Drew Gilbert gave the Giants a spark in center field, but it was not enough to change the result. He went 2-for-4 with one run scored as San Diego edged San Francisco 6-5 in Game 3 at Petco Park.
The performance mattered because it came in the middle of a four-game National League series, with the Padres taking a 2-1 lead after the final out. Gilbert reached twice on singles, lining one to left field in the third inning and another to right field in the fourth, and each hit kept the Giants in contact on a night when 43,766 fans were in the park.
For Gilbert, the outing showed why he was in the lineup: when a team needs offense, a player who can put the ball in play twice and score once can still matter even in a loss. The Giants needed every bit of that production because the game turned into a one-run test that they could not quite finish.
There is also the larger arc around Gilbert that gives the night more weight. He played at Tennessee from 2020-22, appeared in 141 games as a batter with 134 starts, and was used in 11 contests as a relief pitcher with a 2-0 record. He also produced a.314 batting average, 22 home runs, 140 RBIs and 116 runs there before Houston picked him in the first round with the No. 28 overall pick of the 2022 MLB draft.
The immediate question now is not what Gilbert did in Game 3. It is whether the Giants can turn that kind of production into a win when the series finale arrives Sunday at Petco Park, with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. EDT.
