Both bullpens worn down as Giants face Mariners

Robbie Ray hopes to display the form that got him a big free-agent contract from the Seattle Mariners when he faces his former team as a San Francisco Giant in the continuation of a three-game series Saturday night.

Ray (1-0, 5.06 ERA) and Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller (0-1, 4.76) have the unenviable task of being handcuffed by worn-down bullpens after the host Giants used seven relievers for 8 2/3 innings and the Mariners eight for 7 2/3 innings in San Francisco’s 10-9, 11-inning triumph in the series opener Friday afternoon.

Ray was coming off a Cy Young Award-winning season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 when he signed a five-year, $115 million deal with the Mariners.

He went a respectable 12-12 with a 3.71 ERA in 32 starts his first season in Seattle, then suffered a season-ending left-flexor strain, which required surgery, in his 2023 season debut against the Cleveland Guardians.

The Mariners then pulled the plug on the player they had hoped would be the ace of their staff, trading him to the Giants in January 2024 for pitcher Anthony DeSclafani and outfielder Mitch Haniger.

Still making big money and rehabbing from the surgery, Ray didn’t make his first Giants start last season until last July 24. He made seven starts over 33 days, going 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA, before San Francisco management called it a season.

Now 33, the left-hander had an encouraging season debut in Cincinnati last Sunday, limiting the Reds to three runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-3 win.

All three runs off Ray came in the sixth inning after he’d been perfect through five. For a first start, the veteran was proud of his performance.

“The fastball command was really good,” Ray said. “My slider was good. The changeup felt good. But I think mostly it was the fastball command. I was able to move it in and out, up and down. That’s kind of how things get rolling.”

The Giants haven’t lost since Ray’s last outing, sweeping three games at Houston before making it a five-game winning streak with Friday’s walk-off against the Mariners.

Ray will make his seventh career start against the Mariners, including one last August that turned out to be his last outing of the season despite allowing just one run in three innings. He’s gone 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA in the six starts against Seattle.

The Giants will face Miller one day later than they had expected. He was slated to start the series opener, but when the Mariners elected to add Luis F. Castillo to the back end of their rotation, they did so by starting him Friday and pushing Miller back a day.

The right-hander has never pitched against the Giants in his three-year major league career. He took the loss in his season debut last Saturday at home against the Athletics, allowing three runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings in Seattle’s 4-2 loss.

On Friday, the Mariners and Giants squandered numerous opportunities to win the series opener, combining to go 9-for-44 with runners in scoring position while stranding 32 baserunners.

In the end, the Mariners felt worse about it than the Giants did, prompting manager Dan Wilson to attempt to spin the defeat in a different direction.

“We don’t like to lose at all. And today was a down-to-the-wire game, and those are the tougher ones to swallow,” he said. “But we got to take some positives from it. And the positives today were offensively we did a lot of great things. A lot of great at-bats.”

–Field Level Media