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Reporting from ORACLE PARK
Hayden Birdsong‘s final start of his rookie campaign was a trying effort, as the San Francisco Giants fell short to the St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-1 loss to close out the regular season at Oracle Park Sunday afternoon.
San Francisco finished with a record of 80-82, the third-straight season without a playoff berth. With just one postseason appearance in eight years, the Giants organization continues a run generated from pure mediocrity.
This story will be updated with quotes and post-game material from the Giants clubhouse at Oracle Park.
Changes — big or small — are certainly on the horizon as the club enters a crucial offseason.
Birdsong (L, 5-6, 4.75 ERA) showed flashes of electricity Sunday, striking out 11 Cardinals through 4-1/3 innings of work. The right-hander notched his second career double-digit strikeout game and continued to generate swings and misses at a high level. Of 13 swings he generated off his slider, Birdsong was able to rack up 12 whiffs.
St. Louis generated hard contact to add three earned runs to Birdsong’s name when Brendan Donovan cranked a solo shot over the right field arcade in the third and knocked an RBI single two innings later to cap off a two-run fifth inning.
Despite the defeat, It’s an encouraging ending for Birdsong, who will likely be a clear favorite to regain a spot in next season’s rotation.The 23-year-old finished with a 4.75 earned run average and 88 strikeouts in 72 total innings of work.
The Giants offense was silenced by Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy (W, 3-0, 1.96 ERA), who cruised easily through six scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out four. When the Cardinals doubled their lead by tacking on three more runs in the sixth against righty Randy Rodriguez, it was enough for the Giants to all but throw in the towel.
Melvin tactically pulled a few of his veteran position players during Sunday’s action, allowing the crowd of over 32,000 to give them a strong and thunderous round of applause. Matt Chapman‘s first season in the orange and black was successful, resulting in the 2024 Willie Mac Award winner as the leader in almost every offensive category on the team and numerous other big-time categories among all National League position players. Melvin pulled Chapman ahead of the top of the third.
Mike Yastremzski, not a certain returner for next season’s outfield, also received a moment after being pulled from right field. A fan favorite since joining the club in 2019, Yastrzemski is set to face arbitration this offseason, forcing the Giants to make a decision on whether to tender him a contract or not.
The Giants needed innings in the worst way during their season finale so they turned to righty Trevor McDonald, who spent the majority of the 2024 season with Triple-A Sacramento. McDonald made his MLB Debut in the seventh inning and rolled up three groundouts for a 1-2-3 inning. He threw two more scoreless innings to cap off an impressive debut.
Notes
Heliot Ramos was notably absent from the Giants lineup on Sunday because of a tight hamstring to go along with lingering issues with plantar fasciitis, Melvin told reporters pregame. … Mark Canha was placed on the injured list prior to the finale with a right thumb sprain, prompting the organization to recall Luis Matos from Triple-A Sacramento.
