Kyle Harrison looked rusty in his return to the mound on Saturday in Cleveland.
The De La Salle High graduate put San Francisco in a four-run hole early, and though the Giants battled back late, they eventually fell to the AL Central-leading Guardians 5-4.
After missing nearly a month because of a sprained ankle, Harrison pitched 3 ⅓ innings in his first start since June 10, allowing four hits and four runs while walking four. He did not pitch in a rehab game before taking the mound on Saturday.
The Giants had multiple opportunities to score and possibly take the lead, but couldn’t convert. San Francisco finished just 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
Jorge Soler thrived as a leadoff hitter, going 1 for 3 with a double while drawing two walks. Tyler Fitzgerald singled to knock in two runs.
Fremont native Steven Kwan went 2 for 4 and had a solo home run for Cleveland.
Giants manager Bob Melvin noted Harrison’s rust postgame.
“Once he got into it a little bit, it looked like he got better toward the end,” Melvin said. “For a while there it looked like I had to get someone up there in the first, but he got through it and kept us there.”
“We battled back really nicely and made it a game where at the beginning, it didn’t feel like it. We had our chances offensively, but I think overall, Kyle will be much better by his next time out.”
The Guardians jumped on Harrison early.
Kwan hit a single, second baseman Angel Martínez walked and José Ramírez singled to center field as the top of Cleveland’s lineup loaded the bases in the first inning.
Cleanup hitter Josh Naylor drove in Kwan on a ground out, giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead. After Harrison loaded the bases again by walking David Fry, Jhonkensy Noel brought home Martínez on a deep sacrifice fly to center. In the next at-bat, Tyler Freeman knocked in Ramírez to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead.
In the second inning, Kwan homered on a pitch near the top of the strike zone that flew past the wall in center field, giving the Guardians a four-run advantage.
Harrison exited in the fourth inning after 72 pitches, 44 for strikes.
“Honestly, I think it was just a tough first inning,” Harrison said. “I was working a little too fast and didn’t have my legs quite under me in the first and had too many walks. … I wasted a lot of pitches and so they came at me in the first, and I was pretty mad because I knew I didn’t have too many more.”
The Giants struggled early against Cleveland starter Logan Allen, totaling just two hits through four innings, but San Francisco’s offense found its groove in the fifth.
Soler started the inning with a walk. Later, Heliot Ramos singled, which prompted Guardians’ manager Stephen Vogt to pull the lefty Allen for right-hander Scott Barlow.
Matt Chapman walked against Barlow to load the bases with one out in the inning. Fitzgerald singled to center, which scored Soler and Ramos to put the Giants on the board.
San Francisco capped off its rally with a double steal that saw Chapman score from third, cutting the Cleveland lead to 4-3.
The Guardians pushed the advantage back to two runs in the sixth when Noel homered to left off reliever Luke Jackson. It was Jackson’s fourth homer he has given up this year.
The Giants got back within striking distance in the seventh after pinch hitter Michael Conforto’s RBI double scored Chapman to make the score 5-4.
In the ninth, Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase retired Mike Yastrzemski and Ramos, walked Chapman and induced Conforto into a ground out to finish the game.
The end of the trip is near for San Francisco, as it will play Cleveland on Sunday before starting a six-game homestand heading into the All-Star break. The loss dropped San Francisco to 44-46 overall and 3-2 away from Oracle Park this week.
Righty Hayden Birdsong is Sunday’s expected starting pitched for the Giants.
