SF Giants’ Gausman takes step forward, bullpen stumbles in loss to Braves

Giants starter Kevin Gausman tossed six innings of two-run ball against the Braves on Friday.

ATLANTA — Throughout the second half of the season, the Giants have been holding out hope that starter Kevin Gausman would regain the Cy Young-caliber form that helped him make his first All-Star team this year.

Gausman wasn’t all the way back to his old self in Friday’s start in Atlanta, but six innings of two-run ball against a first-place Braves club represented a major step forward for one of the Giants’ most important arms.

That step came on a night the Giants’ bullpen stumbled.

Left-hander Tony Watson and righty Zack Littell combined to give up four runs in the bottom of the seventh as Jorge Soler’s three-run home run powered the Braves to a 6-5 defeat of the Giants (83-45) to snap San Francisco’s win streak at four games.

The Braves held a 6-4 lead entering the ninth, but Wilmer Flores brought the Giants within a run as he sent a 3-1 offering from closer Will Smith into the left field bleachers. With two outs, Tommy La Stella lined a deep flyball to right field, but Braves outfielder Joc Pederson made a sensational leaping grab in front of the wall to rob the Giants’ second baseman of extra bases and end the game.

The loss came with some additional concern as third baseman Kris Bryant exited the game in the bottom of the first after a 35-minute rain delay with “right side tightness” he experienced on a check swing during his lone at-bat. Giants manager Gabe Kapler did not indicate there was long-term concern over Bryant’s status, but said the team would reevaluate him on Saturday.

A Giants bullpen that’s been the best in the majors since June 1 and owns the second best bullpen ERA this season behind the Milwaukee Brewers is still capable of having a bad day at the office. Friday qualified.

After Gausman departed in line for a win, Watson issued a one-out walk to Joc Pederson and gave up a groundball single to pinch-hitter Guillermo Heredia. With switch-hitter Ozzie Albies at the plate, Kapler chose to leave his veteran reliever in to face a player who has a much better track record against lefties than righties.

Albies made the Giants pay with a RBI double that convinced Kapler to turn to Littell, who watched the first pitch he threw to Soler get turned around for a go-ahead three-run home run. Littell wanted to go up in the zone with his fastball, but Soler caught up to the pitch and redirected it into the left center field bleachers.

“(Littell) executed a top rail fastball to Soler,” Kapler said. “Soler jumped all over it. He put a really good swing on it. We don’t have to go back too far with Zack to see that pitch miss barrels and see guys swing right through it.”

The Braves’ late rally spoiled Gausman’s best outing since an August 4 win over the Diamondbacks and cost the Giants on a night they took an early 3-0 lead thanks in large part to a big swing from catcher Buster Posey.

After exiting Tuesday’s game in New York in the fifth inning and sitting out the final two games of the series, Posey returned to the starting lineup Friday and greeted Braves starter Max Fried by swinging at a 3-0 sinker and sending a high, arcing drive down the right field line.

Posey’s flyball didn’t appear to be struck particularly well, but the ball sailed over the right field fence and stayed inside the foul pole for a two-run home run. Posey’s 16th homer of the season left the bat with a 44-degree launch angle, which is the highest recorded launch angle on Posey home run since Statcast began tracking batted ball data in 2015.

Of the 156 career home runs Posey has hit, Friday’s first-inning blast was only the third that came on a 3-0 pitch. The Giants have been among the most aggressive teams against 3-0 offerings this season, as San Francisco’s nine hits and 19 balls in play on 3-0 pitches rank second only to the Toronto Blue Jays in each category.

“I really think it’s just trying to simplify all the way through,” Posey said of his 3-0 approach. “Try to get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it and that’s not necessarily let the count dictate it too much.”

The Giants added on against Fried in the second inning as Gausman helped himself out by laying down a bunt on an 0-2 pitch that put pressure on Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud to make a play. In an effort to force out the lead runner, Mike Yastrzemski, at third base, d’Arnaud hurried his throw and sent the ball down the left field line, allowing Yastrzemski to score.

An Austin Slater double play ball prevented Thairo Estrada from scoring from third base with just one out, but Estrada was able to sprint home later in the game when La Stella lined an 0-2 curveball into the right field corner with two outs in the fourth inning. Estrada raced all the way around from first base to give the Giants a 4-2 lead, which Gausman was able to preserve with three more solid, efficient innings of work.

“It’s getting back to what I was doing early in the season, I felt like six innings was kind of a given early in the season when I pitched,” Gausman said. “It’s nice to get back to that, but I wish I would have gone another inning there.”

The right-hander struggled a bit in the early innings with keeping his fastball near the top of the strike zone, but he retired the final 11 hitters he faced in a row by elevating his four-seamer and keeping Braves hitters off balance with his splitter.

“When I can get swing and misses on my split and I can throw my fastball up, I can be really hard on hitters,” Gausman said.