It is never easy to let anyone play in the game when you’re free-falling in the season. But for the San Francisco Giants, now is as good time as any considering that they’ve given Robbie Ray a chance to play big in his first game, leading them to a promising 8-3 victory over one of the juggernauts in the game, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ray didn’t actually have the groove, but was nevertheless called up by the team to make his debut – and he did not fail to impress when it mattered most. He anchored the Giants after finding his stride in the game, throwing 86 pitches and wrapping out the night with a 96 mph fastball that struck out Shohei Ohtani – which also ended the fifth inning.

This goes to show that players making waves in the minors are also definitely capable of making a splash in the majors. Ray himself has had a promising night that turned plenty of heads to give the struggling Giants a massive victory that many critics call – surreal at this point. But of course, not everyone can keep up the winning pace, and it is easy to say that Ray has a promising groove to himself at this point.

Overcoming an Early Slump

Ray had a very challenging first inning after he had two walks and two hit batters to go along with two wild pitches. The Dodgers jumped out to take a 1-0 lead in that span without even taking a hit, and while it set the pace for the whole game, Ray would use that rough start to come up with bigger strides later on in the game as he went on a blazing rally to lead the Giants.

His outing in the later innings proved to be a spark for the Giants as the offense suddenly came to life. Matt Chapman nailed a homer to drive in two runs, while Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski came up with two RBIs each, with Ramos later delivering a two-run single in a six-run eighth inning to ice the game.

Ray’s impressive outing has been quite the spectacle for many fans in the game, and it cannot be denied that the Giants would not have pulled off this wire-to-wire victory without Ray coming up with this explosive performance.

A Late Resurgence for the Giants?

Despite being in free-fall, the Giants are just 4.5 games behind a wild card spot in the Playoffs. With the 2024 campaign halfway through, there is definitely a chance for the team to come up with a promising rush to the top. According to Giants manager Bob Melvin, it is is not impossible for them to come up with a push, but the standings do worry them as of late.

“You can’t help but know where we are in the standings,” manager Bob Melvin said. “There’s some other teams separating a little bit. We’re dropping further back. We’ve talked about the cavalry coming, but we need to do it now.”

So far, the Giants have shown a promising sign of life, and it cannot be denied that the team is clearly ready to take on the challenge of making it back to the top of the playoff stage now more than ever. Who knows, maybe they can beat the odds once more and finally come out on top for at least a wild card spot.