The Giants won two of three games against the Dodgers at home. They won two of three games against the Braves in Atlanta. On Sunday they’d the chance to win two of three games against the Guardians in Cleveland.

Considering that San Francisco has hovered below .500 for many of this season, three consecutive series wins against three playoff teams would have been invaluable for the team to shut out the primary half.

Instead, a potentially great road trip becomes just a very good trip.

Despite taking an early lead, Sean Hjelle allowed a game-winning three-run home run by Bo Naylor within the sixth inning that sent the Giants down 4-5 to the Guardians at Progressive Field and missed the possibility to win a series against considered one of the American League's best teams.

The Giants (44-47) took control early. Michael Conforto hit a 440-foot, two-run home run within the second inning, the longest home run of his time with San Francisco. In the third inning, Heliot Ramos singled home Nick Ahmed to provide rookie Hayden Birdsong a 3-0 lead in his third profession start.

The Guardians (56-32) then proved why they’re among the finest teams in baseball. Cleveland scored two runs against Birdsong within the fourth – the primary on an RBI single by Josh Naylor, the second on an RBI double by Daniel Schneemann.

Birdsong finished the inning on his own terms despite throwing 23 pitches, but his afternoon ended with two outs within the fifth inning after allowing two runners to succeed in base. Hjelle escaped the precarious situation by striking out José Ramírez and protecting San Francisco's 3-2 lead. Birdsong thus reached a final line of two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. In the next inning, Hjelle again fell one strike in need of protecting his team's one-run lead.

After two quick outs, Andrés Giménez and Tyler Freeman hit back-to-back singles. Bo Naylor got here off the bench to pinch hit for Austin Hedges, but Hjelle was about to send him right back to the dugout, taking a 2-0 lead. Naylor did indeed return to the dugout shortly afterward, but not in the way Hjelle had hoped.

The younger Naylor brother threw two pitches, then took two balls to tie the rating at 2-2. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Naylor sent Hjelle's middle-in sinker into the right-field stands, turning San Francisco's one-run lead right into a two-run deficit. Those two runs were good enough for the Guardians' bullpen, a unit that entered the sport with a league-best 2.59 ERA.

San Francisco made things exciting within the ninth inning against closer Emmanuel Clase. Matt Chapman hit a double with one out, reached third base on a scarcity of defense, and scored on Conforto's groundout. Luis Matos hit a grounder with two outs that would have ended the sport, but reached base because third baseman Angel Martínez made a throwing error. But Clase got Brett Wisely to groundout, ending the sport and the series.

Kyle Harrison looked completely rusty when he returned to the mound on Saturday in Cleveland.

The De La Salle High graduate put San Francisco behind by 4 runs early on, and although the Giants fought back late, they ultimately lost 5-4 to the AL Central-leading Guardians.

After missing the last 19 games due to an ankle sprain, Harrison pitched 3 ⅓ innings in his first start since June 10, allowing 4 hits and 4 runs and walking 4 batters. Harrison didn’t pitch in a rehab game before his game Saturday.

The Giants had several opportunities to attain and possibly take the lead, but were unable to capitalize. San Francisco finished the sport 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Jorge Soler shone because the leadoff hitter, going 1 for 3 with a double and two walks. Tyler Fitzgerald scored two runs with an RBI single.

Fremont native Steven Kwan went 2-for-4 and had a solo home run for Cleveland.

“(Kyle) was out for a while and didn't pitch in a game,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Once he got going a little bit, it looked like he was getting better toward the end. For a while, it looked like I was going to have to move somebody up in the first inning, but he did it and kept us there.”

“We fought back really well and made it a game that we didn't expect at the beginning. Offensively we had our chances, but overall I think Kyle will be much better next time he plays.”

The Guardians attacked Harrison early.

Kwan hit a single, second baseman Angel Martínez was stopped on a walk and José Ramírez hit a single to center field as Cleveland's top-scoring team loaded the bases in the primary inning.

Cleanup hitter Josh Naylor scored Kwan on a ground out, giving Cleveland its first run of the sport. After Harrison reloaded the bases by allowing a walk to David Fry, Jhonkensy brought Noel Martínez home on a deep sacrifice fly to center field. In the subsequent at-bat, Tyler Freeman hit Ramírez home, giving Cleveland a 3-0 lead at the underside of the primary inning.

In the second inning, Kwan hit a pitch near the highest of the strike zone that flew past the middle field wall, giving the Guardians a four-run lead.

Harrison was eliminated within the fourth inning after 72 pitches, 44 of which were strikes.

“Honestly, I think it was just a rough first inning,” Harrison said. “I worked a little too fast and wasn't really up and running in the first inning and had too many walks. … I wasted a lot of pitches and they came at me in the first inning and I was pretty upset because I knew I didn't have many left.”

The Giants struggled against Cleveland starter Logan Allen, managing just two hits in 4 innings, but San Francisco's offense really got entering into the fifth inning.

Jorge began the inning with a leadoff walk. Later, Heliot Ramos hit a single, prompting Guardians manager Stephen Vogt to switch left-handed Barlow with right-handed pitcher Scott Barlow.

Matt Chapman got here on in Barlow's first at-bat and loaded the bases with one out within the inning. Fitzgerald hit a single to center field, scoring Soler and Ramos and putting the Giants on the scoreboard.

San Francisco capped off its comeback with a double steal, with Chapman scoring from third base to chop Cleveland's result in 4-3.

Cleveland prolonged the result in two runs again within the sixth inning when Noel hit a house run to left field against reliever Luke Jackson, Jackson's fourth home run allowed this yr.

The Giants got back inside striking distance within the seventh inning after Michael Conforto's RBI double scored Chapman and brought the rating to 5-4.

In the ninth inning, Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase struck out Mike Yastrzemski, Ramos and Conforto, ending the sport for the host Guardians.

The end of the road trip is near for San Francisco, because the team plays Cleveland tomorrow before starting a six-game home series before the All-Star break. Right-hander Hayden Birdsong is predicted to start out Sunday.

Both the Giants fans and their manager can breathe a sigh of relief after Friday night.

Bob Melvin and his pitching coach Bryan Price had no intention of repeating last 12 months's starting lineup, or the shortage thereof, but given the cards they were dealt, with a complete host of pitchers on the injured list, they used a bullpen game for the twelfth time Friday night and asked Erik Miller to take over opening duties for the ninth time this season, which is a team record.

After a 25-minute rain stoppage, the big-framed left-hander shut down the team 1-2-3, and 6 other relievers followed because the Giants' latest – and hopefully last – piecemeal pitching performance went easily, starting a difficult series against the American League-leading Cleveland Guardians with a 4-2 win.

After winning two of three games in Atlanta in the primary leg of the road trip, the Giants have to win just one among their final two games in Cleveland to secure their fourth straight series. However, no task has been harder this season than defeating the Guardians at Progressive Field, where they’re still an MLB-best 28-11 and have lost only one series all 12 months.

Returning from a two-week absence with a sprained ankle, Kyle Harrison could have his first likelihood to win the series on Saturday and is the primary of a number of reinforcements to return. Blake Snell, Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb are only across the corner.

In the series opener, the Giants needed to give up nine innings to Miller, Spencer Bivens, Taylor Rogers, Randy Rodríguez, Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval, who allowed 11 hits and five more walks and limited the Guardians' damage to a solo shot by Josh Naylor within the fourth inning and a run within the sixth inning that would have been higher.

In the sixth inning, after allowing runners to achieve second and third base with no outs, Rodríguez provokes a sacrifice fly that ultimately brought within the only run in a seemingly troubled inning after Melvin Walker called, bringing in Bo Naylor for the third out after Matt Chapman got the second out on the plate by catching a chopper from Bryan Rocchio and catching David Fry in a rundown.

Doval and Tyler Rogers needed to work around the possibly tying run on base within the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

The first two batters of the ninth inning reached base when Doval didn’t cover first base after which walked the subsequent batter after 4 pitches. Six pitches later, nevertheless, the sport was over after Doval got Jose Ramirez to hit a slider within the dirt for strike three and got Josh Naylor to bounce a first-pitch cutter right into a game-ending double play.

Rocchio's double against Rogers with two outs put the potential tying point at second base after Andrés Giménez reached base on a comebacker that the reliever couldn't catch. Rogers, nevertheless, left the inning with a 4-2 lead after getting Bo Naylor to finish the inning again by hitting a groundout to Brett Wisely at second base.

The Giants capitalized on their strengths and took an early lead by running over the Guardians' starter, the unusually inconsistent Tanner Bibee, and scoring three runs before Miller stepped onto the mound and eventually took a 4-0 lead.

Bibee entered the evening with a 3.47 ERA and had walked 4 batters in five starts in June. It had been nearly two months, since May 13, since he last issued two free runs in a start. However, he got LaMonte Wade Jr. and Matt Chapman on base in the primary inning and missed his position with the bases loaded by a large margin for Michael Conforto, who hit a two-RBI double to make it 3-0.

Conforto hit a curveball high into right field to attain Wade and Heliot Ramos, and on his next attempt within the fourth inning, he hit a two-strike swing for a second double, scoring when Bibee botched a bunt attempt by Nick Ahmed.

The two doubles marked only the second time Conforto has had a multiple hit in 27 games since getting back from a hamstring strain. He had a .280 batting average and .821 OPS when he went on the injured list, but each numbers dropped to .227 and .688 before he has recently come back into gear, hitting seven extra-base hits in his last 11 games, improving his average to .239 and his OPS to .743.

Miller has pitched a whole game in his nine openers this season, allowing only one run. The Giants improved their record to 5-4 in those games – 7-5 in all bullpen games. Their relievers have pitched probably the most innings of any team within the majors.

Just before the All-Star break, nevertheless, an actual rotation is taking shape. After Harrison, rookie Hayden Birdsong will make his third start on Sunday to shut out the series, and after an off day on Monday, the Giants will start Blake Snell, Logan Webb and Jordan Hicks against the Blue Jays; Harrison, Birdsong and Snell will face the Twins of their final series before the break.

Remarkable: FROM Mike Yastrzemski returned to the lineup a day after being hit within the elbow by a pitch. He was initially out of the order, but was inserted about two and a half hours before the primary pitch and began in right field, suffering strikeouts in all 4 of his attempts to the plate.

Next: LHP Kyle Harrison (4-3, 3.96) returns to the starting lineup against LHP Logan Allen (8-4, 5.75) within the second game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. PT.

CLEVELAND – The Oakland A's did not decelerate the Cleveland Guardians' offense late last month when the 2 teams met for a season-opening four-game series on the Coliseum.

That proved to be the case again on Friday, because the A's allowed five runs in the underside of the fifth inning and never recovered in a 10-2 loss to the Guardians, opening a 10-game road trip.

Starter Joe Boyle allowed a two-run home run to Tyler Freeman within the second inning and Steven Kwan and Andrés Giménez each scored two runs within the fifth inning, helping the A's fall to 1-4 in games against the Guardians this season. In those games, Oakland was outscored 39-13.

Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie (2-2) slowed the A's by allowing one run in five innings and striking out a season-high six. The right-hander had just five strikeouts in his first three starts after missing much of last season with an elbow injury.

Josh Naylor added a solo home run and Estevan Florial had a career-best three hits for the Guardians, who’ve won five of their last six and have the perfect record within the AL Central at 14-6. It's Cleveland's best start since 1999.

A's third baseman Abraham Toro hit his first profession leadoff home run and Brent Rooker added a house run off Scott Barlow within the ninth. Oakland is 7-5 after starting the 12 months with seven losses in eight games.

Boyle (1-3) made his fourth start and allowed seven runs in six innings. The Cleveland resident walked 4 hits and conceded five hits.

In the fifth, Boyle issued two walks because the Guardians loaded the bases. Kwan doubled and scored twice before Giménez scored two more together with his single.

“Other than the fifth, I thought I was pretty solid and efficient,” Boyle said. “Without these walks in the fifth part it would be a completely different trip.”

Freeman's wind-assisted home run hit the foul pole in right and scored Will Brennan, giving Cleveland a 2-1 lead within the second. Josh Naylor blocked a solo shot from Kyle Muller within the eighth.

The Guardians opened the sport with five runs within the fifth, highlighted by Kwan's two-run double. Giménez followed with a two-run single and got here home on successful by José Ramírez.

“There was some weak contact, but again, it's the walks and the free bases that really killed Joe tonight and caused us to fall behind in the fifth inning,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “I sent him out again for the sixth time. It's a part of that development that I still wish to get him back on the market and see how he recovers from that tough innings.

“He recovered in the sixth game but that’s part of that maturation process. When you get a few guys on base, you just try to slow the game down and he’s still growing.”

Oakland began a 10-game trip that included series with the Yankees and Orioles. The A's have one other stretch of 10 straight road games from May 10-19.

TRAINING ROOM

Athletics: OF Brent Rooker (thoracic cartilage) got here off the injured list after missing nine games and appeared as a pinch-hitter within the sixth. Manager Mark Kotsay said he would start on Saturday.

Guardian: RHP Gavin Williams (right elbow inflammation), who has been on the IL since March 25, is scheduled to throw three innings in a simulated game Saturday in Goodyear, Arizona.

NEXT

A's LHP Alex Wood (0-1, 8.10 ERA) has the third-highest ERA within the majors amongst pitchers with not less than 15 innings pitched. He also allows the third-highest OPS at 1.042. He faces Guardians LHP Logan Allen (2-0, 5.06 ERA), who beat Oakland and Seattle in his first two starts but gave up nine runs over 9 2/3 innings in his last two games.