Landen Roupp outshines World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Giants’ win

SAN FRANCISCO – Game 1 of Tuesday night’s Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers series brought reigning World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound at Oracle Park.Yamamoto was greeted with a loud ovation by the overflow of Dodgers fans in attendance, but he didn’t give them much to cheer for throughout his outing.Instead, it was Giants starter Landen Roupp who looked like the superstar pitcher and put on a show.Roupp set the tone early against Dodgers leadoff hitter and megastar Shohei Ohtani, striking out the four-time MVP to open the series. Ohtani went hitless with a pair of strikeouts in his first three at-bats before a seventh-inning single that extended his on-base streak to 53 games, tied for second place in Dodgers franchise history. GRAB SOME PINE pic.twitter.com/oWSwtgSVFq — SF Giants on NBCS (&commat;NBCSGiants) April 22, 2026 Roupp escaped the first with no damage done. Yamamoto couldn’t say the same.The Giants took advantage of defensive miscues by Los Angeles, pouring in three runs to give Roupp some early breathing room. Yamamoto (2-2), seeking his first-ever victory over the Giants, went seven innings, allowing six hits and three runs – all of which scored in the first. He walked two and fanned seven. Raffy gets the Giants on the board pic.twitter.com/hMVRZ4VMSo — SF Giants on NBCS (&commat;NBCSGiants) April 22, 2026 Hot start for the G Men pic.twitter.com/vFAf1KDPhj — SF Giants on NBCS (&commat;NBCSGiants) April 22, 2026 But Roupp – and many Giants fans in attendance – might’ve held their breaths at the top of the fourth when he ran into a bases-loaded jam with one out. It was a chilly evening with rain pouring in and out of San Francisco throughout the game, but Roupp’s hands were sweating facing the next batter.He walked Hyeseong Kim during an eight-pitch at-bat, and the Dodgers scored their first – and eventually only – run of the night.The bases remained loaded, and there still was just one out as Dodgers outfielder Alex Call approached the dish. Every fan rose to their feet, as “Let’s go, Dodgers” chants were met with “Beat LA” roars.Call grounded into a double play, and Roupp escaped the inning somehow, limiting the damage done against the scariest offense in baseball. The righty’s sigh of relief came in the form of a thunderous belt as he walked to the Giants’ dugout with his head held high.“Just felt like I was locating a lot, mixing all the pitches and just hitting the spots and then obviously that fourth inning that kind of fell apart,” Roupp said after the Giants’ 3-1 win. “Not really sure what happened, but I kind of just felt like I was speeding up a little bit. But I was able to get a double play out of that and get out of the inning. But definitely not happy about that. Made the bullpen throw a little bit more than they should have. I wish I could have gone six or seven, but it worked out, and we got the win.”Roupp returned for the fifth inning and didn’t make manager Tony Vitello regret that decision. The 27-year-old struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning and exited after throwing a career-high 106 pitches – something that was news to him after the fact.“S–t, I didn’t even know I threw 106 pitches,” Roupp said postgame. “But, yeah, it felt good. Like I said, I wish I could have gone a little longer, but I’ll take five any day when it’s like that.”Roupp left the game striking out seven and allowing just one run on one hit in five innings in his first career win over the Dodgers.He then watched the bullpen have his back the rest of the way, as the unit combined for four innings of shutout ball to secure the feel-good victory against the defending World Series champs. Both Roupp and Vitello credited the bullpen for capping off the all-around team win.“The unit’s done great for us, and tonight is a little bit of the epitome of it,” Vitello said after the game. “Because I’m a big believer, there’s almost a dance that goes on during the game, and everything’s connected. And those starting pitchers, my point being, have helped the relievers. The relievers have helped the starting pitchers, and ultimately, the team too. But for Roupp to grind through that fifth inning, it’s pretty hard to quantify. You can use all the fancy analytics you want upstairs. It’s hard to quantify what that does. And again, I say it epitomizes the year, because I feel like those guys have been a group we can be confident and lean on all year long. “But part of it is the trailers attached to the starters being so good about at the very least, even on the couple occasions where you’ve got hit around or all of a sudden, it just isn’t ideal for whatever reason there with Roupp to grind through and get those guys the ball in a good position and hand the baton off. So all in all, it makes up. I guess that’s why you call it a pitching staff. You need a bunch of different stuff going on.”Roupp added that the bullpen, particularly reliever Ryan Walker, has been “incredible” all season, and the unit’s combined dominance has given the starters a heightened level of confidence.With Tuesday’s win, Roupp (4-1) lowered his ERA to 2.28 over five starts this year.It’s early, but he’s on track to make a strong case to be a first-time All-Star. When asked if he feels he’s throwing the best he has in his career, he didn’t hesitate.“Yeah, I do,” Roupp said firmly. “I feel like all my stuff’s in a really good spot right now, and I feel like I’m competing. So yeah, I would say I’m pretty happy with where everything’s at.”Roupp’s got a long way to go to becoming a World Series MVP, but at least on Tuesday, he won the pitching match over Yamamoto.Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Landen Roupp outshines World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Giants’ win

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