San Francisco – It was a night to forget for the San Francisco Giants, who fell 9–4 to the visiting Miami Marlins in Friday’s series opener at Oracle Park. The loss marked the Marlins sixth straight victory at the ballpark, as the Giants struggled early and never fully recovered.
The Marlins’ offense set the tone against San Francisco starter Adrian Houser, collecting 11 hits and scoring eight earned runs over his four innings of work before his night came to an early end.
“Just not executing when I needed to execute, leaving balls over the plate,” Houser said about his performance against Miami. “It comes down to execution there.”
Houser’s start to the 2026 season with his new team has been a difficult one. He remains the only starter in the rotation without a win, and he’ll have to wait a bit longer after Friday’s outing.
The Marlins jumped on Houser early, opening the game with a pair of doubles before catcher Liam Hicks launched a two-run home run to right field, giving Miami a quick 3–0 lead in the first inning.
The struggles continued from there. Houser surrendered five more runs over the next three innings, drawing boos from the Oracle Park crowd after a three-run homer disappeared into the fog and landed in the left-center field bleachers, extending the deficit to 8–0.
Despite the rough outing, Giants manager Tony Vitello expressed confidence that Houser will bounce back, citing his professionalism and strong mindset as key reasons the team brought him in.
“In my opinion, he’s thrown the ball fairly well for us. Hopefully, we’ll look back and see tonight’s a blip on the radar screen.”
After Houser was pulled, the Giants’ bullpen provided much-needed stability, holding the Marlins to just one additional run the rest of the way. However, the early deficit proved too steep for the offense to overcome.
San Francisco showed signs of life in the fifth inning, stringing together multiple hits to trim the deficit to five, but the rally ultimately fell short. The Giants finished with 11 hits, including a solo home run from right fielder Jung Hoo Lee in the eighth, yet couldn’t generate the sustained offense needed to erase the early damage.
With the loss, San Francisco falls to 11–15 on the season and 5–9 at home, with two games remaining against Miami this weekend.
