Molina Gives Giants Six Solid Innings, but Twins Edge San Francisco 3-2
The short version
- Anthony Molina allowed two runs in six innings in the Giants' 3-2 loss to the Twins
- Excluding one bad start vs. San Diego, Molina has a 1.73 ERA over 26 innings since the Aug. 2 trade
- Walter Jenkins homered; Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee drove in Minnesota's other runs
- Osleivis Basabe left with an apparent hamstring issue and will be reevaluated Wednesday
- Logan Webb and Landen Roupp are shut down for the final week; Blade Tidwell has a UCL sprain
Anthony Molina allowed two runs over six innings against Minnesota, strengthening his case for a spot in a Giants rotation facing offseason questions.
Anthony Molina worked six innings and gave up two runs, but the San Francisco Giants fell 3-2 to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at Oracle Park. Molina, acquired from Atlanta in the Tyler Mahle trade on Aug. 2, retired the first 10 hitters he faced and took the loss to fall to 3-2.
Aside from one rough three-inning start against San Diego in which he allowed seven runs, Molina has surrendered five earned runs across 26 innings, a 1.73 ERA. Manager Tony Vitello said Molina has been outstanding aside from that one odd outing and praised the way he competes.
Minnesota's runs off Molina came in the sixth, when Ryan Kreidler singled, Luke Keaschall tripled him home and Brooks Lee added an RBI single. Walter Jenkins later homered off reliever Duncan Davitt for the Twins' third run.
San Francisco scored on Drew Cavanaugh's safety-squeeze bunt in the second and pushed across another run in the ninth before Victor Bericoto struck out to end the game with the tying run aboard. Osleivis Basabe exited late with an injury; Vitello said Basabe has had hamstring tightness and will be reexamined Wednesday.
The start came as the Giants deal with pitching uncertainty, with Logan Webb and Landen Roupp shut down for the final week and Blade Tidwell sidelined by a high-grade UCL sprain. Rookie Cesar Perdomo is scheduled to make his fifth start Wednesday.