{"id":924542,"date":"2026-06-21T04:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T04:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/924542\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T04:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T04:00:20","slug":"giants-commit-4-errors-cant-find-strike-zone-in-ugly-loss-to-marlins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/924542\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants commit 4 errors, can\u2019t find strike zone in ugly loss to Marlins"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 There is no shortage of competition<\/a> for the ugliest, most bumbling display of baseball the Giants have put on in this disastrous start of a season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We might have a new front-runner.<\/p>\n

Sure, the scoreboard may have only read 6-3 in favor of the Marlins on Saturday. The Giants even pounded out 10 hits, including five for extra bases, to Miami\u2019s six.<\/p>\n

Giants starting pitcher Trevor McDonald had his shortest outing of the season, lasting three innings. AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky<\/p>\n

But consider this: A bases-loaded walk that was the third of the inning. Three hit batsmen in three-plus innings from their starter, plus another from the reliever who took over for him. A cascade of errors, in the field and on the basepaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tougher to play defense, it\u2019s tougher swing the bat when you don\u2019t attack the strike zone,\u201d manager Tony Vitello<\/a> said. \u201cIt just gets everything out of whack. \u2026 You\u2019re not going to win too many games when you give up that many free bases, whether it\u2019s walks or hit by pitch \u2014 whatever it might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, to boot, all that before the Giants had even batted for a fifth time.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust piss poor overall from me,\u201d said starter Trevor McDonald, who was responsible for the three first-inning walks, three hit batters and five runs (three earned) in his shortest start of the season.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s to say nothing of the uncompetitive at-bats that ended in Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers staring at strike three, or the soft ground ball that Devers didn\u2019t hustle down the line.<\/p>\n

Drew Gilbert did some good with a line-drive single that drove in a run but then almost immediately negated it caught stealing second with a runner at third and one out, which Vitello said was drawn up as a safety squeeze that went awry when Eric Haase took strike two.<\/p>\n

It was a redux of all the tropes that left the Giants 14 games below .500 after the loss.<\/p>\n

Yet, somehow they hit a new low: Never in the San Francisco era had the Giants committed four errors and hit four opposing batters in one game.<\/p>\n

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Even down to the positives, the little of them that there were, provided almost exclusively by Casey Schmitt, whose emergence has been one of the Giants\u2019 few bright spots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going out and trying to hit line drives. If they go over, they go over. It\u2019s not really my goal,\u201d said Schmitt, who hadn\u2019t homered in 11 games, his longest dry spell of the season. \u201cI\u2019m just staying calm, being relaxed in the box. That\u2019s always been the big thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmitt launched his team-leading 16th homer of the season and came inches away from his 17th, instead settling for an oddity of a double that set up Gilbert\u2019s RBI single.<\/p>\n

Center fielder Jakob Marsee came close to robbing Schmitt\u2019s near-homer but trapped the ball against the wall, flipping it to himself. The confusion meant Jung Hoo Lee, who doubled to lead off the inning, had to play it safe and only made it to third, though he was quickly singled home by Gilbert.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got up there, almost made a great catch,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cBut on the replay you could see it hit his glove and it was coming out of his glove and off the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giants reliever Matt Gage lasted two-thirds of an inning in the loss Saturday. AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky<\/p>\n

That got the Giants on the board, and Schmitt\u2019s homer tied the score at 2 in the top of the fourth. Schmitt and Lee added a second round of two-baggers to make it 6-3 in the eighth.<\/p>\n

But it had all come undone in the bottom half of the fourth as McDonald failed to record an out, Matt Gage hit a batter, walked another and served up a home run, and it required the work of a third pitcher, JT Brubaker, to get out of the inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, the fourth was mismanaged by everybody,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cIt ends up being the big inning and the difference in the game. \u2026 That inning started with [McDonald] basically getting a three-hitter window and we didn\u2019t get any of those guys out. Things obviously accumulated.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald was responsible for one of the Giants\u2019 four errors, though he got no help from his defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got out and walk three and hit [three], that doesn\u2019t help either,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n

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Devers whiffed on a ground ball to first base from the second batter of the game, leading to the Marlins\u2019 first run after McDonald walked his third batter of the inning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Devers got another opportunity in the second with the bases loaded and a chance to escape the jam unscathed. He fielded it cleanly, but this time, McDonald missed the bag when he tried to tag it with his right foot, allowing the Marlins to score a second unearned run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just watching the ball from Rafi,\u201d McDonald said, \u201cinstead of getting to the bag like I\u2019m supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catcher Eric Haase allowed another runner to reach on an interference call and went 0-for-3 catching base stealers, with two of his throws so offline that they sailed into the outfield grass.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen lack of execution occurs multiple times,\u201d Vitello said, \u201call of a sudden it looks sloppy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casey Schmitt was one of the few bright spots. He homered and went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky<\/p>\n

What it means<\/p>\n

The Giants, fresh off a doubleheader sweep of the MLB-best Braves, are right back to where they were when they set out on the road trip after a second straight loss to the Marlins.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s hot<\/p>\n

Besides the aggressive steal attempt that didn\u2019t pay off, Gilbert had a nice game with two hits, including a double, to go along with his RBI single for a season-high three knocks \u2014 only his fourth multi-hit game since the end of April while he has batted .196.<\/p>\n

Gilbert added a highlight-reel catch in center field for the final out of the fifth, tracking down a deep drive from Kyle Stowers before crashing into the wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly this year, he was so amped up he was almost raging at the plate and going so fast in the outfield, a couple times even failed to pick up the ball,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cI think he\u2019s kind of finding his way and settling in and realizing he belongs here and he\u2019s capable of doing good things for us, but he doesn\u2019t have to be Superman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides the aggressive steal attempt that didn\u2019t pay off, Gilbert had a nice game with two hits, including a double. AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s not<\/p>\n

Hours after Vitello affirmed McDonald\u2019s spot in the starting rotation, with Adrian Houser joining the bullpen<\/a> ahead of Tyler Mahle\u2019s return<\/a>, he could hardly find the strike zone.<\/p>\n

McDonald, it seemed, barely knew where his three-pitch mix was going at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [McDonald was] kind of fighting it the last couple times out delivery-wise,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cJust a little bit out of sorts with his delivery. \u2026 It was going good for him and for whatever reason [he] got derailed a bit, in particular his last two times out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since beating the Athletics with 6 \u2154 innings of one-run ball in his third start May 16 to lower his ERA to 2.37, McDonald is 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA, including 15 walks and seven HBPs.<\/p>\n

He has walked three batters in each of his last four times taking the mound.<\/p>\n

McDonald agreed that there was \u201csomething small\u201d about his \u201cposture\u201d that was off Saturday but said it was only something pitching coach Justin Meccage pointed out around the third inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to figure it out,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cAnd I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

Logan Webb will look to pick up where he left off the last time he took the mound in the series finale against Ryan Gusto, with first pitch set for 10:40 a.m. PT Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Giants\u2019 ace has looked more like himself since returning from the injured list, allowing one earned run over his past three starts, spanning 25 innings.<\/p>\n

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