Landen Roupp spent Friday night trying to keep the ball in the yard, but the Rockies kept finding ways to stretch him anyway.
At Oracle Park, the San Francisco right-hander watched Troy Johnston drive a 410-foot triple in the fourth and Brett Sullivan rip a 413-foot double in the fifth. Both balls flirted with the spacious corners of the ballpark, and both stayed in play thanks to the cold air and Oracle’s deep dimensions.
The one that got away came in the sixth. Zac Veen turned on a curveball and sent it out toward Mission Bay, a clean Splash Hit that became the 69th by an opponent in the ballpark’s history. Roupp didn’t last much longer, and as he sat on the bench after being lifted later in the inning, he had a towel over his head.
The Giants fell 5-2 to the Colorado Rockies on Friday night, with Roupp charged for four runs, three walks and a homer over 5 2/3 innings. The loss left him tied with the Baltimore Orioles’ Shane Baz and the Cleveland Guardians’ Tanner Bibee for the most defeats in the majors at 12.
Colorado’s Kyle Freeland had the sharper night by a wide margin. He worked eight innings and gave up just one run, turning in the longest outing of his 30 career starts against the Giants.
The lone damage against Freeland came from Bryce Eldridge, who connected for a solo homer, his 13th of the season and his second in his last three games. Eldridge has been searching for rhythm since July began, and those two recent swings may have given him something to build on.
Trent Harris also gave San Francisco a bright spot. The rookie threw a scoreless eighth inning and struck out three, recording the first three strikeouts of his career.
The Giants made one last push in the ninth. Jonah Cox opened the inning with a triple, then Rafael Devers brought him home with a double. But the rally stalled when Cole Carrigg laid out for a diving catch to take away a hit from Eldridge, then doubled Devers off second to end the threat.
In Other News...
Giants Are Finally Giving Turner Hill A Chance They Needed
The Giants are taking a close look at Turner Hill, selecting the outfielder to the major league roster as they search for help in the corners and across the bench. Hill has forced the issue at Triple-A with a .353 batting average and a 26-game hit streak, giving San Francisco a productive contact bat to evaluate as it sorts through the back end of its outfield mix.
Hills rise gives the Giants a different kind of roster story, one built on performance rather than pedigree, and the club will now see whether that translates against big league pitching. The open spot came after the team made a corresponding move to clear room, and the next question is whether Hill can turn this opportunity into a case for staying as a fourth or fifth outfielder on the active roster. [Read more 🡒]
Grant McCrays Giants Future Just Got A Lot Murkier
The Giants shuffled their outfield picture again, calling up Turner Hill and Jonah Cox from Triple-A while sending Grant McCray and Nate Furman back to Sacramento. It is another reminder of how quickly the depth chart can change for a club trying to sort through its younger options, and this time the movement points directly to a broader evaluation of which outfielders are actually forcing the issue.
McCray still brings defensive value, but his offensive struggles have left him in a precarious spot as the Giants keep opening the door for other young outfielders, including Victor Bericoto. For now, his path back to a meaningful role looks narrower than it did earlier in the year, and unless the bat starts to come around, he may be fighting just to stay in the conversation for anything more than a backup job. [Read more 🡒]
Giants May Need To Save Willy Adames From Himself
Willy Adames has kept taking the field for the Giants even as a lingering back injury has made every day feel a little less routine than he would like. The shortstop has been visibly uncomfortable at times, and the issue has shown up in his defensive work, but his commitment to playing through it has remained obvious enough that it has become part of the conversation around him.
Manager Tony Vitello has already pushed back on any suggestion that Adames is short on effort, even inviting reporters to watch the pregame work that starts long before first pitch. Between the fielding, the batting practice, and the way Adames keeps pushing to stay in the lineup, the question now is less about desire than whether the Giants can keep him from turning persistence into a bigger problem. [Read more 🡒]