What we learned as Ramos' hot streak continues in loss to Angels

What we learned as Ramos' hot streak continues in loss to Angels originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Heliot Ramos is the hottest hitter in the Giants' lineup. The problem is, he’s not getting much help from anyone else.

Ramos homered for the second consecutive game to go with a pair of hard-hit doubles and drove in all three of San Francisco’s runs during its 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park.

Once again, the Giants had trouble delivering with men on base. They stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the first, left a guy at second in the second, failed to score after loading the bases in the fifth, then stranded two more players in scoring position over the final four innings.

Right fielder Mike Yastrzemski sent a jolt of energy through the crowd of 36,235 when he made a tremendous diving catch to rob Mickey Moniak of a hit in the sixth. Earlier in the game Moniak smashed a solo home run off Giants’ starter Keaton Winn.

Winn didn’t pitch poorly but remained winless since April 27.

Reliever Ryan Walker (4-3), who had not allowed a run in 29 of his previous 35 outings, took the loss after giving up an unearned run in the seventh.

One night after hitting a three-run homer as part of a five-run eighth inning, Ramos picked right up where he left off. He crushed 3-2 fastball from Patrick Sandoval for his eighth home run of the season, tied for the team lead.

Ramos grounded out on a comebacker in his second at-bat, drilled a double down the third base line to drive in Curt Casali in the fifth and smashed a ground-rule double leading off the seventh.

Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s game:

Ramos keeps on rocking

Ramos is the hottest and most consistent hitter in manager Bob Melvin’s lineup and proved that again when he clubbed a home run off Angels starter Patrick Sandoval in the first inning. It was the second blast by Ramos in as many games and his team-leading ninth overall this season.

After grounding out in his second at-bat, Ramos came through again when he lined an RBI double down the left field line in the fifth then added a ground-rule double in the seventh. Ramos later struck out looking for the final out of the game.

Since his call-up from the minors in early May, Ramos has been on fire. He has reached base safely in 30 of the 34 games he’s played in while his 30 RBIs are most in the National League since his return to the majors. Ramos also leads the Giants in runs batted in for the season even though he didn’t play in the team’s first 37 games.

Better Winn but still no W

Winn pitched a lot more effectively than he had been in his previous four starts, an encouraging sign for the Giants’ rotation that has been in flux for much of the season.

Other than the fifth inning when the Angels scored twice and forced Winn to throw 21 pitches, the San Francisco pitcher was efficient as he worked his way through the lineup.

Winn has had problems getting through the order a second time but that wasn’t much of an issue against the Angels. This time it was the third time through that gave Winn the most trouble.

Winn threw 91 pitches in six innings and allowed five hits and three runs. He struck out six and walked two but was able to give the bullpen somewhat of a break it seriously needed.

Casali's costly error

With Patrick Bailey getting the day off after a night game, Casali handled the catching duties and Los Angeles benefited from it when they scored the go-ahead run in the seventh.

Halos leadoff hitter Nolan Schanuel drew a two-out walk and attempted to steal second. Casali’s throw sailed into center field for an error. That allowed Schanuel to move to third where he easily scored on Luis Rengifo’s two-out single.

Casali has only thrown out one of 11 runners stealing a base this season, and the longer that trend continues, expect opposing teams to try and exploit that part of his game.

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