Giants have new DH, same LOB problem in 3-2 loss

Rafael Devers had two hits and an RBI in his SF Giants debut, but the team left 13 runners on base, including three in the 9th inning against the Cleveland Guardians

Rafael Devers got a standing ovation from the Oracle Park crowd along with two hits and an RBI. What he couldn’t get is a win, as the Giants left 13 runners on base, including three in the 9th inning, in a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians Tuesday night.

Devers delivered on Tuesday night, blasting an RBI double to right-center in the third inning, scoring Willy Adames from first base and giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.

He added a single in the 9th inning to give the Giants first and second with one out, before Heliot Ramos walked to load the bases. But Dominic Smith flied out to shallow left and Casey Schmitt struck out to end the game and give Emmanuel Clase his 15th save.

The Giants held Adames at third on Smith’s fly ball in part thanks to the arm showed off by left fielder Steven Kwan in the previous inning. After singles from Schmitt and Mike Yastrzemski, pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores hit a sinking line drive to left that Fremont’s own Kwan snagged and then doubled Schmitt off second.

Ramos returned the favor in the 9th inning. After Gabriel Arias doubled and advanced to third on a groundout, he tried to score on Angel Martinez’s fly ball to medium left and Ramos nailed him in a bang-bang play at the plate to give the Giants a chance in the 9th.

Starter Robbie Ray (8-2) had a solid outing but still picked up his second loss of the season. He went six innings, giving up five hits, three earned runs, two walks and a home run while striking out five. The big blow was a 6th-inning home run from Arias, who fouled off two 0-2 pitches before hitting Ray’s 96th pitch of the game into the Guardians bullpen in right-center.

The Guardians finished with only six hits and eight baserunners, but they got three of them home. The Giants had 10 hits and five walks, but only managed to plate two of them.

They started off strong, turning a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and a single by Smith into the game’s first run. Who needs Devers to play first base when Smith has eight RBIs in 12 games?

The Guardians answered when Johnathan “Ignore Spell-Check” Rodriguez tripled and scored on an Austin Hedges sacrifice fly. In the 4th inning, David Fry doubled and Carlos Santana singled him home. Say it ain’t so, Carlos! All those national anthem performances apparently meant nothing!

Cleveland’s starting pitcher, the delightfully-named Slade Cecconi (2-3), picked up his second win of the season by striking out six Giants in five innings. He gave up two runs, four hits and three walks, but with runners in scoring position, Cecconi held the Giants to 1-for-7 hitting (with a HBP).

He got some help when Bob Melvin played small ball in the 4th. Schmitt led off with a walk, and Yaz singled him to second. Tyler Fitzgerald then bunted the runners over — for Andrew Knizner, who was 2-for-20 on the season. He popped out to the catcher on Cecconi’s first pitch, then Jung Hoo Lee grounded out to end the inning.

Cleveland’s bullpen went on to allow eight baserunners in the final four innings, but held the Giants scoreless. Yastrzemski, who was 3-for-4, was stranded on second after a 6th inning double. Hunter Gaddis struck out Smith with two on in the 7th. Kwan bailed Gaddis out of trouble in the 8th.

Still, it was encouraging that the Giants got three scoreless innings of relief from Erik Miller, Tyler Rogers, and Randy Rodriguez, who gave up one hit combined. Devers didn’t take long to adjust to Oracle Park, while Yastrzemski and Adames both seem to be shaking off their May struggles. They even got to Cleveland’s All-Star closer, but couldn’t finish the job.

They just couldn’t get a win.