By Morris Phillips

The Giants looked like an exciting young club on Thursday.  A couple of promising new faces and dependable holdovers weren’t quite good enough to beat the hot Reds, but they looked like a team that could win consistently in due time.

The problem is the Giants aren’t trying to be young and promising.  All of sudden there’s a hot, divisional playoff race against the talent-laden Dodgers and this isn’t the seasoned look they envisioned they’d need.

A day after no-hit nirvana, the Giants fell to Cincinnati, 3-1.  In Los Angeles, that same one run stood up for the Dodgers in a Beckett-Wainwright matchup.  Now only two games separate the two rivals in the NL West.  On June 7—just 19 days previous—the Giants led by 9 ½ games.

“We have to get some other guys going,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “We’re a little cold right now.

Rubbing ice across the Giants’ bats was Mike Leake, who no doubt had his rocky outing in the 2012 NLDS on the back of his mind Thursday.  In that one, Leake saw Angel Pagan homer on the second pitch of the game, and then couldn’t escape the fifth inning as the Giants tied the series and went on to win Game 5 as well in Cincinnati.  The Reds needed Leake to step it up in place of their injured ace Johnny Cueto, and the young pitcher couldn’t get it done.

This time, Leake didn’t have to face Pagan, who was put on the disabled list on Wednesday, and he had his way with a Giants’ lineup with backups and rookies mixed in.  The 26-year old went eight strong innings and allowed just four hits and a run.  His 12 strikeouts were a career best, and a definite sign that Leake had committed to getting stronger in the off-season to his less than optimum size (5’11, 190 lbs.) as a starter at the big league level.

“You go out there and try to battle your butt off each time.,” Leake said.  “And you’re not going to be able to.  And sometimes you’re going to have your best stuff.  So it’s trying to be as consistent as you can and basically give the team a chance to win every time.”

While Leake cruised, Ryan Vogelsong did not.   The Giants’ starter was proficient, allowing five hits and a run, but when trouble surfaced in the fifth inning, Vogelsong couldn’t stem the tide.  Instead of what Leake faced, Vogelsong saw the now-healthy Joey Votto, red-hot Devin Mesoraco and the just activated Brandon Phillips.

In that fifth, Jay Bruce singled with one out, and after Vogelsong struck out Ryan Ludwick, Jay Bruce put the Reds ahead with an RBI double.

Phillips struck in the seventh when he greeted reliever Jean Machi with a home run on his first pitch of the night.  Machi hadn’t allowed a run in more than 25 consecutive innings, but his elevated offering to Phillips changed all that.  The Reds would tack one more on when Ludwick singled home Bruce later in the inning.

The Giants only fireworks came courtesy of Adam Duvall homered in his first major league appearance.  Duvall replaced Pagan on the active roster Wednesday and started at first base against the Reds.  The 25-year old had been tearing it up in Fresno where he hit .297 with 23 home runs and 67 RBI in just 67 games.

With the loss, the Giants have dropped 12 of 16 to allow the Dodgers to creep closer.  The Reds are having the best stretch of their season, and have won 10 of 14.

Things get really pitcherish on Friday night when Cueto faces the red-hot Madison Bumgarner at 7:15pm.