SF Giants score one run against Reds, lose third straight
CINCINNATI - Even at the hitter-friendly confines of Great American Ball Park, the Giants’ offense remains stagnant.
The Giants dropped their third straight game with a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday evening, their third straight game in which they’ve been held to two runs or fewer.
Shortstop Willy Adames accounted for the Giants’ lone run with a solo homer in the fifth, his third of the season. It was Adames’ ninth career long ball at Great American Ball Park, the most as a visitor at any venue.
Even with Adames’ home run, San Francisco’s offense has only totaled nine home runs this season. That’s the fewest in the majors, and the Giants (6-11) are the only team that has yet to reach the double-figure mark.
“We need to be more consistent and to try to find that rhythm and just get more comfortable at the plate,” Adames said. “I think things are going to turn around. Obviously, we have a ton of guys that have power on this team: (Matt Chapman), Heliot (Ramos), Rafael Devers can hit a lot of homers. I know it’s going to come.”
Second baseman Luis Arraez went 3-for-4 after missing Sunday’s game after being kicked in his right hand, his sixth multi-hit game of the season. Along with the three singles, Arraez helped turn slick double plays in the fourth and sixth innings.
“He played like a kid who you put in timeout or you put his ball away from him, and then you let him go back out,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Or, you didn’t let him go outside or it was a snow day one day, then he got to go back outside. He’s always got energy, but a little extra energy, a little bit extra attitude in a good way. You point out the hitting, but to me, defensively, he was outstanding tonight.”
Giants starter Robbie Ray said, “He’s been working really hard. I know that him and (Giants infield coach Ron Washington) have been getting out there and working hard together. It definitely shows that he wants to be out there and he takes it seriously.”
Ray (2-2) allowed a pair of solo homers over five innings, his shortest outing of the season. Ray recorded six strikeouts but walked four batters, the third straight start in which he’s walked at least three batters.
“He was good because he battled,” Vitello said. “He’s been arguably our best guy to this point, and he’s been really, really sharp the last couple times out. … I think he battled through not having his best stuff tonight.”
The Reds opened the scoring in the bottom of the third with a solo homer by Spencer Steer that barely cleared the left-center field, then made it 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth with an opposite-field solo home run by Sal Stewart.
“That’s just one you just tip your cap to,” Ray said of Stewart’s homer. “You made a good pitch above the zone, guy somehow just clips it perfect and it’s a home run. It’s one of those ones where you look back at it and you can’t really get mad because you felt like you made a good pitch.”
Adames got San Francisco on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth with a solo homer of his own, cutting the Giants’ deficit to 2-1. That home run proved to be the extent of the offense.
Daniel Susac, pinch-hitting for Patrick Bailey with two outs in the ninth, nearly tied the score when he turned on a four-seam fastball from the Reds’ Emilio Pagán, but his deep drive faded at the left-center field warning track to end the game.
“Once the ball had a little extra flight to it, you kind of had the feel that it wasn’t there,” Vitello said.
Next up
Right-hander Tyler Mahle, who was drafted by the Reds and spent six seasons with Cincinnati, makes his first start against his former team on Wednesday night (3:40 p.m. PT) at Great American Ball Park. Through three starts with the Giants, Mahle is 0-2 with a 4.30 ERA (4.35 FIP) and 15 strikeouts over 14 2/3 innings. Going against Mahle will be right-hander Rhett Lowder (1-1, 3.31 ERA), who has never faced the Giants.
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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 6:46 PM.