SF Giants’ skid reaches 5 games with loss to Marlins, lose Alex Wood in the process

MIAMI — Already beaten up and backsliding, the Giants lost their fifth straight game Monday night and a member of their starting rotation in the process.

Starter Alex Wood left in the third inning after straining his hamstring, and the Giants’ bullpen was unable to hold on to another early lead, falling 4-2 to the Marlins, who got a three-run home run from Jazz Chisholm Jr. that proved to be the difference in the game.

Having already clinched a losing record on this road trip, the Giants dropped their fourth straight series — three to teams that finished below .500 in 2022 — and will throw Alex Cobb in Wednesday’s series finale as they look to avoid a sweep and a sixth straight loss.

They have lost all four games on this trip against the Tigers and Marlins, neither of whom won 70 games last season, despite holding leads in all four games.

“It kind of feels like we’re just falling asleep at the wheel right now,” said outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, who gave the Giants a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run home run, his third of the season, into the right-field bullpen. “It doesn’t really feel like there’s too much urgency on the offense. I think we can do a better job of being aggressive like we are in the first couple innings.”

Held scoreless for the final eight frames, Giants manager Gabe Kapler said he wants to see his club “keep that fighter, killer mentality in the second through the ninth innings, as well.”

After Yastrzemski’s first-inning homer, the Giants had few answers for Marlins third-year starter Edward Cabrera, whom nobody but J.D. Davis had previously faced. Davis contributed three hits and reached third base twice, but the Giants were unable to drive him in once, with both scoring opportunities ending in David Villar strikeouts.

The Giants struck out 12 more times, four from Villar, increasing their MLB-leading total to 177 through their first 16 games.

Wilmer Flores also singled twice, extending his modest hitting streak to three games, after a three-hit effort Monday night, and reached base to lead off the ninth, ensuring the Giants would bring the tying run to the plate. But Joey Bart struck out swinging to end the game, after Villar watched strike three for the second out and Darin Ruf, pinch-hitting for Brandon Crawford, flew out meagerly to left.

Wood is “likely” headed to the injured list, Kapler said, though the club did not yet have an exact timetable. His injury in the third inning provided “a little bit of a gut punch” for everyone in the dugout.

“I think that was probably the most notable momentum shift in the game,” Kapler said.

The owner of the lowest ERA against the Marlins of any active pitcher (min. 50 IP), Wood showed why as he retired seven of the nine batters he faced prior to exiting. He struck out three, stranded a walk and allowed one hit, a double by catcher Jacob Stallings.

Stallings’ double to lead off the third led to Jean Segura squaring around for a sacrifice bunt, which Wood fielded awkwardly, prompting Kapler and head trainer Dave Groeschner to visit him on the mound and eventually remove him from the game. The bunt pulled Wood off to the third-base side of the mound, and he twisted his body to fire to first in time to record the out but afterward began grabbing at his left leg.

While other players wear rubber cleats on the artificial turf here, Wood said pitchers wear metal spikes to maintain their footing on the dirt mound.

“When I went to field the bunt, my cleat just stuck so hard and my hamstring just grabbed right in the middle,” Wood said. “It’s just frustrating. Really frustrating.”

Adding to the frustration was the timing of the injury, with Wood pitching well through three starts and feeling like he had reached a new level Tuesday.

The one run on his line Tuesday was only the second earned run he had allowed in 10 innings, a 1.80 ERA.

“He was pitching really well,” Kapler said. “This was by far the most crisp his stuff has been. Disappointing that he had the hamstring pull; probably more disappointing because you see him picking up momentum throughout that outing and you’re confident you’re heading toward a win when he’s on.”

Jakob Junis, who had a 2.70 ERA in four appearances entering Tuesday, took over for Wood and allowed Stallings to score on a sac fly from Jon Berti, contested by a strong throw from Yastrzemski in right field, but bigger damage awaited in the fourth.

Jorge Soler, the hero of Miami’s win Monday night, and Bryan De La Cruz reached with back-to-back base knocks, bringing up Chisholm with two on and one out. Junis buried a first-pitch slider in the dirt, then came back with a middle-middle changeup that Chisholm punished at 109.5 mph off the bat, careening off the facade of the second deck in right field.

The cover athlete of MLB The Show ’23, the boisterous Chisholm celebrated as he rounded each base as if he were attempting to create his next cover shot.