SAN FRANCISCO – Hayden Birdsong put together another solid-yet-unspectacular outing, but the Giants didn’t provide nearly enough offense to back it up, losing 4-2 to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Birdsong allowed only one earned run in five innings before the Twins immediately jumped on reliever Taylor Rogers (1-3) for the go-ahead run in the sixth then held on for the win at Oracle Park.
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The afternoon began with everyone in a good mood following a pregame ceremony honoring the induction of Core Four members Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo into the Giants’ Wall of Fame.
It ended with the crowd of 32,582 heading home in frustration and disappointment after the Giants failed to score over the final four innings.
Mike Yastrzemski had two hits and an RBI to provide San Francisco with the bulk of what little offense it had. Heliot Ramos added an RBI single to extend his on-base streak to 13 consecutive games.
San Francisco Giants
The Twins got to Birdsong for two runs in the fourth and had another runner on second before the Giants pitcher got Mex Kepler to strike out swinging and Manuel Margot to ground out.
San Francisco answered back with a run in the bottom half of the frame to cut into the lead.
Michael Conforto drew a two-out walk, took third on Wilmer Flores’ ground-rule double and scored when Mike Yastrzemski rolled a single past Twins shortstop Willi Castro.
After Ramos’ single in the fifth knocked in Soler to tie the game at 2-2, Twins’ slugger Carlos Santana hit a solo home run off Rogers for what proved to be the game-winning run.
San Francisco got the tying run on base in the eighth when Patrick Bailey hit a two-out triple. Minnesota reliever Griffin Jax then got Matt Chapman to fly out to short right.
Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Drive For Five
Birdsong made it through five innings for the second time in his three most recent starts. That doesn’t sound like much of a big deal, but when it comes to Giants starting pitchers this season, it’s a pretty big accomplishment.
Considering that over the past month Logan Webb and Kyle Harrison are the only two San Francisco starters to record an out in the sixth inning, Birdsong’s outing was much-needed in order to give the bullpen guys a break.
Harrison allowed two hits and two runs (one unearned) with three strikeouts and three walks.
Yaz Hands
Yastrzemski added to his already long list of spectacular catches when he made a sliding snare of Trevor Larnach’s sinking liner to end the third inning.
Yastrzemski and Heliot Ramos both are tremendous defensive players who have combined to make a series of gem plays in the outfield this season.
Going into the day, Yastrzemski had a six DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) in right field according to the Giants, tied for third-most in the majors.
So Close, So Far
Chapman came within inches of hitting his 14th home run and giving the Giants an early lead in the first inning.
With two men on base, Chapman crushed a 95-mph fastball from Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson down the left field line. The runners slowly trotted around the bases as umpires gathered to make a ruling. The initial ruling was a home run, but the Twins challenged and the call was overturned upon replay.
Had it gone the other way, the home run would have provided a big and timely boost. Going into the day, the Giants had scored 37 times in the first innings of games, their second-fewest of any inning this season.
That was a huge play in what ended up being a two-run game.
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