Giants observations: Ross Stripling, bats falter in series finale vs. Yankees

What we learned as Stripling, bats falter in loss to Yankees originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

NEW YORK — The Giants know they’re not fast, and you’ll see more of them flirting with .200 batting averages than hovering around .300. It’s a lineup that’s built to hit for power, and they believe that will be their calling card this year.

On Sunday, though, they were no match for the Bronx Bombers.

Former offseason targets Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both homered and the Giants managed just three hits against the New York Yankees, two of which came on a bunt and an infield single. They lost 6-0 at Yankee Stadium, dropping the first series of the season.

The Giants struck out double-digit times in all three games and now will face an even tougher task. They’re off to Chicago, where they’ll see the talented right-handed trio of Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Lance Lynn. Here are three things to know from a quick finale at Yankee Stadium:

Laser Show

Five years before the Judge chase, the Giants went hard after Stanton, only for him to force his way to New York. That history made the third inning a tiny bit more painful.

Judge hit a 111-mph rocket into the left field bleachers for his second homer of the series — and it didn’t even come close to being the most impressive swing of the inning. Two batters later, Stanton hit an otherworldly shot that landed above the batter’s eye and went an estimated 485 feet. It left the bat at 117.8 mph.

The homer was the third-longest at the new Yankee Stadium, trailing blasts of 496 and 495 feet by Judge. Those two Judge homers were the only other two in the Statcast Era (since 2008) that left the bat with that kind of exit velocity and traveled that far.

Not What He Pictured

The Giants have high hopes for Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea, the two offseason additions to the staff, but Stripling’s debut in Orange and Black was one he’ll want to forget.

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In addition to the loud third inning, Stripling allowed a solo shot to catcher Kyle Higashioka. The three homers matched a career-high for the right-hander, who signed a two-year, $25 million deal in the offseason.

Stripling gave up six hits, walked two and struck out three. Judge and Stanton hit hanging sliders, and Higashioka got to an elevated four-seamer.

Strikeout City

It was understandable when the Giants struck out 16 times in the opener. Gerrit Cole, last year’s strikeout king, accounted for 11 of those.

But there were 13 more strikeouts on Saturday, and rookie Jhony Brito used a nasty changeup to pile up six the first time through the order Sunday.

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President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has tried to build his lineups around the long ball, so there’s going to be more swing-and-miss than some might like, but this still is a bit extreme. The 2021 team that led the NL in homers was 12th in the majors in strikeout rate, and last year’s group ranked 10th.

Through three games, the Giants have 41 of them and lead the majors in strikeout rate. Their key left-handed bats have been particularly susceptible; Michael Conforto, Brandon Crawford, Mike Yastrzemski and Joc Pederson all struck out at least five times in the series.

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