Ryan Walker during the Giants vs Red Sox game on Friday night at Oracle Park. (Photo: SF Bay News Lab on Instagram)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SAN FRANCISCO–Struggling recently, the San Francisco Giants looked to turn the page on two losing series over the past week. On Friday, the Giants welcomed the Boston Red Sox to town for a three-game set. Rafael Devers faced his former team for the first time since being traded from Boston to San Francisco just five days ago. The Giants had their chances but ultimately fell to the Red Sox, 7-5, on Friday night.

The problem for the Giants was their pitching—a rarity this season. Along with the uncharacteristically poor performance on the mound, the Giants also failed to come through with timely hits when it mattered most.

In the second inning, the Giants loaded the bases with no outs for Christian Koss, who hit into a double play. In the fourth inning, they loaded the bases again with no outs for Koss. Once again, he grounded into a double play.

Granted, each double play brought in a run, but it let the air out of an otherwise dialed-in offense early. The Giants loaded the bases one more time in the eighth inning with two outs before Mike Yastrzemski struck out swinging. Those moments were big missed opportunities—but they weren’t the sole reason for the loss. They played a part, but the pitching never found a groove.

Starter Hayden Birdsong had an uncharacteristically rough outing, going only four and a third innings while allowing seven hits and five runs. After the game, Birdsong cited control issues as the reason for his struggles. “I know I got behind. Whenever I gave up hits, it’s because I got behind. When I’m ahead, it’s a lot better. I feel a lot better and a lot more comfortable… something I gotta work on.”

Sean Hjelle relieved Birdsong and gave up one run in an inning of work. Erik Miller threw two-thirds of an inning, followed by Joey Lucchesi, who was only able to record one out and gave up a run. The Giants capped off the night with Ryan Walker and Spencer Bivens combining for two and two-thirds innings of no-hit baseball. It was one of Walker’s best outings in a while, and the Giants hope it will boost his confidence moving forward.

On the offensive side, the Giants’ only run that scored without also recording an out came on a Mike Yastrzemski RBI single in the second inning. Every other Giants run came on a play where they also made an out—not ideal for a team struggling to score runs and badly in need of timely hitting.

Wilmer Flores and Aroldis Chapman exchanged words following the final out of the game in what appeared to be a misunderstanding. It remains unclear what was said to Wilmer, but it seemed to be in an angry tone—something he took exception to.

After the game, Wilmer was still puzzled, telling reporters, “I want to know what he said. I still don’t know.” When asked if it may have had to do with a pitch violation during the at-bat, Flores responded, “I guess, I don’t know.”

With the loss, the Giants have now dropped five of their last seven games and are looking to get back on track Saturday. They’ll send Landen Roupp (4-5, 3.99 ERA) to the mound against Boston’s Brayan Bello (3-1, 3.49 ERA) in Game 2 of the series, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 PM PST.

The Giants are now 42-34 on the season.