SF Giants’ skid reaches 5 games with loss to Marlins, lose Alex Wood in the process

MIAMI — Already beaten up and backsliding, the Giants lost their fifth straight game Monday night and a member of their starting rotation.

Starter Alex Wood left in the third inning after straining his hamstring, and the Giants’ bullpen was unable to hold on to another early lead, falling 4-2 to the Marlins, who got a three-run home run from Jazz Chisholm Jr. that proved to be the difference in the game.

Having already clinched a losing record on this road trip, the Giants dropped their fourth straight series — three to teams that finished below .500 in 2022 — and will throw Alex Cobb in Wednesday’s series finale as they look to avoid a sweep and a sixth straight loss. They have won only one of their four games on this trip against the Tigers and Marlins, neither of whom won 70 games last season.

Mike Yastrzemski gave the Giants a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run home run, his third of the season, into the right-field bullpen. He followed a single by Thairo Estrada, who has reached safely in four of his past five games and is hitting .363 (8-for-22) over that span.

However, the Giants had few answers for Marlins third-year starter Edward Cabrera, whom nobody but J.D. Davis had previously faced. Davis contributed three hits and reached third base twice, but the Giants were unable to drive him in once, with both scoring opportunities ending in David Villar strikeouts.

Wilmer Flores also singled twice, extending his modest hitting streak to three games, after a three-hit effort Monday night.

Held scoreless over the final eight innings, the Giants struck out 12 more times, four from Villar, increasing their MLB-leading total to 176 through their first 16 games.

Flores led off the ninth with his second single, ensuring the Giants would bring the tying run to the plate, but Joey Bart struck out swinging to end the game, after Villar watched strike three for the second out and Darin Ruf, pinch-hitting for Brandon Crawford, flew out meagerly to left.

The owner of the lowest ERA against the Marlins of any active pitcher (min. 50 IP), Wood showed why as he retired seven of the nine batters he faced prior to exiting. He struck out three, stranded a walk and allowed one hit, a double by catcher Jacob Stallings.

Stallings’ double to lead off the third led to Jean Segura squaring around for a sacrifice bunt, which Wood fielded awkwardly, prompting manager Gabe Kapler and head trainer Dave Groeschner to visit him on the mound and remove him from the game. The bunt pulled Wood off to the third-base side of the mound, and he twisted his body to fire to first in time to record the out but afterward began grabbing at his left leg.

Jakob Junis, who had a 2.70 ERA in four appearances entering Tuesday, took over for Wood and allowed Stallings to score on a sac fly from Jon Berti, contested by a strong throw from Yastrzemski in right field, but bigger damage awaited in the fourth.

Jorge Soler, the hero of Miami’s win Monday night, and Bryan De La Cruz reached with back-to-back base knocks, bringing up Chisholm with two on and one out. Junis buried a first-pitch slider in the dirt, then came back with a middle-middle changeup that Chisholm punished at 109.5 mph off the bat, careening off the facade of the second deck in right field.

The cover athlete of MLB The Show ’23, the boisterous Chisholm celebrated as he rounded each base as if he were attempting to create his next cover shot.

Ross Stripling, the logical option to fill Wood’s spot in the rotation if he requires a stint on the injured list, followed Junis with 2⅓ shutout innings, his first clean outing in four appearances since signing a two-year, $25 million free-agent contract this past winter.

While the Giants, with six starting pitchers and two long relievers, were built to withstand attrition to their pitching staff, it will be difficult to replicate Wood’s production over his first three starts. The one run on his line Tuesday was only the second earned run he had allowed in 10 innings, a 1.80 ERA.