Ray stays surging, but Giants' issues vs. lefties persist

SAN FRANCISCO -- Robbie Ray delivered one of his most dominant starts of the season, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Giants’ unbeaten streak behind him alive.

Ray struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, but he was bested by Royals left-hander Kris Bubic, who flirted with a no-hitter while handing the Giants a 3-1 loss in Monday night’s series opener at Oracle Park.

The defeat -- the Giants’ first in Ray's 10 starts this season -- dropped San Francisco (28-20) to 3-11 in games started by left-handed opposing pitchers in 2025.

"We’ve won a couple of games against lefties,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Regardless, it was going to be tough against [Bubic] today.”

Bubic -- a Cupertino native who attended Archbishop Mitty High School and Stanford -- didn’t allow a hit until Wilmer Flores reached on a two-out single in the sixth. Kansas City second baseman Michael Massey was initially charged with an error after he slipped while trying to field Flores’ bouncer to the right side, but the call was later changed to a base hit, officially ending Bubic’s bid for history.

The Giants got their first clean hit of the night in the seventh, when Casey Schmitt -- who was activated from the 10-day injured list on Monday after missing 28 games with a left oblique strain -- lined a 105 mph double down the left-field line to put runners on second and third with one out. San Francisco still couldn’t cash in against Bubic, though, as Tyler Fitzgerald subsequently lined into a 6-5 double play to end the inning.

Bubic departed after allowing only two hits over seven shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 1.47 on the season and 0.36 over four starts in May.

“He was really good,” Melvin said. “We’ve seen some good pitchers this year. That was right up there.”

Ray didn’t factor into the decision despite holding the Royals to six hits while walking one and striking out seven, giving him a chance to continue to improve on his 6-0 start to the year.

After spinning five consecutive quality starts for the Giants, Ray now ranks eighth in the National League with a 2.67 ERA. The 33-year-old veteran said this recent stretch has been the best he’s felt since 2021, when he won the American League Cy Young Award after going 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA over 32 starts for the Blue Jays.

“Honestly, I felt really good with everything,” Ray said. “That’s maybe the sharpest that I felt like my stuff has been all year. I felt really confident with every pitch in every count. I’m just looking to build off that one.”

Setup man Tyler Rogers replaced Ray in the eighth, but he gave up a double to Jonathan India, followed by a two-run shot to Vinnie Pasquantino that finally snapped the scoreless tie.

The Giants cut the deficit to 2-1 after Jung Hoo Lee came through with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the eighth, but the Royals added an insurance run in the top of the ninth against Jordan Hicks, who gave up two singles and a walk in his first appearance since being moved back to the bullpen last week.