by
Greek Giant
First, the Bad News
This was a strange game. It was no ordinary 6-3 loss to the Nationals. There four triples, two by each team. The Giants left 13 men on base, and lost the game with a slew of bad at bats in key situations. Adrian Houser gave up two runs to the first two batters (James Wood homer after a Luis Garcia single) he faced then settled down to pitch very well and then allowed another run, three in all in his 4 1/3 innings of work with six strikeouts and zero walks. His was not a terrible outing and it kept the Giants in the game.
Walks were a HUGE part of this game for both teams. Giants pitchers other than Adrian issued five free passes. The Washington ball club issued seven. It is an absurd number in this day and age. There were so many bases loaded or first and third situations for the Giants where they could have taken the lead and ended up with first pitch pop ups, strikeouts and such that I lost count. It’s the sign of a terrible team to have a pattern of failure in these spots, especially against less-than-dominant pitching and the Giants are that team in 2026.
Don’t get me started on the Giants bullpen! In this game they surrendered three runs, the difference in the game, thanks to bad outings by Hentges, Miller and Brubaker. No need to get into it. I need to mention too the strange outing by Smith, who walked in a run then got out of further trouble in a critical situation in the top of the seventh inning. The young fellow looks promising. He will be effective once he gets ahold of his command.
The Good News, Sort of
The Giants faced Nationals starter Andrew Alvarez, a lefty who does not top 94 MPH. He has deceptive stuff and could be the second coming of Johan Santana. He is an impressive pitcher with a crazy curveball/slider that comes from his left hand and ends up in the netherworld that flummoxes both righties and lefties at the plate. Alvarez pitched four innings and allowed two runs, both came in the bottom of the fifth when the Giants came to life thanks to a Devers walk, an Arraez single and a two-run double by none other than Jung (Stan the Korean Man) Hoo Lee. He extended his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by a San Francisco baseballer since Donovan Solano’s streak in 2020. If that weren’t impressive enough, consider this: Lee’s single and two-run double Tuesday were his 28th and 29th hits over his past 12 games. No San Francisco Giant had ever stuffed that many hits into so few games. The player in franchise history to do so was Hall of Famer Bill Terry in 1932.
Let’s put it this way: In the Giants’ nine June games, leadoff hitter Casey Schmitt, No. 2 hitter Rafael Devers and cleanup man Willy Adames are a combined 19-for-115. That’s just one more hit than Lee has produced this month during his remarkable, tremendous, beautiful, and memorable tear of hitting. What makes Lee so impressive is that he his hitting all types of pitchers, all types of pitches, to all fields, with power and with consistent hard contact.
Raise your hand if you saw this coming!
Other good news for the Giants: the continued development of Bryce Eldridge. Last night he went 2-3 with a run scored, an RBI, two walks and a double. He looked confident, calm, and a burgeoning slugger. It is a Giant success story in the making and kudos to Buster and Mr. Vitello for playing the kid everyday. It’s the right thing to do and it is paying off.
Today’s Game
The Giants try to salvage a game against the Nationals in today’s series finale at Willie Mays Field at 12:45 PM. Foster Griffin (7-2, 3.43 ERA) will face Robbie Ray (4-6, 4.12 ERA)
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