SAN FRANCISCO — There was no questioning Christian Koss’ effort Wednesday afternoon.
The evidence was all over both sides of the utility infielder’s dirt-splotched uniform. He singled twice. He stole second base. While manning third base, he made a smart baseball decision to start a double play and an even smarter decision to finish another twofer. He nearly played the hero, too.
In the ninth inning, with the Giants down a run, Koss connected off Houston Astros closer Josh Hader. Left fielder Taylor Trammell’s back was against the wall when he caught Koss’ fly ball on the warning track.
The Giants lost 2-1 to the Astros on Wednesday. Once again, they dropped two of three in a series they could have swept. And results like these have become more apropos than apoplectic.
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Former Giants GM Brian Sabean used to say that the best teams he constructed hated losing more than they liked winning. But at this point, what difference would it make to get mad after a loss? There is no redefining this Giants season. That book was slammed on their fingers long ago. You tend to get better at something the more you practice it, and by now, the Giants have spent what feels like 10,000 hours learning to live with one-run losses.
They are 10-21 in one-run games this season.
“We’ve talked about it before — not getting comfortable with losing,” Koss said. “To repeat that feeling isn’t great, but the guys here are doing everything they can to win every day.
“With all the close games we haven’t been winning, I think there was a point where it was, ‘Aw man, here we go again,’” Koss added. “The last couple weeks or so, it hasn’t felt like that.
“I mean, the tide still hasn’t turned in our favor, right? But the preparation hasn’t wavered.”
Some teams in some seasons might view a 10-21 record in one-run games as a source of hope, a reason to believe that they aren’t as bad as the standings might indicate, and that things might improve with a few fortunate breaks or some subtle adjustments.
The Giants are not having one of those seasons. Most of the time, when they lose by a run, it’s because they’ve been outplayed, outpitched or outmaneuvered in the late innings — usually with a side of self-sabotage.
That was the case Wednesday, when the Giants received six solid innings from starter Adrian Houser but gifted the Astros the tying run in the seventh. Shortstop Willy Adames fielded a grounder and threw a lollipop to second base that prevented second baseman Osleivis Basabe from turning a double play. Then left fielder Victor Bericoto clanked a fly ball that should’ve been the third out. With two runners in scoring position, left-hander Sam Hentges did well to reduce the damage to a sacrifice fly.
But Hentges left a pitch over the middle that Trammell hit for a leadoff triple in the eighth, Nick Allen’s sacrifice fly gave the Astros the lead, and in the ninth, Koss’ fly ball needed one more puff of breeze.
The Giants are on pace for a 95-loss season. They’ll have to win 13 of their final 41 games to avoid matching the 1985 Giants (62-100) for the worst record in the franchise’s San Francisco era. Given how depleted they are in several areas, how short the lineup has become and how easily opponents can game plan for their few remaining threats, the struggle to avoid 100 losses is shaping up to be another close contest.
“As bad as it looks on paper, we know we’re not that bad,” said Koss, whose alert cover of second base during a rundown allowed the Giants to get a second out and escape the sixth inning. “You can definitely see a turn in the past month or so, and then it’ll get sloppy at times. But it’s an opportunity to play, and you have to be excited about that.”
For Giants manager Tony Vitello, keeping his players motivated hasn’t been an issue. It might be the leadership quality that comes most naturally to Vitello and the one that has translated most seamlessly as he’s jumped from the University of Tennessee to the pro ranks. It’s a problem when players arrive at the ballpark unmotivated. By all accounts, the Giants haven’t had that problem.
But motivated players also need to be managed. They have to be told when it’s in their and the team’s best interests to take a step back or a day off. And clearly, that part of the job has been much tougher for Vitello, especially when it comes to his veteran players.
Adames made that poor double-play throw in the seventh because his lower back tightened up again. Giants trainer Anthony Reyes checked on him during a pitching change, but Adames remained in the game, led off the bottom of the inning, and popped up. In the top of the eighth, Buddy Kennedy replaced him on the infield.
The Giants probably should have placed Adames on the injured list at the end of June when he missed a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Instead, Adames returned to the lineup for their next series against the Colorado Rockies and has started 35 consecutive games since — all while continuing to manage his back issue. His determination to play might have done him a disservice, as he endures the worst offensive season of his career while also grading out as the second-worst shortstop in the league in outs above average.
Perhaps Vitello has finally decided to be assertive with one of his veterans. Even with a day off Thursday, Vitello said it’s unlikely that Adames will play on Friday, when the Giants begin a home series with the Rockies.
“Had to fight him tooth and nail to come out of the game,” Vitello said. “Anyone who saw him moving around obviously knew he wasn’t … at full speed. The biggest thing (in taking him out) was … to prevent anything from getting any worse than it is. I think his frustration is there’s symptoms there lingering for, to be honest, I don’t know how long. … So again, you got kind of some internal stuff — whatever fancy word they used in there. It’s not a fracture or anything like that, and then you got his willingness and want-to to play.
“But the bottom line is: We’re at a pretty distinct point here where he needs to get back to get some treatment on that thing.”
Sometimes, the important question isn’t whether the effort is there. It’s how that effort is being directed.
