Tyler Mahle's Turbulent Drive: Defensive Errors Spark Vital Situations

SURPRISE, ARIZONA - MARCH 11: Starting pitcher Tyler Mahle #54 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning of the spring training game at Surprise Stadium on March 11, 2026 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images A day after flirting with perfection , the Giants were perfectly inept at capitalizing on scoring opportunities. In their 3-1 loss against the San Diego Padres, San Francisco bats went hitless in a baker’s dozen worth of at-bats, including three duds in the 9th inning after Osleivis Basabe’s lead-off triple.

Tyler Fitzgerald’s sacrifice fly in the 7th accounted for the Giants’ solitary run, so “perfectly inept” isn’t exactly right — just near-perfect once again. While it was a team effort in this regard, Luis Matos, a sub for Jung Hoo Lee in right in the 7th inning, particularly struggled. His two at-bats of the day each came with a runner in scoring position.

With a man on first and second and one-out, he chased after an inside cutter and popped it up to short. In the 9th, he was called out on strikes on the sixth pitch of the at-bat: a four-seam fastball in the corner pocket that froze him completely. He had fouled off three previous pitches out of the zone to put him in the two-strike hole.

The spring slump continues for Matos and based on some of the swing decisions today, his eagerness to swing his way out of it is doing more harm than good. All three of San Diego’s runs came against reliever Spencer Bivens in the 6th inning. Chalk this unseemly frame up to a 50/50 mix of tough-luck and self-inflicted trouble.