TORONTO -- The Giants were hoping to come out of the All-Star break refreshed and ready to open the second half on a strong note. Instead, they ended up departing Canada mired in their longest skid of the season.
The Giants suffered a three-game sweep at the hands of the American League East-leading Blue Jays after falling, 8-6, in Sunday afternoon’s series finale at Rogers Centre, extending their losing streak to a season-high five games.
“It sucks,” third baseman Matt Chapman said. “We were in every game, and [the Blue Jays] found a way to win them. They finished the first half super hot, and it looks like they’ve come out right out of the gates hot again. I think we still played really well, but we didn’t get anything to show for it.”
The red-hot Blue Jays -- who matched a franchise record by reeling off 10 consecutive victories at home -- held the Giants to just three runs over the first two games of this series, though San Francisco showed some fight by staging a late comeback attempt on Sunday.
Down, 7-2, the Giants clawed back to within one after rallying for four runs in the top of the sixth. Chapman launched a two-run home run -- his 13th of the season and his first since returning from a right hand injury on July 5 -- to knock Toronto starter José Berríos from the game and cut the deficit to 7-4.
Dominic Smith followed with a double off reliever Braydon Fisher, though frustration boiled over in the Giants’ dugout when Justin Verlander was ejected for arguing balls and strikes after home-plate umpire Chad Whitson made two questionable strike calls against Brett Wisely.
Still, Wisely ultimately won the nine-pitch at-bat by banging a 3-2 curveball up the middle for a two-out RBI single. Another RBI single by Jung Hoo Lee made it 7-6, though Lee was tagged out at second base after a replay review showed that he briefly came off the bag while attempting to take the extra base.
The Giants couldn’t add on after that, continuing a disappointing stretch that began with back-to-back losses to the rival Dodgers to end the first half.
“We finally swing the bats a lot better,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We came back and gave ourselves a chance at the end. But we gave up too many runs in the middle. I don’t think there’s any silver linings in this one. We got swept in a series to start the second half. It’s not what we were looking for.”
Many of the Giants’ first-half warts remained visible this past weekend -- including their struggles with timely hitting and their inability to solve left-handed pitching -- though they also got some uncharacteristically rocky performances from their starting rotation.
Verlander remained winless through his first 16 starts of the season, allowing four runs over 2 2/3 innings in Friday night’s series opener, but San Francisco’s past two losses came with All-Stars Logan Webb and Robbie Ray on the mound.
Ray, who won the AL Cy Young Award with the Blue Jays in 2021, yielded a season-high five runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings in his return to Rogers Centre on Sunday. The 33-year-old veteran issued five walks and struck out three while dealing with a noticeable dip in velocity. He averaged 92.2 mph on his fastball, down 1.5 mph from his season average of 93.7 mph.
“I felt like my delivery was just a little off,” Ray said. “The mound here is different. It’s steep. It’s been a while since I’ve pitched here. I just felt like I was just a tick off.”
The Giants took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Lee -- who was moved up into the leadoff spot on Sunday -- reached on a double that left fielder Davis Schneider appeared to lose in the sun and scored on Heliot Ramos’ RBI single, but the Blue Jays immediately countered with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s Statcast-projected 420-foot blast off Ray in the bottom half of the inning.
Toronto then capitalized on a defensive misplay from Ramos to go ahead for good in the third. With a pair of runners on and two outs, Bo Bichette sent a 98 mph liner to left field that fooled Ramos, who initially broke in before trying to go back and make the catch. The ball sailed over Ramos’ head and both runs scored to give the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead.
Toronto later padded its lead with a four-run fifth that featured a pair of homers from George Springer and Addison Barger.
“It’s tough to come out like this and get swept in the first series, but it’s over now,” Ray said. “We’ve got to move on. We’ve got a big series coming up in Atlanta.”