SEATTLE - Bryce Eldridge kept giving the Giants something to hang onto Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to stop another loss.
San Francisco fell 6-3 to the Seattle Mariners in the rubber match at T-Mobile Park, a game the Giants led twice before letting slip away. The loss left them still searching for traction as the second half gets rolling.
Eldridge was the headline again. The rookie launched his 10th homer of the season off All-Star Logan Gilbert, becoming the first Giant age 21 or younger to reach 10 home runs in a single season since Jack Clark hit 13 in 1977. He added another first later, drawing a walk and then stealing the first base of his career.
The Giants also got a solid enough outing from Robbie Ray, who gave up three runs, only one earned, across four-plus innings. He struck out six and walked two, lowering his ERA to 3.33. Right now, Ray is lined up for two more starts before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
San Francisco jumped out fast in the top of the first. Eldridge’s solo shot opened the scoring, and Heliot Ramos followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
That lead held until the bottom of the fourth, when Seattle got on the board after Randy Arozarena reached on a throwing error by third baseman Casey Schmitt. Josh Naylor and Weston Wilson then delivered RBI singles to tie it at 2-2. The Giants had a chance to cut down Arozarena at second, but shortstop Willy Adames was late covering the bag and Arozarena slid in safely without a throw.
The Giants pushed back in the top of the fifth, taking the lead again on Luis Arraez’s RBI double. Seattle answered immediately in the bottom half when Cal Raleigh grounded into a run-scoring double play to knot the game again.
San Francisco heads east next for a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals, with Trevor McDonald, Tyler Mahle and Landen Roupp scheduled to start in that order.
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For a club trying to establish its own standards, that question lingers around every clubhouse miscue and every moment when a manager chooses not to make a public example of it. Vitello has shown a willingness to avoid open conflict, which can be understandable for a first-year skipper trying to earn trust, but it also leaves a bigger issue hanging over the Giants. The organization is not treating this as a one-and-done experiment, so the real pressure now is on Vitello to show he can balance respect with command before the seasons growing pains harden into a pattern. [Read more 🡒]