There are bad losses, there are horrible losses ... and then there's what the Giants did Friday night.
The first night of the Battle of the Bay looked like a blowout for the home team, but the Giants lost 8-7 to the A's in extras after blowing a 7-2 lead in extras. It was every bit as excruciating as that sentence makes it sound.
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The Giants blew that five-run lead in the top of the ninth with their closer on the mound. Trevor Gott was in trouble throughout the inning and gave up a game-tying grand slam to Stephen Piscotty with one out. The slam was the A's third of the season in the ninth inning or later. The other 29 MLB teams have combined for zero.
San Francisco had the winning run on third with two down in the ninth, but Pablo Sandoval, who is batting just .159, grounded out. The Giants then proceeded to give up the go-ahead run in the 10th on a sacrifice fly, and when it was their turn to get a free runner on second, three consecutive hitters struck out.
Man, it was bad. Would you like to read more about it?! Here are three takeaways.
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San Francisco Giants
Epic Meltdown
With a five-run lead heading into the ninth, Gabe Kapler took the opportunity to get some work for Gott, his closer who had pitched just twice in the last nine days. Gott's command was off from the start, and he gave up a one-out homer to Matt Olson before walking Mark Canha. That's when Wilmer Flores made an inexplicable decision.
On a grounder to first, Flores took a step toward the bag and then spun and threw to second, where Brandon Crawford lifted his foot prematurely. Instead of getting the easy out at first, Flores for some reason went for the lead runner, and both A's ended up being safe. After a hit-by-pitch, Gott gave up a game-tying grand slam to Piscotty.
The A's put the go-ahead runner on third but Tyler Rogers struck out a pair.
Johnny Be Good
Cueto was close to a dominant start in Los Angeles over the weekend, but a homer from his final hitter ruined his line. This time around, Cueto did get the job done all the way through.
He went seven innings, the most by a Giants starter this season, and allowed just two earned runs on three hits. Cueto struck out five and threw 104 pitches, his most since Sept. 19, 2017.
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Luzardo hit hard
The Giants had no issues with A's left-hander Jesús Luzardo, one of the best pitching prospects in the game. Longoria hit a solo shot and Pence made it 4-0 in the third with a three-run shot to dead center.
Luzardo was pulled with one out in the fourth after Longoria's two-run single to left.
The Giants hit six balls at least 100 mph off Luzardo, including Pence's second three-run blast of the week, which left the park at 105.9 mph. This lineup continues to be pretty good against left-handed pitching.