Giants' roller

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Giants second baseman Brett Wisely makes an error on a groundball hit by the Baltimore's Anthony Santander during the ninth inning.

Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani reacts after hitting Baltimore's James McCann with a pitch during the Orioles’ six-run third inning.

The Giants’ J.D. Davis is caught in a rundown as Baltimore's Adam Frazier gives chase in the eighth inning at Oracle Park.

The San Francisco Giants are a bit like sand. Once you think you’ve got a handle on them, a handful of them, they slip through your fingers.

Plucky upstarts? Underwhelming collection of parts? Or, at 29-30, a little more than a third of the way through the season, simply spectacularly mediocre?

One week ago, the Giants looked like a team on the rise, energized with their youth movement. They had won five of six games and four series in a row.

Seven days later, on Sunday, they looked anything but galvanized, beaten 8-3 by the Baltimore Orioles. With the defeat the Giants lost their fifth outing in seven games and dropped both series on the weeklong homestand.

Every time the herky-jerky Giants seem to have turned a corner, there's another one ahead. Like a maze.

"Objectively, we’ve been streaky this year," manager Gabe Kapler said before the game.

There may be reasons for that. There was the travel in April to cold cities, loads of day games and an unsuccessful and unhealthful trip to Mexico City. There have been plenty of injuries.

But every team has injuries. Every team can moan about its travel schedule. What makes the Giants so streaky two months through the season?

"There's a lot of moving parts," said one baseball lifer, watching Sunday's game. "A lot."

While there is no longer the Giants Express running players up and back from the minor-league system, there is still the unsettled lineup day to day, depending on analytic-based platoons patched up because of the ongoing rash of injured players. On Sunday, starting pitcher Alex Wood was the latest to hit the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain.

One of the moving parts is the previously unmovable Brandon Crawford. At 36, the shortstop is the be-ringed, accomplished veteran of the team and one of the best to ever play his position in franchise history. So it's a bit strange to see him sitting while rookie Casey Schmitt mans the shortstop position, especially the day before an off day, as the Giants falter.

"Obviously I want to be out there, but I understand how well Casey's played," Crawford said Sunday.

But Schmitt has cooled down a little, going 2-for-19 in his past 21 at bats. That's understandable. Rookies don't stay red-hot forever.

Schmitt can also play second base, alongside Crawford at short. Instead, on Sunday, with the Giants needing to win the game to salvage the series, Crawford sat, Schmitt was at shortstop and Brett Wisely played second. Wisely had a tough day, charged with an error, mysteriously not getting charged with an error that was hung on Austin Slater on another play, and unable to make a play in the disastrous third inning when the Orioles scored six runs to break it open.

"I’m just trying to help him out," Crawford said of Schmitt, "and keep working and when I get my chance try to play the best I can."

Crawford is a veteran the young players look up to, so it's important for him to handle the situation professionally. He has given them pointers. He shows them the importance of working out. Catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol raves about how Crawford shows the younger players how to conduct themselves.

"He's accomplished so much in this game and I look at him and he's doing everything he can every day to get better," said Sabol, who provided the Giants’ only real spark with a sixth-inning home run.

The Giants are up, they’re down, but to hear their manager, they aren't letting this uneven first part of the season affect their preparation and their play.

"Most importantly, what I’m seeing is a very consistent, even-keeled group of guys that just don't get too high or too low," Kapler said. "They’ve done a really nice job of weathering some challenging storms.

"I think we’ve shown that we can, if we go back to (the 2021 season), be like that, resilient and bounce back and meet some challenges head-on. And then during times of success, we celebrate and have a good time with it, but it's just not over the top. I appreciate that. I think a little less wild swings up and down is good for this group."

Fewer wild swings, fewer up and downs would be good for the fans, too. Are they all-in for a team that could sneak into the postseason? Or will they be in wait-and-see mode until they can get a handle on these Giants?

Don't make up your mind just yet, because something is sure to change.

Reach Ann Killion: [email protected]; Twitter: @annkillion