SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants have struggled with left-handed starters all year, but they hit a new low Monday night.
Bay Area native Kris Bubic flirted with a no-hitter, and briefly thought he had one through six — before a grounder to second was changed to a hit. He still became the latest left-handed starter to have a strong night against this Giants lineup, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 3-1 win at Oracle Park.
The game was scoreless and speeding along until the top of the eighth, when Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino reached out and crushed a Tyler Rogers pitch into the arcade for a two-run blast. The homer was the rare blemish for Rogers, who had allowed just three runs in his first 22 appearances.
The Giants, as they often do late in games, immediately struck back. Sam Huff and Heliot Ramos got them going with one-out singles in the eighth, and two batters later, Jung Hoo Lee lined a double down the line. With the tying run on third and go-ahead run on second, Matt Chapman hit one of the Giants’ seven pop-ups.
You Make The Call …
The Giants hadn’t even hit a ball 100 mph when Wilmer Flores came up with two down in the sixth. He hit a 74.5 mph bouncer to the right side, but second baseman Michael Massey was shifted toward the bag and slipped as he tried to gather himself to field the ball and throw out one of the league’s slowest runners.
The ball originally was ruled an error by official scorer Michael Duca and Bubic struck out Lee to get through six no-hit frames, but between innings, Duca announced that his call had been changed to a base hit.
Casey Schmitt made sure there was no controversy an inning later, smoking a double down the left-field line for the second hit of the night.
Enjoying His Return Home
Bubic is from Cupertino and went to Archbishop Mitty and Stanford, so he likely left a lot of tickets for Monday’s game, his third in the ballpark he grew up visiting. His first two starts back home went well, but he has hit a different level this season and entered with a 1.66 ERA, the sixth-lowest in the big leagues.
The Giants never even made him sweat, picking up just three walks and that “single” before Schmitt’s double. Bubic got some help in getting out of the jam when Tyler Fitzgerald hit a liner to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who flipped the ball to third for a double play. With the seven shutout innings, Bubic has now allowed just three earned runs and nine hits in 18 1/3 career innings at Oracle Park.
Typical Ray Day
Robbie Ray once again did his part, throwing seven shutout innings to lower his ERA to 2.67. That’s eighth in the National League and gives the Giants two pitchers in the top 10; Logan Webb is fourth at 2.42.
Ray put at least one runner on in six of his seven innings, but he never seemed stressed. He picked a pinch-runner off in the seventh and benefited from a break in the third. After a leadoff single and a walk, Witt hit a line drive but right at shortstop Willy Adames. He snared it and doubled the runner off second.
Ray took a no-decision and will have to wait to try and extend his personal win streak to start the year. He’s 6-0 and looking to become the first Giant since Kevin Gausman (2021) to go 7-0.
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