James Paxton’s Resilience Overshadowed Vs. Giants

The Boston Red Sox had an opportunity to extend their five-game win streak, but ultimately fell short to the San Francisco Giants, 3-2, on Saturday night at Oracle Park.

Overshadowed by Boston’s inability to muster up any offensive rhythm until the ninth inning, San Francisco’s elite pitching performance through eight innings and Justin Turner’s late-game heroics, was a solid showing from James Paxton.

Boston gave Paxton the nod in San Francisco, proving again to be one of the team’s most valuable arms, especially in terms of reliability and consistency. The 34-year-old tossed five innings while allowing one run off eight hits, collecting seven strikeouts. However, the most impressive piece of Paxton’s start was the resiliency.

He escaped multiple dangerous situations, including a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, to keep the Giants limited to just a run by the time Paxton let the bullpen take over. But again, in failing to create scoring opportunities, the Red Sox were doomed to come up flat — and they did.

Giants third baseman J.D. Davis delivered the decisive blow, taking Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen deep on the very first pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, sending Boston packing with its first loss in six games. It also handed the Red Sox their 21st loss in 39 games played against the National League this season.

Paxton made one thing clear after Boston endured a tough loss on the West Coast.

“I’d love to stay,” Paxton told reporters about the upcoming trade deadline, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “I’d love to fight for this team and get into the postseason. That’s what we need to do here.”

Here are more notes from Saturday night’s Red Sox-Giants game:

— Turner, who went 2-for-3 with the game-tying single, became the 11th Red Sox to appear in 100-plus games for Boston at age 38 or older and the first since David Ortiz did so in 2016, according to Red Sox senior manager of media relations and baseball information J.P. Long.

— Relief pitcher Mauricio Llovera made his Red Sox debut, tossing a scoreless eighth inning while allowing one hit and two walks, striking out three San Francisco batters.

— Jarren Duran was one of just two Red Sox players to record multiple hits (2-for-4). The 26-year-old is now batting .300/.333/.350 with six hits and two stolen bases in his last five games played.

— Boston is 8-5 since the Major League Baseball All-Star break.

— The Red Sox and Giants will meet for their rubber match on Sunday. First pitch from Oracle Park is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.