SAN DIEGO — Tyler Beede slowly buttoned up and tucked in a blue shirt and then reached down to tug on fancy brown shoes. In his locker hung a suit jacket. It was an outfit that was ready for a big league flight to the next city, but Beede won’t be on that flight.
The rookie was optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento after Sunday’s 10-1 loss to the Padres. The Giants likely will slide Jeff Samardzija back into the rotation at some point next week, but Bruce Bochy wouldn’t go as far as confirming that Sunday. His focus was on the loss, and on giving Beede some pointers as he headed back to the minors.
“We think he needs to go down and continue to progress and work on some things we want him to work on,” Bochy said.
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The Giants want Beede to execute better when he gets to two strikes, but they also want him to be a bit more cautious early in the count. Twice in the fourth inning, Beede gave up hits on first-strike pitches that caught too much of the zone. Bochy pointed out that the Padres have a young and aggressive lineup, and part of the maturation process for the young starter facing them is to know that.
“It’s a four-game series and you’re watching the games, and hopefully you’re aware of that,” Bochy said. “Hitters are aggressive up here with men on base. That first pitch has to be a quality pitch, too.”
Beede was charged with five earned in 3 2/3 innings. In two starts, he lasted just 7 2/3 innings, but he said he would take away as many positives as he could.
“From this start to the last start, there was a lot of improvement with fastball command and the same thing with off-speed pitches,” he said. “It’s really just about polishing some things later in the count … my stuff plays, it’s just a matter of being more polished later in the count.”
San Francisco Giants
Beede will head down with an 0-1 record, but this one wasn’t close to all on him. The Giants went 0 for 8 with runners on scoring position. They struck out nine times in their first look at young lefty Joey Lucchesi. They played lackluster defense at times, making the kind of mistakes that made one wonder if some minds were already on the off day.
The end result was a third straight loss, and yet another series loss here at Petco Park. Since the 2016 All-Star break, when the Giants appeared to be a juggernaut, they have played here six times. They have lost five series and split the other.
“It’s disappointing,” Bochy said. “We’ve been nicked up with this pitching staff and it showed up a little (today).”
Johnny Cueto will return Tuesday and Samardzija could be back Saturday. But there are so many other leaks that won’t be filled by changes to the rotation. With three coming against the first place Diamondbacks and then three more against the surging Angels, the Giants would be well served to plug some of them soon.