Wood injury latest setback for Giants

MIAMI -- Alex Wood was off to a terrific start for the Giants on Tuesday night, striking out three of the first nine batters he faced as he held a two-run lead thanks to Mike Yastrzemski's two-run home run in the first inning.

But then Wood left the game in the third inning after straining his left hamstring while fielding a sacrifice bunt from Jean Segura.

Not much went right for the Giants after that, as Miami got its first run in the next at-bat. An inning later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a three-run homer to right that cemented San Francisco's 4-2 loss at loanDepot park.

The Giants have dropped five consecutive games and have won just one of their six series (vs. the White Sox) this season. They look to avoid being swept in Wednesday's finale.

“[Wood] is a little disappointed, as you might imagine," manager Gabe Kapler said of the lefty, who was placed on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday. "He is pitching really well, and this is by far the most crisp he has been.

“It is disappointing he had the hamstring pull, and probably more disappointing because you see [us] kind of picking up momentum through that outing and feeling confident you’re getting a win and moving on with the start we were off to.”

Miami catcher Jacob Stallings led off the third inning with a double and moved to third on the sacrifice bunt from Segura. The bunt went down the third-base line and Wood went hard off the mound after it.

Wood explained that, while positional players are allowed to wear turf cleats on artificial grass like the surface used in Miami, pitchers have to wear traditional metal spikes. He planted his left leg into the turf and felt the hamstring pull.

Wood, who allowed just one hit and walked one while striking out three batters through 2 1/3 innings, added he does not think it is too serious of an injury.

“I have never been through anything like this before,” said Wood. "This stinks.

“When I went to field the bunt, my cleat stuck so hard and when I came out of it, my hamstring kind of grabbed in the middle. It is just frustrating. Very frustrating."

After Wood was attended to on the infield and escorted to the dugout, right-hander Jakob Junis warmed up and came into the game. Junis gave up a sacrifice fly to Jon Berti to make it a 2-1 game, with Wood tagged for the run.

“That’s the first time I had ever done that, come in the middle of an inning for an injured player,” Junis said. “It was different, definitely, but I was fine. I didn’t feel cold or anything. Just a different kind of situation.”

In the fourth, Miami put a pair of runners on with one out ahead of Chisholm, who hit a 1-0 changeup from Junis deep into the right-field seats to give the Marlins a 4-2 lead.

Junis went 2 2/3 innings on Tuesday, allowing three runs off of six hits with one strikeout.

“I just yanked it over the plate," said Junis. "He is a good hitter and took advantage and did what he should do with it. Just a bad pitch. ... He crushed it, absolutely demolished it."

Aside from Yastrzemski's homer, San Francisco didn't do much against Miami starter Edward Cabrera nor the bullpen. The Giants had seven hits but struck out 12 times (Cabrera had eight of those strikeouts).

“There was a bit of a gut punch to see Woody go down,” said Kapler.

“That was probably the most notable momentum shift in the game. The fact we weren’t able to scratch-and-claw our way to any more runs after the first inning … I think the biggest blow was seeing one of our guys get hurt on the field. That is always a big momentum killer.”