Mercury News
The cast might feature a few fresh faces, but the script was all too familiar for Matt Cain and the Giants.
With the momentary updraft of Buster Posey's promotion and Pat Burrell's arrival no longer lifting their wings, the Giants failed to support Cain and left him prone to lose on one mistake.
Despite his impeccable run, Cain made two of them as the Blue Jays broke a scoreless tie in the eighth inning. First, he issued a two-out walk to Fred Lewis. Then he threw a 1-1 fastball into Aaron Hill's happy zone for a two-run home run as the Giants lost 3-0 Saturday at Rogers Centre.
It was the second consecutive game in which a Giants starter was beaten on a home run in the eighth inning; Barry Zito gave up a tiebreaking long ball to Edwin Encarnacion on Friday.
"It's Groundhog Day," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Another great pitching effort. The bats are quiet. That's what it comes down to."
Yes, they celebrate Groundhog Day in Canada. In fact, they have multiple furry little guys across the provinces that go by names like Wiarton Willie, Balzac Billy and Shubenacadie Sam.
The Giants lineup is in the grip of a deep freeze again. They had few hard-hit balls against right-hander Jesse Litsch, who was making his second start since coming back from elbow reconstruction surgery and got blasted by the Colorado Rockies last Sunday.
Posey was 0 for 3 to deepen a 2-for-26 funk over his past seven games. His average has fallen from .450 to a not-as-glitzy .310, although he has hit into two hard outs during this series. Posey has gone through dry spells at other levels. Is it any tougher to have one in the big leagues? "No, it's frustrating at every level," he said. "You just try to do the same thing and put the barrel on the ball and try not to hit it at 'em." Posey said he hasn't noticed pitchers attacking him any differently, and he's happy with the approach he is taking. "I feel I'm seeing the ball well, and team-wise, we're a big inning away from winning these last two ballgames," Posey said. Bochy said: "He wasn't going to stay at the pace he was at. I thought he's swinging good. He looked real good in (batting practice) today. Throughout the lineup, we weren't hitting their guy today." Bochy called Litsch "effectively wild" while he held the Giants to three hits and a hit batter in seven innings. He didn't issue a walk, and the Giants seemingly have regressed to their free-swinging ways. Despite the influx of patience from hitters like Posey and Burrell, the Giants still rank last in the major leagues with 3.69 pitches per plate appearance. Not all statistics tell a story, though. Some are just darn misleading. For instance, the Giants have scored exactly the same amount of runs as their opponents in the eighth inning this season. It only seems as if all their losses implode in the eighth. Cain (6-5) matched Litsch through seven to extend a dominant stretch in which he'd allowed just two earned runs over a span of 48 innings. But the Blue Jays lead the major leagues in home runs, and the walk to Lewis extended the eighth. "A huge no-no," Cain said. "That's why a two-out walk will hurt you so much, because these guys will beat you with the long ball. You can't give those guys extra chances." Adam Lind followed with a single to drive Cain from the game, and Santiago Casilla gave up two more hits as the Blue Jays tacked on a third run. Cain took his first loss since May 22. "You just get comfortable throwing in tight ballgames like today," Cain said. "It comes down to one or two mistakes that decide the ballgame. You try not to be that guy. Today, I was that guy." Nobody likes to be typecast. Especially as the hard-luck loser.
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