Giants fall to history-matching 10th straight loss

SAN FRANCISCO -- This season to forget for the San Francisco Giants will be entrenched in history, whether they like it or not.
The 4-1 setback that the Atlanta Braves dealt them Tuesday night at AT&T Park was their 10th consecutive defeat, matching the franchise's longest streaks of futility since it moved West in 1958. The Giants also lost 10 in a row in 1985 and '96.The club's all-time record of 13, set in 1902 and matched in 1944, looms.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy refused to crumble under the weight of another defeat.
"We're down to 16 games. We have to come out here every day -- every day -- and give it our best. That's what we're obligated to do," he said.

The Giants tried to avoid colliding with their negative history. Bochy conducted a five-minute pregame meeting to remind players to finish strong.
"Boch did a great job," outfielder Grégor Blanco said.
A member of the 2012 and 2014 World Series-winning clubs, Blanco put his own eloquent spin on the significance of the remaining schedule.
"This is a legacy thing that we created and we want to pass it on to the young guys," Blanco said. "A 10-game losing streak is not what we're looking for. … I think I speak for the older guys, veteran guys, especially, who have won championships. I think we love the game and we stay proud of ourselves. We come in here to keep the legacy [for] the younger players and that there's a lot of Giants left."
At least the Giants didn't embarrass themselves against Atlanta, the National League's second-highest scoring team entering Tuesday, by enduring a lopsided loss.They remained relatively competitive until the Braves added their final run in the eighth inning.

Giants starter Andrew Suárez yielded three runs and six hits in six innings to record his 10th quality start of the season. But the Giants continued to flounder offensively, collecting six hits one night after finishing with three. They have scored three runs or fewer in every game but one of their losing streak.
"It's fair to say that we're not swinging the bats," Bochy said. "... We don't have anybody hot right now."
Even an offensively potent group of Giants might have struggled against Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (11-9), who threw a complete game.
"He's got Cy Young material," Blanco said
Bochy acknowledged the team's offense has been lacking all year.
"You have to find a way to score runs and knock in runs. That's what we've been missing," Bochy said. "I mean, look at the numbers. That has been our issue. I really thought with the guys that we had that [offense] would be more consistent."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In a cruel irony, one of San Francisco's former prospects, Charlie Culberson, emerged as the evening's biggest run producer by belting a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Culberson was selected by the Giants as the 51st overall pick in the 2007 Draft and made his Major League debut with them in 2012 before being traded to Colorado in the deal that sent Marco Scutaro, that year's NL Championship Series MVP, to San Francisco. Suarez tried to fool Culberson on the full-count pitch he mashed.
"I tried to throw a strike with a back-door slider and I just left it up," Suarez said.

SOUND SMART
With three strikeouts, Suarez hiked his season total to 121. That ranks 10th among Giants rookies all-time for a single season and seventh in the franchise's San Francisco history.
UP NEXT
Derek Holland, the Giants' hottest pitcher with the possible exception of Dereck Rodríguez, will start Wednesday's 12:45 p.m. PT series finale against the Atlanta Braves, broadcast exclusively on Facebook. Holland has compiled a 1.61 ERA while limiting opponents to a .190 batting average with 27 strikeouts in his last five starts. The Giants, who own a 14-13 record when Holland starts, will face Braves right-hander Aníbal Sánchez.