SAN FRANCISCO — With one out and the bases loaded in the second, Jake Cronenworth hit a soft line drive that wouldn’t make it out of the infield. Shortstop Willy Adames prepared for the hop. An inning-ending double play was possible, but the Giants could always settle for one out.
They ended up with nothing. Cronenworth’s line drive caromed off second base and catapulted over Adames’ head. The ball rolled into center field, and two runs easily. By inning’s end, the San Diego Padres put up seven runs and were on their way to an easy win.
The sequence didn’t just summarize the Giants’ 11-1 loss to the Padres on Wednesday afternoon, a loss that extended their losing streak to five games. It didn’t just summarize this three-game series, one where San Diego swept San Francisco. It summarized the Giants’ last two months, a stretch where they’ve been one of baseball’s worst teams and faded from the playoff picture.
Exactly two months ago, the Giants tied the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. Since then, they’ve gone 18-33, tied with the Washington Nationals for the worst record in baseball during that stretch — the same Nationals team that took two of three from the Giants this past weekend.
Cronenworth’s lucky two-run single kickstarted one of the Giants’ worst individual innings of the season, a frame that effectively sapped the energy from Wednesday’s afternoon’s paid attendance of 35,080.
One of those seven runs scored when left fielder Heliot Ramos perfectly played Manny Machado’s double but spiked a throw back to the infield, allowing Fernando Tatis Jr. to score from first. Another run scored on a passed ball by Patrick Bailey.
Trailing by 10 runs going into the top of the ninth, manager Bob Melvin had infielder Christian Koss pitch the ninth inning for the second time in the last four days. Koss provided a much-needed reprieve for the home fans who stuck around, tossing his third scoreless inning of the season and even reaching back for an 85.1 mph fastball.