SF Giants drop crucial series to Dodgers as Ray’s struggles persist
SAN FRANCISCO — In theory, the Giants can say they had a productive week.
They entered Monday four games behind the New York Mets for the third and final National League wild card spot after dropping two of three to the St. Louis Cardinals. After splitting this homestand — three wins, three losses — they’re now 1.5 games back of the Mets, a team in the midst of a collapse.
Despite that progress, the Giants’ series against the Los Angeles Dodgers amounted to a wasted opportunity.
They began their weekend with Patrick Bailey’s walk-off grand slam, a momentous win that brought them within a half game of the Mets. They then kicked off Saturday night by scoring four in the first off Clayton Kershaw, and with the Mets losing earlier in the day, that wild card spot was theirs to take.
Over the next 17 innings, Los Angeles discarded San Francisco with an offensive onslaught. Saturday ended with a loss as Logan Webb allowed six runs over four-plus innings. Sunday’s rubber match was even more one-sided, a 10-2 loss as Robbie Ray, whose start day was moved up, surrendered five runs over four-plus innings.
“Disappointing,” said manager Bob Melvin. “We win the first game, we score four runs in the first inning yesterday, it feels pretty good. Then, to be where we are today is disappointing. It got away from us in a hurry. We gave up a lot of hits and a lot of runs to a team that makes you work. If you don’t throw it over the plate, they end up wearing you out some.”
The Giants now depart for their final road trip of the year: three games against the Diamondbacks, four games against the Dodgers. San Francisco just took two of three from Arizona, but the Diamondbacks responded by winning two of three against the Minnesota Twins. The D-backs, like the Giants, are making their own run at the wild card, winners of 11 of their last 17 games.
There’s also, of course, the Mets. New York snapped its eight-game losing streak on Sunday with a walk-off homer by Pete Alonso, but the team has still lost 12 of its last 17 games. The Mets’ rotation is a serious question mark too, a six-man unit that’s now relying on three rookie starters in Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong.
The Giants, though, are adamant they’re only focusing on what they can control.
“We’re not paying attention to that,” said shortstop Willy Adames. “We have to focus on what we have here and win here. Then, whatever happens, happens. We have to keep the main focus on us, and try to win every game that we have.”
Winning these next two games will require some creativity on Melvin’s end. Rookie right-hander Kai-Wei Teng is scheduled to start on Monday, while Tuesday’s starter has yet to be announced.
Teng pitched four scoreless innings against the Cardinals before running out of steam in the fifth, finishing with four earned runs over four-plus innings. As for Tuesday’s hsmr, it’s possible the Giants roll with a bullpen game.
Melvin proactively saved his bullpen this weekend given what lies ahead. On Saturday, Melvin had right-hander Tristan Beck pitch two innings instead of three. On Sunday, Melvin did the same with right-handers Spencer Bivens (one inning) and JT Brubaker (two innings).
“We have quite a few guys that can give us length,” Melvin said. “As of right now we’re in a pretty good position. We’ll see how we are after Teng’s start tomorrow. One of the reasons we cut Bivens off a little early was to give us some length (in the future). The same thing with Brubaker, could have let him finish the game. … Same thing with Beck yesterday. It all depends on how much we get out of Teng tomorrow.”
Ray’s lone start of the road trip projects to be at Dodger Stadium, and the Giants will need him to re-discover his All-Star form for what stands to be a crucial outing. Over his last five starts, Ray has allowed 20 earned runs with 14 walks over 23 innings.
Ray breezed through the first inning and retired the side in order but labored through the second, issuing three walks and tossing 34 pitches — 16 balls, 18 strikes. The left-hander allowed one run in the second and another in the third, but the fifth is where his afternoon went sideways.
Like Webb on Saturday, Ray faced three batters in the fifth and was pulled after failing to retire a single one. Right-hander Joel Peguero allowed all three inherited runners to score, then allowed a run of his own to score when he was called for a balk with a runner on third.
“It’s frustrating, obviously, but we’re still in it,” Ray said. “We’re a resilient team. We’ve showed that we’ve been able to bounce back from stuff like this. We just have to put this behind us, go on the road and win one game a time.”
