With Landon Roupp seemingly in cruise control and the offense scoring more than a single run, things were looking up for the Giants.
Instead, Roupp was chased in a four-run fifth to erase a three-run lead as the Giants fell 4-3 and were swept by the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
It was the third time the Giants (31-25) have been swept this season, the second time in a three-game series. Detroit (37-20) began the day with with the best winning percentage in major league baseball, trailing only the Philadelphia Phillies.
Coming on the heels of back-to-back 3-1 losses to the Tigers, the Giants led 3-0 in the fifth on a run-scoring double by LaMonte Wade Jr. and the a two-run home run by Heliot Ramos, his 10th of the season.
“Once we had a three-run lead, the way Roupp was pitching, we thought we were in good shape,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told reporters. “Obviously the fifth happened in a hurry.”
It was the 13th loss in the last 20 games where the Giants have failed to score five runs. In games where the Giants score five or more, they’re 18-2.
The Giants will have a day off Thursday in Miami before taking on the Marlins in a three-game series to conclude a nine-game road trip.
Trailing by a run in the eighth, Willy Adames led off by reaching on a catcher’s interference, with LaMonte Wade Jr. dumping a bloop single to left against former Giant John Brebbia. Adames reached third, Wade took second on the throw and the Giants were in business.
The Tigers brought in change-up artist Tommy Kahnle, who got pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey on a first pitch fly to shallow left. Christian Koss was next, and after fouling off two attempts on safety squeeze attempts, Kahnle got him on a change-up for the second out. Mike Yastrzemski followed with a grounder to first for the third out.
Kahnle retired the Giants in order in the ninth for his seventh save. Brenan Hanifee (3-2) was the winning pitcher as the first pitcher out of the pen after starter Jackson Jobe.
Dominant through four innings spotting his curve ball and change-up, things went south on Roupp (3-4) quickly in the bottom of the fifth.
“The first four innings, kind of a breeze for me,” Roupp said. “Good command of the curve ball. Good command of the change-up. The two-seam was good. It kind of almost felt like I stopped attacking in the fifth and was going more for punch outs rather than contact, and I’ve got to be better about that.”
It began with a tough error charged to third baseman Matt Chapman on a slow roller by Jake Rogers, followed by a single by Kerry Carpenter and walk to Gleyber Torres, who had singled twice previously. Colt Keith lined a double to right to bring in two runs, prompting Melvin to replace Roupp with Randy Rodriguez.
Rodriguez struck out the next two hitters swinging, but gave up a two-strike single to Justyn Henry-Malloy to bring in two more runs for a 4-3 Detroit lead.
Roupp’s final line in four-plus innings was five hits, four runs, three earned with two walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 81 pitches, 48 of them strikes.
Giants starter Landon Roupp was chased in a four-run fifth inning by the Detroit Tigers. A.P. Photo
Ramos put the Giants up 3-0 with a no-doubter with Yastrzemski on base against Jobe in the fifth. The ball traveled 426 feet to left field and left the bat at 111.4 miles per hour.
Jobe lasted two more batters — striking out Wilmer Flores and giving up a line out to right to Jung Hoo Lee — before Chapman grounded a single to left for his third hit of the game. That prompted manager A.J. Hinch to replace Jobe with Hanifee.
Chapman hit the first of his two doubles to lead off the second against Jobe, went to third on a ground ball to second by Adames and scored when Wade doubled solidly to left.
In the fourth, the Giants had two on and nobody out with Chapman again hitting a leadoff double to left and Adames drawing a walk. Wade sacrificed the runners to second and third but Jobe struck out Sam Huff looking and Koss swinging to shut down the threat.
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NOTES
— With the bullpen fully rested, Ryan Walker pitched the eighth instead of Camilo Doval, and Melvin said the two will switch roles. Walker will be the set-up man and Doval the closer.
“Doval is going to do the closing now, so that’s why we had Walker in the eighth,” Melvin said. “Walker’s fine. He just wants to pitch and help the team win. It can be fluid, the same thing happened last year when Duval had it and Walker took over. We’re lucky to have two guys that can close.”
— Tyler Rogers, not normally a strikeout pitcher, struck out the side in the seventh inning after coming on for Rodriguez. Giants pitchers struck out 16 and walked only two.
— Ramos, who was 3-for-5 with two singles and the homer, is hitting .347 (30-for-87) in May with six homers, 18 RBIs, 14 runs scored and a .996 OPS.
— Koss was in the starting lineup at second base after not playing for a week.
— Adames was originally going to be rested but after getting a pair of hits Tuesday and working in the cage, asked Melvin to remain in the lineup in hopes of getting some sustained offense. He went 0-for-2 with a walk.