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What we learned as walks hurt Blade Tidwell in Giants' loss to Pirates
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- What we learned as walks hurt Blade Tidwell in Giants' loss to Pirates
What we learned as walks hurt Blade Tidwell in Giants' loss to Pirates originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — It was a somewhat exciting three days for the Giants in Pittsburgh, but ultimately it was another series loss on the road.
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The Giants fell 5-2 to the Pirates on a quiet offensive day that ended with them sitting at 25-47 on the road this season. That's tied with the Colorado Rockies for the second-worst road record in baseball.
Blade Tidwell gave up a couple of early runs but was able to keep it that way until he handed the ball over to the bullpen. A messy sixth inning made it a four-run game.
With a runner on second, the Pirates called for a sacrifice, but lefty Reiver Sanmartin threw the ball away, allowing a run to score and putting the bunter on second. The next batter hit a slow chopper to the mound but it deflected off Sanmartin, which eventually helped pave the way for the Pirates to go up 4-0.
The Giants struck back in the seventh, but didn't do enough. The inning started with two walks and then an RBI double from Jung Hoo Lee, but only one more run would score. They would go down quietly from there.
Here are three things to know from the final day at underrated PNC Park …
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BBlade
Tidwell tied a career-high with five walks, although unlike against Colorado a couple of weeks ago, he was able to limit the damage. The right-hander allowed two earned and struck out five. He gave up just two hits in five innings, but there was plenty of traffic thanks to that lack of command.
Tidwell walked three straight with a runner on in the first, bringing a run across. He then drilled Jake Mangum, making it a 2-0 game. The Pirates looked poised to break the game open, but Tidwell got out of it with a couple of strikeouts and didn't allow another run.
The bases-loaded walk has been a theme on this trip, and this was the first time since 1987 that they had that happen in three consecutive games. Logan Webb walked in a couple of runs on Tuesday and Landen Roupp walked in a run on Wednesday.
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Rare Quiet Day
Rafael Devers has been the hottest hitter in baseball over the past week, but he was hitless in four at-bats Thursday, striking out three times. It was the 15th three-strikeout game this year for Devers, who is up to 154 for the year.
Devers' strikeout rate actually is slightly down from his half in San Francisco last year, but overall his numbers are eerily similar. The huge start to this road trip raised his wRC+ to 127, which is exactly where he finished in his 90 games with the Giants after last June's trade.
Devers also is coming up on three fWAR, and he's now a lock to finish as the team leader among players who are still Giants (Luis Arraez was at 3.8 fWAR before the trade). The next-closest active Giants position player in fWAR is Bryce Eldridge at 1.2.
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The Outfield Mix
During Thursday's game, the Sacramento River Cats announced that outfielder Bo Davidson was named the PCL Player of the Month for August after posting a 1.046 OPS with seven homers and 10 doubles. Davidson remains a candidate for a call-up, but right now he's blocked because of a development that would have been hard to imagine a few months ago.
The Giants have a good group of young outfielders on the big league roster, and those guys are going to soak up most of the September at-bats. They started Drew Gilbert, Jonah Cox and Turner Hill on Thursday, with the trio combining for two walks, a hit and two runs.
The most interesting development came on defense, as Cox was moved to second base after Lee pinch-hit in the top of the seventh. He once again looked comfortable, making the play on a routine grounder and also getting over to first to cover on a bunt that pulled Eldridge away from the bag. The Giants view Cox at second as more of an emergency move, but his ability to handle it should certainly help him next year, when there will be more veterans in the mix competing for playing time.
