Five games was the longest win streak of the 2024 San Francisco Giants. They didn’t secure their first sweep until mid-May, or win their third series until the fourth week of April.
Those Giants are not apparently not these Giants. These 2025 Giants have already checked those boxes and then some. With Saturday’s 4-1 win over Seattle, they bagged their sixth consecutive win and claimed their third straight series victory. The 7-1 start is San Francisco’s best since 2003.
After Friday’s unwieldy marathon, today’s win was a more subdued, straightforward affair.
Robbie Ray and Mariners’ right-hander Bryce Miller didn’t face much in terms of opposition early on, with both sides’ bats apparently still catching their breath.
San Francisco’s first hit didn’t come until the 4th, when Jung Hoo Lee tucked a one-out double inside the first base bag. Their first run followed shortly after.
Lee was halfway to third by the time Miller released his first pitch to Matt Chapman. A pitch later Chapman doubled through the legs of a drawn in Dylan Moore at third for the first run of the game.
With two outs, Mike Yastrzemski added another by blooping in Chapman for his first RBI of the season.
Déjà vu in the 6th. Lee and Chapman linked up again with back-to-back doubles, and Wilmer Flores capped the scoring with a single off righty reliever Trent Thornton for his 11th RBI of the season.
Eight games into the season, the running game is one of the biggest differences between those Giants and these Giants.
Though we saw the team’s immaculate stolen base record sullied by Willy Adames in the 3rd, it was the first time a Giant had been thrown out in 11 attempts. They’ve been incredibly successful at integrating the stolen base so far, and their aggressiveness is justified and affirmed by their adaptable approach in the batter’s box. The stolen base is a “risk” worthwhile because it builds to something tangible. The steals have produced results. Adames swiped second in the 4th on Friday, and on the next pitch he crossed the plate on Lee’s single. Lee’s stolen base on Saturday forced the Mariners to draw the infield in, and if the infield wasn’t in, Chapman’s ball probably doesn’t get past the Gold Glover Moore.
Adjusting swings to cater to game situations — far from revolutionary, but now back in-vogue — has been preached from the pulpit for these Giants since day one of the offseason, and it’s paid off. As a team, San Francisco has hit .269 with a solid .798 OPS in 76 PA (!) with runners in scoring position. In two-out & RISP situs, they’re hitting .367 with 1.158 OPS (33 PA).
Robbie Ray, far from flirting with perfection against his former team, nonetheless muscled through six innings of work against his former club.
The lefty spent most of the day around the zone, but didn’t get much in terms of chase from Seattle swings or the edge of the plate from home plate umpire James Hoye. Ray’s only K’s were the second and third batters he faced. Contrasting with Bryce Miller’s kitchen sink approach, Ray once again stayed pretty true to his fastball (63%), a necessity given the amount of unfriendly counts he found himself in. 5 walks in a game is not an ideal number for a starting pitcher, but the veteran limited their potential damage by not stringing them together (for the most part), allowing just four hits, inducing a double play, and picking off two potential base-stealers.
The Mariners had just four at-bats with a runner in scoring position in the six innings against Ray, and their only RBI came on a homer by Dylan Moore in the 5th with the bases empty.
Most importantly, Ray ate up innings — an important task considering how badly the relievers needed relief after their 8 innings of work on Friday. He linked up nicely with Hayden Birdsong, who pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th.
A double play ball off the bat of Victor Robles smoothed over back-to-back singles in the 7th, and in the 8th, Birdsong fanned Julio Rodríguez with a change-up, and Cal Raleigh on a loopy curve. Ryan Walker picked up his third save of the year with an assist by Matt Chapman on his Gold Glove bobblehead day.
