There are games you hope are the harbinger of better times.
Saturday’s 5-4, 10-inning win over the Dodgers is one of those games.
San Francisco scored twice in its first at-bat and twice in
its last. The eight frames in between were an exercise in torture as the Giants
flailed away like someone trying to play badminton in an active wind tunnel.
Yeah, I'm bad. I'm Buster Freakin' Posey! (Getty Images) |
Of the Giants’ seven hits, six came in those two frames. A
sixth-inning tally came courtesy a single and the generosity of Los Angeles,
pitchers, who got with the program and had every bit as much trouble finding
the strike zone. Nine Giants pitchers allowed just seven hits but walked the
same number. Six Dodger pitchers walked another seven. Control was as hard to
find as a parking space at Pier 39.
Jeff Samardzija’s last three outings have been his shortest
of the season, and Saturday’s was the shortest yet, lasting just 4 2/3 innings
before being lifted due pitch count (98) and relative ineffectiveness. He didn’t
give up four homers as he did at St. Louis last week, but he did leave
base runners littered about like used blunts at a Ted Nugent show.
And that wasn’t the worst of it. San Francisco used nine
pitchers, blew two separate leads, surrendered yet another extra-inning long
ball, yet still found a way to win when the team’s leader capitalized on the LA
closer doing his best Santiago Casilla impression (no, we’re not getting off his
back so just keep reading).
Panik touches the dish. That sounded better than it reads. (Getty Images) |
Manager Bruce Bochy flipped Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy’s
spots in the order, changing the bracketing around clean-up hitter Buster
Posey. Early on the move looked like
pure genius.
LA starter Scott Kazmir got two quick outs then set the day’s
trend with walks to Belt and Posey. Duffy dropped a single into right field to
score Belt, and Brandon Crawford followed with another single for a quick 2-0
lead, and the horrors of Friday night looked to be behind them. Then the bats
went silent. There was plenty of time to grab a beer (or 12), buy a t-shirt,
make a few phone calls, try out the Coke bottle slide, and try to thump the
cove kayakers with nickels.
Samardzija got dented in the second inning when Trayce
Thompson singled, then took second when Mac Williamson struggled with a fly to
left, allowing Thompson to tag and advance. Yasmani Grandal scored him with a
single to center. The lead was gone in the fifth and so was Samardzija after
Justin Turner and Adrian Gonzalez strung two-out hits together, with Gonzo’s
RBI double tying the game, 2-2.
The Giants didn’t even manage another hit until Joe Panik
bounced a single to start the sixth inning. Belt walked, then a pair of ground-outs
chased him Panik with the go-ahead run, with a big assist to Chase Utley’s
errant throw on a would-be inning-ending double play. Somewhere Ruben Tejada was
laughing his butt off.
Of course it wouldn’t last, because the Giants bullpen got
involved. Man, did it get involved. Bochy’s tactic of playing match-ups reached
its zenith as he used five pitchers just to get through a Dodgers seventh that
dragged on for half an hour. Two hits and three walks culminated with Cory
Gearin walking home a runner to tie the score, and we shudder to think what
might have happened had Josh Osich not caught Kike Hernandez off third on a
comebacker. Of course, it’s also fun to imagine what it would have been like
had any of those guys been effective.
There really should be a Gatoradejug somewhere in this shot. (Getty Images) |
A note about Bochy’s use of pitchers. Over the past decade he’s
made a habit of using multiple relievers with each often seeing only a hitter
or two. That’s great when you have a surplus of talented arms. That’s not this
team. Using a handful of guys every game in 2016 is playing Russian roulette
with an extra chamber filled. Inevitably someone is going to be having an off
night. The more guys used, the better the chances you’ll find Mr. Unlucky.
The Giants were down to their last option in the 10th
as Chris Stratton made his AT&T Park debut. He drew the short straw,
surrendering a blast to Gonzalez that had fans wondering if Stratton and
Casilla were somehow related.
And Stratton would actually get the win as the offense
pulled off a comeback the faithful hope will snap this summer funk. Denard Span
lined a Kenley Jansen offering down the right field line for a one-out double, then
Panik drove a single into left for the tying RBI. Belt blooped a single against
a deep outfield to put Panik at second with the potential game winner. Tell us,
who do you want at the plate?
Posey isn’t having a Posey-type year. He can carry a team
when he’s hot, but that Buster hasn’t shown up yet. Yet. Maybe we got glimpse
on Saturday. Posey’s hard grounder up the middle was just beyond shortstop Cory
Seager’s reach. Panik scored without a throw, the Giants had their sixth
walk-off of the season, and all the antacids within the ballpark had been
consumed.
The victory pushed the Giants’ (37-26) lead in the NL West
back to four games over LA. Colorado kept pace but is 7 ½ back. Arizona and San
Diego, the teams that have tried to remake themselves over the last two
seasons, are looking like the guys who spent millions on fake Monet’s at
auction and are looking up from double-digit deficits.
The Giants get to see LA phenom de jour Julio Urias (0-1,
6.94 ERA) on Sunday. Jake Peavy (2-6, 6.41) is on the hill as San Francisco
tries to win two straight for the first time since June 2nd.
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