SAN FRANCISCO -- The final day of July did a nice job of summing up the whole month for a struggling lineup.
The Giants got a solo homer from Wilmer Flores, who nearly hit .400 in July and crushed six homers, at times singlehandedly carrying the offense. They scraped a run across on a sacrifice fly and another on a wild pitch, continuing to take advantage of mistakes from opponents, a theme the entire season. San Francisco also went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, which has become the norm in recent weeks.
They also lost, which they did more often than not in July.
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The Giants fell 4-3 in 11 innings, finishing July with a 12-13 record. Their pitching staff, which now has just two full-time starters, allowed 103 runs over the past month, but the lineup scored just 83, the fewest in the majors. Over 25 games, the Giants hit .209 as a team and also ranked a distant last in team OPS (.632).
"Obviously lots of opportunities to deliver a knockout blow over the course of the last 10 games or so, maybe a little bit more," manager Gabe Kapler said. "This is a very capable lineup and a bunch of hitters that have historically broken games up with big hits. You could kind of see that ball that LaMonte (Wade Jr.) hit (in the 10th) being that one that turns the tide. Unfortunately it's a big ballpark sometimes, and you hit a ball 103 mph at that trajectory and it doesn't go out.
"Yeah, we've been squaring up the baseball from time to time. We just haven't been rewarded for it, but obviously it's not enough. We've got to do everything that we can to come out on the other side of this little skid when it comes to our offensive production with runners on base and in big moments."
The good news for the Giants is that help is on the way. Thairo Estrada should be back this weekend, but before that, the Giants do have an opportunity to add more reinforcements.
San Francisco Giants
The MLB trade deadline is Tuesday at 3 p.m., and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi indicated on Monday afternoon that any additions will probably boost the lineup, not the starting staff. The Giants did make one move Monday, adding A.J. Pollock, who could be active Tuesday. But with that one, there's simply a lot of hope that Pollock can turn around what has been a down season.
Zaidi said he still sees plenty of complementary pieces out there on the market. He mentioned multiple times Monday that the Giants need more depth.
"Looking back over the last month, we're dealing with some of what we dealt with in April," he said. "When your at-bat quality is concentrated at the top of the order or middle of the order and your lineup isn't as deep one through nine, rallies just sort of find a way of funneling to the bottom of the order and you're looking for big hits from guys who that's not really why they're in there. They're in there for their defense or other things they bring to the table."
Zaidi has tended to do most of his work in the hour before the deadline, when things always get a little chaotic. When the final hours hit Tuesday, the Giants will need to try and be opportunistic and add a bat or two. One game doesn't force moves, but Monday's loss was one that showed off an issue that's been glaring for a month.