What we learned as Giants snap scoreless streak in loss to Padres

What we learned as Giants snap scoreless streak in loss to Padres originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants handed out the immensely popular “buy one, get one free” vouchers from Alaska Airlines on Friday night. On Saturday, the giveaway was 49ers hats. A day later, they had nice weather as they celebrated the life of Orlando Cepeda.

That all helped bring more than 104,000 through the gates over the weekend, but for the first 26 innings, Giants fans witnessed just one run. In the bottom of the ninth on Sunday, they were rewarded with a bit of ballpark history.

Four days after Heliot Ramos smiled and said he’d like to one day get a Splash Hit, he became the first right-handed hitter to reach McCovey Cove on the fly. Ramos went the other way with a 100-mph fastball from San Diego Padres pitcher Robert Suarez, tying the game with a 394-foot blast into the water. The first 104 Splash Hits in the ballpark’s 25 seasons had been hit by left-handed hitters.

The stunning homer was not enough, of course. The Giants managed just two other runs — one coming from their free baserunner in the 10th inning — and lost 4-3. With a 1-5 homestand, they dropped to six games under .500 as they head out on a tough three-city trip.

The Giants’ scoreless streak at the plate reached 32 innings before Donovan Walton jumped on a hanging curve from Martin Perez and lined a solo shot into the visiting bullpen in the sixth. It was the first Giants run since the eighth inning on Wednesday night.

The score was tied heading into the eighth, allowing Giants manager Bob Melvin to more easily use his overworked high-leverage relievers. But that backfired right away.

Tyler Rogers entered in the eighth and pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. blasted his first pitch out to left-center. It was the first career pinch-hit homer for the Padres star. San Diego later would score two runs off Camilo Doval in the top of the ninth.

They (Were) Going Streaking

Walton’s homer kept the Giants from taking a shot at a franchise record that nobody in the clubhouse wants to be affiliated with. The 32-inning streak was the fourth-longest in franchise history and longest since 1992, when a team seemingly headed for Tampa Bay went three straight games and 33 innings overall without scoring a run.

The 1976 Giants went 35 innings, but the record is 39, set by the 1916 New York Giants. That streak was broken up when right fielder Dave Robertson singled, bringing in left fielder George Burns, who had reached on a dropped pop-up and then swiped second base. They probably didn’t celebrate much, though. New York lost that game 10-1.

The New Donnie Barrels

Walton was a surprise choice for a promotion earlier this week when Tyler Fitzgerald’s back acted up. The 30-year-old was not on the 40-man roster, and if the Giants wanted to select the contract of a non-roster player, they very easily could have brought Thairo Estrada back.

But that probably felt a bit awkward to the front office, and team officials wanted to reward Walton, who has had a good year in Triple-A and been an even better teammate. His mop-up pitching performance on Saturday night was his 11th of the year after he reached double-digits in Triple-A blowouts.

Walton’s homer was just the fourth of his career. He had one in 24 appearances with the Giants in 2022, which was the last time he appeared in the big leagues before injuries impacted his 2023 season.

Let Him Cook

With Kyle Harrison shut down and Robbie Ray rehabbing, Landen Roupp has gotten a chance to slide into the rotation. He continues to show that perhaps he should be in the conversation next spring.

Roupp went five shutout innings against a deep Padres lineup, allowing two hits, walking two and striking out four. He has allowed just two runs over 14 innings in his last three appearances — including two starts — and lowered his ERA to 3.02. That’s pretty strong work from a rookie who won a job with a strong spring.

The most impressive part Sunday might have been the fact that Roupp continued to lean heavily on his curveball even though the league now has seen him quite a few times. He is more of a three-pitch pitcher than in April, also throwing a sinker and changeup, but the curve will always be his best pitch and he got eight swinging strikes on 28 of them Sunday.

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