SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants hoped to be contending for a division title in September. At this point, they would settle for a single win in the month.
A close game turned into another ugly loss Monday night. This time, it was to the Braves. This time, it was 4-1.
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The Giants are 0-for-September, and they’ve lost nine straight, their longest skid in 12 years.
Dereck Rodriguez is really good, though. So there’s that.
Here are some things you should know from the Giants' loss at AT&T Park …
-- Rodriguez crossed the 100-inning mark with six more dominant frames. He gave up one run on four hits. Among NL pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched, he ranks fourth with an ERA of 2.35. The three guys in front of him -- Jacob deGrom, Aaron Nola and Max Scherzer -- are fighting it out for the Cy Young Award.
San Francisco Giants
-- The Giants did a lot of little things right to get their first run. Rodriguez put down a perfect sacrifice following a single by Gorkys Hernandez, and Hernandez alertly stole third on Sean Newcomb. That led to the Braves bringing their infield in with one out, so Austin Slater’s high chopper to third got over Johan Camargo’s head and made it 1-0.
-- The Giants did a lot of things wrong to give up the second run of the night. Ozzie Albies hit a single to center and went halfway to second, daring Hernandez to throw. He did, except he threw it to first, and Albies easily made it to second. The throw got away, and Albies was awarded third, and he scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. The ball was shallow, but Austin Slater’s throw home was 30 feet from the plate.
-- Hunter Strickland gave up a double, triple and squeeze in the top of the ninth. A 2-1 game turned into 4-1, and his velocity appears to be down a couple of ticks. It's been quite the fall for the former closer.