OAKLAND -- The Giants got a key piece of their lineup back Saturday, when second baseman Thairo Estrada came off the 10-day injured list after missing a month with a left hand fracture.
But Estrada’s return wasn’t enough to solve the Giants’ offensive woes, which only deepened following a 2-1 loss to the last-place A’s in Saturday afternoon’s Bay Bridge Series opener at the Coliseum.
Estrada finished 1-for-3 with a single and a walk and scored San Francisco’s lone run on Joc Pederson’s game-tying sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, but the rest of the lineup was stymied by right-hander Paul Blackburn and three A’s relievers, who combined to hold the Giants to only three hits.
“I thought he swung the bat well,” manager Gabe Kapler said of Estrada. “I feel like as a group, we’re capable of a lot more, of course. We’re just not going to be impatient with this group because it’s a group with a long track record of success. There’s just zero need to worry too much. This is a group that’s going to score runs. I’m very confident in this group. I’m looking at the lineup right now, and I feel really good about it going forward. We’re just not going to get too caught up in the last month and a half.”
The Giants squandered a solid start from right-hander Ross Stripling, who struck out seven and allowed only a solo home run to Jordan Diaz over 5 1/3 innings. Oakland staged the decisive rally in the bottom of the eighth, when Seth Brown snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-out RBI single off left-hander Scott Alexander.
“For the most part, if you can limit them to solo homers and just one, you can survive it,” Stripling said. “Overall, I feel good about the outing.”
Estrada, who broke his hand after being hit by a wayward sinker from Mets reliever Adam Ottavino on July 2, was the club’s most valuable position player when he landed on the IL, though the Giants managed to go 15-11 over the 26 games he missed.
Still, his absence, coupled with the injury to Mitch Haniger (right forearm fracture), ultimately took a toll on San Francisco’s offense, which ranked last in the Majors in runs scored in July.
“I think the absence of one good player in the lineup can make a pretty big difference,” Kapler said. “Everybody has to do their part for the offense to perform better in this road trip and the coming games. But it really does make a difference when you have one less talented offensive player in the lineup. It makes it a little bit easier on the opposing starting pitcher [and] the bullpen to get through that lineup. Every hitter and every at-bat produces a little bit of a cascading effect.”
Estrada played in three rehab games with Triple-A Sacramento before being activated on Saturday and said he no longer felt pain in his left hand. Prior to the injury, the 27-year-old Venezuelan was batting .272 with a .761 OPS and nine home runs over 70 games, making him the type of impact bat that could help carry the Giants down the stretch.
“I’m super happy to be back,” Estrada said in Spanish. “They were some long weeks, but I’m happy to be back.”
Estrada, who said he plans to wear a new protective device on his left hand, wasted little time showcasing his all-around skills in Saturday’s game, as he lined a single off Blackburn in his second at-bat in the third and then drew a walk against reliever Angel Felipe in the eighth. Estrada went first-to-third on a single by Wilmer Flores, who accounted for the club’s other two hits of the game, but the Giants couldn’t add on after Pederson’s sac fly.
“Every team goes through this,” Estrada said. “There are going to be times when you’re scoring a lot of runs, and times when you’re not scoring a lot of runs. Today we didn’t have the opportunity to score much, but we were in the game. Tomorrow is another day.”
Despite another flat offensive performance on Saturday, the Giants saw Estrada’s return as a reason for optimism and continued to express confidence that an offensive turnaround will come.
“He’s definitely a bat we looked forward to throwing in there at the top couple positions,” Stripling said. “He had a good first game back. We expect to lean on him moving forward. He’s a huge piece of what we do offensively and defensively, so it’s awesome to have him back."