SFGate/San Francisco Chroncile
Jeremy Affeldt had not surrendered a run in his previous six appearances. For Brian Wilson, it had been five. Sergio Romo hadn't allowed one in any of his nine appearances this season.
The Giants might have wobbled into Sunday's game, but it was hard to blame the bullpen.
So count the Giants as a bit stunned to see the way their latest loss unfolded. Affeldt allowed Jason Heyward's booming, go-ahead home run. Romo relinquished Dan Uggla's deflating, game-tying homer. And Wilson gave up the decisive 10th-inning runs.
It all added up to a 9-6 loss to Atlanta and a discouraging way to hit the road again. The Giants leave today on a 10-game trip, matching their longest journey of the season, and they will bring a season-long, four-game losing streak.
That's not exactly cause for panic in April, even if San Francisco (10-11) fell below .500 for the first time in 12 days. More troubling for manager Bruce Bochy was the way his team absorbed a three-game sweep against the Braves.
Much as Tim Lincecum launched his own demise with six walks Saturday, Giants pitchers issued seven walks Sunday. Four of those baserunners scored.
"Walks are killing us - there's no getting around it," Bochy said. "We're walking too many guys. We're hurting ourselves more than anything."
This time, Affeldt and starter Jonathan Sanchez inflicted the pain. Sanchez walked Martin Prado to lead off the game (he soon scored), and Affeldt, handed a 2-2 tie, committed an even bigger sin: He walked No. 8 batter Brandon Hicks, hitless on the young season, with one out in the seventh.
Affeldt also walked Prado with two outs. That meant Jason Heyward stepped to the plate with two runners on base, which became a big problem when Heyward crushed a hanging curveball halfway to Alameda.
The ball cleared the tall brick wall in right-center field, near the 421-foot sign. It was no cheapie, in other words.
"I blew it," Affeldt said. "The Braves are one of the most patient teams we've faced this year. They didn't chase too much."
The Giants nearly saved Affeldt. They rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning, punctuated by Aaron Rowand's two-run double to left-center. The joint was jumping, as a capacity crowd of 42,295 sensed the Giants would salvage something from the weekend.
Not so fast.
Romo promptly offered Uggla a hanging slider in the eighth inning. That's a bad idea against any hitter, but Uggla has a history of hurting the Giants - 11 homers in 122 career at-bats before Sunday.
No. 12 sailed into the left-field seats, tied the game 6-6 and drained all the good vibes out of China Basin.
"Good hitters hit bad pitches," Romo said, succinctly.
Romo's misstep led to Wilson pitching more than one inning for the first time this season. That didn't seem like a problem when he rolled through the ninth, but Heyward and Chipper Jones opened the 10th with singles.
Wilson didn't mind walking Uggla to load the bases, and he moved to the brink of escape by striking out Freddie Freeman and getting pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to ground into a fielder's choice. But Nate McLouth's full-count single scored two runs and sent the Giants trudging toward the East Coast.
"We're not playing Giants baseball right now," Wilson said. "We're scuffling a little bit. We just need to get on a roll and remember the brand of ball we play."
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