Giants' Rafael Devers heating up ahead of finale vs. Braves

A classic matchup of a powerful left-handed hitter and hard-throwing lefty pitcher gets top billing when the San Francisco Giants and visiting Atlanta Braves wrap up a three-game series on Sunday.

Rafael Devers enjoyed his first two-homer game of the season Saturday night, producing four of the Giants' five runs in a 5-0 victory. The Braves posted a 3-1 win in the series opener on Friday.

Having driven in the team's only run in Friday's loss, Giants manager Tony Vitello hopes Devers' five-RBI, two-game sequence is a sign of things to come for a player who, even after his recent success, is hitting just .240.

"What he showed tonight is what he's capable of doing," Vitello told reporters after the game. "To me, the only thing that's been hard for him is trying to do better. Part of that is knowing you can do better."

Devers' second homer Saturday, a three-run shot, broke the game open on Saturday. It deflected off the foul pole above the high right-field wall at San Francisco's Oracle Park, which produced both good and bad news.

The good news was that ticket stubs to Saturday's games can now be redeemed for a free meal at Chick-Fil-A restaurants in the San Francisco area. The comes as part of a promotion in which the company gets its name plastered on the poles.

Vitello explained the negative aspect of the blast.

"The foul pole might have robbed us of a first Splash Hit," he said of the label on a home run into the San Francisco Bay behind the right-field bleachers, "so we were upset in the dugout that it hit something. That one was impressive."

Following up with any kind of success figures to be difficult for Devers, who has never gotten a hit off Braves scheduled starter Chris Sale (8-5, 2.14 ERA).

All six head-to-heads occurred in the 2024 and 2025 seasons while Devers was playing for the Boston Red Sox. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the 2024 outing, 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout in the 2025 rematch.

Sale will take the mound saddled with a three-game winless streak. He got a hard-luck no-decision after allowing no earned runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-3 home win over the Milwaukee Brewers in his most recent start on June 20.

Sale, 37, has never lost to the Giants, going 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA in four career starts. He's pitched 15 innings at Oracle Park in two previous visits without allowing a run.

The seven days off is by design for Sale, whose last start came after a nine-day break.

"We're building in some extra rest along the way here, just looking at the big picture," Braves manager Walt Weiss said earlier this month. "We like how it looks moving forward. That's the plan, just keep (all the starting pitchers) strong and healthy to the finish line."

The 153-game career winner will be up against a 94-game winner in Giants left-hander Robbie Ray (6-6, 3.70), who has gone 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four June starts.

Ray, 34, has struggled against the Braves in his career, going 2-4 with a 5.09 ERA in nine games, including eight starts.

--Field Level Media