What we learned as Ray’s exit turns tide in Giants’ loss to Mariners originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
A day after overcoming an early exit by their starting pitcher to win, the Giants couldn’t make lightning strike twice in the Pacific Northwest and came up short in a 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday at T-Mobile Park.
This time it was Robbie Ray who got the quick hook, though unlike Blake Snell’s early departure on Saturday, this was more health related than ineffectiveness.
That set the tone on a day when San Francisco’s pitching was far too charitable and the offense was far too quiet, with a few exceptions.
Heliot Ramos continued his fantastic 2024 MLB season, crushing his 20th home run of the campaign. Grant McCray hit his second homer since making his MLB debut on Aug. 14. Both Ramos and McCray also had two hits apiece.
Other than that, it basically was a snooze fest for the Giants’ bats.
Ramos got the Giants going early with his two-run home run off Mariners starter and Northern California native Bryan Woo in the first inning. Tyler Fitzgerald, who reached on an error leading off the game, also scored as San Francisco took a 2-0 lead.
Seattle came back in the bottom of the inning, riding Dylan Moore’s speed to their first run. Moore drew a leadoff walk then stole second, took third on a wild pitch and strolled home Cal Raleigh’s RBI single.
After the Mariners tied it in the fifth inning, they scored twice off Sean Hjelle in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead.
McCray’s second career home run cut Seattle’s lead in half in the eighth inning, and the Giants later had the tying and go-ahead runs on base with one out but couldn’t manufacture anything out of it.
Matt Chapman drew a walk off Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz leading off the ninth, and advanced as far as third base before Mark Canha struck out to end the game.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s loss:
Another Ramos Milestone
In this time of transition where the Giants have opened the doors for some of their younger players, Ramos stormed through and might just be the best thing about the 2024 season.
One of the best young hitters in all of baseball, Ramos powered up for his second home run in three days. The home run tied Ramos with Matt Chapman for the team lead and moving the young slugger into rarefied air.
The 24-year-old is the first Giants player younger than 25 years old to reach the 20-home run plateau since Pablo Sandoval belted 23 in 2011.