What we learned as Bryce Eldridge’s first MLB homer overshadowed in Giants’ loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants had hoped to rattle some cages and shake things up by making a big trade early Saturday. What they got on the field at Oracle Park, however, was a lot of what fans have seen all season.
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An offense that had very little to highlight beyond Bryce Eldridge’s first career home run, starting pitching that was inconsistent, and a bullpen that couldn’t keep the barn door closed.
It added up to a 13-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, preventing the Giants from clinching their first series at home since late April.
At least for his sake, Patrick Bailey wasn’t around to witness any of it. The veteran catcher was traded to the Cleveland Guardians, a move that the Giants’ brass had hoped in many ways would breathe life into San Francisco’s offense.
Instead, Pittsburgh starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft did a stellar job of keeping the Giants’ bats silent.
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San Francisco had two on and one out in the first but failed to score. Ashcraft retried the next nine Giants batters he faced, four by strikeout.
Ashcraft did it again in the sixth after the Giant got runners on the corners with one out. He got Rafel Devers to strike out swinging then retired Eldridge on a long fly ball to left.
Devers, who had homered in each of his previous two games, went 0-for-3 to end his eight-game hitting streak.
Conversely, Giants starter Landen Roupp had his recent stretch of strong starts interrupted.
Roupp pitched out of jams in two of the first three innings then gave up a run in the fourth before manager Tony Vitello pulled him.
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The night got so bad that when shortstop Willy Adames muffed a Joey Bart grounder for an error in the seventh, the Oracle Crowd unleashed a chorus of boos.
Had it not been for a brief uprising in the ninth, the booing likely would have gotten a lot louder.
Here are the takeaways from Saturday:
Eldridge Gets His First
For the past two years there’s been plenty of speculation and hype about Eldridge’s abilities with a bat. On Saturday, he showed exactly what the buzz has been about when he belted the first home run of his career.
Eldridge hammered a first-pitch fastball from Ashcroft that ended up in the waters of McCovey Cove. The ball had an exit velocity of 101 mph and went an estimated 364 feet.
It was the first real sign of life from San Francisco’s offense and gave a definitive lift to the Oracle Park crowd.
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Not The Roupp Stuff
With the exception of his previous start against the Tampa Bay Rays, Roupp had seemingly gotten better with each outing. Facing the Pirates, he took a step backward in his development.
Pittsburgh’s hitters were extremely patient against Roupp and forced the right-hander to throw 94 pitches in four innings. The Pirates had three hits but benefited most from the three walks that Roupp gave up.
On the flip side, Roupp had stuff that was flat-out dominant at times. He had a season-high eight Ks, one shy of his career best, and got whiffs off his fastball, cutter, curve and sinker.
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Like the rest of the Giants starting pitchers, Roupp will have to shoulder more of the load now that ace Logan Webb is on the Injured List.
Bullpen Blues
It wasn’t just the starting pitching that was a problem for the Giants. Vitello repeatedly went to his bullpen and didn’t get the desired results, a big problem that gets magnified when the starter can’t get through five innings.
Ryan Borucki and Ryan Walker retired two batters apiece but neither worked a clean inning. Borucki allowed two hits and a run while Walker, the Giants one-time closer, got hit up for two runs in his brief stint.
It got real rough in the seventh when JT Brubaker and Gregory Santos got lit up for six runs (five earned) while combining to get three outs.
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The situation got bad enough that infielder Christian Koss pitched the ninth inning
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