SAN FRANCISCO – Just like that, the Giants are undefeated when Bryce Eldridge is in their lineup. That’s misleading, of course.

Two other callups from Triple-A Sacramento, pitcher Trevor McDonald and catcher Jesus Rodriguez, made a truer impact as the Giants’ stellar battery in Monday night’s 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

After demoralizing sweeps in Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, the Giants changed up their lineup — and their end result, snapping a league-high six-game skid.

Eldridge’s return to the big league, after a 10-game cameo last September, was the featured attraction. But his actions as the Giants’ designated hitter: 0-for-2 to end rallies, plus a walk. Batting in the No. 7 spot, he flew out to end their two-run first inning, and he struck out to end a sixth-inning rally that had produced their third run.

McDonald, a September callup the past two seasons, made the most of this season’s debut. He threw six shutout innings after allowing a two-out, solo home run to Jackson Merrill in the first.

“Big moment, big opportunity. We were on a little bit of a skid so there was some I guess adrenaline to go out there and give us a spark,” McDonald said.

Keaton Winn pitched a 1-2-3 in relief, then Caleb Killian came on in the ninth to clinch his first career save, but only after Killian allowed a leadoff home run to Ramon Laureano on a 447-foot shot to center. Killion that took care of the heart of the Padres’ order, striking out Fernando Tatis, getting Merrill to ground out, then striking out Manny Machado to ignite a long-lost victory line.

Overall, McDonald allowed just two hits (both to Merrill), struck out eight and walked none, on 81 pitches. Of his first 20 pitches, 19 were strikes or put in play, and he threw 13 before a ball got called. He credited some of that to his familiar pairing with Rodriguez.

“Good chemistry. He’s one of my favorite players. I threw to him several times in Sac,” McDonald said. “He did awesome badck there tonight. It was his first big-league game, and it was fun to be a part of it with him.”

Rodriguez, who went 0-for-3 at the plate, praised McDonald’s command from the outset, adding there was “excitement, and I was happy to take it all in.”

McDonald, a 25-year-old right-hander, was flown into Philadelphia for last Thursday’s doubleheader but didn’t pitch, then reunited with the River Cats in Salt Lake City, threw an extended bullpen session, caught up on his sleep and got set up for this outing. He made September cameos each of the previous two seasons, appearing in four games and earning his first start Sept. 26 here in a seven-inning outing against Colorado.

“I know we just brought him up for this particular situation, but I hope he sent a message that rang true for all his buddies on the pitching staff, that attacking is the way to go,” said Vitello, who wouldn’t commit to a long-term spot for McDonald but spoke glowingly of his “distant future.”

It helped that the Giants played error-free defense behind him, led by second baseman Luis Arraez’s short-hop excellence and shortstop Willy Adames’ smooth play.

“The carefree way those two guys played I thought was awesome,” Vitello said. “If you look at the stat sheet maybe it doesn’t show up as much. It was refreshing and good, and quite frankly shows the value of having a blank slate or fresh start.”

After opening with a three-pitch strikeout and a well-played groundout, McDonald threw a changeup that Merrill barreled 436 feet to dead center for a solo homer.

The Giants answered. No, really, they did. For two runs, even, and a 2-1 lead.

Casey Schmitt promptly hit his own solo shot, drilling a fastball 396 feet into the left-field bleachers for his team-high fifth home run this season. Schmitt started at third over the slumping Matt Chapman, who was hitless in his last four games and 2-for-25 with 13 strikeouts the previous seven games.

“It was just good to get that run back that they got in the first,” said Schmitt, noting he’s willing to play outfield for the first time since high school if that’s what’s needed. “Just the defense we played today and the situational at-bats, it was a good game all around.”

Schmitt’s tying blast was a welcome reprieve after the Giants went homerless throughout their winless road trip. Luis Aarraez followed with a double down the left-field line, took third on Heliot Ramos grounder to shortstop, then scored on Rafael Devers’ grounder up the middle for a 2-1 lead. The rally came to an abrupt end on an Adames strikeout and then Eldridge’s opposite-field flyout.

The crowd of 33,097 eventually snapped out of its lull in the sixth inning, though it took a successful wedding proposal in the stands for the night’s first full standing ovation. Then the Giants added to their lead, with Arraez reaching on a leadoff double and eventually coming home on a Devers flyout for a 3-1 cushion.

Vitello let it slip that Arraez gave a pregame speech with a personal touch then backed it up on the field.

“The best way I can sum it up was: not a good road trip, not a great start, not a great first month,” Vitello said. “I know a lot about this organization and the fan base, and there’s a lot of fans that have had too much frustration or too much heartbreak. I feel like we’re in debt to them a little bit. If anything, at least for Giants fans that have young people in their family, we had to have made up a little ground tonight. There’s a little bit of a trade-off for some of those losses.”

Eldridge's debut

The Giants owned a 2-1 lead before even getting to Eldridge. A few fans rose to their feet when Eldridge dug into the batter’s box, and he promptly flew out to left field on a first-pitch curveball. He drew a four-pitch walk his next at-bat, only for Rodriguez to follow with an inning-ending, doubleplay groundout. Eldridge struck out to end the Giants’ sixth-inning rally.

As a No. 8 jersey hung inside his locker before the game, Eldridge glowed with positive vibes for his big-league encore, having made a 10-game cameo late last season (3-for-28, 13 strikeouts). “I’m feeling sexy at the plate right now,” Eldridge said then. “I try and keep that moving. … I’m just going to keep trying to trust myself, trust my teammates, and, that’ll bring me a long way.”

Eldrige is in this for the long haul. Vitello wouldn’t go so far as to declare him an “every day” staple but noted pregame: “The one thing we don’t want to do with Bryce as a younger player is just sporadically give him at-bats and expect him to produce every single time in order to get rewarded with more playing time. There’s got to be a longer leash there.”

Vitello committed to giving Eldridge at least “another start” with more at-bats for “a fair chance to contribute” in this three-game series against the Padres, who entered a half-game behind the division-leading Dodgers.

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