Giants fume over no-home run ruling, which proves to be omen in latest loss
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - This is how bad things are going for the San Francisco Giants: even when they hit a homer, it doesn't count.
In the second inning of the Giants' 5-1 loss Saturday, Heliot Ramos hit a drive to center that appeared to deflect off Tropicana Field's lower catwalk, which according to the ground rules, would be a home run.
"It was way gone off the bat," Ramos said. "It was a moonshot. There was no way that was not a homer."
Center fielder Cedric Mullins, too, played it as if it suddenly changed direction, going back to the wall and then darting forward. Statcast initially measured the drive at 424 feet - which was revised to 385 feet. Mullins said afterward that he didn't think the baseball had hit the catwalk, but Ramos said, "The reaction Mullins had, he went back and then came in like the wind was blowing real hard." Ramos added, without stating the obvious: There's no wind in a dome. "It was crazy."
More For You
Giants GM: Phillies' sweep ‘tough pill to swallow' but praises Vitello, coaches
GM Zack Minasian joined the San Francisco Giants in Florida after their Philadelphia debacle, and he was quick to support manager Tony Vitello and the coaching staff one month into the season.
Offensive woes extended as Giants, shut out for seventh time, fall to Rays
Though Giants starter Robbie Ray pitched well, a lack of offensive support from his teammates led to a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, as San Francisco's skid reached four games.
Crew chief Vic Carapazza, who was at second base and closest to the play, ruled it a catch. He said he thought it was a catch, noting: "I've seen guys run back before and run in if they misjudge or whatnot."
The Giants requested a crew chief review and, with inadequate camera coverage of the catwalk even with all the work done on the re-roofed Trop, the replay crew in New York ruled that the call on the field stood. Carapazza said the review crew told him that there nothing definitive they could see to change the call.
Rays 5, Giants 1
San Francisco
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
33
1
7
1
1
8
Lee rf
4
0
0
0
0
1
.288
Arraez 2b
4
1
3
0
0
0
.317
Schmitt dh
4
0
1
0
0
2
.300
Devers 1b
4
0
1
1
0
0
.211
Chapman 3b
4
0
0
0
0
3
.254
Adames ss
4
0
0
0
0
1
.194
Ramos lf
4
0
1
0
0
0
.271
Gilbert cf
2
0
1
0
1
0
.283
Bailey c
3
0
0
0
0
1
.152
Tampa Bay
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
29
5
9
4
5
8
Simpson lf
4
1
1
0
0
1
.312
Mullins cf
3
0
1
1
1
0
.133
Caminero 3b
3
1
1
0
1
2
.260
Aranda 1b
4
0
2
2
0
2
.228
Fraley dh
2
0
1
1
0
0
.246
a-Vilade ph-dh
2
0
0
0
0
0
.297
Palacios 2b
2
0
0
0
2
2
.204
DeLuca rf
4
1
2
0
0
1
.284
Feduccia c
1
1
1
0
0
0
.250
b-Fortes ph-c
2
0
0
0
0
0
.259
Walls ss
2
1
0
0
1
0
.203
San Francisco
000
001
000_1
7
1
Tampa Bay
000
130
01x_5
9
0
a-flied out for Fraley in the 5th. b-flied out for Feduccia in the 6th.
E: Bailey (3). LOB: San Francisco 6, Tampa Bay 6. 2B: Arraez (5), Devers (5), Feduccia (1), DeLuca (6). RBIs: Devers (12), Fraley (5), Mullins (9), Aranda 2 (27). CS: Mullins (2), Schmitt (1), Caminero (2), Palacios (3). S: Feduccia.
Runners left in scoring position: San Francisco 1 (Chapman); Tampa Bay 4 (Simpson, DeLuca 3). RISP: San Francisco 1 for 3; Tampa Bay 3 for 10.
DP: San Francisco 1 (Bailey, Adames, Bailey); Tampa Bay 1 (Feduccia, Palacios, Feduccia).
San Francisco
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Roupp, L, 5-2
4
1-3
8
4
4
2
6
88
3.18
Gage
2-3
0
0
0
1
0
8
1.35
Borucki
1
1-3
0
0
0
0
1
16
5.23
Santos
1
2-3
1
1
0
2
1
26
0.00
Tampa Bay
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Jax
2
2-3
1
0
0
1
2
45
5.14
Scholtens, W, 3-1
3
4
1
1
0
3
47
3.18
Kelly, H, 5
1
1-3
1
0
0
0
1
15
3.86
Cleavinger, H, 3
1
1
0
0
0
1
12
5.40
Legumina
1
0
0
0
0
1
12
0.00
Inherited runners-scored: Gage 2-0, Scholtens 1-0, Kelly 1-0.
ABS Challenge: Gilbert (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Scholtens (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Roupp (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Santos (Ball-Overturned to Strike).
Ejected: Houser.
Umpires: Home, Hunter Wendelstedt; First, Nic Lentz; Second, Vic Carapazza; Third, John Bacon.
T: 2:35. A: 21,973 (25,025).
Asked about the Statcast revision from 424 feet to 385 feet, something the replay room should have access to, Carapazza said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"The umpire (Carapazza) said sorry to me," Ramos said. "But I think it was a pretty obvious call. It was a homer no matter what. The bullpen is close by, and they said it was a homer. Honestly, I give (the umpires) the benefit of the doubt, but I can't on this one. That was pretty tough and that's how you kill momentum."
For the Giants, who ended a 16-inning scoreless drought with Rafael Devers' RBI double in the sixth inning and who haven't homered through five games on this trip, things boiled over. Manager Tony Vitello came out to discuss things with home-plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, who engaged in some words with Vitello before ejecting two unlikely candidates: director of pitching Frank Anderson and Adrian Houser, who'd started Friday night's game and played for the Rays last year.
On video, Wendelstedt said what appeared to be, "Who do you think you are?" and the Chronicle learned that he directed that to Anderson, who like Vitello came from the college ranks.
There were some derisive remarks directed to both from the umpires, according to Vitello.
"It all kind of got pretty hot pretty quick," Vitello said. "I was just trying to figure out, ‘Can we take a look at it and and what can be done from there?' And then I kind of blacked out, to be honest with you, amongst all the extra riffraff, after something about, ‘rah rah' and ‘pom poms' which I assume was something to do with either college or my behavior in the dugout."
Asked about the ejections, Carapazza responded that once a review is decided, no arguments are allowed "and they continued to argue."
All that, and stopper Landen Roupp couldn't work his usual magic to reverse the Giants' skid, which stands at five consecutive losses. The Rays scored once off Roupp in the fourth, then added three more in the fifth, with Roupp helping things along with two walks.
Roupp entered the game tied for the big-league lead in wins, with five, and with a team-best 2.55 ERA. He was undefeated over his previous four outings, putting up a 1.82 ERA in that span, and he had given up only one run in 18 innings in his three road starts going into Saturday.
He didn't make it out of the fifth inning for just the second time in seven starts, and allowed more than one run for just the third time.
Like the rest of the team, Roupp was still fuming on behalf of Ramos after the game, saying the disallowed homer "took the wind out of all of us. Obviously, we've been struggling as a team to do that, and then you finally get a chance to go ahead early, and it's taken away from you like that, it is just terrible."
Added Roupp: "I think everybody in the stands thought that was a home run especially when Statcast had it going 424. I think the umps were pretty brutal all around tonight, if I'm to going be honest. But that's no excuse - we still have got to play better as a whole group."
Among the three relievers to finish up: Gregory Santos, making his first appearance with the Giants since 2022, and he was throwing up to 100 mph in his 1⅔ innings. Other bright spots: Luis Arraez, with his parents in attendance, had a three-hit night, and catcher Patrick Bailey three out three runners; Bailey was charged with a throwing error when he tried to get Jonny DeLuca at third in the eighth and Matt Chapman couldn't come with it as the ball came in at the same time as DeLuca, who scored as the ball rolled away, an unearned run charged to Santos.
The Giants' staggering offense was shut out for the major-league leading seventh time the night before, and the club is last in the majors in the biggie stats: runs (105), homers (19). walks (66) and steals (eight).
San Francisco hasn't scored more than two runs in 15 of 33 games and at 13-20, the Giants are tied with the Phillies for the second-worst record in the National League, ahead of only the Mets. The Giants have been outscored 24-8 through five games of this trip, which ends Sunday.
The lack of scoring might be weighing a little too hard on everyone, Vitello said.
"They definitely listen way more than I do to the quote-unquote noise you hear about however many shutouts it's been," Vitello said. "You're dying for a run, so maybe it's my role for us to get a little tougher or to find whatever that right confidence is. don't think guys lack confidence entirely. It's just a little bit outcome-based right now. So scoring first or scoring in general is going to affect confidence,"
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 7:11 PM.