SF Giants’ opener backfires, offense sputters in loss to Angels

The time between the last out of the Giants’ come-from-behind win Monday night and the first pitch Tuesday was 21 hours and 10 minutes.

That appeared to be enough time for the Angels to plan their best retaliation.

In their first chance at a clean slate since the Giants erupted for six runs in the ninth inning Monday night, the Angels thwarted manager Gabe Kapler’s opener strategy with a four-run first inning that they were unable to recover from in a 7-5 loss.

Wilmer Flores did his darnedest to carry the team on his back, driving in four of their five runs with a pair of hits, including a two-run homer that cut the deficit to one in the eighth, but received little help from the rest of the order, which went back to sleep after briefly waking up in Monday’s late rally.

Between Flores’ two-RBI single that capped a three-run rally in the third inning and Patrick Bailey’s single to put a man on for Flores’ two-run shot in the eighth, the Giants mustered only three hits and came up empty — seven total no-hit innings. Flores went 2-for-3 to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 19 games, but the rest of the lineup combined to go 3-for-29 (.103).

The Angels (57-58) broke a seven-game losing streak while preventing the Giants (62-52) from winning their first road series since the All-Star break.

After the first inning, the Giants trailed 4-0 after the Angels strung together five hits against opener Scott Alexander and Jakob Junis, who came in after Alexander failed to retire any of the three batters he faced.

The strategy backfired on Tuesday, but it has been largely successful this season. Prior to Tuesday, the Giants were 15-5 with a 2.72 team ERA in these games.

The decision to open with a lefty in Alexander provided them with a favorable matchup against Shohei Ohtani, but it also shifted switch-hitting leadoff man Luis Rengifo to his strong side (.896 OPS vs. LHP,.655 vs. RHP), and both batters beat Alexander, who allowed all three batters he faced to reach base and score.

Junis (3 IP) and Alex Wood (4 IP) split the bulk of the workload on Tuesday, limiting the Angels to two runs from the second to the seventh innings.

Luke Jackson allowed the Angels to extend their lead in the eighth inning, raising his ERA to 2.45 from 1.38 prior to this weekend.

Since May, the Giants’ bullpen has led the majors in ERA, but they have also logged the most innings. That combination explains a lot of their success despite the fact that they only have two regular starting pitchers. But, after declining to upgrade at the trade deadline, is this a viable strategy for the rest of the way?

Nearly half of the Giants’ 48413 relief innings entered Tuesday had been logged by former starters such as Junis and Wood. This group, which also includes Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling, and rookies Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn, is now known as bulk-inning pitchers, or “featured guys” in Kapler’s parlance. Only two of their traditional relievers, Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers, are among the top 75 in the league in terms of appearances.

The MLB postseason schedule was released Tuesday afternoon, and in the National League, teams will have days off after Games 1 and 2 of the Division Series — potentially important for a team that may use its bullpen for Game 3.

Notable

— In the third inning, while pinch-hitting for A.J. Pollock, Matos gave the Giants their first hit of the game, eventually coming around to score one of three runs. Pollock was lifted with left side tightness during his first start in center field since being acquired at the trade deadline.