Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman to test mettle vs. Giants

Kevin Gausman returns to Oracle Park for just the second time since leaving the San Francisco Giants as a free agent on Monday when he takes the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The teams are beginning a three-game interleague series in San Francisco.

Gausman joined the Giants as a free agent in December 2019 and pitched two seasons in San Francisco, including the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

The right-hander followed that with one of the best seasons of his career in 2021, making the All-Star Game, finishing sixth in the National League Cy Young Award balloting and even getting Most Valuable Player votes when he went 14-6 with a 2.81 ERA.

The 14 wins and 227 strikeouts that year were career bests at the time. His 33 starts that year tied for the major-league lead.

The Giants won a franchise-record 107 games in 2021, capturing the NL West. They haven't reached the postseason since.

Gausman left for the Blue Jays in free agency that offseason and has since gone 52-48 with a 3.57 ERA in 143 starts. Over that same span, no Giant other than Logan Webb (147) has made more than 56 starts.

Now 35 years old, Gausman has pitched twice against the Giants since leaving, striking out 12 in a 3-0 home loss in 2023, then allowing two runs over seven innings in his return to Oracle Park in 2024.

This season, his 14th, has been a struggle. The month of June was particularly rough, during which Gausman (4-7, 4.19 ERA) went 0-4 with a 6.47 ERA in six starts.

His road starts in June were especially ugly, having been throttled by the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs for a total of 11 runs and 12 hits in eight innings. He hasn't recorded a win since May 22, eight starts ago.

Currently sitting under .500, with several Blue Jays veterans - including Gausman, Max Scherzer, George Springer and Daulton Varsho - in the last year of deals and with the trade deadline now within sight, Springer noted recently that it's put-up or shut-up time for those wanting to remain with the team.

"We all would like to be in a better spot. Everyone understands that," Springer said. "At the end of the day, I know we've done a lot of good things (and) we still have (72) games to go. But I think everyone in that locker room understands we have to play better. And I think over time, guys are going to start to do that."

The Blue Jays flew into San Francisco on Sunday night following a 4-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners. They'll seek to get back to their winning ways against a struggling Giants team that's coming off a 2-4 trip to Arizona and Colorado.

One of the Giants who will take the field Monday with some positive momentum will be Rafael Devers, who homered four times on the trip, including twice in Sunday's 7-6 defeat, while extending his hitting streak to nine games.

"He's really dialed in to every pitch," Giants manager Tony Vitello said after the loss. "It looks like he's in a really good spot at all times. It looks like he's really under control and seeing it well."

The Giants will kick off a week-long homestand with right-hander Landen Roupp (5-8, 4.55) on the mound. He hasn't won since April 26, a stretch of 11 starts in which he's gone 0-7 with a 5.87 ERA.

He's never faced the Blue Jays in his three-year career.