CINCINNATI — The Giants had struggled to scrape together runs for two games against one of the worst teams in the majors and appeared to be headed down an even worse path in Sunday’s series finale.
They were held hitless into the seventh inning and scoreless until the eighth but were kept in the game by another strong pitching performance from starter Alex Cobb. And with a six-run rally off Reds relievers in the eighth inning — highlighted by Evan Longoria’s go-ahead three-run home run — they were able to stave off a sweep with a 6-4 win at Great American Ballpark.
Longoria’s three-run shot into the right-field seats came after the Reds pulled starter Tyler Mahle, who didn’t allow a hit until Thairo Estrada doubled with two outs in the seventh inning. Giants hitters made 20 outs before they could muster a hit off Mahle.
Going nearly toe-to-toe with Mahle, Cobb limited the Reds to two runs on four hits over six innings while striking out eight — six looking — including a stretch where he struck out five in a row. For seven innings, it appeared Cobb’s strong start would go to waste.
With Sunday’s early start time (11:35 a.m. local), the Giants’ bats woke up right around the time they would have normally started play for a Sunday game in the Eastern time zone.
Until Estrada’s seventh-inning double, the only base runners the Giants could manage against Mahle, who took MLB’s worst ERA among qualified starters (6.32) into this game, came on three walks and a hit-by-pitch. The pitcher who started Saturday’s game, Vladimir Gutierrez, had an ever higher ERA (8.70, but not enough innings to qualify) and limited San Francisco to two runs. Facing a rookie making his second MLB start Friday, the Giants’ only run came off Cincinnati’s bullpen.
Mahle needed 104 pitches to make it through 7⅔ innings, and forcing him from the game ignited the Giants offense.
Tommy La Stella started the rally with a one-out double off reliever Jeff Hoffman, followed by a walk to Wilmer Flores that prompted Cincinnati to turn to Art Warren. The first batter he faced, Joc Pederson, snuck a single past shortstop Kyle Farmer to drive home La Stella for the Giants’ first run.
Then the floodgates opened.
Longoria launched his fourth homer of the year to clear the bases and give the Giants their first lead of the entire series. They had played 26 innings against the Reds prior to the eighth and trailed in all but two of them (the first two innings Saturday, knotted at zero).
Brandon Crawford followed with a walk, and Estrada singled for his second hit of the day.
Luis González delivered the knockout blow with a two-RBI double off Cincinnati’s third reliever of the inning.
The eighth-inning rally had been a long time coming.
During their two losses to begin this series, the Giants had left 18 runners on base and batted 4-for-23 with runners in scoring position.
With the come-from-behind win, the Giants avoided being swept by a team that took the worst record in the majors into this series. It was just their second time in 19 games that they have won while trailing after seven innings.
Before Sunday, the Giants had already locked in a losing record during the month of May. With two games remaining this month, San Francisco stands at 11-14, one loss shy of tying August 2020 for the most in a month since Kapler took over. That August was also the only other month in Gabe Kapler’s two-plus seasons that the Giants have finished a month below .500.
Even with Sunday’s win, the Giants have lost nine of their past 14 games. They now head to Philadelphia to face a Phillies team that is scuffling equally, having lost nine of 13 (and four of five) entering their Sunday Night Baseball game against the Mets.
Notable
— Fans back in San Francisco had to set their alarms and brew their coffee to catch this one, though maybe it’s better if they didn’t. The 11:35 a.m. local start time (8:35 a.m. in the Bay Area) was the third-earliest game the Giants have played since the turn of the millennium. The only earlier starts were both 11:05 a.m. ET games on Independence Day in Washington, D.C. (2012, 2015). MLB’s new streaming deal with NBC’s Peacock features early morning games every Sunday, and this was the Giants’ first time taking part. They don’t have any more Peacock or Apple TV games on their schedule. “I naturally get up early, so it’s not a big deal for me,” manager Gabe Kapler said before the game. “I just try to compare it to a normal day game, like a 1:05 game, but players get here an hour earlier or so. It’s not the easiest part of the schedule but also not the hardest.”
