SAN FRANCISCO — After striking out five consecutive batters in the early innings against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, Kyle Harrison was feeling his fastball.
Running his heater up to 95 mph, the San Francisco Giants left-hander was watching the Nats whiff over and over as he offered the pitch in the upper parts of the strike zone.
Eventually, the Nationals caught on.
Jacob Young stroked a high fastball into center field for a single, then CJ Abrams hammered another one 423 feet over the right-center field wall as the Nationals’ big third inning paved the way for their 5-3 win over the Giants in front of 24,380 fans at Oracle Park.
“I could’ve been a little more fine with that pitch (to Abrams),” Harrison said. “It was a well-enough pitch for me, but a good swing, to say the least. It definitely hurt me.”
Harrison was otherwise terrific over six sparkling frames. His changeup was disappearing at the bottom of the zone. His command was mostly sharp. He didn’t walk a single batter, allowed just five hits and struck out eight, his highest strikeout total since fanning 11 in his second career start last August.
San Francisco Giants’ Kyle Harrison pitches to a Washington Nationals batter during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Pitching confidently and quickly, Harrison started the game by fanning Abrams on a high fastball on the outer part of the zone. He got Joey Gallo the same way to end the first inning, then came back out and struck out the side in the second.
He caught Joey Meneses on a low changeup, then climbed the ladder to get Jesse Winker and Riley Adams striking out swinging – once again, at high fastballs.
After he did the same thing to Ildemaro Vargas to start the third, the Nationals finally looked ready for it.
Two batters later, Young knocked a high heater up the middle for a single. And when Harrison went back to it multiple times in his second meeting with Abrams, the Nats’ young shortstop finally got him. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Harrison let a high fastball catch too much plate and Abrams launched it out of the park for his third home run of the season.
“Gotta give Abrams a little credit too,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin. Harrison is “a tough lefty to hit off of. He’s pitching really well. If you look at the strikeouts, he had five in a row. Throwing the breaking ball for a strike, throwing fastballs at the top of the zone. Pitched well.”
The two-run shot erased the Giants’ 1-0 lead they had scraped together in the second inning.
Then, with the Nationals up 2-1 in the fifth, Abrams beat Harrison again when the lefty threw him a slurve right over the middle. Abrams smoked it for an RBI single to make it 3-1.
Harrison finished his night after six innings allowing just the three runs, a quality start that passed the eye test, too. And after three starts, the oft-erratic lefty has walked only three batters in 17 innings while striking out 17.
“It’s a big emphasis for me to come out and attack guys,” he said. “It’s something I could’ve done a little better today, I think.”
Meanwhile, the Giants offense continues to search for answers.
The Nationals scratched starting pitcher Josiah Gray before the game and replaced him with Triple-A right-hander Joan Adon, who entered with a career 6.66 ERA in 35 big league appearances. But the Giants did little against Adon, scoring just one run off of him in four innings.
They finally got a big hit in the sixth, when there were two runners on with two outs for shortstop Nick Ahmed, who poked a grounder through the right side that scored two after Lane Thomas made a terrible throw from right field.
Ahmed’s hit was just the Giants’ second in 30 plate appearances with runners in scoring position this homestand.
“I thought we were going to win the game at that point,” Melvin said. “There was a lot of momentum for us. We’ve been playing well in tight games.”
San Francisco Giants’ Nick Ahmed hits a single against the Washington Nationals during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in San Francisco. Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski and Patrick Bailey scored following a throwing error by Nationals right fielder Lane Thomas. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
The very next inning, the Nationals retook the lead when Ryan Walker replaced Harrison and promptly hit the leadoff batter, Winker. After a single by Adams, Walker recorded one out before Trey Lipscomb hit a high fly ball into right field that was deep enough to score Winker and give the Nationals a 4-3 lead.
The Giants had a chance in the eighth, when Mike Yastrzemski singled and Patrick Bailey walked, but Ahmed lined out to left to end the frame.
And after the Nats added a security run against Tyler Rogers in the ninth, the Giants threatened in the bottom of the inning.
Jung Hoo Lee led off with a single and Wilmer Flores singled behind him, then Jorge Soler worked a nine-pitch walk to load the bases with nobody out.
After Michael Conforto grounded out to the pitcher, Matt Chapman grounded one to the shortstop for a game-ending double play.
“We should be able to come back from one run, but the ninth inning told the tale,” Melvin said.
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With the loss, the Giants fell to 4-8 on the year and have scored just 10 runs on their five-game homestand.
The Giants never collected an extra-base hit in the game. They haven’t homered in five straight, their longest homerless drought since 2018.
“We’ll all turn it around,” Ahmed said. “We’ve got some good players who have played a long time in the league. We’re too good to keep scoring these low-scoring games for too long. We’re going to heat up soon.”
Notable:
Yastrzemski entered the game 1-for-20 with 11 strikeouts this season, but went 2-for-3 with a pair of line drive singles.
“The last three games he’s taking much better swings, getting balls to hit, not chasing, getting a lot better,” Melvin said. “Sometimes it takes a little while.”
Bailey reached base all three times, though he allowed three more stolen bases on four attempts. He’s now allowed 11 steals on 13 attempts this year.
The Giants have lost eight of their last nine against the Nationals dating back to 2022.
Next up: RHP Jordan Hicks (1-0, 0.75 ERA) takes on LHP Patrick Corbin (0-1, 6.97 ERA) for a 12:45 p.m. PT start at Oracle Park on Wednesday.
