Buster Posey exits early in Giants’ 6-3 loss to Diamondbacks

The Giants fell to the Diamondbacks 6-3 tonight in a game where almost nothing went right for anyone involved.

I went to get dinner with my mom shortly after the game started tonight. I checked the score and felt bad for the poor McC writer who was going to have to recap this game.

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You ever get that feeling like you’ve forgotten something really important? I never got that feeling. Until I looked up whose night it was for the recap and it was, in fact, me.

Mistakes were made.

So I’m going to have to wear this one, just like Bruce Bochy made Chris Stratton wear his six early runs allowed due to an overly taxed bullpen.

Needless to say, turning this game on in the third inning was like the Community scene where Donald Glover’s character happily re-enters with pizza only to find the apartment on fire and chaos ensuing.

Because no Giant is getting out of this season whole, Buster Posey was already out of the game due to possible concussion symptoms. Posey took a foul tip to the chin in the first inning, then exited the game after getting a single in the third.

It was later confirmed that Posey is being monitored for concussion symptoms. Posey received a concussion last year as well, also against the Diamondbacks. I’m not saying to get your torchforks ready, but maybe make sure you know where you left them.

So, it’s just your average week where you lose all of your starting players to injury at once. Nothing to see here.

/covers Brandon Crawford in bubble wrap until further notice

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Stratton had no command, allowing six runs on 10 hits and four walks. Of course one of those runs came on a home run from Paul Goldschmidt, and those shouldn’t count as earned runs, more like assumed runs.

However, it wasn’t just ANY home run from Goldschmidt, it was his 200th career home run! Approximately 193 of those have come against the Giants, including his first.

Okay, so it’s actually 22 home runs against the Giants. Which seems incredibly low, but who am I to argue against facts and reality in the year 2018?

Stratton exited the game in the fourth inning with bases loaded and no outs. Bochy wanted to avoid bringing in Ty Blach so early if he could help it, since he threw 45 pitches in last night’s game. However, after a hit and two walks, it was evident that this one was going to get out of hand quickly if he didn’t.

This turned out to be the right call, as Blach got a pop-up and a double play to get out of the jam. He was pulled in the sixth inning for Reyes Moronta after allowing a single and then walking David Peralta, who continues to be hot in this series, going 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs tonight, before finally getting retired once by Sam Dyson via strike out later in the eighth inning.

Melancon entered in the seventh, after pitching a clean inning in last night’s game when the lead was still only one run.

The Giants had been waiting to see how Melancon would do in back to back appearances this season and this was the time to find out. He gave up a single to Daniel Descalso on his first pitch, but got two ground ball outs, including a double play to wipe out Descalso’s hit. This was a promising 10-pitch inning from Melancon and exactly what the Giants were hoping to see.

Unfortunately, the Giants were never able to overcome the deficit they found themselves in after Stratton’s wild first inning.

They had been able to cut the lead in half, thanks in large part to a pair of two-out hits by Austin Slater that knocked in two of their three runs in the first and third innings.

In the ninth inning, the last Giant to get a hit was Chris Stratton, back in the fourth inning before Hunter Pence got a two out single. Steven Duggar followed suit, advancing Pence to third base and bringing Gorkys Hernández to the plate as the would-be tying run. He hit a ground ball to third base to end the game.

It’s now once again unclear what the rotation will look like, even just next week. Stratton was kind of the “break glass in case of emergency” option that the Giants ultimately had to turn to after Cueto’s season-ending injury. And now they need someone else in the glass case.

Theoretically, they could skip this spot in the rotation next week with another off-day on Wednesday, but it’s unclear who they currently have ready to give it to for the next start. If given the choice between the last version of Jeff Samardzija we saw, and tonight’s version of Chris Stratton, I don’t know who would have better odds at this point.

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After the game, it was announced that one or two fresh arms will be with the team to relieve the relievers. No mention of roster moves, of course, including a possible DL stint for Posey. Though the Giants will keep a close eye on him and err on the side of caution.

Which brings us to the burning question of the night: