Devers, young bats feeding off each other to provide Giants' offensive spark

ATLANTA -- Giants rookies Turner Hill, Jonah Cox and Bryce Eldridge may not have eight-plus years of service time like San Francisco veteran slugger Rafael Devers does. But all four players contributed in a big way at the plate on Monday at Truist Park.

Hill, Cox, Eldridge and Devers combined for six of San Francisco’s seven RBIs and helped the Giants down the Braves, 7-3, in a makeup of a previously scheduled game that was rained out on June 18.

Hill, a 27-year-old outfielder who made his MLB debut on Aug. 15, had the biggest impact for the Giants with a pinch-hit two-run double in the top of the sixth which gave San Francisco a 5-3 lead and proved to be the game-winner.

Cox, a 24-year-old outfielder who debuted on May 31, went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Cox singled on a bunt to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth and hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth. It was his fourth of the season.

Eldridge, who debuted last September, went 2-for-5 with an RBI after he tallied four hits and four RBIs in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader -- a 7-2 Giants win.

“The young guys have brought a lot of energy and [Devers] has helped them, but I think he’s kind of feeding off their energy,” said manager Tony Vitello.

The 57-81 Giants are going to miss the playoffs for the fifth season in a row, but they played a bit of spoiler against the NL East-leading Braves this season and on Monday. The Giants are 5-1 against the Braves this year and San Francisco snapped Atlanta’s seven-game winning streak on Monday.

Who says the kids can’t have fun?

“Right now, we’re just enjoying playing baseball together,” Hill said. “I feel like when we’re clicking and playing team baseball, we can beat anybody.”

After Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder was relieved by left-hander Dylan Lee, Vitello pinch-hit for the left-handed-hitting Drew Gilbert with runners on second and third and one out. However, he pinch-hit with another left-handed hitter in Hill. Five pitches into Lee’s outing, Hill pulled a high fastball down the right-field line.​

“Early in the count, I was just trying to get something up and close to me to hit a ball to the outfield,” Hill said. “When I got to two strikes, I was just trying to see it deep and move the baseball forward [to] get an RBI.”

It was Hill’s second career pinch-hit appearance, and the undrafted free agent, who was signed by the Giants in 2023, is 2-for-2 as a pinch-hitter.

As for Devers, he continued to torment Elder. On June 27, when the Giants downed the Braves, 5-0, Devers went 2-for-2 with two home runs against Elder.

Devers picked up where he left off in the top of the first when he hit a solo shot off Elder, marking his third home run in as many at-bats against the Braves starter. Devers went on to walk in his next two at-bats against Elder. Devers is 6-for-7 with three home runs and four walks in 11 plate appearances against Elder.

Devers' homer was his 30th of the season. Last season, Willy Adames hit his 30th homer on the final day of the season. Adames was the first Giants player since Barry Bonds (in 2004) to hit 30 home runs in a season.

“It’s awesome to watch [Devers] and how he goes about his business [by] watching his at-bats in the game,” Hill said. “He’s done a good job helping the younger guys. He’s our leader, position player-wise. It’s been fun.”

Vitello -- who president of baseball operations Buster Posey confirmed will return as the Giants' manager in 2027 -- said his goal for the final month of 2026 is to build on what his club is currently doing.

Perhaps some of San Francisco’s up-and-coming players will play a role in the Giants’ return to the postseason.

“At the start of [the 2026 season], we were chasing wins and we were leaning on a core group of guys too much,” Vitello said. “You end up not mixing in guys enough, [not] resting guys enough, [not] showing guys different looks to the other team enough.

"A little bit was the makeup of the roster. A lot was chasing wins. Part of it was me maybe needing to learn from things. However it works out, we need to have the type of weapons that we do next year, where we can flip-flop guys and do some things. Because people are doing it to our pitchers.”