Giants starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, who fell to 1-6 during Wednesday’s 6-3 loss in Phoenix, has the highest ERA in baseball at 6.10.
Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
PHOENIX — The San Francisco Giants were swept with a 6-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. It wasn’t their ugliest loss of the series, but it capped a 4-6 road trip that pushed the Giants 10 games under .500 (20-30) and deepened questions over the team’s direction.
The last time a Giants team was 10 games under .500? You’d have to go back to July 1, 2019, when the front office was transitioning from head honchos Bobby Evans to Farhan Zaidi and the roster showed it, blending players of the dynasty such as Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Madison Bumgarner with new faces of the new regime such as Mike Yastrzemski and Donovan Solano. They were 37-47 that day en route to a 77-85 season.
The 2026 Giants, under Posey as the president of baseball operations, aren’t supposed to be anything like that 2019 team on which he played. This is one that’s built with hundreds of millions of dollars committed to a core of proven veterans supposed to challenge for the West. Or at least stay competitive.
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“I think we haven’t clicked as a whole, but we’ve been playing better baseball until this series,” shortstop Willy Adames said. “We’re gonna get it, but last year at this point we were in first place and didn’t make it to the postseason. So I don’t think the record at this time dictates what happens the whole year. So we have to pick it up the next series and continue to play the baseball we’ve been playing.
“We have more than enough talent to make it to the postseason and just have to focus on continuing to win series and leave this one behind.”
San Francisco
Arizona
ab
r
h
bi
ab
r
h
bi
Totals
35
3
8
3
Totals
31
6
9
6
Brennan rf
3
0
0
0
Marte 2b
3
3
3
2
J.Rdriguez ph-rf
0
0
0
0
Vargas 1b
4
0
0
1
Arraez 2b
4
0
1
0
Perdomo ss
3
0
1
3
Schmitt lf
4
1
1
1
Del Castillo c
4
0
0
0
Devers 1b
4
0
1
0
Gurriel dh
4
0
0
0
Adames ss
4
0
0
0
Fernandez 3b
4
0
2
0
Chapman 3b
4
2
2
0
Barrosa rf
3
0
0
0
Eldridge dh
4
0
1
1
Tawa lf
3
1
1
0
Susac c
4
0
1
0
Waldschmidt cf
3
2
2
0
Gilbert cf
2
0
1
1
Bader ph-cf
2
0
0
0
San Francisco
110
100
000
—
3
Arizona
102
030
00x
—
6
LOB_San Francisco 6, Arizona 3. 2B_Eldridge (1), Devers (12), Marte (7), Perdomo (8). HR_Schmitt (9), Marte (7). SF_Perdomo (3).
5
8
6
6
0
6
1
0
0
0
0
3
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
6
8
3
3
0
4
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
ABS Challenge_Mahle (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Mahle (Ball-Confirmed); Winn (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Peguero (Ball-Confirmed); Sewald (Ball-Confirmed).
Umpires_Home, Brian Walsh; First, Chad Fairchild; Second, Chad Whitson; Third, Bill Miller.
T_2:18. A_17,748 (48,359).
Adames is right, the season is still relatively young and there’s more than four months to play. A lot can happen in those four months; San Francisco was vying for first in the division at this point last year and went 12 games over .500 in June only to spiral out of contention.
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This year, San Francisco hasn’t spent a day over .500 and their competitiveness appears more like an optical illusion, where they can stack a galvanizing split against the Los Angeles Dodgers and series win against the Sacramento A’s only to get trampled by a struggling division rival in the Diamondbacks.
Inconsistency is what keeps them below water. Manager Tony Vitello was asked what needs to happen for them to come up for air.
“I think to continue the momentum we have as far as the style of play,” Vitello said. “Just from my vantage point, the way guys are playing together, the energy that’s involved — Rafi (Devers) diving all over the place and Willy getting down the line — other examples, too, and we got some young guys that are going to help us. I think the more experience they get the better off they are, and a lot of new faces in the locker room and clubhouse. The more familiar we get with one another, I’d like to think we’d improve.”
The brightest spots showed up in Wednesday’s loss. Casey Schmitt hit his ninth home run and Bryce Eldridge hit a scorching RBI double with a 113.4 mph exit velocity that would mark the hardest hit by a Giant this year. Devers hit a scorching double, going 12-for-39 on the trip. He and the infield defense were solid, as it had been all series.
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But their flaws showed up, too. Tyler Mahle couldn’t hold the gates. Up 3-2, the Diamondbacks led off the fifth with back-to-back singles, and hot hand Ketel Marte — who’d homered and doubled earlier — shocked the infield with a bunt single to load the bases. One run scored on a groundout and the Giants didn’t take advantage of the open base against three-hole hitter Geraldo Perdomo, who doubled on the first pitch for two more runs to put the game away.
Mahle’s 6.10 ERA is the worst in baseball this year, but that accounts for a fraction of what went wrong in Phoenix.
The Giants got utterly blown out in the opener, with starter Robbie Ray suspecting tipped pitches as partly to blame for the most runs he’s allowed in his career. Tuesday’s loss was the gut punch, lost on Marte’s walk-off home run that prompted Vitello to take the blame for his bullpen management.
“You can’t say ifs or buts, but if you win that game even with a disappointing outcome today you’re .500 on a really difficult road trip,” Vitello said. “Wins and losses don’t meet the criteria, but the way guys played, played defense, ran the bases, a lot of times the pitching — a lot of positives from it, but doesn’t help anybody on the flight home.”
Their losses sometimes show where the roster’s holes fester. The lack of defined bullpen roles and an established closer — their most experienced option, Ryan Walker, is getting right in Triple A — partly account for their six blown saves.
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The blend of young and veteran players that’s supposed to be a strength has been a positional puzzle for Vitello. Eldridge, the team’s top prospect, is getting inconsistent playing time because of a logjam at designated hitter and first base. Same with versatile utility man Jesus Rodriguez. Both were called up earlier this month to snap the Giants’ offense out of a freeze.
To smell .500 again, or even stay in the contention window before the trade deadline in August, the Giants will have to reverse their bad habits and get a little more fearsome. They’ve been shut out eight times and shut out an opponent four times. They’ve mounted nine comebacks, but also surrendered nine comebacks. They’ve been walked off four times and walked off themselves just once. Is there anything that indicates the Giants can flip their script?
“The track record,” Adames said. “We have a lot of guys that have done it for many years, and the younger guys we have are talented so we’re expecting them to develop that talent and help us to win more games.
“Throw this series to the trash. Friday is a new series (against the Chicago White Sox). Go home and start fresh.”