Estrada no quick solution to SF Giants’ offensive woes in loss to A’s

OAKLAND — The Giants got their most valuable position player back Saturday but learned it will take more than one man to cure their offensive woes that have persisted for the better part of a month.

Set to face the majors’ worst pitching staff with a lineup bolstered by Thairo Estrada and freshly rested from a day off, the one run on two hits the Giants produced in their last game figured to be a logical low point for their lineup’s futility. Think again.

Estrada reached base twice and scored a run, but it proved to be the only one Giants pushed across in a 2-1 loss to the lowly A’s (31-80), who fended off their 81st loss of the season. Only once before, during a double-header in 2020, have the Giants (61-50) recorded five or fewer hits over a two-game span under manager Gabe Kapler.

“I thought (Estrada) swung the bat well. I feel like as a group we’re capable of a lot more, of course,” Kapler said. “We’re just not going to be impatient with this group. It’s a group with a long track record of success. There’s just zero need to worry too much. This is a group that’s going to score runs. Very confident in this group. Looking at the lineup right now, I feel really good about it going forward. I’m just not going to get too caught up in the last month and a half.”

The Giants managed to post a winning record during Estrada’s absence (15-11) despite scoring the fewest runs in the majors (3.3 per game) behind consistently strong pitching. They had won seven of nine entering Saturday with a 1.91 ERA in those games.

But, even with an effective performance from Ross Stripling in a starting role, their continued offensive struggles meant any mistake was magnified. Stripling struck out seven, walked none and allowed only three hits — one big one, a homer to third baseman Jordan Diaz — over 5⅓ innings but left the game down 1-0.

“For the most part, if you can limit them to solo homers and just one,” Stripling said afterward, “you can usually survive it.”

Not on Saturday, not with this Giants offense.

San Francisco couldn’t overcome a rare bout of ineffectiveness from reliever Ryan Walker, who took the loss after allowing the first two runners of the eighth to reach base. Aledmys Diaz singled to lead off the inning and scored with two outs on a base knock through the right side of the infield from Seth Brown. With left-hander Scott Alexander entering for the righty Walker, the Giants intentionally walked righty Zack Gelof to bring up Brown with the bases loaded.

Estrada scored the tying run in the eighth after drawing a walk and scoring on a sac fly from Joc Pederson. He advanced from first to third on a single from Wilmer Flores, only the Giants’ third hit of the game — two from Flores, who extended his on-base streak to 16 games, and the other from Estrada.

“That’s how baseball is, one day you’re going to score a lot of runs, other days you’re not going to score a lot of runs,” Estrada said through Spanish-language interpreter Erwin Higueros. “Today, we did not score a lot of runs. But tomorrow’s another day. That’s the beautiful thing about baseball.”

Estrada was only the Giants’ second runner to reach scoring position.

In his second at-bat back from the IL, with one out in the fourth inning, Estrada slapped a single into center field. Followed by a pop-up from Flores and a nubber off the bat of Pederson, however, Estrada was stranded at first.

Held scoreless for seven innings, the Giants put runners on base in six of their first seven times to the plate but failed to capitalize. J.D. Davis twice reached to lead off an inning but was left stranded on base both times; Patrick Bailey didn’t even end the inning on the bases after walking to lead off the seventh; he was doubled up trying to get back to first after misreading a soft pop fly to left from Crawford.

Safe to say, Estrada’s long-awaited return did not live up to the excitement exuded from the clubhouse pregame about getting him back.

“Between him and Mitch, we’ve definitely talking about when we’re getting them back and very aware of their rehab schedule,” Stripling said. “We expect to lean on him moving forward. He’s a huge piece of what we do offensively and defensively, so it’s awesome to have him back. But, yeah, we were definitely aware of him being back and what it does for us.”

After allowing a leadoff single to the A’s first batter of the game, Estuary Ruiz, Stripling retired 12 straight batters. Diaz snapped the streak by leading off the fifth inning with a solo homer, the first run of the game from either team.

Diaz golfed a knee-high changeup over the left-field wall, traveling an estimated 402 feet, or about eight feet further than Seth Brown the previous inning. Brown also unloaded on a changeup, but it was tracked down by Luis Matos, who crashed face-first into the wall while making a spectacular, inning-ending catch.

Stripling, who typically distributes his six pitches fairly evenly, relied on his changeup for 27 of his 74 pitches. It led to Diaz’s home run but also generated 11 swings and misses.

“It was kind of a changeup party,” Stripling said. “Not necessarily a plan going in, but just felt like some of their lefties and some of their young guys weren’t really adjusting to it, so I kept going to it and I threw one to that guy and he hit a homer.”

Stripling was the twofold beneficiary of the Giants’ defense, which has the second-best fielding percentage in the majors since the start of July.

To record the second out of the inning, Brandon Crawford ranged to his right and was in the outfield grass by the time he backhanded a ground ball into the hole from Gelof. His momentum carrying him away from the play, Crawford threw across his body and to LaMonte Wade Jr. at first base in time to get Gelof.

Giving Stripling the starting nod in a reversal from their opener strategy, Kapler said before the game, “I think it’s nice to have several starters in the rotation that you can at least for a while give them that opportunity to start and go deeper into a game. Not to say we’ll do that every time through, but it’s nice on a day like today.”

Afterward, Kapler indicated that Stripling was in line to make more starts.

“Today was not new for Strip,” Kapler said. “He’s been pitching like this for some time. I feel really good about his prospects going forward, as I did dating back to this offseason. He had a great year last year, has a good track record of success. Sometimes we need to be patient to see all of that come to fruition. I thought he pitched well and I’m looking forward to his next outing.”