Chris Haft
MLB.com
Now it's time for the critics of the Giants' offense to have their say.
Those who were skeptical about the Giants' defense have been forced to remain mostly silent so far, and anybody who would question their pitching is just plain nuts.
But the skeptics who claim that San Francisco has little margin for error at the plate can point to the team's current losing streak, which reached a season-high two games with Monday's 3-2, 10-inning loss to the San Diego Padres.
David Eckstein's homer leading off the 10th against Jeremy Affeldt lifted the Padres to their fourth consecutive victory, one inning after Juan Uribe erased a 2-1 Giants deficit by homering off San Diego closer Heath Bell.
But Affeldt's lapse can be regarded as an aberration. Eckstein's homer was only the second long ball the left-handed Affeldt has allowed to a right-handed batter in 140 at-bats dating back to the start of last season.
By comparison, the Giants' hitting might arouse a little more concern.
There's no question that Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa have deepened the batting order. But with leadoff hitter Aaron Rowand on the 15-day disabled list and DeRosa hampered by a tight right hamstring that has prevented him from starting the last two games, the Giants have encountered their first slump. They're 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position during their back-to-back losses, and that lone hit didn't even clear the infield. Pablo Sandoval beat out a dribbler to third base in Monday's fourth inning that scored Edgar Renteria.
If you prefer more basic statistics, the Giants are batting .212 (14-for-66) in their last two games. They've scored three runs in that pair of games after averaging 6.2 in their first 11.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged that missing Rowand and DeRosa is a handicap.
"But you roll with that," Bochy said, adding that a two-game downturn hardly qualifies as a malaise.
"We did what we wanted and created the opportunities," Bochy said.
They squandered most of them, too. Nate Schierholtz reached second base with one out in the third inning, but nothing came of that. Following Sandoval's RBI single, the Giants loaded the bases before Andres Torres grounded into an inning-ending double play. Huff doubled with two outs in the sixth before Eckstein, who played an excellent all-around game, dove to snare Bengie Molina's one-hop smash up the middle and threw to first to end the sixth inning. Uribe and Torres singled to open the seventh and Schierholtz bunted them along before reliever Luke Gregerson fanned DeRosa, who was pinch-hitting, and Eugenio Velez.
To that point, Matt Cain appeared destined for another luckless PETCO Park defeat. He's 0-4 despite a 3.24 ERA in his last seven appearances here. He would have been 0-5 in that span if not for Uribe's homer with one out in the ninth.
San Francisco's euphoria lasted until Eckstein connected with Affeldt's 1-1 fastball and drove it down the left-field line for his third career game-winning homer.
Affeldt (2-2) offered a simple explanation. He didn't throw his pitch anywhere close to where he wanted it.
"I tried to throw a heater away and I threw a heater in," Affeldt said. "You tip your hat. The ball went where it should have went."
Affeldt explained that he hasn't gained command of his curveball, which has forced him to rely on his fastball more than he'd like.
"It's been hit-and-miss more than I'd like it to be," Affeldt said, nothing that he endured a similar issue at the beginning of last season. "It's something I'd like to fix because I have to be able to throw it early and late in the count. It's something that's obviously fixable. It's something I'd like to fix now."
The Giants (8-5) remained in first place in the National League West but are 1-3 on their two-city Southern California trip. They've also dropped eight of their last 10 games at PETCO Park dating back to the start of last season.
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