Devers begins to heat up as Giants start series vs. Pirates on strong note

What it means

Ray had been the recipient of some of the lowest run support in the majors (2.72 per game) but got more than enough against Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski. With the Rockies’ extra-innings win over the Phillies, the Giants had to win to keep pace — with the second-worst team in the sport. Thanks to Colorado, San Francisco’s negative-42 run differential isn’t bottom of the barrel. That distinction belongs to the Phillies (minus-44).

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Who’s hot

The further away from April the schedule moves, the more Devers is beginning to look like himself. The slugger has officially begun to come out of a season-long slumber over his past eight games, recording hits in all of them while batting .346 (9-for-26) with a 1.041 OPS. The most encouraging sign might be the pitches Devers is doing damage against. Both his home runs this week have come against fastballs. Over the course of his hitting streak, Devers is batting 6-for-14 against the hard stuff, a vast improvement over his .269 start to the season.

Who’s not

The five-spot represented one of the best scoring outputs for the Giants this season — only the second time in their past 10 games they reached that modest total. But it was hardly an all-you-can-eat buffet for their bats. Most notably: A group that has taken, by far, the fewest walks in the majors went its third game in a row without working a free pass from an opposing pitcher. There have only been 12 such stretches previously in the bicoastal history of the franchise. It has happened just once — early on in 2009 — dating back to 1976.

Up next

The Giants will try to win consecutive games for the first time since the end of their last home stand. RHP Landen Roupp (5-2, 3.18) gets the ball against RHP Braxton Ashcraft (1-2, 3.02).