Rewind: Frustrated Giants again manage just three hits

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CHICAGO — The ball left the bat at 97 mph, and Eduardo Nuñez thought he had a game-tying double. A fraction of a second later, it was in Kris Bryant's glove. Nuñez slammed his bat to the ground and his helmet was next. He ripped his gloves off and whipped those to the ground too, and then kicked his helmet in a final flurry of anger. 

In a 2-1 loss to the Cubs, the second straight three-hit performance for the Giants, Nuñez was not alone.

“I may or may not have gotten a new helmet,” said shortstop Brandon Crawford, who twice lined out. “May or may not have.”

Crawford does a better job of hiding his emotions, but the frustration is there. Buster Posey showed it on the last homestand after a strike call he disagreed with in the ninth. Johnny Cueto screamed at himself after a rough inning in a recent start. In Thursday’s loss, starter Jeff Samardzija was seen yelling in the dugout. 

The Giants, as Bruce Bochy has said over and over again, are trying. What they’re doing continues to not work, and whether that’s a matter of bad luck or bad play, it doesn’t matter. They are 15-29 in the second half .

Friday’s loss was one of the toughest to take, because the Giants did hit the ball hard despite getting no-hit through six innings. Crawford lined out to each corner infielder and Kelby Tomlinson was robbed of a single by a diving Dexter Fowler. 

Hunter Pence provided the lone run with a no-hitter-busting homer, but afterward, as he talked about facing Lester, he subtly explained why the “we hit into a lot of hard outs” routine only carries you so far. “They hit a lot of balls hard, too,” Pence said. The Cubs failed to tack on when Jason Heyward’s liner to second turned into a bases-loaded double play. 

Lester was left with a one-run cushion, and that was enough. Pence got on in the ninth but Crawford struck out looking on a questionable pitch. The Giants couldn’t grumble much. Not when they have done so little offensively over two games. 

When Pence stepped to the plate in the seventh, the Giants had made outs in 40 consecutive at-bats. They had 12 consecutive full hitless innings for the first time in 36 years. Crawford had more hits in one game in Miami than the Giants have in two at Wrigley Field. 

[RECAP: Instant Replay: Giants end no-hit bid, but still fall short]

“We ran into a very hot pitcher who threw the ball very well,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s on top of his game. Still, I will say, you’ve got to generate some offense.”

The failure to do so wasted a solid effort from Albert Suarez, who stepped into Matt Cain’s rotation slot and gave up two runs over five innings. It wasted a gutsy effort from Trevor Brown, who was tested for mononucleosis on Thursday and was so washed out that he bent over at second base after an eighth-inning double, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

“I was tired,” Brown said, smiling weakly. “They don’t know if I have strep or the flu or something, but it’s knocked me down pretty good.”

Brown will be on a steady stream of antibiotics and expects to be fine in a few days. If only the fix for the Giants was so easy. 

Madison Bumgarner will try to provide his own boost Saturday, but the matchup is again a tough one, with Jake Arrieta going for the best team in baseball. In a quiet clubhouse late Friday afternoon, Pence said he’s not concerned about the mounting losses. “It’s a strong group, a very strong group,” he said. At the very least, the Giants have that going for them.

This streak of losing baseball has hit the seven-week mark, but the Giants insist they have not lost faith, even as they have lost so much ground in the standings. 

“Tomorrow is a new game,” Crawford said. “Tomorrow is a new game. We’re tired of saying it and you guys are tired of asking, I’m sure. But that’s the way you've got to think.”

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