Giants send struggling reliever Ryan Walker to the minors

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Giants send struggling reliever Ryan Walker to the minors

2026-05-11 02:40 Last Updated At：02:50

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants sent struggling reliever Ryan Walker to Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday following his fourth straight outing when he allowed at least one run.

The move with Walker was one of several made before the Giants played a series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right-hander Gregory Santos also was optioned to Sacramento, while lefty Sam Hentges was activated from his rehabilitation assignment and righty Dylan Smith was called up from Triple-A.

Walker began the season as the Giants' primary closer after leading the team with 17 saves last season but was unable to hold that role. After saving back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Dodgers late last month, Walker has been ineffective.

He allowed seven runs and nine hits with four walks in 3 1/3 innings over his past four appearances with two blown saves. He allowed two runs, while retiring only two batters, in a 13-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday night to raise his ERA on the season to 6.46 and lead to the demotion to the minors.

Manager Tony Vitello said he believes Walker needs to regain his confidence and he is hopeful a stint in the minors will help.

“He’s the same guy skill-wise," Vitello said. “I do think our pitching coaches identified some things physically that he’s strayed from that when he’s been at his best. Whether it’s posture or how he’s thrown a couple particular pitches. But I think he would agree, too, so I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn, I think it all starts with the mind and what kind of information you’re feeding it.”

Hentges began the season on the injured list after being signed as a free agent in the offseason. He had a 1.93 ERA in 10 outings in the minors on a rehab assignment before getting called up. He last pitched in the majors in 2024 for Cleveland and has a 4.18 ERA over four seasons in the majors.

Santos also allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings on Saturday and San Francisco needed fresh arms in the bullpen.

Smith was acquired from Detroit in March and has a 2.13 ERA in nine appearances with Sacramento.

The Giants entered the day tied for the worst record in the National League at 15-24. They have tried to shake up the roster this week, calling up slugger Bryce Eldridge from the minors on Monday and trading catcher Patrick Bailey to Cleveland on Saturday.

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Late goal and dramatic VAR call help Arsenal stay in control of Premier League title race

Arsenal needed a late goal and an even later, dramatic VAR call to stay in control of the Premier League title race on Sunday.

A 1-0 win over relegation-threatened West Ham restored Arsenal’s five-point lead over second-place Manchester City and came with a huge dose of controversy.

Leading thanks to Leandro Trossard’s 83rd-minute goal, Arsenal looked like it would be throwing away two crucial points — and losing its slim advantage in the title race — when West Ham substitute Callum Wilson lashed a shot over the line following a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Arsenal’s players complained and there was a long video review, which spotted West Ham player Pablo had his left arm across the face of David Raya as the Arsenal goalkeeper attempted to get to the ball after the corner was swung in.

The referee, Chris Kavanagh, looked at the incident on the pitchside monitor and chose to rule out the goal.

“I saw the replay now,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, “and I think it's an obvious decision.”

For Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, it was a “big moment for us.”

“We had to dig deep — to try and try and try — and we got there in the end,” he said.

West Ham's players felt aggrieved, with Tomas Soucek complaining that video reviews were only brought in to look for “big errors.”

“For football, this is a disappointing moment,” Soucek said, “and for every fan this is not what we want — we want goals, we want celebrations. Not to wait 10 minutes for a small foul.”

It was a big call with huge ramifications.

It left Arsenal two wins from a first league title since 2004, with games to come at home to already-relegated Burnley and, in the final round, away to a Crystal Palace team that might field a weakened lineup due to having the Conference League final three days later.

It also left West Ham a point adrift of safety, in third-to-last place with two games remaining, while guaranteeing another season in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest and Leeds.

Fourth-to-last Tottenham can move four points clear of West Ham with a win over Leeds on Monday. It's now a two-team fight for survival between West Ham and Tottenham.

It was a huge blow to City, which has three games left — against Palace at home on Wednesday, Bournemouth away on May 19 and Aston Villa at home on the final day.

Even three wins might not be enough for City to pull off a seventh title success in Pep Guardiola's 10-year reign.

Arsenal is still in sight of a Premier League-Champions League double, having reached the final of Europe's top competition against Paris Saint-Germain on May 30.

Aston Villa still has work to do to secure Champions League qualification after being held 2-2 at already-relegated Burnley.

That kept Villa in fifth place, behind Liverpool on goal difference and four points above sixth-place Bournemouth in the race to finish in the top five and get into Europe's top competition.

All three teams have two games left, with Villa and Bournemouth still having to play Man City.

Villa's players have another possible route into next season's Champions League: By winning the Europa League.

If they do that and finish fifth in the league, then the team that places sixth — currently Bournemouth, though Brighton is only two points further back — would also qualify.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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