SF Giants fall in extras again to Braves, 4-3

SAN FRANCISCO — For two straight nights, the Braves and Giants have played in a playoff-like atmosphere.

And for two straight nights, the Giants came up just short in the 10th inning.

In the series opener, San Francisco was a hit or two shy of rewarding Blake Snell for his masterpiece. Tuesday, it was more of the same: After going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Monday, the Giants 0-for-10 in the same situation, including a brutal extra innings.

Chasing a run in the 10th, just like they were on Monday, the Giants tried to bunt the placed runner over but failed. Tyler Fitzgerald, one of the team’s best hitters, got the signal from the dugout and was ruled out after touching his bunted ball outside the batter’s box. San Francisco’s next two hitters, LaMonte Wade Jr and Heliot Ramos, left the game-tying run at second.

“I have to be able to get a bunt down,” Fitzgerald said postgame. “I’m a rookie, I’ve known I’m going to be in that spot this whole year, and I wasn’t able to get it down. Kind of deadened it way too much. Practice it a lot, so I was ready for that moment, but I just deadened it way too much.”

Fitzgerald socked his 13th homer earlier in the game, but his flubbed bunt will be more memorable. The night before, manager Bob Melvin let Mike Yastrzemski and the bottom of the order swing away instead of trying to move the runner over with a sacrifice bunt. With their more dangerous top of the order up in a nearly identical situation, Melvin reversed course.

Neither strategy worked, and missed opportunities defined San Francisco (61-61) in their third straight loss — a 4-3 defeat to Atlanta. The Braves are now 3.5 games ahead of the Giants in the wild-card race that gets further clarified with every result.

“To lose three games in a row and get back to .500 is pretty frustrating,” Melvin said postgame. “Especially in the fashion that we’ve done it.”

Starter Kyle Harrison (5 IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 6K) struggled at times to deploy his fastball, but otherwise battled to put his team in a position to win. They weren’t able to pull it out, and now the best they can do is split this pivotal four-game series.

“I’m going to build on it,” Harrison said postgame. “Still got a lot of season left. Got to put the head down and go.”

Harrison looked shaky to start, walking leadoff man Jorge Soler and serving up a lined single right after. To slugger Matt Olson, the southpaw hung a slider middle-middle and was lucky for it to land in center fielder Heliot Ramos’ glove on the warning track. But Harrison recovered to strike out Travis d’Arnaud on an up-and-away fastball, stranding runners on the corners.

In the bottom half, the Giants left Heliot Ramos at third after he smoked a two-out triple 108.2 mph into the right-center alley. The Giants have struggled with situational hitting all year and especially recently. Their .234 batting average with runners in scoring position entering Tuesday is the worst by a Giants club since 2011.

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Kyle Harrison (45) throws against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

Meanwhile, Harrison never discovered his best stuff. Although his fastball returned to regular velocity and he said the pitch felt better, it wasn’t as effective as normal. Ramon Laureano went with an outsider four-seamer for a solo shot over the right-field bricks.

Three batters later, Soler smoked a double between Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski, putting Atlanta up 2-0.

Before Tuesday, Harrison’s four-seamer ranked in the 93rd percentile in fastball run value, per Baseball Savant. His extension, pitch sequencing and deception have made the pitch by far his best weapon in his young career. Yet five of the six hits Harrison allowed against the Braves came off fastballs — including home runs from Laureano and Travis d’Arnaud.

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