SAN FRANCISCO – A day that began with questions swirling about how Rafael Devers would handle facing his former team five days after being traded away ended with more questions. Not about Devers so much as the state of the entire team following the Giants' 7-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night at Oracle Park.
Specifically, the pitching.
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SIGN UP HERE Manager Bob Melvin had to reach deep into San Francisco’s bullpen after starter Hayden Birdsong got knocked out of the game in the fifth inning. Birdsong wasn’t nearly as sharp as he has been, allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
There wasn’t a whole lot of relief from the bullpen, either.
Sean Hjelle allowed two hits and one run in his one inning of work. Erik Miller retired two batters before giving way to Joey Lucchesi, who gave up a run and got one out.
Things weren’t that much better for the offense.
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Two of the Giants runs came on double plays, earning Christian Koss a place in history. Koss grounded into both and became the third player in major league baseball over the last 50 years to ground into two bases-loaded double plays that scored a run in the same game.
Heliot Ramos and Casey Schmitt had two hits apiece. Willy Adames reached base three times and scored a pair of runs, and Patrick Bailey walked three times
In spite of everything the Giants had a chance to make things a lot more interesting with two outs in the eighth before Mike Yatsrzemski struck out swinging with the bases loaded.
The Giants scored off Boston starter Hunter Dobbins early and led 3-0 after two innings before Boston’s bats woke up.
The Red Sox got a two-run home run by David Hamilton in the third, tied the game on Cedanne Rafaela’s single in the fourth then scored twice in the fifth to lead for good.
Here are the takeaways from Friday:
DEVERS FACES FORMER TEAM
The newest Giant star has been treated like royalty since arriving in town, and Friday’s game against his former team wasn’t much different.
Devers received a standing ovation from the Oracle Park crowd when he strolled to the plate for his first at-bat that ended in a groundout to first.
Rafael Devers receives a big ovation before his first at-bat against his former team 👏 pic.twitter.com/07crQEj2zm
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 21, 2025
There wasn’t as much fanfare for Devers’ second AB but he gave the fans a jolt with a deep drive to left-center that Rafaela caught before bouncing into the wall in center field.
In the fifth inning Devers grounded into a fielder’s choice that got Ramos into scoring position before Wilmer Flores’ RBI single. Devers came up as the tying run in the seventh and flew out to center, then struck out swinging against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth.
An O-for night is never good but the energy at Oracle Park is definitely different with Devers in the lineup.
NO DEFENDING BAD DEFENSE
The fifth inning looked more like something out of a Bad News Bears movie rather than a professional baseball game due to the wacky defense the Giants put on display.
Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee fielded Roman Anthony’s single and tried to throw home to get Jalen Duran but the throw was short and off target. Catcher Patrick Bailey grabbed the ball and went to throw to second as Anthony neared the bag but Bailey’s throw sailed into center field.
Boston’s next batter, Abraham Toro, hit a grounder to right that went underneath the glove of second baseman Christian Koss for a run-scoring error.
BIRDSONG BLUES
Birdsong has had varying levels of success since being promoted to the rotation, and that was the case when he toed the rubber against the Red Sox Friday.
The right-hander gave up seven hits and five runs (four earned) before he was chased from the game with one out in the fifth inning after three of the four batters he faced reached safely.
The ending was in stark contrast to how Birdsong’s day began. The right-hander’s fastball was clocking in at the mid-90s in the early-going and helped the starter retire the first seven Red Sox batters before Rafaela’s double broke up the no-hit bid.
Part of the problem was Birdsong’s control. Although he walked only one, Birdsong threw 85 pitches (34 for balls) while getting only 13 outs. That continued a trend of high pitch counts and shortened outings that have plagued the pitcher over his last five starts.