Mercury News
CINCINNATI -- The Giants got thoroughly skunked by Reds right-hander Johnny Cueto on Sunday, managing three hits in a 9-0 loss to complete a three-game sweep by Cincinnati that was as bad as chili on spaghetti.
General manager Brian Sabean couldn't dig up any last-minute catchers or leadoff hitters at the non-waiver trade deadline, either.
But manager Bruce Bochy liked the team photo as his sweaty squad dragged itself home from the banks of the Ohio River to begin a significant series with the hard-charging Arizona Diamondbacks.
"I'm grateful to Brian and ownership," said Bochy, who added Carlos Beltran, Jeff Keppinger and Orlando Cabrera in recent days. "It's up to us. We've got to play our best ball. We have the talent. We have to do it and execute."
Lest anyone forget the ballad of Cody Ross, the Giants still could add impact pieces through waiver trades or claims. Until then, there will be several big, internal battles for Bochy to sort out.
Leadoff, for starters. The Giants were outbid by Atlanta for Houston Astros center fielder Michael Bourn, according to sources. So they'll have to figure out how to get more production from their No. 1 hitters, whose combined .305 on-base percentage ranks 15th out of 16 N.L. teams.
Confidence appears to be eroding in Andres Torres, whose average is down to .233. Bochy was compelled to bench Torres against a right-hander in favor of Aaron Rowand.
And then there is Barry Zito. Like Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong in the first two games here, Zito couldn't settle in quickly. The Reds slapped his pitches around during a three-run first inning, and he operated from the stretch most of the game.
Zito gave up five runs in five innings, and now the question is when, if ever, the $126 million left-hander resurfaces in the rotation.
Although Bochy was not ready to proclaim a starter for Friday, Zito's day, he already had volunteered the notion of activating Jonathan Sanchez to take the ball.
Nothing that happened in Zito's outing Sunday would seem to change those plans.
All signs point to Zito getting bounced to long relief, assuming he's still on the roster. He has two years and almost $50 million remaining on his contract, making it a very expensive plug to pull.
Zito's start Sunday was listed as "TBA" as recently as Friday. The left-hander said, "that's when I dealt with it," but he insisted he didn't pitch as if a guillotine hovered over his head.
"No, I couldn't bring that out there," Zito said. "It's not beneficial to throw pitches with that intention. "... I take responsibility for what went on out there. It was a couple pitches up in the zone."
Bochy lamented the 10 runs his pitchers allowed in the first inning in the three games, the Giants' first series loss since they were blitzed in Oakland June 17-19.
Another calamitous series against Arizona would turn the N.L. West into a two-team free-for-all. The Diamondbacks got a bit better, too, trading for A's reliever Brad Ziegler and adding Jason Marquis. The tough right-hander, who will start Wednesday, threw a five-hit shutout when the Giants visited Washington in April.
The Giants also enter with some taxed arms after their relievers pitched 131/3 innings in three games.
"Naw, I don't have any concern," Bochy said. "This club is tough. They're resilient. They've been through this before. You'll hit bumps, and we hit a pretty big one here."
Sabean faced taller fortifications while trying to upgrade his catching tandem of Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart, who have held the staff together since Buster Posey's season-ending leg injury on May 25. Bochy admired the work of both backup catchers, so Sabean didn't want to get any old body for the sake of it, which could potentially disrupt the rapport with the staff.
"It has to be a definitive upgrade," Sabean said. "It has to be somebody you think is a slam dunk to handle this staff. We have not been able to find that type of catcher."
Sabean said he would remain vigilant during the waiver process. For now, he surveyed his three deals and said he was "very fortunate" to have added three veterans while sacrificing just one premium prospect, right-hander Zack Wheeler.
"There was going to be bloodletting somewhere," Sabean said. "But we felt we did the best we could with the least amount of pain."
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