By Jeremy Harness

The Giants have had their struggles in the late innings, and that trend continued Thursday night.

A night after Houston’s George Springer’s go-ahead solo homer downed them, the Giants again suffered a setback down the stretch in Cincinnati, as Marlon Byrd’s eighth-inning single off reliever Sergio Romo sent them reeling in a 4-3 loss in the opener of this four-game series at the Great American Ball Park.

Byrd did most of the damage against the Giants, as he also gave the Reds their initial lead in the fifth inning with a bases-loaded two-run single off starter Tim Lincecum that ended up chasing him from the game.

Lincecum has had an up-and-down year thus far, and he was sort of in the middle Thursday night.

He gave up three runs on only five hits, but he had to really work in the time that he was in the game. He ended up throwing 99 pitches and did not make it out of the fifth inning, as he also surrendered five walks to offset four strikeouts.

The Giants grabbed the early lead, as Buster Posey – who has some rather-fond memories of this ballpark dating back to the grand slam he hit in the 2012 Division Series to send them into the next round – singled in Gregor Blanco in the first.

Two innings later, Blanco – who went 2-for-2 with a walk on Thursday – scored in a completely-different manner, as he was given a free pass home after a balk by starter Johnny Cueto.

Meanwhile, however, no other player besides Blanco had any more than one hit.

Cueto weathered that brief storm and ended up turning in a solid outing. He went five more innings and did not give up another run, while walking three and striking out nine batters.