Landen Roupp #65 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Chicago Cubs in the top of the third inning at Oracle Park on June 12, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants were back in action at Oracle Park on Friday night. Entering the game on Friday night, the vibes couldn’t have been higher after an off day spent celebrating Bryce Eldridge’s walk-off grand slam on Wednesday afternoon. Granted, the win was only to avoid a sweep, but it was momentum the club desperately needed.

On Friday, the Giants lost their momentum as they fell to the Cubs 5-1 in the first game of a three-game series.

Landen Roupp got the ball for the Giants in what was his 14th start of the season. Roupp was solid, but a high pitch count and a little bit of bad luck did him in as he picked up his seventh loss of the season. Roupp was pitching a scoreless game and had faced just two batters over the minimum heading into the fourth inning before he ran into trouble. Roupp gave up an RBI double to Seiya Suzuki and a sac fly to Nico Hoerner to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead but managed to get out of the inning with no further damage.

Yet, in the fifth inning, more trouble found Roupp. Roupp gave up a walk and a double with two outs in the inning that prompted Tony Vitello to go with Erik Miller out of the bullpen. That decision proved disastrous for the Giants as Michael Busch promptly hit a three-run home run, and two of the runs were charged to Landen Roupp’s final line. All in, Roupp went 4 2/3 innings while giving up four runs on four hits, walking two and striking out five. Roupp needed 105 pitches to get through his work, which is almost certainly what led to his inability to finish the fifth inning.

Erik Miller, the first man out of the bullpen for the Giants, pitched just one-third of an inning, getting the final out of the fifth. Miller’s final line included one hit and one run (earned).

In the sixth and seventh innings, the Giants turned to JT Brubaker to give them some length out of the bullpen. Brubaker pitched well, allowing no runs and only one hit across his two innings of work while striking out one Cubs hitter.

In the eighth inning, it was Sam Hentges out of the bullpen for the Giants. Hentges completed one inning of relief in which he was perfect and didn’t allow a baserunner.

In the ninth inning, the Giants turned to Ryan Walker, who had recently rejoined the big league club. Walker pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning and struck out one.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Giants had little to show for their efforts on Friday. The Giants totaled just four hits and one walk in the game and only managed to scratch one run across.

The Giants’ lone run came in the bottom of the ninth inning as Bryce Eldridge blasted his fifth home run of the season. The booming shot to right field traveled 377 feet and left the bat at 106 mph as Eldridge’s season RBI total is now at 13.

With the loss, the Giants fell to 28-42 while the Cubs improved to 36-34.

The Giants will take on the Cubs in game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. PT. Ben Brown (2-2, 1.74 ERA) is slated to start for the Cubs as the Giants will counter with Trevor McDonald (2-3, 4.15 ERA).