SAN FRANCISCO -- Rafael Devers is back at first base for the Giants, but his return to the position didn’t go entirely smoothly in a 5-2 loss to the Mets on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Devers put the Giants ahead, 2-1, with an RBI bloop single off Kodai Senga in the bottom of the sixth inning, but he also missed an errant throw from third baseman Matt Chapman in the eighth, which extended the Mets’ decisive four-run rally against relievers Keaton Winn and Erik Miller.
Winn had started ascending up the bullpen pecking order after working three scoreless innings in his first three appearances of the year, but he was pulled after allowing a one-out double and a single.
Miller came in to relieve Winn, but he gave up a two-run, go-ahead double to pinch-hitter Luis Torrens. Chapman then made a diving stop on Mark Vientos’ grounder to the left side, but he was charged with his fourth error of the year after his one-hop throw skipped past Devers, bringing home another run. Vientos advanced to second on the play and scored on Marcus Semien’s subsequent double to extend the Mets’ lead to 5-2.
“Disappointing,” first-year manager Tony Vitello said of his club’s defensive struggles this season. “You want better.”
Vitello wasn’t around to see his club blow the late lead, as he drew his first career ejection after arguing a batter interference call against Jerar Encarnacion in the bottom of the seventh. Vitello had plenty more to be upset about after the game, as the Giants saw the mistakes pile up while dropping three of four to the Mets.
Encarnacion was also thrown out at second after he tried stretching a single into a double in the fifth. Patrick Bailey was charged with catcher interference in the seventh. And Chapman was inexplicably caught stealing second with the Giants down by three in the bottom of the ninth.
“All three [losses] kind of had similar things going on where there were either defensive mistakes, guys not running the bases hard enough or smart enough,” Vitello said.
San Francisco is now 3-7 and 1-6 at home, so it’ll have to turn it around quickly, especially with the Phillies coming to town for a three-game series that begins on Monday night at Oracle Park.
“We’re definitely not playing our best baseball right now,” said right-hander Logan Webb, who worked seven innings of one-run ball in his third start of the year. “We know that. It's something we’ve got to be better at. But we’re 10 games in. … Before anyone hits the panic button, I think you’ve just got to take a deep breath. We’ve played some good teams. We’ve just got to go out there tomorrow and try to compete.”
While Devers had a bit of a blip on Sunday, the Giants were pleased to see him play the field for the first time after he recovered from the left hamstring tightness that limited him to designated hitter duties for the first nine games of the season.
The Giants had been treading carefully with Devers’ hamstring, which forced him to miss two weeks during Spring Training, though the three-time All-Star looked comfortable running the bases during the club’s series in San Diego earlier this week.
Vitello had previously said that Devers could be an option to make his 2026 debut at first base during the upcoming road trip to Baltimore, Cincinnati and Washington, but shaky defense from Casey Schmitt and Encarnacion might have compelled him to move up his timetable.
Devers’ ability to play first base should give the Giants a lot more lineup flexibility moving forward. Encarnacion served as the DH against the Mets on Sunday, but the Giants could give regulars such as Heliot Ramos or Luis Arraez occasional looks there, which would create more starting opportunities for bench pieces like Jared Oliva and Christian Koss.
A natural third baseman, Devers started learning first base after coming over from the Red Sox last June. He appeared in 28 games at first for the Giants in 2025 and looked pretty comfortable there by the end of the season.
“He's got good feet and a good arm, so that's a start,” Vitello said. “That first base position comes with a lot of ins and outs or specific plays where you’ve got to make good decisions. You’ve got to put yourself in a good position. I know he feels more comfortable than he did probably this time last year, just familiarizing himself over there.”