Roupp rights ship, flirts with no-no to spark Giants in feisty finale

CINCINNATI -- After losing four straight to sink a season-high six games below .500, the Giants were in dire need of a stopper on Thursday afternoon.

Enter Landen Roupp, who fired six innings of one-hit ball to help San Francisco shut out Cincinnati, 3-0, and avoid a three-game series sweep at Great American Ball Park.

“I think I just wanted to go out there and stop the bleeding, and get us back on the right track,” Roupp said. “I just wanted to go out there today, throw strikes and just give the team the best chance to win.”

Roupp held the Reds hitless through his first five innings before giving up a leadoff single to P.J. Higgins in the sixth. TJ Friedl then reached on a hit-by-pitch to put a pair of runners on with none out, but Roupp managed to escape the jam by striking out Matt McClain swinging on a curveball and coaxing a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play from Elly De La Cruz to preserve a scoreless tie.

“That double play in the fifth really got me out of that one,” Roupp said. “We came through there in the seventh and scored some runs when we needed to. It was just a really good day for us.”

Roupp departed after striking out six and walking two in his 87-pitch gem, which lowered his ERA to 2.38 through four starts this season. The 27-year-old started the Giants’ only two wins of their current nine-game road trip through Baltimore, Cincinnati and Washington, showcasing the fiery competitiveness that has been a defining feature for him since he debuted in San Francisco two years ago.

“I wish he could maybe teach a master class to some kids I coached in college,” manager Tony Vitello said. “He's got a competitive edge, but a lot of times those guys that have that, it'll boil over, and at times, they can get out of control. He seems to always be able to keep himself level-headed, grounded, whatever you want to phrase it as, and yet maintain that bulldog mentality.”

“That’s who he is,” left-hander Erik Miller said. “Whenever we need him so far this season, he’s stepped up. Having that stopper mentality is so valuable.”

The Giants recorded only two hits over six innings against Reds flamethrower Chase Burns, but they finally managed to break the stalemate in the seventh, when Luis Arraez reached on a fielding error by De La Cruz and scored from first on a two-out RBI double from Matt Chapman to give San Francisco its first lead of the series.

Jung Hoo Lee followed with an RBI single to left field to make it 2-0, and he later came home on another base hit by Casey Schmitt to cap a three-run rally. Lee finished 3-for-4 for his fourth multihit game of the road trip, raising his batting average from .143 to .246 over his last six games.

Tensions between the two sides escalated in the top of the eighth after Reds reliever Connor Phillips hit Willy Adames on the left leg with an 0-2 fastball. Adames tossed his bat in frustration and briefly glared at Phillips, who was promptly ejected by home-plate umpire Junior Valentine.

Tempers flared again when Miller struck out Sal Stewart to end the game and record his first career save, with the two yelling at each other as players from both benches spilled onto the field.

“I know the guys were joking about Miller doesn't say much to anybody,” Vitello said. “I don't know who talked first between those guys, or if it was one-sided, but I think something was said and maybe people reacted because of what went on early in the game.”

Roupp also drilled Spencer Steer in the ribs with a first-pitch fastball -- one of only two four-seamers he threw on Thursday -- in the second, which may have been related to Steer’s kerfuffle with Giants right-hander JT Brubaker on Wednesday night.

“It slipped,” Roupp said.

Regardless, Vitello said he was happy to see the Giants show more fight after stumbling out to a disappointing 7-12 start.

“I do think it is a team that's already got strong camaraderie,” Vitello said. “I do think there does need to be a little bit more battle to them. It doesn't mean breaking a bat or starting a fight or anything like that. I don't think that was necessarily the intent, but just with a little more competitive edge to them in all situations. When you’ve got to make adjustments, when you’re down on the scoreboard. I think what it does today is it gives our guys a chance to travel in a better mood, a chance to leave a road series knowing that we at least won a ballgame.”