Late-inning meltdowns and a high blown save rate have pushed the San Francisco Giants to the brink of the division cellar as the bullpen squanders yet another late lead.
After cruising to victory the night prior against the Colorado Rockies, the San Francisco Giants continue flirting with the possibility of falling to last place in the National League West.
San Francisco dropped game two, 4-3, in a loss that should be studied by teams across the nation.
The Giants jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second. Colorado answered in the fifth, but Rafael Devers' massive night took center stage as he drove in another run in the seventh.
Leading 2-1, a blown save came back to haunt the Giants. This isn't the first time that's happened this season, and it likely won't be the last. Even with a chance to walk it off in the bottom half, Colorado took advantage of a three-run ninth inning and is now within one game of the Giants in the bottom of the standings.
Giants lose sixth game after leading through eight innings
No team wants to be 39-55 with just a few games remaining before the All-Star break, but it's ridiculous to think 10.9% of their losses have come when they had a lead through eight innings.
Friday, July 11, saw Caleb Kilian blow his third save of the season. Knowing he only has eight saves, three blown isn't too great of a number to have in his back pocket. He failed to record a single out, allowing three hits, a walk, and all three earned runs to come across in 21 pitches.
Killian fell to 2-5 on the year as his ERA went from bad to worse. Coming into the game it was 4.03, but he ended the night with a 4.74 ERA, the highest it's been all season.
Giants blow 12th save of the season
Again, the Giants offense had a chance to overwrite Kilian's blown save, but somehow it was too little too late. The Rockies made a late pitching change with two outs and the bases loaded. Forgetting all of the craziness that happened a few batters prior, Bryce Eldridge couldn't step up when the lights shined the brightest.
There's no doubt this team's pitching staff has had a rough go of it here in 2026, but 12 blown saves is simply inexcusable. This team has only won 39 games, so one could only imagine where they'd be if even just a few of those blown saves didn't happen.
Kilian having three himself is one thing, but it's been a true team effort to blow games. Ryan Walker has a trio of blown saves himself, and then Erik Miller, Matt Gage, Keaton Winn, Dylan Smith, Sam Hentges, and Ryan Borucki all have one.
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