MIAMI — A ballclub is only as good as its bullpen, so it should come as no surprise, then, what a difficulty it has been for the Giants to build any semblance of momentum this season.
Just when they seemed to be on the verge of winning their fourth game in a row for the first time all year, they were sent right back to the starting line. Again.
“Obviously we want to win every game we play,” said Landen Roupp, who had them in position to do just that with six innings of two-run ball Friday night. “To not get over that four win [threshold], especially when we’ve been there multiple times this year and just not been able to win the fourth…”
This time, the tailspin in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins started as soon as Roupp left the game.
Sam Hentges, taking over in relief to begin the seventh inning, hit Estuary Ruiz to put the speedy pinch-hitter on base to lead off and allowed the second batter of the inning to reach, too.
Hentges had Ruiz down 0-2 and went too high and tight with a heater trying to put him away. He wasn’t able to complete the play when Javier Sanoja, the No. 9 hitter, dropped down a bunt.
“The ball [to Ruiz] was literally this far away from being over the plate,” manager Tony Vitello lamented. “It wouldn’t have been a strike, but he’s on top of the plate and it hits his elbow.
“We thought there was a possibility of [Sanoja] bunting, so we were yelling from the dugout. Sam moves around pretty well for a big guy, but I don’t know there was much we could do with that one.”
Rather than protecting the one-run lead handed over by Roupp, Hentges allowed both runners to score, flipping the score in favor of Miami. Leadoff man Liam Hicks laced a single through the right side of the infield and Owen Cassie, a triple away from the cycle, sent a deep sac fly to left.
The runs proved to be decisive in the Giants’ seventh loss in 30 games when leading after six innings.It was the fifth time this season they have had a chance to win a fourth in a row, falling to 0-5 in those contests.
“You’d like to go on a roll,” Vitello said. “I think it’d be good for maybe three, and then three, and then three. Maybe if there was more of that, we’d be in a happier place and not even worrying about it. But it’ll happen at some point with this group.”
Roupp had put the Giants in position to build on Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep with a bounceback performance. He surrendered a solo home run to Cassie in the first inning but only allowed one more run the rest of the way while completing six innings.
Their bats didn’t necessarily hold up their end of the bargain.
Traffic was no trouble for either team, as Roupp allowed runners to reach in all six of his innings and the Giants put six men on in the first three innings against a bullpen game from the Marlins.
Bryce Eldridge was one of only two Giants hitters not to reach base, snapping his 22-game streak that had been the longest by a San Francisco rookie since Buster Posey. The other was Luis Arraez as the top two spots of their batting order combined to go 0-for-9.
Daniel Susac came a few feet shy of a grand slam that would have been his first career home run, but he settled for a long sacrifice fly that ended up as the only run the Giants were able to cash in from their early opportunities.
Rafael Devers led off the sixth with a no-doubt home run to the upper deck in right field — his 11th of the season — and it again looked like the Giants were in business when Jung Hoo Lee followed with a double.
Casey Schmitt singled home Lee with one out to briefly put the Giants on top, 3-2, but the inning was over as quickly as it started, leaving two more runners stranded on the corners.
“I mean, we almost had four runs on one swing,” Vitello said. “It doesn’t guarantee a victory … but I do think it simplifies things for us, but you’ve got to combine defense with that and pitching as well. We’d like to win some games when we score three, or maybe even two.”
What it means
Vitello has circled four runs as a magic number of sorts — the Giants are 24-7 when reaching that threshold — but couldn’t get there despite no shortage of chances.
In the end, they needed more cushion for a bullpen that has been one of the seven worst in the majors since the end of April, with a 4.94 ERA.
They fell to 7-37 in an MLB-leading 44 times being held to three runs or fewer.
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Who’s hot
Willy Adames collected his 1,000th career hit with a single to lead off the second inning, coming around to score on Susac’s sac fly.
The milestone came in Adames’ first at-bat since slugging his 12th and 13th home runs of the season in San Francisco’s doubleheader sweep of the Braves on Wednesday.
Ten of those home runs have come since May 18, second only to Juan Soto (11) for the most in the majors in that span. Yet, Adames admitted after Wednesday’s games that his swing “hasn’t been feeling the best” and that he was “trying to get more consistent.”
Adames had been 1-for-31 dating back to his last home run before homering twice Wednesday.
Who’s not
Roupp was 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA through his first six starts.
Since then, the Giants had lost all eight of his starts before Friday’s game, with Roupp allowing four or more runs five times to raise his season ERA to 4.24.
It was a different story this time around as Roupp pitched around traffic in every inning but left after six leading 3-2, having struck out seven, one away from matching his season-high.
He was more efficient than he had been of late, landing his sinker for strikes and generating swings and misses with his changeup, which even took him by surprise.
“When I looked up there in the fourth inning and saw only 65 pitches, I was kind of shocked,” Roupp said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that. I think I was just competing and getting down the mound better today — moving better.”
He was in line to earn his first win since the last time he faced the Marlins, on April 26, when he limited them to two runs over 7 ⅔ innings in his longest start of the season.
“I kind of found out early on that they were hunting the curveball, so I just went away from that,” Roupp said. “[The sinker] has been a lot better, even my last three starts. But definitely tonight I was locating on both sides of the plate and getting ground balls instead of pop flies.”
Up next
Trevor McDonald, originally scheduled to start the series opener, will get the ball Saturday in Game 2, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. ET. It could be his last chance to prove worthy of holding onto his rotation spot with Tyler Mahle set to return from a hamstring strain Wednesday.