A late push brought the San Francisco Giants within one run, but Carson Whisenhunt's first loss of the season and an early offensive drought proved too much to overcome against the Los Angeles Angels.
Upon winning the first two games of their series against the Los Angeles Angels, the San Francisco Giants entered Sunday looking to complete the sweep. Carson Whisenhunt got the start in his first appearance since July 9 against the Colorado Rockies, when he tossed 5.2 innings and allowed just two runs.
That would not be the case, however, as the Giants fell 4-3 to the Angels. Whisenhunt was charged with his first loss of the season, dropping his record to 2-1.
Whisenhunt got off to a less-than-ideal start. The Angels struck first in the opening inning on a Jorge Soler fielder's choice to take an early 1-0 lead.
He settled in after the first and kept the damage limited until the fourth inning, when Soler once again caused problems with a solo home run. Two batters later, Jo Adell added a two-run homer to extend the Angels' advantage and put the Giants in a deeper hole.
Whisenhunt returned for the fifth and worked a clean inning, but the damage had already been done. Outside of the two home runs, the outing was not entirely discouraging, particularly when it came to his ability to miss bats.
He finished with 5.0 innings pitched, allowing five hits and four earned runs while walking two and striking out seven. The strikeout total was an encouraging sign. With Trevor McDonald having been sidelined on the Injured List, Whisenhunt should have an opportunity to remain in the rotation for the rest of the season.
That makes each start an important chance for the left-hander to prove he can be an effective major-league starter. While this was not his strongest outing, there were positives to build on. The next step will be seeing what adjustments he makes to improve his run prevention while maintaining his ability to generate strikeouts.
The Giants' offense, meanwhile, struggled to find a rhythm for most of the afternoon.
Their first run came in the bottom of the fifth when Luis Arraez grounded into a fielder's choice, cutting the deficit to 4-1.
Adrian Houser kept the game within reach after relieving Whisenhunt, but the offense continued to come up empty against the Angels' pitching staff.
The Giants finally showed some life in the bottom of the ninth. Arraez laced a two-run double to pull San Francisco within one run and put the tying run in scoring position. However, the rally fell just short. With Arraez standing on second, Heliot Ramos stepped to the plate but was called out on strikes to end the game.
The loss allowed the Angels to avoid a sweep and salvage the final game of the three-game series. The Giants will have little time to regroup as they open a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. Tyler Mahle is scheduled to start for the Giants, while Brandon Sproat is slated to take the mound for the Brewers.
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