Schmitt powers up on quiet night for SF bats

SAN FRANCISCO -- The first pitch Casey Schmitt saw in his second stint with the Giants this season didn't stay in the yard for long.

Through the first two innings of Saturday's 7-3 loss, the Giants did not have a baserunner against Yankees right-hander Cody Poteet, but designated hitter Trenton Brooks led off the third with a walk. When Schmitt stepped to the plate next, he launched a sinker from Poteet into the left-field bleachers for San Francisco's first hit of the game and his first home run of 2024.

"Whenever you come back like that, get off to a good start and have a good game," manager Bob Melvin said, "it should be good for your confidence."

The two-run shot cut New York's lead to two, and San Francisco inched even closer when Brett Wisely drove in Heliot Ramos on a base hit in the fifth inning. But the Giants could not add on beyond that, and the game spiraled in a three-run eighth inning for the Yankees to seal a series loss for the home team.

It was only the Giants' fifth loss in their last 15 games, but they dropped a game below .500 for the first time since May 23. Starter Logan Webb allowed four runs in his first three innings -- including a two-run shot to Aaron Judge -- before settling down to complete seven, but San Francisco's recent offensive woes played perhaps a larger role in the loss.

The Giants have scored just seven runs in four games since losing LaMonte Wade Jr. to a right hamstring strain. That's correlation rather than outright causation, but the absence of the team's most consistent hitter has proven to be a big blow.

"We've had some injuries, probably [none] more significant than [Wade] at this point," manager Bob Melvin said. "Not having [Thairo] Estrada in there either, it's not our best lineup. But it was pretty competitive today, until the eighth inning."

Schmitt finished the evening 2-for-4, also notching a single in the seventh inning. He had struggled to find his footing in his first stint in the Majors this season -- going 3-for-22 in six games -- though his first hit was a big one, a walk-off RBI double on May 12 against the Reds.

Once he was sent back down to Triple-A Sacramento, Schmitt hit safely in eight of his 10 games, including three multihit efforts. He said he made a point of trusting in his swing, even when he was getting suboptimal results, and eventually the hits began to fall.

Schmitt has made a small adjustment this season, opening up his stance at the plate. Last year, he said, his more closed stance was messing with his mechanics.

"It's starting to feel better having my left leg a little open," Schmitt said. "That kind of allows me to just work through the ball rather than kind of away from the ball. I'm just going to continue to work on that and just try to get better at it."

Schmitt started at shortstop and Wisely slid over to second base on Saturday because Estrada jammed his thumb sliding into second base in the series opener. Melvin said the Giants' everyday second baseman could be unavailable on Sunday as well. With Jorge Soler also getting a day off -- until he pinch-hit in the seventh inning -- San Francisco's starting lineup had five hitters who did not begin the season in the big leagues.

Four of those players -- Ramos, Brooks, Schmitt and Wisely -- occupied the Nos. 6-9 spots in the batting order, and each had a hand in all of the Giants' run production on Saturday.

The top of the Giants' lineup, though, has struggled of late, a trend that continued as the first five batters in the order went a combined 0-for-18 with eight strikeouts against two walks.

With the Phillies and Yankees in town -- the best teams in their respective leagues -- this was always going to be a challenging six-game stretch at Oracle Park. Nonetheless, the Giants have now lost three in a row, after beginning the homestand on a positive note with a pair of wins.

"It's the Major Leagues, so everything's challenging," Schmitt said. "I just kind of go out there and just try to do everything I can to help the team win. That's the bottom line."