Rafael Devers (right) congratulated by Matt Williams (9) rounding third base after his first SF Giants home run on Saturday afternoon. (Photo: Jay Choi from SF Bay News Lab on Instagram)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SAN FRANCISCO — After an uncharacteristic showing from the Giants’ pitching on Friday—particularly the rough start Hayden Birdsong turned in—the Giants were back to their pitching ways on Saturday. That is, until late. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. The Giants defeated the Red Sox on Saturday, 3-2, behind a gem from Landen Roupp.

Roupp led the Giants to victory, tossing six innings of shutout baseball. He allowed only three hits and kept the Red Sox off the bases for the most part. His only real blemish was the three walks he issued. Speaking to reporters after the game, Roupp elaborated, saying, “I felt like I had pretty decent command today. Obviously, the three walks don’t look pretty, but other than that I was in the zone. Curveball was good and changeup was doing its thing.”

Roupp’s outing was just what the doctor ordered for the Giants.

Randy Rodriguez pitched a scoreless seventh, Tyler Rogers followed with a scoreless eighth, and Bob Melvin turned the game over to his closer, Camilo Doval, for the ninth. Camilo struggled—but not in his traditional sense. He gave up three hits and two runs, but didn’t walk anyone—something that usually accompanies his rough outings. Bob Melvin noted that to me following the game, saying, “He got some hard contact on pitches he normally might get some swing and miss… but he didn’t walk anyone.” In the end, Doval still recorded the save as the Giants downed the Red Sox 3-2.

On the offensive end, all the Giants’ runs came courtesy of the long ball. Heliot Ramos homered in the first inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, followed by Rafael Devers’ first home run with the Giants. Devers’ shot—a two-run blast to left field—sent a packed Oracle Park crowd into a frenzy. Some might have said Devers was pressing a bit early on with the Giants, but not according to Bob Melvin. Bob said he has “remained the same guy his whole time here so far,” and that nothing appears to bother the slugger.

With the win, the Giants improved to 43-34 on the year and are currently four games back in the N.L. West, trailing the Dodgers. The Giants will send Robbie Ray (8-2, 2.68 ERA) to the mound, countered by Lucas Giolito (3-1, 4.73 ERA) for the Red Sox at 1:05 PM PST at Oracle Park.

Note of the day: Following a video posted on social media by his wife accusing the Giants right-hander of abuse (exact details of the allegations remain unclear), Sean Hjelle spoke to me and others after the game. He was brief but did confirm that he and his wife are in official divorce proceedings and that they have been “delayed” for unknown reasons. Hjelle said, “I have no official comment at this time, but there will be a time that I do.” It sounds as if he plans to speak on the matter more in the future when all legal matters have been resolved.