Carson Whisenhunt #88 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Washington Nationals in the second inning at Oracle Park on August 09, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Mandatory Photo Credit: Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants and Nationals played game two of their three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park. The Giants fell behind early and weren’t able to mount a comeback, falling to the Nationals 4-2 in the matinee affair.

Carson Whisenhunt wasn’t sharp from the get-go on Saturday, giving up a leadoff homer to James Wood in the top of the first inning. Whisenhunt would only go four innings, surrendering three runs — all on home runs — and giving up five hits while walking three.

“I didn’t have my best stuff,” Whisenhunt said after the game. “The home runs, I left pretty much through the middle of the plate. Just got to be a little better.”

Bob Melvin shared Whisenhunt’s sentiments after the game, chalking it up to a few missed pitches and a lack of command.

“Well, they [Nationals] were on his fastball,” Melvin said postgame. “They hit some fastballs for homers, so I think his stuff was as good as we’ve seen it today. But just kind of middle-middle… three fastballs and they hit three homers off [those pitches].”

On the other hand, the bullpen came in and pitched well, all things considered. Carson Seymour came in to relieve Whisenhunt and threw three innings of one-run ball, giving up four hits in his relief. Matt Gage, who served as the opener on Friday, came in to finish the game, throwing two scoreless innings while allowing two hits in his appearance.

In the end, the Giants’ offense wasn’t able to get enough done to mount the comeback they needed. However, just as he did on Friday, Rafael Devers got the Giants on the board with a solo home run in the sixth inning.

After the game, Bob Melvin spoke to Devers’ ability to get deep into counts and lay off tough pitches en route to some of the solid at-bats he’s been having.

“… He’s just a really good hitter who knows what his strengths are, and the fact that he does hit the ball the other way allows him to lay off some pitches when he’s feeling good.”

The Giants’ only other run came in the eighth inning when pinch hitter Wilmer Flores hit a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Giants their second run of the game. That was all she wrote for the Giants as they fell by the final of 4-2 while amassing eight hits total.

The Giants fell to 59-58 with the loss as the Nationals improved to 45-70.

On Sunday, the Giants and Nationals will play the rubber match at 1:05 p.m. PST at Oracle Park. Justin Verlander (1-8, 4.29 ERA) is set to go for the Giants as the Nationals counter with MacKenzie Gore (4-12, 4.29 ERA).