Mercury News
PITTSBURGH -- The Giants made a good gambit in the field and a smart play on the basepaths, and they saw genuine progress from young left-hander Madison Bumgarner.
But without any hard contact, especially with runners on base, it's tough to beat even the perennial doormats of the league. The Giants barely touched right-hander James McDonald and four relievers in a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at near-empty PNC Park on Wednesday night.
McDonald entered with a super-sized 10.13 ERA. The Pirates hadn't shut out an opponent this season.
But Miguel Tejada grounded into a double play against closer Joel Hanrahan to end another meager night. In two games here, the Giants are 0 for 17 with runners in scoring position.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy seldom speaks in urgent tones during the 162-game marathon. He sure has an edge in his voice now.
"We're too good a club to get shut out like this," Bochy said. "Their guy did throw well, but we've got to find a way to get runs across the board.
"We've got to get these bats going. It's going to be critical for us, especially on this road trip."
Bochy insisted all spring that the Giants would score more runs and their lineup would be deeper than a year ago. But almost one month into the season, they are averaging 3.91 runs per game, down from 4.30 in 2010. Last year, they ranked three-hundredths of a run below the N.L. average. Now, only the Pirates and the San Diego Padres are scoring fewer runs per game. The Giants managed six singles and four walks but advanced just one runner as far as third base. "I don't know if they're trying too hard," Bochy said. "You get in these hitting funks, and for some reason they're tough to get out of." Cody Ross could answer his manager's suspicion: Yes, absolutely. "As a team, we're pressing," Ross said. "We're trying to do too much. We need to relax and take the base hits instead of the two-run home runs to get us back. "It's a process. Certainly, we'll figure it out. Hopefully, tomorrow." Ross took his own advice while shaking off his slow start, reaching base three times with a walk and two singles. Tejada reached base twice, and his strategic dancing off the bag led to a balk in the seventh inning. But Aaron Rowand struck out to strand him. Bochy plans a few lineup changes for Thursday afternoon's series finale, but he has few silver bullets. He plans to add one more left-handed bat by resting Tejada in favor of Mike Fontenot -- although Fontenot is 0 for 17 against right-handed pitchers. Bochy was most disappointed for Bumgarner. The Giants remained winless in his five outings, even though the 21-year-old left-hander didn't pitch poorly while posting his first quality start of the season (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs). Bumgarner minimized a jam in the second inning, holding the Pirates to a run after they led off with three consecutive hits. Neil Walker led off with an infield single that deflected off Bumgarner, Steve Pearce doubled on a belt-high fastball, and Chris Snyder blooped a single to center. Walker scored, but Pearce didn't advance. He bought a clever fake in center field from Rowand, who held up his glove as if he were about to make a catch. The deke might have saved the Giants a run; if he had been at third, Pearce would have tried to score on Brandon Wood's fly out to medium right field. Bumgarner escaped another jam in the fourth after Walker and Pearce led off with singles. "He did a great job. He kept his poise out there," Bochy said. "He stayed out of that crooked number that has killed him. He could've kept going, too, but I had to hit for him. "And two outs, nobody on, you know what? I would've let him hit." Why not? The big kid from North Carolina is known to hit 'em far in batting practice. Bumgarner said he tightened up a "loopy" slider, but mostly he tried to limit his focus to the next pitch. He regretted not being able to make the play on Walker's comebacker. "I know they scored it a hit, but in my eyes, I should've made that play," Bumgarner said. "It seems those are scoring 100 percent of the time. I know that will change."
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