San Francisco Giants Heliot Ramos salutes the Almighty after hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the St Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Sep 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Lincoln Juarez 

SAN FRANCISCO – Ryan Walker blew another save against the Cardinals as the red bird bats rallied late to overcome a big deficit. The Giants playoff hopes dwindled following another miserable loss at home. 

Tuesday night with Logan Webb on the mound the Giants looked to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Game one did not go in favor of the orange and black in a slim 6-5 loss. Webb went into Tuesday night 14-11 with a 3.27 ERA and just 4.1 innings shy of 200 innings pitched on the season. 

St. Louis came out swinging in the first, scoring three runs on five hits off Webb. Three of those hits and a run came before the Giants ace recorded an out. Three of the five Cardinal hits in the first also had an exit velocity of 101mph or higher. 

It was hard to know the Giants even hit in the home first as a lifeless crowd watched Cardinals’ starter Andre Pallante set them down quietly in order on just 12 pitches. 

In the bottom of the third, still trailing by three, the Giants brought around five runs to take the lead and turn the game around. Heliot Ramos stepped in with the bases loaded and nobody out and hit a groundball to third baseman Nolan Arenado.

What looked to be a sure 5-2-3 double play turned out to be an error charged to Arenado as his throw home nailed Patrick Bailey who was running from third. The ball bounced off Bailey in the direction of the Cardinal dugout allowing Christian Koss to score from second right behind him. 

Willy Adames stepped in two batters later and drove in the tying run on a base hit to right. Matt Chapman then drove in Ramos on a sacrifice fly to give the Giants the lead. Jung Hoo Lee capped off the five-run inning with an rbi single to center that scored Adames. 

A spirited comeback inning made it 5-3 Giants after three full. 

In the top of the fifth inning Logan Webb, one out away from 200 IP, struck out Alec Burleson and achieved the 200 inning mark for the third straight season. He became the first Giants pitcher to achieve the milestone in three consecutive seasons since Giant great Madison Bumgarner did so in six consecutive seasons from 2011-2016. Webb finished with 6ip, 8h, 3er, 2bb, and 5k. 

The Giants struck for two more runs to add on to their lead in the home fifth as Patrick Bailey doubled home Matt Chapman and Christian Koss singled home Bailey to make it 7-3 San Francisco. 

After Heliot Ramos hit his 20th home run of the year in the sixth, it seemed like the Giants would cruise to a substantial victory, however the Cardinals didn’t go down easy. 

St. Louis plated four runs in the top of the seventh off a Giants bullpen who threw 4.2 scoreless against them Monday night. Renowned Giant killer Nolan Arenado topped off the inning with his 11th homer of the season to put the Cardinals within one, 8-7. 

Ahead by a run the Giants sent closer Ryan Walker to the mound to get the final three outs and secure the win. He got three outs but they were not the final three outs recorded of the night. Walker, who blew a save in St. Louis against the Cardinals on September 6th, gave up the Giants lead in the ninth Tuesday night. The Cardinals racked up two runs on four hits in the ninth to comeback and take the lead 9-8. 

In the bottom of the ninth Willy Adames doubled with one out setting up the tying run in scoring position. Matt Chapman struck out, becoming the second out of the inning. Down to their final out, it was up to pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores, who replaced rookie Bryce Eldridge. Wilmer struck out swinging to end the game, stranding the tying run at second. 

The Giants lost their second straight and the series to the Cardinals. Another disappointing performance by Ryan Walker left fans at Oracle Park in disgust as they headed for the exits knowing it will almost definitely be another year without playoff baseball in the city by the bay. 

The final game of the series will take place Wednesday night with RHP Sonny Gray (14-8, 4.33) vs. LHP Robbie Ray (11-8, 3.65). 

First pitch at 6:45pm at Oracle Park.