Giants Defense Falters as Robbie Ray Struggles in Blowout
Robbie Ray endured his toughest outing of the season as the Giants lost 12-2 to the Diamondbacks.
For the San Francisco Giants, Robbie Ray took the mound Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks , who countered with Zac Gallen. The matchup followed the Giants’ successful road trip to Sacramento, where they won a series against the Athletics two games to one. The Giants entered the series opener coming off one of their strongest offensive performances in recent weeks after scoring 10 runs on Sunday while continuing to rely on a pitching staff that has been among baseball’s best this season.
Ray entered the outing looking to rebound after a rough start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 13. Against Los Angeles, he allowed seven hits and four runs, including two home runs, while striking out only two batters. While the Dodgers’ lineup is one of the most dangerous in baseball, the outing raised some concern given Ray’s unusual lack of strikeouts and the amount of hard contact he surrendered.
The Diamondbacks wasted no time putting pressure on the veteran left-hander. Arizona jumped out early after Nolan Arenado delivered a first-inning grand slam, continuing what has been a strong offensive resurgence this season. Ketel Marte later added an RBI in the second inning as Arizona quickly built a 5-0 advantage through two innings.
According to Baseball Savant metrics, Ray’s slider velocity was noticeably down during the start. He threw the pitch 30 times at an average velocity of 84. 7 mph, nearly three mph below his season average of 87.