SAN FRANCISCO – This time, the Giants didn’t need a late-night rally to win.
Thanks to a tremendous effort from the bullpen, San Francisco scored two early runs and made them hold up in a 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Six pitchers combined on the four-hitter to give the Giants their second consecutive win after a five-game losing streak. Tyler Rogers (1-2) retired three batters to get the win.
Brett Wisely and Luis Matos had two hits apiece for San Francisco, while Matt Chapman drove in two runs.
Michael Conforto, David Villar and Jorge Soler each drove in a run to send the crowd of 30,368 at Oracle Park home happy.
San Francisco Giants
This game, though, was all about the Giants’ bullpen.
Randy Rodríguez made his first start of the season and allowed the Cubs' only run. Sean Hjelle, Taylor Rogers, Ryan Walker and Tyler Rogers followed and continued to put up zeroes on the scoreboard before closer Camilo Doval slammed the door with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 14th save of the 2024 MLB season.
San Francisco’s bullpen has been the team’s saving grace for most of the season. Giants relievers entered the day with an MLB-leading 323 innings pitched and a league-high 335 strikeouts. Against the Cubs, they combined for 6 1/3 shutout frames and six strikeouts.
The Giants took a 2-0 lead in the second when Soler hit a leadoff single and Chapman walked. Conforto singled up the middle to drive in Soler, and Chapman came around to score on Villar’s sacrifice fly. Both runs came off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks.
San Francisco’s offense got quiet after that until putting up three runs in the ninth, two coming on Chapman’s single to left.
Here are the takeaways from Tuesday’s game:
Patience Pays Off
Chapman scored the Giants’ second run of the night after an epic battle with Hendricks in the second inning.
Chapman fell behind 0-2, worked the count full then fouled off six consecutive pitches before taking ball four on a pitch well out of the zone.
The 13-pitch at-bat that was the longest by a Giants player that ended with a walk since Andre Torres had a 16-pitch free pass in 2011.
Former Giant first baseman Brandon Belt still owns the longest at-bat in MLB since 1988, which is as far back as the data goes. Belt engaged in a 21-pitch battle with Jaime Barria of the Angels in 2018. Belt fouled off 16 pitches in that one.
Randy Ro's First Start
Pressed into a starting role for the first time at the big league level due to the instability of the rotation, Rodríguez put together a fairly decent evening as the Giants’ opener.
Rodríguez, whose last start came in the minors at High-A in 2022, allowed one hit and one run in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two while throwing 53 pitches – five more than he had thrown in any other game as a reliever this season.
Rodríguez flashed some of his talent in the first inning. His first pitch to Cubs’ leadoff hitter Nico Hoerner was up and in, causing the batter to flinch a little. Rodríguez came back to fan Hoerner with a 97-mph fastball, then struck out the next batter, Michael Busch, on a pitch in the dirt.
Given the status of San Francisco’s pitching staff overall, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Rodríguez get another start.
More Running Woes
The Giants continue to have issues on the basepaths, especially when it’s the other team running.
Nico Hoerner’s steal of second base in the third inning marked the 27th time in the last 29 attempts that an opponent has successfully swiped a bag against San Francisco.
Catcher Patrick Bailey came back in the sixth to throw out Christopher Morel. Still, the Giants have now allowed 88 stolen bases this season, far and away the most in the majors.
On the flip side, Giants leadoff man Brett Wisely singled and was thrown out trying to steal second base in the third inning. That ended a string of six consecutive steals by the Orange and Black dating to May 31.
Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast