SF Giants officially avoid 100-loss season with blowout victory over Cardinals

The 1985 San Francisco Giants will not have company.

With a 10-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, the Giants won their 63rd game under rookie manager Tony Vitello, guaranteeing that they will not lose 100 games in a single season for the second time in franchise history. San Francisco, at 63-89, had far greater expectations, but given all that’s gone wrong, the Giants can take some minor solace in avoiding the wrong type of history.

As has often been the case lately, the youngsters led the way.

Bryce Eldridge hit a 461-foot two-run homer, smashed a 108.5-mph RBI double and drew a walk, raising his OPS to .828. Blade Tidwell found a groove and allowed two runs over a career-high 6 2/3 innings. Turner Hill hit his first career home run, reached base three times, drove in three runs and made several excellent catches. Christian Koss had two hits and two RBIs.

“I’ve grown a lot as a person this year, and I give credit to that for how I’ve developed as a player. Not really getting too down on myself or too high on myself and kind of staying level-headed,” Eldridge told NBC Sports Bay Area following the win.

Tidwell didn’t look like he was in for a long night after needing 55 pitches to complete his first three innings. In the third, Tidwell allowed a leadoff single to Masyn Winn, then got himself into trouble by hitting José Fermín and walking Bryan Torres. Tidwell allowed just one run that inning on a sacrifice fly, and after escaping that inning with minimal damage, he found a groove.

Following that rocky third, Tidwell retired the next 10 batters he faced before allowing a one-out single to Thomas Saggese in the bottom of the seventh. Tidwell was one out away from completing seven innings for the first time in his career, but Vitello pulled him at 95 pitches.

“After the third, I made a small adjustment, and it was pretty smooth sailing after that,” Tidwell told reporters in St. Louis. “The defense played a great game behind me. Turner had a ridiculous catch. Everybody, collectively, that was a team win.”

“It wasn’t a pretty outing last week,” manager Tony Vitello told reporters in St. Louis of Tidwell, who allowed five runs over four innings in his last outing against the Cardinals. “Part of it was he shot himself in the foot a little bit. Tonight, he did not.”

Tidwell, like many teammates on this injury-ladden roster, is fighting for spots on next year’s team. He’s been up and down since joining the rotation after the deadline, posting a 5.01 ERA over eight starts. Tidwell should make two more starts before the end of the season, and he can put himself in a better position for next year’s rotation with a strong finish.

Devers undergoes surgery

The Giants announced that Rafael Devers, whose season ended on Sunday when he was placed on the 60-day injured list, underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a left-sided core muscle injury.

San Francisco announced that Devers’ recovery timeline is three months.

The decision to have Devers undergo surgery now gives the Giants’ medical staff more time to work with Devers ahead of the upcoming labor battle. Major League Baseball is expected to initiate a lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1. During a lockout, teams cannot communicate with players on their 40-man roster.

Devers posted some of the best numbers by a left-handed-hitting Giant batter since Barry Bonds in his first full season in San Francisco, hitting .258 with 37 home runs and 98 RBIs.

Up next

Anthony Molina (3-1, 5.24 ERA) will look to shake off a rough start against the San Diego Padres (3 IP, 7 ER) as the Giants look to take the rubber match against the Cardinals.