SAN FRANCISCO -- In a series of unfortunate events for the Giants, things came crashing down quickly for Camilo Doval in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night.
San Francisco held a 2-0 lead and was one inning away from securing its first win of the season against the San Diego Padres. But Doval, who replaced a struggling Ryan Walker and reclaimed his role as the Giants' closer last week, ran into trouble with consecutive walks to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez before giving up the tying hit, a two-run single, to Padres star Manny Machado.
The Giants couldn't score in the bottom of the ninth or 10th, and the Padres' lone run in the top of the 10th was enough to secure their seventh straight win against San Francisco.
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SIGN UP HERE Doval blew his first save since re-entering the closer role and allowed his first earned runs since April 7 as the Giants collapsed to the Padres 3-2 in extra innings Tuesday at Oracle Park. The blown save erased a great start by Landen Roupp, who pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings and lowered his ERA on the season to 3.18.
Still, the Giants' confidence in their closer hasn't wavered.
"Yeah, he just had a little off night with the couple of walks," Giants manager Bob Melvin said postgame. "Look, we feel great every time he's in the game. He's had quite the run. We shut them [the Padres] down for eight innings. They scored two in the ninth. Ball off the end of the bat, it's a hit, but a good at-bat by Manny.
"But it's the walks that got him the most."
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Doval's 20 2/3-inning scoreless streak ended Tuesday, and despite the rough outing, he has a 1.67 ERA across 27 innings this season with seven saves, seven holds and three blown save opportunities.
After being an MLB All-Star in 2023, Doval had a down season in 2024 as he eventually lost the closer role. But aside from a rough patch in early April, Doval has been lights-out for the Giants this year. Roupp doesn't expect one bad outing to change that.
"Yeah, a bunch," Roupp said when asked how much confidence he has in Doval. "Things like that are going to happen. Just an unfortunate ending tonight. We want him in the ninth and that's what's going to happen.
"I'm just looking forward to seeing him get back out there and continue to throw the ball well."
After Roupp's shutout outing, Giants relievers Erik Miller and Tyler Rogers got into some trouble. After the Padres loaded the bases in the seventh, Miller escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam after Arráez grounded out to third. The Padres' offense was a threat once again in the eighth, but Rogers, too, escaped trouble without allowing a run.
Unfortunately for Doval, he failed to do the same.
Perhaps the blame shouldn't all fall on Doval.
Outside of Heliot Ramos' two-run home run in the third inning, the Giants' offense continued to struggle. One night after being shut out by the Padres and going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, they were 1-for-6 with RISP on Tuesday night. They now are 7-for-63 with RISP over the last 10 games.
It's easy to point fingers after a tough loss. But in the midst of an up-and-down career with the Giants, Doval has shown flashes of his potential to be one of the most dominant relievers in baseball.
It will just come down to how he responds to Tuesday's tough outing. After all, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey confirmed last week that the closer role is "fluid" between Doval and Walker.