BOSTON — When the Giants arrived at Fenway Park on Friday, Tony Vitello did some pregame work in a black t-shirt that read “Whose Car We Gonna Take?” Later, that clip from “The Town” was mixed into the hitters’ meeting, along with others from movies filmed in Boston.
A young team was happy to spend three days in Boston and at a historic ballpark, but the trip ended up being a nightmare.
The Giants lost 5-4 on Sunday, completing a sweep by the Red Sox. They also lost two more players to injuries at a time when they’re already very short on healthy position players on the 40-man roster.
The Giants now are 52-78, matching their record through 130 games in 2017, when they lost 98 times. They need to win 11 of their final 32 games to avoid their second ever 100-loss season.
Second Time Out
Matt Wilkinson was an opener in his big-league debut, but Vitello planned to let him go as long as he was effective on Sunday. That ended up being around three innings.
Wilkinson’s velocity and command dropped off in the fourth and he was replaced after a bad break with two outs. Connor Wong hit a high fly ball that at first appeared to be an inning-ending catch by Victor Bericoto, but a replay showed that the ball had skimmed the Green Monster before settling into Bericoto’s glove. The double tied the game and Wong came around to score after JT Brubaker replaced Wilkinson.
Wilkinson was charged with four earned on seven hits, with two strikeouts and no walks. His fastball ticked up a bit early but there were a lot of 89s as he got past 50 pitches. Wilkinson was able to stay off the barrel in Cleveland, but he gave up five hits at 100-plus mph on Sunday, including four for extra bases.
The Giants have not said what’s next for Wilkinson, but he will be involved in Saturday’s doubleheader in some way. They plan to reevaluate their rotation options after the makeup game in Atlanta on Aug. 31.
Welcome Back
Jonah Cox struck out in nine consecutive plate appearances over four games before getting the day off on Saturday with a lefty on the other side. He was back in the lineup Sunday and looked a lot more like the player who forced a midseason call-up.
Cox snapped the skid with a solo blast onto the Monster in the second inning, his second in the big leagues. It was his first against an actual pitcher, as his first in the big leagues came at Wrigley Field off of Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly.
Cox had a single to center in his next at-bat and a 350-foot flyout in the seventh that would have been a homer in half the league’s ballparks.
Rough 10 Minutes
Willy Adames didn’t come out for the bottom of the fifth, and the inning ended with a flyball to left that led to an awkward play that injured Bericoto.
Adames struck out in the top of the inning and grimaced after the swing. The Giants later announced that he had a left elbow injury, which is a new one for him. Back discomfort sidelined him for six days at the end of the last homestand and start of this road trip.
Bericoto got hurt when he went up against the wall down the third base line while trying to catch a pop-up. The play was ruled fan interference and Bericoto hurt his right knee while moving away from the wall. He was down for a few minutes but then gingerly walked off the field without any help.