SAN FRANCISCO -- Matt Moore had every reason to feel confident Friday night as he prepared to confront the Minnesota Twins. Never mind that the Giants owned a 3-9 record in his starts. Moore had thrived this season at AT&T Park, compiling a 2-2 record with a 2.57 ERA in five home starts.
But Ervin Santana, who bamboozled the Giants by throwing a complete-game four-hitter, also got the best of Moore by hoisting a bases-loaded double to the right-center-field gap in the fourth inning. That's all it took to cement Minnesota's 4-0 Interleague triumph.
Moore (2-7) lasted six innings while allowing seven hits and all of Minnesota's runs.
"I thought he got better as the game went along," Giants catcher Buster Posey said.
However, the double by Santana -- who was batting .117 at the time and hadn't recorded a hit since 2014 -- swung the game irrevocably in the Twins' favor and dissolved Moore's optimism.
"I feel good taking the ball here -- having the fans on our side, [having] a good park to pitch and we have great defense everywhere we go," Moore said. "Taking those three things into consideration, as a starter, you feel like you have a little bit of an edge heading into it."
Moore missed his intended location with his first pitch to Santana, which he wanted to throw over the inner third of home plate. But the left-hander's more telling lapse might have been walking Jason Castro, Minnesota's eighth-place hitter who was batting .226, to load the bases.
"You want to stay out of the heart of the plate right there and try to get him to chase," Moore said, describing his approach to Castro. "He did a very good job of holding up."
Thus continued a season in which opponents seem to capitalize on every mistake the Giants make.
"It's a shame that Matty gave up that three-run double, because his numbers look pretty good if that doesn't happen," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "But it happened."