Ramos shines for SF Giants, but ‘terrible’ situational hitting leads to latest loss

Heliot Ramos accounted all of the San Francisco Giants' runs in a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels

SAN FRANCISCO – Heliot Ramos did it all for the San Francisco Giants on offense on Saturday afternoon.

Which wasn’t a good thing for San Francisco.

Ramos had two doubles and a two-run homer and finished with three RBI, but the Giants could not get anything else going offensively in a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels before a sun-splashed crowd of 36,235 at Oracle Park.

The Giants committed a costly error in the seventh inning, saw their bullpen allow three more stolen bases, and went a dismal 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. San Francisco also left a combined 10 runners on base as its record fell to 2-3 on this six-game homestand that ends Sunday.

“It was just subtle little things that beat us today,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Situational at-bats were terrible. We could have added at least three.

“It felt like these are the type of games we win, especially at home. So it was a pretty frustrating game.”

Ramos hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and added an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth for a 3-1 Giants lead. As of late Saturday afternoon, Ramos’ six homers were tied for the second-most in MLB, and his 17 RBI this month trailed only the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (18).

“It’s not a week thing or a two-week thing. He’s been doing this for quite a while,” Melvin said of Ramos. “Against good pitching, early in the game, homers, big hits, everything.

“Not only that, but he’s playing great defense. It’s fantastic baseball. You need some help, too. He knocked in all three runs today and we left some more out there. Frustrating.”

After Ramos’ RBI double, the Giants failed to add on, leaving the bases loaded after Jorge Soler and Thairo Estrada were both retired by Angels starter Patrick Sandoval.

“I don’t see it that it was a defining moment,” Estrada said of his at-bat in the fifth through interpreter Erwin Higueros, as he flew out to left field on an 84 mph changeup. “I hit the ball. Unfortunately, once the ball makes contact with the bat, I have no control where the ball is going and what the ball does.

“The whole point here is that we need to compete, and we’re competing, and that’s what we’re going to do (Sunday).”

In the sixth, after he walked Angels designated hitter Taylor Ward, Giants starter Keaton Winn was bothered by a small blister. That prompted a visit from Bob Melvin, Dave Groeschner, and Bryan Price, but Winn remained in the game after a brief discussion.

Winn got Kevin Pillar to fly out, but with Ryan Walker warming up in the bullpen, threw a middle-middle fastball to Logan O’Hoppe, who crushed it 467 feet to left-center, tying the game 3-3.

O’Hoppe’s blast was tied for the fourth-longest homer at Oracle Park in the Statcast era, which began in 2015. Other homers of such distance have come from Gary Sanchez (467 feet in 2019), Kennys Vargas (471 feet in 2017), Jorge Alfaro (473 feet in 2019), and Ian Desmond (477 feet in 2015).

Both Winn and Melvin said the blister did not affect the pitch. But the O’Hoppe bomb was Winn’s biggest mistake in an otherwise solid six-inning performance in which he threw 91 pitches and struck out six.

Melvin wanted to see Winn eat up innings on Saturday for at least a couple of reasons.

First, the Giants bullpen needed to throw 6 2/3 innings Friday in an 8-6 loss to the Angels.  Starter Spencer Howard was lit up for seven hits and four earned runs in 2 1/3 innings before he was lifted for Randy Rodríguez, who didn’t fare much better as the Giants trailed 8-0 after 3 1/3 innings.

But going deeper into Saturday’s game was also a confidence boost for Winn, considering how badly he struggled in his last start on June 9 in Arlington.

In his first start in close to a month, after he was on the injured list with a right forearm strain, Winn struck out seven but allowed seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. It was the fourth straight start in which he could not complete five innings, as he entered Saturday with a 3-7 record and a 6.94 ERA.

Winn’s other big mistake Saturday was leaving a fastball over the middle of the plate to Mickey Moniak, who hammered it 423 feet well over the center field wall, cutting San Francisco’s lead to 2-1 in the second inning.

Winn retired 10 of 13 batters after the Moniak homer. Of his six strikeouts Saturday, five were finished off by the split-finger fastball. For the season now, 24 of Winn’s 46 pitches have come off the splitter.

“That felt great,” Winn said of the splitter. “The whole start felt great aside from maybe one pitch that ended up being a two-run homer.”

Walker came in for Winn in the top of the seventh. He then walked Nolan Schanuel, saw Curt Casali commit an error that allowed Schanuel to get from first to third after a stolen base, and was followed by Luis Rengifo’s RBI bloop single to left center.

The Giants have allowed 73 stolen bases this season and have stolen just 27 themselves.

“All of those things add up,” Melvin said.