Despite a shellacking by the New York Mets, Matt 'Tugboat' Wilkinson flashed developmental growth while a defensive blunder set back the San Francisco Giants.
The San Francisco Giants pitching staff has allowed 10 or more runs in four of the team's last 10 games.
Their latest 10-6 loss to the New York Mets was yet another example of just how fragile this pitching staff can be, though it's worth noting there are quite a few young players who have been getting quality innings.
At this point in the season, the Giants truly have nothing to lose. They're now 58-84, and 100 losses is still on the table, as crazy as that is to say.
It only took two innings for the Mets to jump out to a 7-0 lead, and the rest was history.
Oddly enough, the Giants outhit the Mets in this one, 12-9, but none of that mattered as they faced an early seven-run deficit and New York added two more in the sixth and another in the eighth inning for good measure.
Only seven of the Mets' 10 runs were earned
One of those young players who has been getting quality innings is none other than Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson.
He's coming off his best career start, one that saw him throw more innings than he did in his first two combined. That said, things went south once again in this appearance.
The rookie only lasted three innings, but it's worth noting three of the seven runs he allowed were unearned. The Giants had a crucial fielding error against shortstop Christian Koss, so Wilkinson's ERA didn't face the repercussions of a seven-earned-run outing, rather just four.
Still, this team knows their offense isn't always going to be the most reliable, so they were doomed from the start. Somehow, the Giants only needed to use two pitchers in this game, and that was thanks to Yunior Marte, a 23-year-old who got through the final five innings.
It's interesting to note that Marte needed only 62 pitches to get through the final five, and that's the exact same number it took Wilkinson to record the first nine outs.
The Giants may be onto something with Marte, but combined, these two allowed five home runs, which is simply unacceptable.
They combined for four walks with just four strikeouts, so that's another department that desperately needs some improvement.
While yes, Wilkinson did take the loss and is now 0-3 in his first year at the big-league level, Koss's error didn't help his case, and there's still a lot to love in terms of Tugboat's potential.
