The Giants won two of three games against the Dodgers at home. They won two of three games against the Braves in Atlanta. On Sunday they’d the chance to win two of three games against the Guardians in Cleveland.
Considering that San Francisco has hovered below .500 for many of this season, three consecutive series wins against three playoff teams would have been invaluable for the team to shut out the primary half.
Instead, a potentially great road trip becomes just a very good trip.
Despite taking an early lead, Sean Hjelle allowed a game-winning three-run home run by Bo Naylor within the sixth inning that sent the Giants down 4-5 to the Guardians at Progressive Field and missed the possibility to win a series against considered one of the American League's best teams.
The Giants (44-47) took control early. Michael Conforto hit a 440-foot, two-run home run within the second inning, the longest home run of his time with San Francisco. In the third inning, Heliot Ramos singled home Nick Ahmed to provide rookie Hayden Birdsong a 3-0 lead in his third profession start.
The Guardians (56-32) then proved why they’re among the finest teams in baseball. Cleveland scored two runs against Birdsong within the fourth – the primary on an RBI single by Josh Naylor, the second on an RBI double by Daniel Schneemann.
Birdsong finished the inning on his own terms despite throwing 23 pitches, but his afternoon ended with two outs within the fifth inning after allowing two runners to succeed in base. Hjelle escaped the precarious situation by striking out José Ramírez and protecting San Francisco's 3-2 lead. Birdsong thus reached a final line of two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. In the next inning, Hjelle again fell one strike in need of protecting his team's one-run lead.
After two quick outs, Andrés Giménez and Tyler Freeman hit back-to-back singles. Bo Naylor got here off the bench to pinch hit for Austin Hedges, but Hjelle was about to send him right back to the dugout, taking a 2-0 lead. Naylor did indeed return to the dugout shortly afterward, but not in the way Hjelle had hoped.
The younger Naylor brother threw two pitches, then took two balls to tie the rating at 2-2. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Naylor sent Hjelle's middle-in sinker into the right-field stands, turning San Francisco's one-run lead right into a two-run deficit. Those two runs were good enough for the Guardians' bullpen, a unit that entered the sport with a league-best 2.59 ERA.
San Francisco made things exciting within the ninth inning against closer Emmanuel Clase. Matt Chapman hit a double with one out, reached third base on a scarcity of defense, and scored on Conforto's groundout. Luis Matos hit a grounder with two outs that would have ended the sport, but reached base because third baseman Angel Martínez made a throwing error. But Clase got Brett Wisely to groundout, ending the sport and the series.
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