SF Giants fall 3-1 to Braves by going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position

Cam Inman, The Mercury News on Jun 27, 2026

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

SAN FRANCISCO – Seven-run efforts helped the San Francisco Giants win back-to-back games last week in Atlanta.

Friday night, the Giants scored a run in the first inning … then none afterward, losing 3-1 at Oracle Park to open a three-game series against the struggling Atlanta Braves.

The defining stat: San Francisco went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, although baserunning blunders also resulted in an out in each of the first two innings.

The Giants’ final threat was a brief one: Willy Adames hit a two-out double in the eighth, only to get stranded once the slumping Matt Chapman struck out in a three-pitch at-bat. Chapman went 0-for-4 and is 2-for-32 over his past nine games.

The Giants (33-48) at least provided some excitement for the home crowd of 39,051 with defensive gems and a smattering of non-threatening hits. Those offensive highlights :

— Luis Arraez and Rafael Devers doubled off the outfield walls in the first inning.

— Bryce Eldridge hit an opposite-field double in the third, after going hitless last series against the Athletics.

— Catcher Drew Cavanaugh drew a standing ovation for getting a fifth-inning hit in his Major League debut – a sharp single up the middle on reliever Hurston Waldrep’s 95-mph sinker with one out. Alas, that bases-loaded rally died once Eldridge struck out and Casey Schmitt’s grounder led to a force out

— Adames capped his 2-for-3 night with that eighth-inning double, albeit off center fielder Michael Harris II’s glove on the warning track.

As for how they scored: Devers’ shot put the Giants ahead 1-0 in the first. His 405-foot, RBI double off the base of the center-field wall brought home Eldridge. Earlier, Arraez ran into the Giants’ first out by trying to take third on Eldridge’s grounder to shortstop.

Arraez, still favoring the right foot he hurt Tuesday night, delivered the first of many defensive gems by the Giants this night. He made a diving stop to produce the Braves’ final out and thus strand a runner at second in their opening, scoreless frame.

The Giants ran into another out the next inning, with Adames unable to get back to first base after trying to run on Chapman’s flyout to center.

The third inning brought another Giants miscue: Arraez committed an errant throw on a double-play attempt. Again, it led to a run, with Albies delivering a two-out, RBI single for a 2-1 Braves’ lead.

Friday’s thick, marine air kept Matt Olson from hitting his team-leading 21st home run, as he settled for a 394-foot double off the center field wall in the fifth. Ozzie Albies followed with an RBI flyout to shorter center field as the Braves went up 3-1.

The Giants' Trevor McDonald, after losing his past five decisions, was pulled after striking out Austin Riley to open the sixth inning. McDonald allowed seven hits and three earned runs while walking one and striking out three. He hasn’t notched a win since May 16.

He could have been tagged for more runs if not for stellar defensive plays. Arraez and Devers made diving stops for groundouts; Victor Bericoto laid out for a catch in right field; and Casey Schmitt delivered an inning-ending grab into the left-field line’s netting.

The Giants’ bullpen, after coughing up a 6-2 lead to the A’s on Thursday, saw former starter Adrian Houser make his first relief appearance and allow no hits (but commit a ninth-inning error) in 2 1/3 innings.

—The NL East-leading Braves came in having lost 10 of their past 13, including this week’s three-game sweep at San Diego. The Giants won back-to-back games last week in Atlanta before rain pushed back their series finale to Aug. 31.

— NASCAR drivers Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski were in attendance ahead of this Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

— Victor Bericoto, after hitting a 445-foot home run each of the previous two games, batted in the No. 9 spot. He went 1-for-2 with a walk before getting pinch-hit for in the ninth by Drew Gilbert, who flew out to right field.

— After missing the past two games because of a foot injury, Arraez wrote a message of support on his cap (“Fuerza Venezuela,” or Stay Strong) after this week’s earthquakes in his native country. That hat already had the initials VZ stitched into the side, as approved league-wide by MLB. Two weeks ago, three Giants pitchers created a controversy on Pride Night by inscribing biblical verses on their caps, and baseball admonished them with a warning (but no fine) for writing personal statements.