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Giants Make Minor Lineup Adjustment For Crucial Saturday Matchup With Cubs

The Giants are struggling to find answers.
Laura Lambert|
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

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San Francisco Giants

Friday night at Oracle Park produced a similar result for the San Francisco Giants, and not one that anyone wants to repeat. Landen Roupp couldn’t get through five innings, the Cubs scored five unanswered runs and on the offensive side, the Giants went 0-for-3 with runners in a scoring position.

The end result was a 5-1 loss. That moved San Francisco to 28-42. They need to win Saturday evening to avoid yet another sweep.

Roupp’s struggles continued, and it could be getting worse. The right-hander entered Friday night’s matchup 0-5 with a 5.50 ERA over his last seven starts. He only lasted 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and giving up two free passes.

Bryce Eldridge also continues to impress. Of the Giants’ total four hits on the evening, Eldridge got credit for three of them. The 20-year-old went 3-for-4 and hit his fifth home run of the season. That was San Francisco’s lone run on the scoreboard.

Eldridge left the game on Friday evening with updated stats, including a .316 batting average with a .959 OPS. To put this in perspective, the rest of the lineup went a combined 1-for-26.

Saturday Evening Lineup For Game No. 2 versus Cubs

San Francisco Giants second baseman Luis Arraez
San Francisco Giants second baseman Luis Arraez | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

The Giants and manager Tony Vitello opted to keep the lineup relatively unchanged, with the exception of giving catcher Daniel Susac a night off. Eric Haase will take his place batting last in the lineup.

  1. 2B Luis Arraez (L)
  2. DH Bryce Eldridge (L)
  3. LF Casey Schmitt
  4. 1B Rafael Devers (L)
  5. RF Jung Hoo Lee (L)
  6. SS Willy Adames
  7. 3B Matt Chapman
  8. CF Drew Gilbert (L)
  9. C Eric Haase

Saturday evening’s task will be even more difficult for the Giants. Chicago is sending Ben Brown to the mound, who has been exceptional all season. In total, he is 2-2, but he owns a 1.74 ERA and 58 strikeouts. He is definitely one of the most difficult pitchers to face in the National League currently.

Trevor McDonald will go out for San Francisco. He is 2-3 on the 2026 campaign and carries with him a 4.15 ERA. Once again, the Giants need a pitcher to go deep in the game, the offense to gain ground early on, and some version of this lineup to catch fire.

Doing all of these things while facing Brown will be a challenge, but not one this team isn’t capable of, just one that they are going to have to work for.

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Laura Motley Lambert
LAURA LAMBERT

Laura Lambert resides in Wiggins, Colo. with her husband, Ricky and two sons, Brayden and Boedy. She attended the University of Northern Colorado while studying economics. She is an accomplished rodeo athlete and barrel horse trainer along with being a life-long sports fan. Over the years, Laura has been active in journalism in a variety of roles. While continuing to cover western sports and country music, she is currently enjoying expanding her reach into multiple sports including MLB, NHL, and WNBA. Laura covers the San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins and Rodeo for On SI. You can reach her at lauralambertmedia@gmail.com

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