SF Giants notes: Why they really lost (not replay), plus Affeldt’s bad decision

My final game story will have all of Bruce Bochy’s comments on his replay loss, which ultimately cost the Giants a run. His answer boiled down: Shawon Dunston saw a replay that showed Brandon Belt tagging A.J. Pollock on the pickoff throw, and Bochy does not regret using his challenge there.
He is going to be aggressive, even knowing that he might lose and not have a challenge left for a play like the subsequent “safe” call at the plate on a passed ball that replays showed the umpire clearly missed.
That was not the real reason the Giants lost.
They lost because:

• Matt Cain did not have command early in the game and allowed the Diamondbacks to score twice in the bottom of the first after Brandon Belt’s three-run homer helped the Giants take a 4-0 lead in the top half.
• The Giants got three hits and no runs over the final eight innings, a no-no at Chase Field. As Bochy correctly said, “That’s what did us in. If you put up a crooked number in this ballpark and don’t score again for eight innings, it’s going to come back and haunt you.”
• The limitations of the roster forced Bochy into a matchup at game’s end that he surely would admit he did not want.

Let’s explore that last one, because it could become a big deal.
As we reported all spring, Bochy plans to remove Michael Morse for defense if the Giants have a lead. Bochy pulled the trigger tonight with a 4-3 lead, yanking Morse after his flyout ended the sixth inning.  Juan Perez went to left field as part of a double-switch.
The pitcher went into Morse’s spot. So, when the Giants were down 5-4 in the eighth and had Pablo Sandoval on first base with two outs, Bochy used Gregor Blanco to hit for eventual loser Juan Gutierrez. Blanco struck out.
That left Bochy with no more outfielders. Fast-forward to the ninth, when a wind-blown Hector Sanchez double against closer Addison Reed put the tying run on second base with one out. After Brandon Crawford fouled out, the Giants’ last hope was Perez.

Perez vs. Reed was not the matchup Bochy would have liked. Bochy could have had switch-hitter Ehire Adrianza hit for Perez instead of using Adrianza to run for Sanchez — or even have Brandon Hicks bat — had there been another outfielder on the roster, but there was not.
Perez struck out to end the game.
Bochy had one other option. he could have had Adrianza hit for Gutierrez in the eighth, leaving Blanco on the bench. I’ll admit I neglected to ask Bochy why he did not. I’ll try tomorrow.
As I mentioned, Gutierrez lost in his Giants debut. He probably would not be here had Jeremy Affeldt not injured his knee and gone on the disabled list. Affeldt tonight told us what happened, and he admitted it does not put him in the greatest light.
Affeldt has pitched with a brace on his right knee since he sprained the MCL in 2012 trying to catch his 5-year-old kid running up to greet him. This spring, Affeldt decided to ditch the brace. In his final spring game, against the White Sox on March 22, Affeldt caught a spike and re-sprained the ligament.
“The question was, why didn’t I wear the brace?” Affeldt said. “I didn’t have an answer for that. The look I got was not a friendly one. I kind of had pie in my face on that one.”
Especially since he had no good reason to lose the brace. It would have been one thing had the brace hampered his mechanics, but Affeldt admitted the brace actually helps his mechanics.
“I actually think I’m better with it,” he said.
Affeldt explained all this as he was putting the brace on to leave the ballpark after the loss.
The only good news for him and the team is that the injury was relatively minor. He already has thrown to hitters and practiced fielding. He expects to go to Las Vegas this weekend for two rehab games with Fresno and rejoin the Giants for the homestand that starts Tuesday.