitching, they’re 5-6 in that stretch, but they desperately need more from their bats.

They got some from their bats early, when Wade followed Chapman’s double with a two-bagger of his own, thanks to Malloy’s creative defense in right field for the Giants’ first run.

In the 4th, Chapman doubled again and Adames walked, but Melvin had Wade follow up his double with a sacrifice bunt. With runners on second and third, Huff and Koss struck out. Wade finished 2-for-3 with two doubles — and a sac bunt with a runner in scoring position.

Heliot Ramos put the Giants up 3-0 with his 10th homer of the season, scoring Yaz on a bomb to left field.

Chapman’s third hit of the game chased starter Jackson Jobe, but eventual winning pitcher Brenan Hanifee struck out Adames to escape the inning.

Some of the Giants did hit Wednesday, but the Giants sacrificed their way out of one inning and pinch-hit their way out of another. Melvin doesn’t have a lot of great offensive options on his bench, but he failed to take advantage of the ones he had Wednesday.

He and the Giants will have a day off to think long and hard about their mistakes before concluding their road trip in Miami this weekend.