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Reporting from ORACLE PARK
Hao-Yu Lee‘s pinch-hit single in the 10th inning was the difference Sunday as the Detroit Tigers defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-1 at sunny Oracle Park.
The Giants (49-69) lost a home series for the first time since Toronto took two of three in early July, while the Tigers (58-60) claimed just their second series win ever in San Francisco – the other came in 2008.
Pitching figured to be the story again, with both starters entering Sunday on two-game winning streaks.
Troy Melton had been dominant in his previous two starts, throwing seven scoreless innings apiece against Baltimore and Seattle. All 12 of his starts in 2026 had lasted at least five innings, a streak he extended Sunday.
Logan Webb‘s last start at Texas earned him his seventh win of the season along with a season-high eight strikeouts. In his previous home start against Milwaukee, he went six innings and allowed just two runs.
Webb’s day started with a quick nine-pitch first inning, though while facing Gleyber Torres, catcher Daniel Susac lost an ABS challenge trying to reverse a ball call, leaving the Giants with just one challenge before they had taken an at-bat.
Melton closed out his own first inning with the help of a diving basket catch by left fielder Riley Greene to retire Willy Adames.
With two out in the second, Drew Gilbert sent a first-pitch cutter into Triples Alley and ended up at third for the first Giants scoring chance of the afternoon. But Susac grounded out to third, ending the inning and keeping the game scoreless after two.
Osleivis Basabe has been productive at the plate over the past week, but in the third he showed off his defensive ability, chasing a grounder to his right and flipping the ball with his glove to Adames at second to start an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Webb said:
“It was incredible, I was on the mound I was like ‘Wow,’ I gave [Basabe] a high-five after, it was a great play.”
Back-to-back singles from Adames and Rafael Devers put runners at the corners with nobody out in the fourth. But the rally came crashing down: Basabe struck out looking, costing the Giants their final ABS challenge before Zach McKinstry threw out Adames at the plate on Gilbert’s fly ball to right.
Gilbert didn’t have a great Saturday in center field, losing a ball in the sun with his sunglasses resting on top of his cap. He made up for it in the fifth, reaching up to snag a Spencer Torkelson liner that looked destined to get by him.
Detroit opened the scoring in the sixth. Singles from McKinstry and Kevin McGonigle started the inning, putting runners at the corners with no outs, and Torres grounded into a double play that brought home McKinstry for a 1-0 lead.
Melton got Detroit its shutdown inning in the bottom half, retiring the top of the Giants order in order. His day ended after Devers reached to lead off the seventh on a ball that dropped between third baseman Colt Keith and Greene in shallow left. Melton’s final line: six innings, four hits, one unearned run and five strikeouts.
Kyle Finnegan entered for his 49th appearance of the season. Basabe reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and took third on a bad throw from catcher Eduardo Valencia, then scored the tying run on Gilbert’s infield single, a bouncer Keith couldn’t field cleanly.
With the game tied 1-1, Webb returned for the eighth. A one-out double from Valencia had the Tigers threatening to reclaim the lead, but Webb didn’t falter, finishing his day with eight innings of one-run ball on an even 100 pitches, matching his longest outing of the season.
Giants manager Tony Vitellosaid was under the weather going into Sunday and it only adds to grit that he pitched with:
“To get out of the eight inning the way he did was kind of an exclamation point on a great outing.”
It was the Giants turn to grab the lead in the eighth. Singles from Christian Koss and Bryce Eldridge to start the inning put them in position to do just that, and a one-out walk to Adames brought Devers to the plate with the bases loaded and the crowd of 32,200 ready to explode.
But Drew Sommers got him to ground into an inning-ending double play, keeping the game tied going to the ninth.
Dylan Smith came on for his 25th appearance of the season to face the heart of the Tigers order. It didn’t matter: Smith struck out all three swinging – Torres, Dillon Dingler and Greene – on pitches touching 97 mph.
Kenley Jansen (W, 3-4, 3.82 ERA) pitched the ninth for Detroit and, like Smith, retired the side on three swinging strikeouts — making it six consecutive strikeouts to end regulation.
Sam Hentges (L, 1-4, 2.70 ERA) entered for the 10th with Greene as Detroit’s automatic runner at second base. Pinch-hitter Lee dropped a ball in near the right-field line to score Greene and put the Tigers back in front, and Torkelson followed with a single, putting runners at the corners with nobody out.
Max Clark then brought home Lee on a fielder’s choice, making it 3-1 Detroit.
Looking to end it, the Tigers turned to left-hander Tyler Holton (S, 2) for his 50th appearance of the season. He delivered, striking out the side and never letting the Giants automatic runner move beyond second.
San Francisco’s final six batters of the afternoon all struck out, capping a 14-strikeout day for the Giants offense as the Tigers took the season series two games to one.
Up Next
The Houston Astros come to Oracle Park to open a three-game series Monday. Hayden Wesneski (2-0, 3.86 ERA) gets the start for Houston, with Blade Tidwell (0-0, 3.18 ERA) countering for San Francisco. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
Notes
Newly acquired infielder Marcelo Mayer (No. 7) spoke to reporters pregame in the Giants clubhouse. Mayer, still on the 10-day injured list with a bone stress reaction in his left ulna, expressed excitement about joining San Francisco. He will travel to Arizona for the week, then meet up with Triple-A Sacramento to begin a rehab assignment during the River Cats’ series in Las Vegas.
With injuries and trades, the once-loaded Giants infield is looking thin. The team could use Mayer at either second or third base, which doesn’t seem to faze him. Mayer said:
“I feel comfortable, wherever they want me to play is where I’m gonna play. I just gotta go out there, get reps, get comfortable and just go out there and play hard.”
Giants honor Verlander
Before the start of the second inning, the Giants recognized Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander as he is retiring at the end of the 2026 season.
Verlander pitched for San Francisco last season and Webb stopped in the middle of his warmup pitches to show appreciation to his former teammate. Webb said:
“He’s one of the greatest pitchers of all time and I was lucky enough to be around him for a year. I wish I spent ten years with him as my teammate but I have a friend for life and a mentor for life.”
