SF Giants lose a Heliot Ramos home run and then the game to Tampa Bay
When is a home run not a home run? When it’s hit by the 2026 Giants.
In the latest excruciating example of a season sliding into oblivion, an apparent Heliot Ramos home run in the second inning Saturday instead became a fly out, when it appeared to strike a catwalk above the center field fence and fall harmlessly to center fielder Cedric Mullins for an out.
Considering the Giants went into the game with a 9-3 record when they scored first and 4-16 when they didn’t, it was no small thing when it was determined there was no video proof the ball ever struck the catwalk, and that no umpire saw it with their own eyes.
“It was way gone off the bat,” Ramos told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It was a moonshot. There was no way that was not a homer.”
And sure enough, Tampa Bay went on to a 5-1 win at Tropicana Field, with the Giants losing their season-high fifth game in a row.
“I was caught up in the fact the center fielder kept going back and then he came in,” Giants manager Tony Vitello told reporters. “Was obviously trying to get it all sorted.”
In the process of getting it sorted, pitching coach Frank Johnson and pitcher Adrian Houser were ejected.
“It kind of got hot pretty quick,” Vitello said. “I was just trying to figure out can we take a look at it, and what can be done from here.
“And then I kind of blacked out, to be honest with you, with all the extra riff raff . . . I didn’t have anything contestable. I just wanted to know what happened.”
The Giants (13-20) close out the six-game road trip Sunday in Tampa, then fly cross country for a three-game series at Oracle Park against the San Diego Padres starting Monday night. The Rays are 20-12 and looking to send the Giants to their second consecutive series sweep.
In his previous start, Landon Roupp pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career. He also had back-to-back games in excess of 100 pitches for the first time as well. But he didn’t make it out of the fifth against Tampa Bay, which chased the right-hander with three runs in the fifth.
Hunter Feduccia doubled to right off the glove of first baseman Rafael Devers to open the inning, and after Roupp walked Taylor Walls, Chandler Simpson dropped a perfectly executed bunt for a single. Roupp walked Mullins with the bases loaded to force in a run, and Jonathan Aranda lined a sharp single to center for two more.
That was it for Roupp (5-2), who gave up eight hits and four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Jesse Scholtens (3-1), the second of five Tampa Bay pitchers, got the win with three scoreless innings after opener Griffin Jax.
The Giants have been outscored 24-8 during the five losses on the road trip.
The Rays broke through for a run against Roupp on a 73.7 miles per hour bloop single by Jake Fraley, which brought home Junior Caminero.
The Giants trailed 4-0 before they scored on a welcome sight — a sixth-inning RBI opposite-field double by Devers off the left field fence which scored Luis Arraez, who had doubled. It was their first run of the series.
Caminero reached with one out on an infield single, a ball that was originally called an out on a chopper to Matt Chapman but overruled on a challenge. Caminero raced to third on a single to right by Aranda.
The ball hit by Ramos for his would-be fourth home run left the bat at 107.9 mph. Mullins tracked the ball to the fence, then broke forward at the last instant as the ball fell to him.
If the ball hit the catwalk above the fence, by Tropicana ground rules it was a home run. Replays were inconclusive and the call stood as a fly out to center since no umpire successfully tracked the flight of the ball.
According to the Giants broadcast, producer Darren Chan said the original distance on Ramos’ drive was calculated at 424 feet on statcast, and then dropped to 385 feet after the ball fell to earth and into the glove of Mullins.
NOTABLE
— Arraez hit two doubles and a single with a large contingent of family in attendance. He has 40 hits in 33 games this season.
— Tampa Bay added a run in the eighth when a pickoff attempt by Patrick Bailey at third wasn’t handled by Chapman, with Johnny DeLuca scoring.
— The Giants drew just one walk, their 67th of the season. It is far and away the lowest total in the major leagues. They are also last in runs scored (105), home runs (19) and stolen bases (8).
— The Giants’ road record is 6-11 after losing their last six away from Oracle. They’ve lost 10 of their last 12 on the road.
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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 6:01 PM.