Frustration seems to be boiling over everywhere you look in MLB right now. We have Angels fans shouting at Jordan Romano, we have Mets fans shouting at the whole team. And now we have the Giants and the Reds shouting at each other.

After a 4-game losing streak, the San Francisco Giants finally beat the Cincinnati Reds, and frustrations boiled over. Giants’ 28-year-old pitcher Erik Miller shouted at Sal Stewart, saying, “Sit the f**k down.” And the Reds players were not backing down, and the benches cleared. But this was a long time coming.

Tension from Wednesday’s game carried into Thursday after Spencer Steer argued with JT Brubaker. Steer called a late timeout, shouted back, then lined a single during that seventh inning. That moment stayed fresh as both teams came in on Thursday already carrying some frustration. The Giants had lost four straight games before this one and were six games below .500.

That losing stretch added pressure, so every small moment started to feel a lot bigger.

The first spark came early when Landen Roupp hit Spencer Steer with a first-pitch fastball. The pitch came in the second inning and hit Steer hard in the rib area. Roupp threw a low number of four-seam fastballs all game, which made that pitch stand out.

The Reds had scored eight runs with four home runs just one night earlier. But Thursday looked different as Cincinnati managed only one hit the entire game.

Things picked up again in the eighth inning when Connor Phillips hit Willy Adames with a pitch. The pitch came on a 0-2 count, which usually raises questions. Adames stared back and took off his helmet before the umpires stepped in.

Players from both dugouts moved closer while bullpen pitchers stood ready near the field gates. Nothing serious happened there, but the tension stayed strong going into the final moments.

Umpires talked after the play and then ejected Connor Phillips for that hit by pitch. That call showed they felt things had gone too far during that moment in the game.

After the last out, Erik Miller struck out Sal Stewart to finish the game. Stewart and Miller said a few things, which made both teams run onto the field. The players stayed there for about a minute before going back and ending the situation.

For the Giants, this game gave them everything they missed during their four-game losing run.

Roupp gave up only one hit in six innings, and the bullpen finished the shutout cleanly. The team scored three runs in the seventh after getting just two hits before that inning. All three runs came after an error, showing how fast things can change in close games.

The series showed the Reds need more than home runs, while the Giants used pitching and timing better.

The Giants still have a big problem hanging over them

The San Francisco Giants started 2026 with a 6-12 record, tied for the worst in MLB. They even went through a four-game losing streak before picking up a win against the Cincinnati Reds.

Under Tony Vitello, the team expected better results but has struggled early this season. The offense has not clicked, with several games scoring two runs or fewer. That poor start has quickly put pressure on the main hitters to step up.

That brings focus to Rafael Devers, who was brought in to lead the lineup this season. Instead, Devers is batting .229 with a .609 OPS to start the season. His on-base percentage is .280, while slugging sits at just .329.

Those numbers are far below what the team expected from a key power hitter. Because of that, attention is now shifting to how he is actually hitting the ball.

The numbers behind the scenes are not helping his case either right now.

Devers’ bat speed has dropped from 73.4 mph earlier to around 71.0 mph now. His ranking has also fallen from the 68th percentile to around the mid-30s range. His hard-hit rate has gone down from 56.1 percent to below 49 percent. Even his average exit velocity has dipped from 93.5 mph to about 91.2 mph.

This also becomes a bigger issue because he is still owed around $230 million. His batting run value has dropped from the 90th percentile range to the 13 percentile. That kind of fall shows he is not making the same impact in games anymore. It is still early in the season, so the sample size is not very big yet.

But with numbers dropping over time, the Giants will be hoping this turns around soon.