San Francisco Giants Rafael Devers (#16) and Jung Hoo Lee (#51) celebrating after Rafael Devers got himself his 24th home run of the season, giving the Giants the lead over the Detroit Tigers in an MLB game on Friday, August 7th, 2026, at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. (Photo credit to Jay Choi, SF Bay News Lab)
By Michael Villanueva
SAN FRANCISCO – This Friday night’s game was the start of the San Francisco Giants’ season-long nine-game homestand. The Giants (49-67) will host the Detroit Tigers (56-60) for the next three games, with the home team, the Giants, taking the first one Friday night, 5-2. The winning and starting pitcher of this ballgame was San Francisco Giants RHP Adrian Houser. This is Houser’s third win of the season, and he got his 43rd career win as a pitcher.
The losing pitcher for this game was Detroit Tigers RHP Keider Montero. Montero, coming into the game, was 8-6 and had an ERA of 3.17. This game was his 19th start in his 25th game of the season. This is also his fourth straight start after five consecutive relief outings.
The Giants returned home after a rough road trip in which San Francisco went (2-5), going (1-3) at San Diego and then (1-2) at Texas. These losses have now brought San Francisco to a season-low 19 games under .500 for the first time since 2017, ending 34 games under .500. Going into the game, the Giants were on a two-game losing streak. So the team was ready to come home and take advantage of their long homestand.
Detroit came into this game having great success on their road trip. The Tigers have won five of their six games in their West Coast trip. They stopped in three cities along the West Coast: Sacramento, Seattle, and now San Francisco. They went (3-0) in Sacramento, sweeping the Athletics, and then went (2-1) in Seattle. Detroit has outscored their opponents by 42 runs (53-11) in these first six games.
Tigers leadoff hitter Kevin McGonigle started the game off for Detroit with a single on a fly ball to right outfielder Jung Hoo Lee. Then the next batter, Gleyber Torres, also got himself a single on a sharp line drive back to right fielder Lee. Setting up McGonigle at third, so all Detroit needed was a hit, and that’s what they got. Tigers’ Dillon Dingler grounded into a force out, third baseman Christian Koss to second baseman Osleivis Basabe. Bringing in Kevin McGonigle to score early for the Tigers, 1-0.
Eventually, Giants pitcher JT Brubaker would end the top of the first with his first strikeout of the night. So with the Giants already down one run, they were trying to get their bats swinging and give their fans something to cheer for. So, Giants Rafael Devers’ first at-bat delivered with a home run to center field (401 feet). His homer would bring two runs, giving the Giants their first lead of the night, 2-1. His homer was his 24th of the season.
Just pitching one inning, with two hits, one run, and one strikeout. The Giants pull JT Brubaker, shortening his first start of the season. San Francisco brings in RHP Adrian Houser to replace him. However, Detroit still gets their bats swinging on him as well. The Tigers, in the top of the second, would be able to get another run on the Giants, tying the game, 2-2.
At the bottom of the second inning, with the Giants having two outs but bases loaded. Giants Jung Hoo Lee understood the assignment for them. Lee would get himself a single to center field, bringing in two runs for San Francisco. His two-run single would give the Giants the lead, 4-2. His hit would ignite and get the fans on their feet just after. The San Francisco Giants had a quick moment to honor and celebrate longtime Giants broadcaster Mike Brokow on his retirement.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Giants were seeing all the right pitches to their batting. Giants Willy Adames would add on and get his 19th home run of the season to left field, pushing San Francisco’s lead to 5-2. After that, the Giants defense stepped up and held off the Tigers. Detroit scored 76 runs in their last eight games, starting back on July 28th. So with the Tigers just being held to two runs, it makes the Giants defense stand out and shows some light into the season’s lows.
Heading into the top of the ninth inning, the Giants were holding the lead at 5-2. With San Francisco needing three more outs to call the game, they sent out RHP Dylan Smith. Smith is 0-4 and is still looking for his first win, and got his most recent loss on Tuesday. So with him determined to get his win and with help from the Giants’ defense. San Francisco holds off Detroit and took game one tonight. Smith would receive his first career save in this ballgame, and the Giants would get their 49th win of the season.
The San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers will come back Saturday for their second game out of three. The first pitch will be at 4:15 p.m. with the Giants sending out RHP Landen Roupp (7-10, 4.34 ERA). Detroit will send out and also will be making their season debut is RHP Jackson Jobe. The game will be broadcast on FOX.
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