A primetime win against the Cubs in Chicago on Sunday meant the San Francisco Giants’ flight back to the west coast didn’t land until the wee hours of the morning. Only hours separated the moment players got into their own beds to sleep before they were up and back at the ballpark for Monday’s game against the Washington Nationals. 

Safe to say players are running low on sleep to start the week, and the midnight “rock show” blaring a boombox in one section of the team plane couldn’t have helped anyone’s REM, either, manager Tony Vitello said before the game.

Perhaps that’s a good enough reason to explain the Giants’ limp performance against one of baseball’s worst pitching staffs and a shaky starter. Running on pure adrenaline and behind a fresh and dominant Logan Webb, the Giants found just enough in the tank to take a two-run lead in the eighth inning. The bullpen, running on fumes more than any other unit, let that lead go in the ninth as the Giants fell 4-3 to the Nationals. 

Driving the engine in the eighth was Jung Hoo Lee, who not only extended his hitting streak to 16 games, but had a four-hit night that powered the Giants’ offense. 

With the score 1-1 in the eighth, Lee beat out a soft ground ball for his third hit. Called out initially, replay review showed he beat it out by a solid few inches. The Nationals gifted Lee an extra base when a pickoff attempt flew to the dugout railings. 

That brought up Bryce Eldridge, swinging a hot bat himself. He pummeled a double into the left-field corner, bringing Lee home. Vitello got even more creative to get an insurance run home. After Matt Chapman took a pitch off the helmet, Eric Haase advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Then speedy Jonah Cox — batting for Drew Gilbert — put down a safety squeeze to score Eldridge. 

Manufactured runs weren’t enough to prevent a late-inning meltdown. Keaton Winn — pitching for a third day in a row — entered the ninth for the save, but out came a mess. Luis Garcia doubled to center field with one out and Winn hit Curtis Mead with a pitch. A passed ball by Haase advanced the tying run into scoring position and CJ Abrams brought both runners home with a single up the middle. Abrams stole second and scored the winning run on Daylen Lile’s single, prompting Vitello to get Winn. 

It didn’t help that the Giants couldn’t get much going against Miles Mikolas, who came into the game in the second inning after left-handed opener Richard Lovelady. Mikolas came in with a 6.39 ERA over 13 appearances, including six starts, but held the Giants scoreless over 4⅔ innings. 

It gave Webb little margin for error, but it was plenty for him as he delivered another wasted gem. 

Coming off seven scoreless scoreless innings against the Milwaukee Brewers upon his return from the injured list, Webb whipped a nasty changeup and sweeper to clamp down the Washington offense. 

The Nationals scored once over his eight innings as he struck out seven with no walks. 

Bullpen update: Reliever Jason Foley, sidelined since last May after undergoing right shoulder capsule surgery, is nearing the 30-day limit on his rehab assignment, upon which he will need to be reinstated from the injured list. One hitch: He was removed from his rehab outing on Friday with shoulder fatigue and is shut down until at least the weekend, the Giants say. 

Ryan Walker is expected to return to the big leagues on a high having allowed one run over his past seven appearances at Triple-A Sacramento, but  Vitello said the goal is to get Walker comfortable throwing multiple innings before he’s recalled. Walker pitched two scoreless in his last outing, a role straying from his typical one-inning workload. Vitello said the Giants would like him to pitch multiple innings in order to keep flexibility on his usage.