Ray Ray hopes to show the form that got him a major free agent contract from Seattle Mariners when he is facing his former team as a San Francisco giant in the future of a three-game series Saturday night.
Ray (1-0, 5.06 era) and sailors Right Hander Bryce Miller (0-1, 4.76) have the inevitable task of being handcuffs of worn bulls after the host giants used seven shippers for 8 2/3 rounds and seamen eight for 7 2/3 rounds in San Francisco’s 10-9
Ray came from a Cy Young-award-winning season for the Toronto Blue Jays 2021 when he signed a five-year, $ 115 million agreement with the sailors.
He went for a respectable 12-12 with a 3.71 era in 32 starts his first season in Seattle, and was then hit by a seasonal left flexor stem, which required surgery, in his season debut in 2023 against Cleveland Guardians.
The sailors then pulled the contact at the player who they had hoped would be their staff ace and traded him to Giants in January 2024 for Kannan Anthony Desclafani and Outfielder Mitch Haniger.
Still made big money and repairs from the operation, Ray did not make his first Giants start last season until July 24 last year. He did seven starts over 33 days and went 3-2 with a 4.70 era, before the San Francisco management called it one season.
Now 33, the left hand had an encouraging season debut in Cincinnati last Sunday, which limited the red to three runs and three hits in 5 1/3 rounds in a 6-3 victory.
All three runs from Ray came in the sixth round after he was perfect through five. For a first start, the veteran was proud of his performance.
“Fastball command was really good,” Ray said. “My slider was good. The change felt good. But I think it was mostly the fastball command. I could move it in and out, up and down. It is so that things get rolling.”
Giants has not lost since Ray’s last excursion and swept three matches at Houston before making it a five-game winning line with Friday’s walk-off against the sailors.
Ray will make his seventh career start against the sailors, including one in August last year, which turned out to be his last outing during the season even though he allowed only one run for three rounds. He has gone 1-1 with a 3.55 era in the six starters against Seattle.
Giants will meet Miller a day later than they had expected. He was scheduled to start the opener of the series, but when the sailors chose to add Luis F. Castillo to the back of his rotation, they did so by starting him on Friday and shooting Miller back one day.
The right -hander has never set up against Giants in his three -year -old big league career. He took the loss in his season debut last Saturday at home against athletics, which allowed three runs and six hits in 5 2/3 rounds in Seattle’s 4-2 loss.
On Friday, the sailors and Giants beat many opportunities to win the series opener, and combined to go 9-for-44 with runners in points mode while stranded 32 baserunners.
In the end, the sailors felt worse if what Giants did, which made the manager Dan Wilson try to spin the defeat in a different direction.
“We don’t like to lose at all. And today was a down-to-the-wire game, and it’s the tougher to swallow,” he said. “But we had to take some positive effects from it. And positive today were offensively we did many amazing things. Very amazing bats.”
-Field level media
