SAN FRANCISCO -- The new City Connects have gotten off to a slow start. Luckily for the Giants marketing department, Robbie Ray was the one to wear the jersey out to the mound Tuesday night.
The Giants have been unbeatable in Ray's starts this season and that continued Tuesday, as they snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks and picked up their first win in the City Connects 2.0. Ray threw 108 pitches, his most since he returned from Tommy John surgery last year, and an early deficit was wiped out when Christian Koss hit a grand slam to left for his first big league homer.
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SIGN UP HERE Koss' slam gave the Giants a 4-3 lead and they pulled away from there. Willy Adames added a two-run shot and Ray took the lead through the sixth.
Ray improved to 6-0 and tied Brandon Pfaadt, who gave up the slam, for the National League lead in wins. The Giants are 9-0 in Ray's starts this year, and the left-hander is the first Giant to go 6-0 through nine starts since John Burkett in 1993.
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The Diamondbacks did threaten to end that streak in the eighth when they loaded the bases for the top of the order, but Camilo Doval threw a 100.2 mph cutter to Ketel Marte that was bounced back to the mound for an inning-ending double play. The scoreless outing was the 15th in a row for Doval.
In the bottom of the inning, Jung Hoo Lee put the game out of reach. The Diamondbacks intentionally walked Heliot Ramos to set up a left-on-left matchup, but Lee spoiled their plans with a three-run homer to right that delighted the crowd on Korean Heritage Night at Oracle Park.
Koss The Boss
On Tuesday morning, Tyler Fitzgerald and Casey Schmitt started rehab assignments with Triple-A Sacramento, joining Jerar Encarnacion. All three will be back on the roster in the next couple of weeks and Fitzgerald -- the starting second baseman -- should be back at some point this week.
Koss' run in the starting lineup is coming to an end, and it's possible he gets caught up in a roster shakeup once Schmitt and Encarnacion are back in the mix, as well. But he certainly took advantage of the latest start and made a statement at a time when the Giants are desperately searching for contributions at the bottom of their order and from their backups.
Koss became the 17th Giant to have his first career homer be a slam, and the first since Ford Proctor on Sept. 29, 2022. After walks of struggling regulars Willy Adames and Patrick Bailey loaded the bases, he unloaded on a low sinker, hitting it into the first row of seats in left.
Koss has a .589 OPS, but he has shown a short, simple swing in his opportunities and he looks comfortable with runners in scoring position. That will all be remembered as the Giants sort through their infield in the coming weeks.
Ray Day = Win Day
The Diamondbacks had a double and four singles in the first inning, taking an early 3-0 lead on a team that had scored exactly one run in three of the previous four games. But when Ray is pitching, the Giants always find a way.
The slam gave Ray a lead, and after that, he slammed both feet on the gas pedal. The Diamondbacks got two runners on in the fourth and Ray went 3-0 on Corbin Carroll, who homered twice Monday, but he battled back to a full count and then blew a 95 mph fastball past the young star outfielder. With the tying run on first an inning later, he did the same to catcher Gabriel Moreno.
Ray came out for the sixth and reached 100 pitches for the first time this season. He struck out nine, a season-high.
Positive Steps
Adames has taken early BP each of the last two days to work on a smaller leg kick. LaMonte Wade Jr. was out of the lineup on Monday to get a full physical and mental breather. On Tuesday, the two veterans who are off to slow starts had reasons to feel like they're headed in the right direction.
Adames extended the lead with a two-run homer in the fifth, his fifth of the season, and later doubled off the top of the wall in right. Wade followed with a single to right that was his second in two at-bats; his first time up, he hit a long fly ball to Triples Alley that would have been a homer in five MLB parks.