How do you hold a 6-1 lead and let it vanish like that? It is painful to watch. This bullpen is officially a disaster zone, and I am not even being dramatic.
The game started with so much promise in San Francisco. Andre Pallante was working well through five innings. He kept the ball on the ground and helped the team stay in control. The offense even gave us a massive boost when Leo Bernal hit a three-run home run in the third inning. By the time the middle of the game rolled around, the Cardinals were sitting pretty with a 5-1 advantage. We even pushed that to 6-1 after some extra runs in the sixth.
The eighth inning nightmare
Then the wheels completely fell off. According to Viva El Birdos, the Giants exploded for six runs in the bottom of the eighth. It started with Winquest allowing a single. He managed to get a strikeout and a fly out, but then the chaos began. An HBP and a walk set the stage for an RBI single. When Soriano came in, things only got worse. The Giants hammered out a single, a double, and another double. That run of hits handed the Giants a 7-6 lead. It was a total meltdown.
No lead is safe
I have seen some bad bullpen nights, but this felt different. You cannot give up six runs in one inning and expect to win games. The ninth inning was just as bad. We saw a single followed by a Walker double play. The game ended with a Herrera groundout, but the damage was already done. It is hard to stay positive when the arms in the back of the pen cannot hold a single run.
The offense did their job. Bernal’s home run and the early runs should have been enough. Instead, we watched the Giants take control because our relief pitching couldn’t find the zone. If we want to win games, we have to stop the bleeding in the late innings.
