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Reporting from ORACLE PARK
A pair of two-out, three-run home runs from Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee powered the San Francisco Giants to a 9-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park.
The Giants (44-60) scored all nine of their runs in the third and fourth innings, with eight of the nine RBIs coming with two outs.
Robbie Ray made the start in what could be his final home appearance at Oracle Park. Ray (W, 9-6, 3.16 ERA), who is in the final year of his contract, is a strong candidate to be dealt before the trade deadline. Since being acquired by the Giants in 2024, he has gone 22-16 with a 3.64 ERA in 59 appearances, a stretch that followed Tommy John surgery in 2023.
The Angels (41-64) countered with 23-year-old right-hander Ryan Johnson, drafted 74th overall in 2024. Johnson (L, 2-5, 7.34 ERA) had won his last start, against Detroit, going five innings and allowing two hits, one a solo home run.
Willy Adames got the Giants’ first hit of the day in the second inning, pulling a ball just inside the left-field line for a double, his 23rd of the season. But the two-out hitting ended there as Drew Gilbert lined out to center, keeping the game scoreless.
The Angels put pressure on Ray in the third inning with a pair of two-out singles, but he escaped unscathed when former Giant Jorge Soler flied out to left.
Just as he did Friday night, Devers got San Francisco on the board, dumping a ball just in front of Jose Siri in left to score Luis Arraez from third. Casey Schmitt followed with a single into right, scoring Heliot Ramos.
Then Lee put the exclamation point on the inning, driving his sixth home run of the season just above the right-field wall. A five-run inning, all of it with two outs.
The dugout was “electric,” Giants manager Tony Vitello said, watching his team put up a crooked number with the bases full of traffic:
“It fires you up to see guys just competing … you had a big string of at-bats where guys had their cleats in the dirt and competing their butt off.”
Lee made things happen with the glove as well, making an over-the-shoulder grab at the edge of the warning track to cap a shutdown inning for Ray in the fourth.
The Giants kept picking on Siri in the bottom half, when his diving attempt at a sinking Arraez liner came up short. Gilbert scored from second on the play, and Johnson’s day ended shortly after.
But even with the Angels turning to their bullpen, the Giants bats did not cool down. Devers hit a three-run homer of his own off Brooks Suter, his 22nd of the season, to make it 9-0 after four innings.
Devers finished with four RBIs, giving him seven through the first two games of the series. He has turned a corner after a forgettable April: Since the start of May, his 44 extra-base hits are the most in the majors.
Devers said the second half has felt different:
“I think it’s the reflection of all the adjustments I’ve made, the work I’ve been doing in the cage. I think that in the first half of the season, I was pushing myself a little bit and now I feel a little more comfortable, especially because of that extra work that I’ve been doing.”
Pitching with a nine-run cushion, Ray got help from the left side of his infield. Schmitt battled the bright sunshine to catch a popup in foul territory, and Adames ranged to his right on a grounder to force a runner at second. Another shutdown inning for Ray, who was at 71 pitches through five.
Lee kept showing off his all-around game in the sixth, throwing out Nolan Schanuel from right field as Schanuel tried to go first to third.
Ray finished his day with six shutout innings on six hits, two walks and five strikeouts.
Tristan Beck took over in the seventh, making his first appearance since being recalled from Sacramento on Tuesday. He loaded the bases before recording an out and then had to face Mike Trout. Beck got the outcome he wanted from the three-time AL MVP, inducing a 6-4-3 double play that scored a run and made it 9-1.
Catcher Tyler Heineman pitched the eighth for the Angels and retired the side in order on 11 pitches.
Keaton Winn worked the ninth for the Giants. Two singles and two walks gave the Angels a second run before Winn retired Soler on a grounder to third baseman Christian Koss, who did not glove it cleanly but recovered in time for the final out at first.
Los Angeles owns the worst record in the majors.
The Angels were the third straight American League opponent the Giants have faced since the All-Star break. For a rookie manager, each new opponent means new players, a new style of play and a fresh puzzle of how to find an edge. Vitello said he has leaned on his staff to find it:
“The one thing that’s developing over the course of the year for our staff is just how we prepare in general, so it hasn’t been so much about the team than us getting to know each other, trying to cover blind spots.”
Vitello also said former Giants have chimed in, with Will Clark and Hunter Pence around the team this weekend.
Up Next
The Giants and Angels close their three-game series Sunday afternoon. Carson Whisenhunt starts for San Francisco and Jose Soriano goes for Los Angeles. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
Notes
Dating to June 14, the Giants are 11-5 at home, a .688 winning percentage that is the best in baseball over that span. … With his home run, Lee reached 100 career RBIs.
