SAN FRANCISCO -- Wednesday's game in Anaheim will be one of the most interesting of the year, with the Giants facing Shohei Ohtani, a superstar they plan to pursue in three months. It will also decide this three-game series.
A night after a thrilling comeback, the Giants fell short in the late innings, losing 7-5 to the Angels, who had dropped seven straight. This one went off the rails early.
Scott Alexander opened for the Giants and failed to record an out, and the Angels kept the pressure on once Jakob Junis took over. They scored four runs in the first and nearly got a couple more, with Mickey Moniak's fly ball to right dying just a few inches in front of the wall.
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That kept the Giants in the game, and a night after clinching their 30th comeback win, they didn't waste any time inching back. Joc Pederson and Wilmer Flores singled in the third, driving in runs during a long rally that cut the deficit to one. Flores added to a career season in the eighth, hitting a two-run blast that got the Giants back within a run, but that was it.
A Quick Opening Act
Alexander's night went single, double, single ... mound meeting with Gabe Kapler. He was pulled after giving up hits to the first three Angels, with Junis taking over against the right-handed-hitting cleanup batter C.J. Cron.
Alexander was the opener, which technically made him a starting pitcher for the fifth time this year. He became the first Giants "starter" to fail to record an out since Zack Littell on June 15, 2021. Littell was also an opener that night and gave up four runs in the first inning, but the Giants stormed back, stunning the Diamondbacks 9-8 after scoring four runs in the eighth inning. Sammy Long ended up being the bulk innings guy that night.
San Francisco Giants
No Chance To Shine
The Giants are running AJ Pollock out there despite a slow start in orange and black, hoping to get him going. He was in center field on Tuesday and batting ninth, but he never dug into the batter's box.
Luis Matos pinch-hit for Pollock in the third inning and the Giants later announced that Pollock was pulled because of left side discomfort. That kept him from getting a chance to break through after an 0-for-6 start to his Giants career.
Matos didn't have much time to get loose, but you don't need any time at all when you're 21. He stepped into the box and roped a fastball up the middle, contributing to a three-run inning that got the Giants back in the game.
Stay Hot, Wilmer
It's going to be a week of familiar faces, highlighted by the Giants facing former manager Bruce Bochy when they return home on Friday. They saw an old friend in the eighth inning Tuesday and took advantage.
Dom Leone hung a slider to Flores with a runner on and Flores did what he has done for a couple of months now, blasting it into the seats. The homer was Flores' 15th overall and seventh since July 17.
Flores has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games, the longest streak of his career. On the other side, Leone has a 4.15 ERA for the Mets and Angels this season.