Left-hander Robbie Ray will look to continue his strong season on Sunday afternoon when he starts the finale of the San Francisco Giants’ three-game series against the host Washington Nationals.
Ray (6-0, 2.67 ERA) is 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA over his past four starts, allowing a total of four earned runs in 26 innings.
The Giants are 9-1 in his 10 starts this season. Speaking of the 10 starts, they are more than Ray made in 2023 and 2024 combined due to Tommy John surgery and a hamstring injury.
“Went through a complete offseason, a full spring training,” San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said of Ray. “Incorporated a little bit of a different pitching style during spring training. Change-up, probably uses his breaking ball a little bit more and just like any veteran pitches who’s talented, he looks to get better and looks to mix things up and do things a little differently.”
Ray is 2-5 with a 5.75 ERA in eight career starts against the Nationals.
Washington will turn to right-hander Michael Soroka (1-2, 5.95 ERA) in the series finale.
Soroka, who missed time with a right biceps strain, makes his fifth start of the season. He picked up a win last time out, allowing three runs on seven hits — two of them homers — over 5 2/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles. He did not walk a batter while striking out eight in the 10-4 victory on May 18.
It was his first win since the 2023 season. He went 0-10 with a 4.47 ERA last season for the Chicago White Sox.
“(I wanted to) make sure that I got out there and beat up the zone,” Soroka said. “I always used to do that in the minor leagues and coming up — made a name for just living in the zone, no matter what the count, no matter what the situation was. So, I wanted to get back to that and prove to the Nationals when they signed me that those issues were behind me.”
Soroka, 27, is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in two starts versus San Francisco.
Jake Irvin pitched eight scoreless innings, James Wood hit a two-run home run and the Nationals beat the Giants 3-0 on Saturday to even the series. The Giants won the opener 4-0 on Friday.
“All in all, it just came down to one pitch,” Melvin said of Wood’s homer. “You don’t score any runs. … It is what it is.”
Keibert Ruiz had two hits for Washington, which has won six of its past seven games.
Jorge Lopez pitched ninth for his first save with closer Kyle Finnegan, who last pitched Thursday, unavailable due to shoulder fatigue.
“Knock on wood, I’ve felt good throughout my career,” Finnegan said. “It’s not something I’m concerned about. We had an opportunity to take an extra day off. I just wanted to wait until I fully bounce back.”
Amed Rosario doubled ahead of Wood’s home run and has hit safely in 12 of his past 15 games, including an active seven-game hitting streak. During the streak, he is batting .435 (10-for-23).
Tyler Fitzgerald had two hits for the Giants. Over his last 23 games Fitzgerald is batting .325 (25-for-77) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs and 11 runs.
–Field Level Media
