SAN FRANCISCO _ During the first weekend of the season, the San Francisco Giants could point to Joe Panik as their catalyst as he single-handedly willed their offense in a pair of 1-0 victories over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But after scoring fewer than two runs for the sixth time this season and losing Monday's contest 2-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Giants will need more than their second baseman to lift the club out of an offense slump.
With a series-opening defeat, the Giants dropped to 4-5. The announced crowd of 36,997 was the smallest attendance total at AT&T Park since September 15, 2010.
In nine games, the Giants have recorded just seven hits in 61 at-bats with runners in scoring position. They were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position against the Diamondbacks, as Gregor Blanco's RBI groundout in the eighth inning produced the team's only run.
Having hitters put the ball in play was a challenge against Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley, who recorded seven shutout innings and allowed just four baserunners.
The Giants ran into two left-handers with tough curveballs over the weekend, splitting games against Dodgers starters Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw. But the sharpest breaking pitch they've faced this season might belong to Godley, who spun off a heavy dose of curves that Giants hitters struggled to pick up all night.
Godley recorded nine strikeouts over seven innings of work, surrendering just four hits before manager Torey Lovullo gave him the hook. The high volume of K's for Godley isn't unusual, as he would have ranked 16th in the Major Leagues in strikeouts per nine innings if he logged enough innings to qualify last year.
Though Godley's opponent doesn't necessarily have a reputation as a swing-and-miss pitcher, Giants lefty Derek Holland accumulated eight strikeouts in six innings with an impressive effort against Arizona.
After battling through five innings in his first start in Los Angeles, Holland brought much improved command to AT&T Park Monday.
But the former Texas Rangers southpaw did make one mistake, leaving a fastball up and over the plate to one of the best hitters in baseball.
After Ketel Marte reached on a bloop single to left field, Holland tried to pump a fastball by Paul Goldschmidt, who crushed the offering deep into right center field. It rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Marte to score from first and Goldschmidt to cruise into third base with the game's first RBI.
The Diamondbacks' next hitter, A.J. Pollock, brought Goldschmidt home with a sacrifice fly.
Aside from the Giants' lack of run support, the night went about as well as Holland could have hoped, as he kept his team in the game against the National League West leaders. Holland's eight strikeouts were his most since a May 27 start for the White Sox last year and his highest total since picking up 11 punchouts in a complete game shutout for Texas on Aug. 30, 2015.
Though Holland struggled with locating pitches in his first outing, he only walked one hitter Monday as a 3-2 pitch in the third inning to Marte just missed off the inside corner. Holland thought he had strike three and the third out of the inning, but he was forced to face Goldschmidt again with a runner on base.
After working the count to 2-2, Holland received a boost from the AT&T Park crowd, which rose to its feet in support of the left-hander. He then pumped a 93-mile per hour heater past the five-time All-Star, who entered the night 3-for-30 on the season.
The Giants' offense did manufacture one meaningful opportunity with Holland on the mound, as Buster Poesy and Brandon Crawford both smoked fifth inning singles to give the club a pair of at-bats with runners in scoring position. However, Godley quickly settled down, inducing a popout from Hunter Pence in the infield before getting Blanco to bounce out to end the frame.
The one run the Giants did scratch across came in the eighth after Crawford hit a leadoff double off the wall in right center field against Yoshihisa Hirano. Pence advanced Crawford to third with a flyball to right, and Blanco brought him in with a groundout to the right side of the infield.
Manager Bruce Bochy called on Pablo Sandoval to pinch hit in the bottom of the eighth, but Hirano struck him out on the ninth pitch of his at-bat. In the ninth inning, Diamondbacks' closer Archie Bradley retired the Giants in order.
In two starts, the Giants have yet to provide Holland with any run support while he's been on the mound.
