SAN FRANCISCO – Trevor McDonald was the Giants rookie few talked about on the day that No. 1 prospect Bryce Eldridge made his 2026 debut.
A right-hander who had pitched in four Major League games over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, McDonald also made his season debut Monday night and dominated the Padres over seven innings in a 3-2 victory that ended San Francisco’s six-game losing streak. McDonald’s seven innings tied his career high as a starter, previously accomplished Sept. 26, 2025, against Colorado.
McDonald held San Diego to two hits: a Jackson Merrill homer in the first and Merrill single in the fourth. McDonald had no walks, a hit batter and eight strikeouts.
Ramón Laureano homered against Caleb Kilian in the ninth to plate San Diego's second and final run. Kilian rebounded to secure his first Major League save.
The Giants promoted McDonald because of a one-time hole in the rotation caused by Wednesday’s rainout in Philadelphia and Thursday’s subsequent doubleheader. The Giants brought McDonald to Philly as the 27th man for the doubleheader, but he did not pitch.
McDonald spotted the Padres a 1-0 lead on Merrill’s first-inning homer before Casey Schmitt tied the game in the bottom half with a laser into the left-field seats.
Rafael Devers had two RBIs on a single and sacrifice fly that each scored Luis Arraez. Arraez had reached on identical fly-ball doubles into the left-field corner in the first and sixth innings against Padres right-hander Randy Vásquez.
Schmitt’s fifth homer of the season was the Giants’ first since he hit one eight days earlier. The Giants went homerless in the 223 plate appearances in-between, including all six games of their winless trip to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.