Henry Schulman
SFGate • San Francisco Chronicle
The Giants got good news from an MRI exam on Carlos Beltran's right wrist. He has inflammation and a strain. There is no structural damage. As for the team, well, that is altogether different.
After the Pirates wheezed into AT&T Park with a 10-game losing streak and clobbered the Giants 5-0 Monday night, dealing Ryan Vogelsong his second loss, it became harder to view the Giants' run of nine losses in 11 games as a "bad run" and easier to see it as a sign of things to come.
For manager Bruce Bochy, who always takes the rosier view, the Giants will bust out of this.
"We've got to get that mojo back," Bochy said. "We've lost it. We've got to get it back, and it better be sooner than later."
The Giants did have a mojo earlier this season, especially at home. The pitching staff kept it close and the hitters, though not a thundering herd, usually squeezed across the winning run.
Now, during a 2-6 homestand, any opportunity with a runner in scoring position becomes an exercise in false hope. On Monday, against Charlie Morton, they put two runners aboard in the second, fourth and fifth innings.
Those rallies died with a pair of double-play grounders (Aaron Rowand and Jeff Keppinger) and another groundball by Rowand that would have been a double play if not for a generous umpiring call at first base.
Giants management always takes the conservative tack. General manager Brian Sabean and Bochy are not reactionary, preferring to believe in the hitters they put on the field.
There has to come a point, though, at which they summon Brandon Belt from the minors and give him a shot no matter what his rookie shortcomings, because he cannot do worse than the hitters he would be replacing.
The Giants' future does look brighter with Beltran, even if he was struggling too, because he is a good hitter. On Monday morning, his wrist felt worse than it did after he hurt it Sunday. The medical staff opted for an MRI to back up Sunday's negative X-rays.
Doctors found some inflammation on the top and side of his hand and termed it a strain, not a sprain, with no ligament or tendon damage. After a long day of treatment, Beltran said he had better movement.
Bochy said the right fielder could return as soon as tonight. Beltran said he will not unless he can be competitive.
"There are injuries that allow you to go out there," he said. "But the wrist, swinging the bat, throwing, is such a huge part of the game. If I can't go out there and play at a percentage where I can help the team, I won't do it. I want somebody else in that spot."
Vogelsong's start was his 19th since he took Barry Zito's spot in the rotation April 28. That he did not take his second loss until Aug. 8 is remarkable on any team, and an act of hocus-pocus on one that cannot hit.
Four of the five Pittsburgh runs scored after he struck out Derrek Lee for the second out of the first, third and fifth innings. But he could not get that third out before Pirates crossed home plate.
He was down 2-0 after an inning, walked home a third run in the third, then allowed RBI singles by Ryan Ludwick and Brandon Wood in the fifth.
In his first 11 games at home, Vogelsong had allowed only 10 runs. His 1.30 home ERA was the best in the majors.
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