SAN FRANCISCO -- The odds are pretty good that Robbie Ray will be named National League Pitcher of the Month for May. The left-hander posted a 1.38 ERA in six starts, and when he walked off the mound on Saturday in Miami, he led the league in innings pitched this month.
Ray went 4-1 in May, but it very easily could have been 6-0.
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SIGN UP HERE For the second time in his last three starts, Ray dominated but watched the lineup struggle. He allowed just one run, but the Giants were shut out for the second time in their last seven games, losing 1-0 to the last-place Miami Marlins. The two shutout losses are part of a stretch of 13 consecutive games without scoring more than four runs.
The Giants had plenty of opportunities to break through Saturday, but didn't take advantage. They loaded the bases with one out in the first but came away with nothing. Willy Adames and Mike Yastrzemski -- who was moved out of the leadoff spot -- both struck out.
With a runner on in the fourth, Tyler Fitzgerald hit a high fly ball to left, where Marlins Park used to have a nightclub. But Heriberto Hernandez reached over the wall and pulled back what would have been a go-ahead homer. That was it against hard-throwing righty Edward Cabrera, who entered with a 4.73 ERA but now has back-to-back scoreless starts.
The Giants thought they had tied it in the bottom of the seventh, but center fielder Dane Myers made a tremendous catch to rob Jung Hoo Lee of an extra-base hit with Heliot Ramos on first.
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A defensive misplay and a walk put two on with one out in the eighth, but Yastrzemski flew out and Fitzgerald struck out.
No Offense
You have to go back to 1988 to find the last time the Giants went 13 straight games without scoring more than four, and they're hardly even getting to that relatively low number. Since the Wilmer Flores Game against the A's, the Giants have scored four runs just twice. They have just 10 runs over their last seven games.
The Giants are somehow 6-7 during this ugly stretch, a testament to how good their pitching has been. But on Saturday, they weren't able to get the two runs Ray needed.
Changing It Up
The results fit in with the rest of Ray's season, but the way he got there was different. He threw a career-high 32 changeups, blowing away his previous high of 18. The pitch is one that Ray learned from Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in the offseason, and it has been a game-changer for him, allowing him to succeed on days when his fastball and slider aren't quite as sharp.
Ray got 22 strikes with those 32 changeups, including 12 of his 19 swinging strikes. Five of his nine strikeouts came on changeups.
At Least They Have That Guy
Heliot Ramos was far and away the team's best position player in May, and on Saturday that led to a lineup change. LaMonte Wade Jr. started the season as the leadoff hitter against righties but he's down at the bottom of the order now, and might be out of it altogether when Jerar Encarnacion returns. Yastrzemski was hitting .213 in May after Friday's game, and that got him bumped down, too.
Ramos already was the leadoff hitter against lefties and he's now at the top of the lineup against righties, too. He reached base four times Saturday, getting two singles, a walk and hit-by-pitch. His on-base percentage for the season is up to .355.