San Francisco Giants’ Heliot Ramos throws his bat after popping out against the San Diego Padres during the sixth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Lincoln Juarez 

SAN FRANCISCO – Jose Iglesias and Jackson Merrill both homer as the San Diego Padres take the series in San Francisco. The Giants couldn’t get starter Robbie Ray any run-support in his 113 pitch outing. 

A brisk Tuesday night of baseball at Oracle Park made for an even more un-enjoyable night for Giants fans as they watched the team’s playoff hopes get swept further under the rug in their loss to the Pads 5-1 Tuesday. 

The orange and black took the field on Grateful Dead night behind left-hander Ray. Ray went into the ballgame 9-5 with a 2.85 ERA. He set down the first two hitters without a problem but encountered one of the more interesting ways we’ve seen a Giants pitcher allow a run this year. 

Manny Machado blooped a shallow fly-ball into right field where three Giants converged but none could make the play. Right fielder Tyler Fitzgerald, who had just been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento, was playing in the outfield for the first time since last season. That could’ve been attributed to the lack of communication that saw the ball drop in the triangle of Giants. 

The next delivery from Ray got blasted off the left field wall for a double by Xander Bogaerts putting Machado at third base and two men in scoring position. On the next attempt to pitch, Ray lost his footing on the mound resulting in a balk and Machado coming home to score the game’s first run. 

Visibly frustrated by Machado’s bizarre trip around the bases, Ray kicked the clay near the rubber and proceeded to fire a 95mph fastball past Jackson Merrill for his second strikeout of the game. 

In the home first the Giants had their first look at Nestor Cortes in just his second start as a Padre. 1-1 on the year with a 7.11era, Cortes aimed to toss his first win with his new club. 

The top of the Giants order gave him trouble early on as Casey Schmitt doubled from the two hole in the order. It was his first of four hits Tuesday night. Devers followed with a single placing runners on the corners and one out. 

Willy Adames was next to test his luck with runners in scoring position and struckout, leading to Wilmer Flores stepping in with two outs. Wilmer rolled a swinging bunt down the third base line that went untouched until it stopped rolling about ten feet in front of the bag. Machado finally picked it up, only after Schmitt scored from third to tie the game. 

Would it be a surprise if that was the only run the Giants could score Tuesday night? 

With the way they’ve played at home their last 13 games(1-12), scoring just 24 runs in that span (the fewest in a 13-game span since August 27-September 24 of 2018), it would not be a surprise at all. 

Sure enough the Giants lacked that big hit they’ve been needing to get the offense going at home and struck out 11 times on their way to a fourth straight loss and their fifth straight series loss at home. 

Giants fans wish they could all snap a bat over their knee like Heliot Ramos did in the second inning. 

The Padres got to Ray again in the second, this time cashing in two on Jose Iglesias’ first home run of the year. They tacked on two more, one in the fourth and eighth inning, en route to a 5-1 win, securing their fifth consecutive series win. 

Robbie Ray threw 113 pitches in his sixth loss of the season across 6.0ip allowing 4er. Postgame, Bob Melvin praised Ray’s competitive spirit and his desire to go deep into the game. Melvin also mentioned that the bullpen being a bit short on arms and where the team is in the season, Ray throwing as many as he did Tuesday night is what he expected. 

Now two games under .500, the visibly frustrated Giants return to action Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park looking for anything to help turn things around. 

It will be Kai-Wei Teng (1-1 ERA 5.40) earning the start at 12:45pm vs right-hander Nick Pivetta (11-4 ERA 2.94) for San Diego first pitch 12:45pm PT.