SAN FRANCISCO — It doesn’t qualify as a free fall, but then again it’s not something the home fans are used to either.
The Giants lost 7-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday night before a crowd of 22,562 at Oracle Park in the first game of a seven-game homestand. It was their fourth straight defeat.
St. Louis got a solo home run in the second inning by Yadier Molina against losing pitcher Zack Littell (0-1) in a bullpen game and never trailed. Miles Mikolas (2-1) got the win, giving up one run in 5 2/3 innings and getting relief help from Andre Pallante, Nick Wittgren and Kodi Whitley.
The Cardinals had 12 hits against nine different Giants pitchers. The Giants had 10 hits but left eight runners on base and were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
“Traffic on the bases is always good,” shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “We’re getting guys on, now we’ve got to find a way to get ’em in.”
It is the first four-game losing streak for the Giants since last Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, when they fell to Atlanta and three times to the Milwaukee Brewers, going from 84-45 to 84-49 and seeing a 2 1/2 game lead in the N.L. West turn into a half-game deficit.
The Giants also had a four-game losing streak from June 27-to July 1. They have never lost five straight under manager Gabe Kapler.
The last losing streak of five or more games for the Giants was seven in a row from May 22-29 under Bruce Bochy, when they went from 21-26 to 21-33.
“We have to hang in there through a rough stretch of some bad luck and not being at our best and hope that over the course of a long season our grit and tenacity will come out,” Kapler said.
The Cardinals broke it open in the seventh with four runs off Jake McGee and Tyler Rogers for a 7-1 lead, sending fans streaming for the exits.
Included was a run-scoring single by Tommy Edman, who had a two-run single earlier in the game; a two-run single by Tyler O’Neill and a run-scoring single by Tyler Yepez. The O’Neill and Yepez hits came against Rogers, who hadn’t pitched since April 27 against the A’s in the Bay Bridge Series.
Two of the Giants' most consistent performers last season, McGee gave up three hits and Rogers two in the inning.
Kapler said he was encouraged by McGee’s velocity and his performance wasn’t a reflection of how well he was throwing.
The Giants were quiet against Milolas until the fifth. The Cardinals got a break when Curt Casali hit a liner to short that Paul DeJong gloved with a leap with two runners on, but Mike Yastrzemski followed with a run-scoring single to right to make it 3-1. With two runners still aboard, it looked like the Giants might take the lead, but Josh Pederson’s drive to deep center was caught against the wall by Harrison Bader for the third out.
“We’ve had some opportunities in big moments, we get Joc up with two on, he drives it to the track and it doesn’t go out of the park,” Kapler said.
A chance for two-out magic in the sixth evaporated when Jason Vosler bounced to third against Pallante, who relieved Mikolas. Mikolas was removed after 96 pitches, giving up singles to Crawford and Luis Gonzalez and a walk to Thairo Estrada, alternating with two fly balls to right preceding Pallante.
“We hit some balls hard right at people,” Yastrzemski said. “We’ve had some unlucky breaks, and we’re still in a mode where we’re waiting for some people to get back. It’s too early for there to be anything to worry about.”
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead on Molina’s home run to left against Littell, and made it 3-0 in the top of the fifth on Edman’s two-run single over second base against Jose Alvarez, the Giants’ fourth pitcher.
Of the nine pitchers the Giants used, starter Mauricio Llovery, John Brebbia, Gregory Santos, Jarlin Garcia and Sam Long were unscored on. Each threw one inning except Santos, called up from Sacramento Thursday, who went 1 2./3.
The Giants will turn to Alex Cobb to stop the streak Friday night against St. Louis, with Brandon Webb pitching Saturday.
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