Haniger breaks up no-no bid, but Giants get just one hit

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants expected their offense to be firing on all cylinders after finally getting back to full strength earlier this week, but their bats had no answers for Cubs veteran Kyle Hendricks on Saturday.

Hendricks came within four outs of becoming the first opposing pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Oracle Park, allowing only two baserunners in a 4-0 loss for the Giants, who have now dropped two straight games to the Cubs.

Hendricks didn’t allow a hit through seven innings before Mitch Haniger finally broke up his bid for history with a two-out double off the left-field wall in the eighth. The only other Giant to reach base was Michael Conforto, who drew a one-out walk in the second.

It was the first time the Giants had been held to only one hit since April 14, 2019, against the Rockies. San Francisco has now lost six of its last seven home games to drop back to .500 at 32-32.

“Looking back, it’s obviously not a great offensive performance, but it’s better than getting no-hit, for sure,” Haniger said. “Obviously, [Hendricks has] been doing it a long time in the league. He’s a good pitcher. A lot of his pitches have a lot of movement and deception. Obviously a good changeup. He’s not going to blow you away with velocity, but his changeup makes his fastball play up a lot. He’s good and mixes his pitches all around the zone.”

Hendricks, who at one point retired 19 batters in a row, departed after throwing eight brilliant innings on 94 pitches, none of which exceeded 90 mph. The 33-year-old right-hander got some help from former Giants outfielder Mike Tauchman, who robbed Brandon Crawford of extra bases with a superb diving catch in center field in the third.

The Giants were well aware of Tauchman’s defensive exploits, as he famously helped the club outlast the Dodgers in the epic race for the National League West title by robbing Albert Pujols of a walk-off home run at Dodger Stadium in 2021.

Julian Merryweather replaced Hendricks in the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to seal the Giants’ sixth shutout loss of the year. After sweeping the Rockies at Coors Field earlier this week, the Giants have now scored only two runs over the first two games of this series against the Cubs.

“There’s not really much to say when Hendricks is dotting up the way he was with his movement profiles,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He was moving the ball around very effectively. He was definitely on the corners on both sides of the plate, top of the zone, bottom of the zone. Mainly just pinpoint command, good movement, very crafty and competitive, as he always is. He was on his game. We really tip our caps to Hendricks today."

With starters Alex Wood and Ross Stripling on the injured list, the Giants once again leaned on their bullpen to plug the holes in their starting rotation. John Brebbia got his sixth starting assignment of the year and worked two hitless frames before passing the baton to Jakob Junis, who surrendered four runs over 2 2/3 innings, including a pair of solo shots to Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel.

One bright spot was the performance of left-hander Sean Manaea, who didn’t allow a hit while covering the final 4 1/3 innings for the Giants. After recording a 7.96 ERA over his first eight appearances of the year, Manaea has gotten back on track while working in relief, posting a 2.29 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 19 2/3 innings since moving to the bullpen on May 17.

“Sean was excellent,” Kapler said. “Now each outing is kind of building on the last one. You’re seeing more and more confidence, more and more carry with his fastball. The slider looks great. It’s got a great movement profile. He’s landing it in the zone, getting swings-and-misses with it. The at-bats are a little bit shorter. He’s getting more and more efficient. Really promising. Probably the highlight of today’s game was Sean’s performance.”

Manaea said he’s pitching with more confidence now that he’s settled into a new routine as a reliever, though Kapler said the Giants haven’t ruled out the possibility of giving him another chance to start the next time through the rotation.

“Definitely a different perspective down in the bullpen,” Manaea said. “I definitely learned a lot as far as routines and hanging out with those guys. I’m soaking everything in. I think it’s probably the best thing that’s happened for me.”