CHICAGO — The Giants, despite their propensity to swing and miss early this season, won’t be mistaken for a team without plate discipline. Facing White Sox strikeout artist Dylan Cease on Wednesday, they watched five ball fours go by and chased him by the fifth inning.
But even the most patient team needs a timely hit every now and then.
Despite a constant parade of base runners, the only damage the Giants were able to muster until the ninth inning in a 7-3 loss Wednesday came on a second-inning solo shot from J.D. Davis, an offensive output that stood in stark contrast to Chicago’s four runs on nine hits in five innings off Logan Webb to hand him his second loss in as many starts.
Through the first five games of the season, the Giants have mastered the three true outcomes.
More than 40% of their plate appearances have ended in strike three or ball four, and 14 of their 22 runs have been generated by the long ball. Their all-or-nothing approach has resulted in maddening extremes: shut out twice, a pair of offensive explosions, and Wednesday’s result, when they stranded 10 men on base and went hitless with them in scoring position until Joc Pederson’s ninth-inning double knocked in two.
The Giants put nine men on base via the free pass, but their only hit until the ninth inning besides Davis’ home run came from pinch-hitter Bryce Johnson, who laced a line-drive single up the middle but was left standing on third base after being followed by a pair of walks and a pair of punchouts.
It starts at the top of the order, with LaMonte Wade Jr., who has led off each game with either a walk (three times) or a strikeout (twice). On Wednesday, Wade drew free passes in each of his first three times to the plate. In the third, it kickstarted a bases-loaded rally. But the threat came to an end when Mike Yastrzemski watched a Cease slider cross the inside corner for strike three.
Wade reached scoring position again in the fifth, after walks to him and David Villar, but a big swing-and-a-miss from Pederson on another Cease slider snuffed out that rally, just like it did again in the seventh, when Pederson whiffed on a 98-mph heater from reliever Reynaldo Lopez.
Johnson had made it to third with one out in the seventh after his pinch-hit single. All it would have taken to score the speedy rookie was a ball in play, but free-agent addition Michael Conforto struck out, Villar walked again and Pederson swung through strike three.
Entering Wednesday’s game, the Giants’ 31.7% strikeout rate was the highest in MLB, while their 10.7% of plate appearances with a walk ranked 10th.
In 21 at-bats, Conforto has struck out 11 times, tied for the second-most in MLB. Pederson has whiffed eight times in 18 at-bats. On the flip side, Wade has drawn six walks in 20 plate appearances, tied for fourth-most in MLB, but has yet to score a run.
Cease walked five batters but also struck out eight and surrendered only the one run, when Davis lofted a first-pitch slider the other way and just beyond the right-field fence. Webb didn’t issue a walk but was tagged for four runs on nine hits in two scoring rallies.
Only two of Chicago’s 13 hits went for extra bases — none left the ballpark — but seven came with runners in scoring position.
