SAN FRANCISCO — Attention, pitching-starved playoff contenders: There’s a left-handed former Cy Young Award winner in San Francisco who just went toe-to-toe with Chris Sale.
It’s not just Robbie Ray’s effort Sunday in the Giants’ 3-2 win over the Braves and their own former Cy Young Award winner that should get phones ringing in the Giants’ front office.
The way Ray has pitched lately, he could be the best arm available at the Aug. 3 deadline.
Continuing to rely more and more on his two-seamer to generate weak, early contact, Ray turned in his most efficient outing yet, needing only 95 pitches to complete his second straight start of eight innings. Almost entirely forgoing the four-seam fastball he built his career on, Ray struck out only two batters but allowed only four hits — none until Matt Olson singled to lead off the fifth — and was at only 77 pitches through seven scoreless frames.
He needed 18 to make it out of his last and most laborious inning, finally allowing Atlanta to crack the scoreboard only after an error from Matt Chapman put the leadoff man on.
Ray, who used to throw his four-seamer on almost half his pitches, unleashed it only seven times, opposed to 36 sinkers — while mixing in a changeup and a slider — a transformation that can be traced back to the start of his recent turnaround.
On May 24, Ray walked a career-worst seven batters while allowing four runs over four innings, ballooning his ERA to a season-high 4.60. After his latest outing, that mark is down to 3.39.
Surely, the Giants will remind any team that calls of Ray’s dominance of late — back-to-back starts of eight innings with a 1.46 ERA the last six times he’s taken the mound. On an expiring contract, that’s not your average economy rental from Hertz — more like a premium upgrade.
Sale struck out 10 but was out of the game after six innings having exhausted 94 pitches. He wasn’t able to recover from a single from Luis Arraez to lead off the sixth that was followed by a pair of errors that led to both of the Giants’ runs in the inning, putting them ahead 2-0.
As soon as they chased Sale, the Giants’ bats were in business, with pinch-hitter Drew Gilbert leading off the seventh with a single against Didier Fuentes. Matt Chapman doubled him to third, where he was in position to score on a sac fly from Arraez.
The extra run proved to be important as Olson led off the ninth with a double and came around to score. But Caleb Kilian avoided any other damage and finished off his sixth save in eight chances, bouncing back from his four-run outing in Wednesday’s loss.
What it means
Heliot Ramos returned to the lineup after missing the past 37 games with a quad strain and helped the Giants find a spark against Sale, lining a single up the middle in the sixth for his first hit back that put Arraez in position to score on the second error of the inning.
Manager Tony Vitello penciled in Ramos as the designated hitter, but the playing time picture gets murkier moving forward as the rookie manager tries to find ways to fit Ramos, Casey Schmitt, Jung Hoo Lee, Bryce Eldridge, Rafael Devers and Luis Arraez in the lineup on a regular basis. Facing a tough lefty on Sunday, it was Eldridge who took a seat.
Who’s hot
Ray’s gem against the Braves was merely the latest effort in a strong stretch of starting pitching.
Of the 108 outs recorded in the sixth inning or earlier in six games on this home stand, all but three were recorded by Giants starters, which in and of itself is a step up from earlier this year.
Only Trevor McDonald (5 ⅓ IP) and Tyler Mahle (5 ⅔ IP) weren’t able to complete six innings, and in Mahle’s case it was only due to a 75-pitch limitation in his first start back from injury.
Altogether, it has produced a 1.31 ERA from their starters dating back to Logan Webb’s eight innings of two-run ball last Sunday, the best mark in the majors.
Yet, because of inconsistent offense and a faulty bullpen, the Giants improved to only 4-3 in that span. Dating back to Logan Webb’s eight-inning gem to finish their last home stand, their pitching staff has produced MLB’s lowest ERA, but it has resulted in only a 7-5 record.
Who’s not
Sale, the 2018 Cy Young winner, figured to be a tough matchup for the Giants. At 37, he has been as dominant as ever in his third season in Atlanta, taking a 2.14 ERA into the game that trailed only Jacob Misiorowski and Christopher Sanchez among NL starters.
But the Giants will probably look at their offensive output from the previous five games and feel they left some wins on the table this home stand. As a team, their 10-hit effort Sunday only raised their batting average on the home stand to .232, while they averaged only three runs per game, six that came in a loss blown by their bullpen.
Up next
The Giants’ bullpen should be in good shape as they head back on the road for two more series against NL West foes. Tyler Mahle will seek to build on his strong return from the injured list to begin the trip Monday against the Diamondbacks before the team spends Fourth of July weekend in Colorado to wrap up their final road trip before the All-Star break.