SF not dwelling on rough start: 'We can right the ship'

DETROIT -- For most of Saturday afternoon, the Giants looked well on their way to turning the page from Friday night’s painful loss to the Tigers. But another bullpen meltdown and poor defense ultimately sabotaged those plans, extending the club’s disappointing start to 2023.

The Giants blew a five-run lead and allowed the Tigers to rally for a 7-6 win in 11 innings, marking the club’s second consecutive walk-off loss at Comerica Park.

Likely future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera came off the bench and delivered a game-winning single off left-hander Taylor Rogers in the bottom of the 11th to hand the Giants their sixth defeat in their last eight games.

San Francisco fell to 5-9 after dropping four of its first five series to start the year, including two to the rebuilding Royals and Tigers.

“It’s definitely tough,” right-hander Anthony DeSclafani said. “We’re all grinding and working hard. We obviously want better results. It’s still early in the season. What are we, two weeks in? There’s a lot of games left. I have faith in us and our team. I think it can turn around very, very quickly. It’s just important to trust the process and keep working.”

DeSclafani continued to roll on the mound, allowing three runs (two earned) over 6 2/3 innings to lower his ERA to 1.42 over his first three starts of the year, but he didn’t factor into the decision after the Tigers came back to tie the game by scoring three runs off John Brebbia in the eighth.

The Giants’ relief corps has recorded a 6.08 ERA with two blown saves through its first 14 games of the season, the fourth-highest bullpen ERA in the Majors. Rogers, who joined the club on a three-year, $33 million deal over the offseason, has an 18.90 ERA through his first six appearances, while Brebbia has a 7.94 ERA through a team-high eight outings.

“I think I’ve been the one that’s blown both my last games here in the last couple of days, so yeah, there is a problem, and it’s me,” Brebbia said. “So that stinks. But I think we’ve seen a lot of good stuff from our ‘pen in general. I think unfortunately these things happen, and you try to move forward.”

“It’s a veteran, seasoned group of guys with a good track record that is collectively not performing well right now,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We have to work on it.”

The Giants scored two runs in each of the first three innings to jump out to an early 6-1 lead, with J.D. Davis and Blake Sabol blasting a pair of two-run home runs off Detroit right-hander Michael Lorenzen. But the Tigers capitalized on back-to-back errors by veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford to score two runs in the fifth and cut the deficit to 6-3.

DeSclafani surrendered an RBI double to Zach McKinstry before inducing a 100.3-mph grounder from Eric Haase that was bobbled by Crawford, putting runners on the corners with one out. The next batter, Matt Vierling, followed with another ground ball that rolled through Crawford’s legs, scoring McKinstry from third.

Crawford, a four-time Gold Glove Award winner, also misplayed another grounder up the middle in the seventh, allowing Haase to reach on a two-out infield single and forcing DeSclafani to depart after throwing a season-high 105 pitches.

“Not our best defensive day,” Kapler said. “I don’t think that’s any secret.”

Things really unraveled for the Giants in the eighth. Nick Maton singled and Riley Greene walked to put a pair of runners on for Javy Báez, who ended a 12-pitch at-bat against Brebbia by sending a two-run double to left field to pull the Tigers within one. Sabol took a bad route to the ball and spun around twice, allowing the drive to sail over his head.

“I think right off the bat, I tried to beat it to the wall,” Sabol said. “I should have dropped probably to my right. If I had dropped my right step back, I think I make that play.”

Sean Hjelle came in to relieve Brebbia and gave up a one-out RBI single to Spencer Torkelson that tied the game at 6. Despite knocking out Lorenzen after four innings, the Giants’ bats were silenced by Detroit’s bullpen, which didn’t allow a hit after the fifth inning.

After back-to-back gut-punch losses, the Giants will now turn to ace Logan Webb, who will be tasked with preventing a sweep in Sunday afternoon’s series finale and take the mound for the first time since signing a five-year, $90 million extension.

“It’s a challenge, but these guys are resilient,” Kapler said. “We understand that we’re in the middle of April. We can right the ship, and that’s something we’re committed to doing.”