Giants Lose Ninth Game In A Row To Marlins
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — On a night the San Francisco Giants received yet more disappointing news that center fielder Angel Pagan could be headed for surgery on his re-injured left hamstring, Andres Torres appeared to avoid a serious problem with his right knee.
San Francisco failed to back a solid outing by Tim Lincecum and the beat-up, beleaguered Giants lost for the ninth straight time at home to the Marlins, 6-3 on Friday night.
Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna threw out Torres trying to stretch a sixth-inning double into a triple and Torres left the game after injuring his knee on the hard slide. X-rays were negative.
"Their center fielder made a great throw," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He has a great arm and threw it right on the money. As he's rounding second, it looks like a no-brainer, but he made a nice throw right on the bag and they got him."
Pagan aggravated his injured hamstring and was carted off from his rehab outing with Class-A San Jose on Thursday night. He was examined Friday night and might need surgery.
"Sure, that's an option and that's what we need to talk about," Bochy said. "We'll have to figure out what is the best option."
After he couldn't chase down Hunter Pence's RBI double in the fifth, Ozuna hit a go-ahead single in the eighth after tying it with an RBI single in the sixth.
Lincecum retired 11 straight batters during one stretch but wound up with a no-decision in one of his better outings over the past month and also hit a stand-up triple in the sixth to end an 0-for-22 funk, sparking a roaring ovation from the sellout crowd of 41,490. It was the second triple of his career and first extra-base hit since a double on June 7, 2009, at Florida— also against Nolasco.
"For the most part I felt good. I just made a couple of mistakes," Lincecum said. "You think you're making the right pitches and you get groundballs, but they don't go where you want them. That's the most frustrating part of the day. They scratched out a couple of runs."
His triple chased Nolasco this time, but Gregor Blanco struck out against reliever Dan Jennings to strand Linceucm. The right-hander allowed three runs and four hits, struck out eight and walked one in seven solid innings as San Francisco lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Reigning NL MVP and batting champion Buster Posey went 0 for 5 while making his fifth start at first base to give him a break from catching. Hunter Pence and Marco Scutaro each hit RBI doubles for the Giants, who have a season-high seven-game home run drought.
The injuries are clearly wearing on the reigning World Series champions.
"It's really frustrating to see guys making their way back and then you see them hit a bump in the road," Lincecum said. "You have to keep looking forward and hope guys step in do the same thing and they have."
Logan Morrison hit his first home run in nearly a year and also had an RBI triple for the Marlins, who haven't lost in San Francisco since July 28, 2010.
The Marlins aren't sure why they have enjoyed such success in the Giants' waterfront ballpark.
"I don't know, I'm a baseball player not a sociologist," Morrison said.
A.J. Ramos (1-2) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for his first major league win. Pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs added an insurance run-scoring single in the eighth, when the Marlins rallied against Jake Dunning (0-1).
Miami's Ricky Nolasco was tagged for nine hits — one below his season high — and three runs in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander is still an impressive 4-0 with a 1.47 ERA in five career starts at AT&T Park, but nearly doubled his ERA in the waterfront ballpark. Steve Cishek, the Marlins' fourth reliever, allowed a pair of singles before finishing for his 12th save in 14 opportunities.
NOTES: San Francisco 3B Pablo Sandoval (foot) homered in his rehab game with Class-A San Jose. ... San Francisco SS Brandon Crawford threw from up to 120 feet to test two sprained right fingers and should be back in the lineup Saturday. "It still doesn't feel good when I'm throwing," he said. "I don't have much behind it." ... Giants RHP reliever Santiago Casilla (right knee surgery) is set to throw a bullpen Saturday, likely face hitters early next week, then have two or three rehab outings before returning — perhaps by the end of the next road trip that ends July 4 at Cincinnati. ... Giants RHP Chad Gaudin wore a special sleeve over his pitching elbow Friday, a day after taking a line drive off the area. He plans to play catch Saturday and throw his bullpen on schedule Sunday with the hopes of making his next start. "I'm assuming, I'm planning on it," he said. "I'm optimistic."... Barry Zito (4-5) starts Saturday for the Giants just three days after the death of his father, Joe. The lefty is 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA in eight career starts against the Marlins. ... 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
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