The Giants are finishing this road trip with some real momentum in the bats, and Rafael Devers is right in the middle of it.
San Francisco dropped two of three in Pittsburgh, but it still has a shot to take the series from the Mets on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field. That opportunity comes with Devers swinging one of the hottest bats on the roster, and the Giants aren’t hiding him in the lineup. He’s in there for the finale, batting second as the club looks to close out September on a strong note.
Devers also keeps adding to a pretty wild run. The Giants said on their official X account that he is the third player in franchise history to post at least 6 home runs and 7 walks in a six-game span, joining Willie Mays in 1958 and Barry Bonds in 2004. He went deep twice against New York on Saturday, giving him five homers for the month.
Tony Vitello’s lineup for the finale puts Drew Gilbert in center field, Devers at DH and Bryce Eldridge at first base. Jonah Cox hits fourth, Jung Hoo Lee follows in right, and Osleivis Basabe is at third. Grant McCray starts in left, Drew Cavanaugh catches, and Christian Koss handles shortstop.
- CF Drew Gilbert
- DH Rafael Devers
- 1B Bryce Eldridge
- 2B Jonah Cox
- RF Jung Hoo Lee
- 3B Osleivis Basabe
- LF Grant McCray
- C Drew Cavanaugh
- SS Christian Koss
The assignment won’t be easy. New York is sending Christian Scott to the mound, and he comes in with a 3.80 ERA, 113 strikeouts and a 1.31 WHIP across 20 starts. The Giants are going to have to make him work, especially with Scott having issued 14 walks in five starts in August.
San Francisco will counter with Cesar Perdomo, who is making his second Major League appearance after debuting against the Pirates. In that outing, he worked four innings, allowed three hits and gave up one run. The Giants will be hoping for a similar kind of start.
Koss is another name to watch after turning in his first multi-home-run game against the Mets on Saturday. His overall average sits at .211, but he’s batting .316 in September and has already put together two multi-hit games this month.
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The uncomfortable part is how familiar this all looks in San Francisco. The Giants have been down this road before with Evan Longoria, whose own later years in orange and black were shaped by injuries and diminishing production as the wear of age caught up with him. Chapman is not Longoria, and the comparison is not perfect, but the pattern is hard to miss for a club that once hoped it was buying reliability. Now the question hanging over the Giants is whether this is a temporary setback or the start of another expensive decline they have to manage. [Read more 🡒]