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The Giants entered the bottom of the seventh inning in position to win a fourth game in a row for the first time all year. Logan Webb was dealing. The offense scored three runs off Bryan Woo, one of the toughest pitchers in baseball. This was their game to win
As has been the case far too often, they ended the day with another loss
The Giants lost 4-3 to the Seattle Mariners in 10 innings on Saturday evening at T-Mobile Park as Julio Rodríguez delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly off reliever Dylan Smith. And with this loss, San Francisco (42-56) is now 0-6 this year when it has had an opportunity to win a fourth game in a row
“The team played great today. This game’s on me,” Webb said. “I can’t let that happen. You get three [runs] off one of the better pitchers in baseball. You’re up 3-0 in the seventh inning. You gotta find a way to win that game. I put us in a bad spot. It’s hard to score against this team to begin with, and when you get a lead like that, you’ve got to keep it. It’s plain and simple; it’s on me. I messed this one up today.”
“I think momentum is something that’s an interesting topic, in general,” said manager Tony Vitello. “You can’t touch it. Does it exist? Yeah, it definitely does. I think the only thing you can do is keep piling positives up.”
One of those positives, in Vitello’s opinion, was Webb, who was trending towards a shutout before allowing a game-tying, three-run homer
Webb was cruising along until hitting Randy Arozarena and walking Josh Naylor with one out in the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate. The Giants’ ace was on the verge of escaping trouble when he got Cal Raleigh to pop out, but Seattle’s Cole Young provided the equalizer by hitting a game-tying three-run homer that sent T-Mobile into a frenzy
Vitello kept Webb in the game after allowing the homer, but pulled him after second baseman Luis Arraez flubbed an inning-ending grounder. Webb walked off the mound having thrown 30 pitches in the seventh
Webb, instead, had to settle for a final line that wasn’t representative of how well he pitched: 6 2/3 innings, three runs, five strikeouts, one walk. Unlike his manager, Webb was in no mood to sing his own praises
“We should’ve won,” Webb said. “It should’ve been our fourth win [in a row] today. It’s a momentum killer. It sucks. It’s tough.”
Rafael Devers and Willy Adames each hit solo shots, their 20th and 17th home runs of the season, respectively. Devers joins Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto and Matt Olson as the only players to hit at least 20 homers in each of the last eight full seasons (excluding 2020). Devers’ 20 home runs are the most by a Giant in the team’s first 98 games since Barry Bonds (25) in 2004
The Giants scored the game’s first run in the top of the third when Mariners center fielder Luke Raley fumbled the ball on Bryce Eldridge’s single with runners on first and second. Third base coach Gary Pettis initially held Drew Gilbert, the runner on second, but Pettis waved Gilbert home once Raley committed the error
Devers doubled San Francisco’s lead in the sixth with an opposite-field solo homer that barely cleared the left-field fence. Third base umpire Mark Ripperger initially signaled that the ball was foul, but Devers tapped both of his ears to signal a request for a review. The umpiring crew briefly convened, and Devers’ foul ball was turned into a home run
There wouldn’t be a need for replay three batters later when Adames hit his second home run in the last two games, an opposite-field solo shot that expanded the Giants’ lead to 3-0. With Webb cruising along, those three runs looked like they were going to be enough. That all changed with the swing by Young in the seventh
San Francisco had an opportunity to regain the lead in the 10th when the Mariners intentionally walked Casey Schmitt to get the left-on-left matchup of José A. Ferrer against Devers, putting runners on first and second for the Giants’ best power bat. The gambit ended up paying off as Ferrer got Devers to flail at an outside slider to record the inning-ending strikeout
The Giants’ inability to score in the top half of the inning paved the way for the Mariners to win in the bottom half on Rodríguez’s walk-off sacrifice fly. With their winning streak back at zero, San Francisco will once again try to create the momentum necessary to vault themselves back into any semblance of contention
“To me, momentum is about stacking positives on top of positives, whether they’re at-bats or pitches or just how you show up to the park every day or remaining confident,” Vitello said. “Big league life is fun, but it’s also an incredible challenge because you get punched no matter how good you are about as much as you punch, if not more.”
Robbie Ray (8-6, 3.38 ERA) will take the hill against Mariners ace Logan Gilbert (7-6, 3.32 ERA) as the Giants look to take the rubber match at T-Mobile Park at 1:10 p.m. PT
