Seven runs and nine hitters later in the bottom of the second frame, the Milwaukee Brewers had already buried the San Francisco Giants and continued to stack up more runs on Monday. The Giants took a humiliating 16-2 loss as the team suffered at the plate and on the mound. Following the blowout, the Giants’ starter took the blame for the loss.

“Guys put up two early, and I kind of just slapped them in the face,” reflected Landen Roupp, per New York Post.

Pitching four innings on Monday, Roupp surrendered a season high eight hits, eight earned runs, and five walks. His season’s era spiked to 4.22 after the disastrous outing.

San Francisco initially appeared to be carrying the momentum from their 19-6 victory over the Rockies the day before. Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run in the second inning to give San Francisco a quick 2-0 lead. But that lead disappeared almost immediately. The Giants only managed five hits the entire night. Meanwhile, the Brewers completely crushed San Francisco’s pitching, scoring 16 runs on 18 hits.

Roupp escaped his first inning scoreless, with only a double from Brice Turang. But the real damage started in the second inning.

He walked Jake Bauers and retired Andrew Vaughn to begin the frame. But gave up consecutive hits to the next seven batters. Bauers scored on Sal Frelick‘s double to open the scoreboard. Frelick, in turn, tied the score on a single from Rengifo. The next series of hits followed as a single, walk, two-run double, two-run triple, and a run-scoring sacrifice fly from William Contreras. After Roupp went through the Brewers’ nine hitters, Bauer came back to the plate. But he struck out swinging to end the inning.

After a scoreless third, Roupp loaded the bases on a Christian Yelich single and surrendered one more run in the fourth before leaving the mound. The Giants’ bullpen bled eight more runs for the remainder of the game.

Monday’s game was an all-time low for the Giants, as first-year manager Tony Vitello had position player Buddy Kennedy pitching in the eighth. Catcher Daniel Susac shifted to take Kennedy’s place at third base. Susac had no previous experience manning bases, other than two minor league games he played at first base, per the NY Post.

“I’m a coach of the players, the manager of the team, but I’m a fan of the players, too,” Vitello told the NY Post. “I just want to see them do well. We’ve added meetings before the game. We’re talking in the dugout. We’re trying to anything we can to put our guys in a position to succeed

The Brewers also put the newcomer Jonah Cox to the test as Turang sent a bases-clearing, two-run triple. It was the biggest hit of the game. Cox chased the ball but ultimately ended up slamming against the center field wall. Turang snapped a 0-for-21 slump on Monday. He went 2-for-2 against San Francisco and issued a pair of walks. The Brewers themselves recorded a season-high 11 walks against the Giants.

This loss points to a much bigger problem in San Francisco. The Giants are falling apart. They have lost six of their last seven games, dropping to a terrible 23-38 record near the bottom of the NL West. Monday’s game showed how desperate the team is right now.

However, as it turns out, the Giants’ starter was pitching with back discomfort on Monday.

Landen Roupp admits to pitching with a bad back

Before Monday, Landen Roupp had been one of the best starters for the Giants this season with a 5-5 record across 11 starts. But his twelfth start went awry as the Brewers hitters battered his pitches. However, it should have been clear that something was not right when Roupp’s velocity dropped, and his zone was completely missing.

After he exited the game, Roupp admitted he was facing back discomfort throughout his outing. The workload of a four-inning, 96-pitch outing probably added more to the problem.

“I didn’t say anything. So, it’s not on them,” said Roupp afterwards, per The Athletic.

However, the right-hander downplayed the impact of his back discomfort on his game. He stated, “Obviously, when you’re not feeling good, it’s always in the back of your head. So that could’ve had something to do with it, but either way, I’ve got to compete better.”

The pitcher also believes that his current back problem is not as serious as the one he suffered from in the minors in 2023. That injury caused him to lose significant playing time. Even then, if Roupp had revealed his discomfort earlier, perhaps the Giants could have saved themselves from the blowout.