Is there anything worse than a bases-loaded walk when it's your guy on the mound? Well, sure there is: a bases-loaded walk with your guy on the mound when it's the bottom of the tenth and the dude prancing his unmolested way toward home plate is the winning run.
And so the Giants' 2021 opener ended, and while we won't cynically sneer that it happened exactly according to form ("Same old Giants!" was the first text missive we received this morning), we will note that in yesterday's preview we used the word "walk" an awful lot when discussing the San Francisco bullpen.
Form? Well, the Giants, according to form, hit a lot and scored seven runs, normally enough to win. They hit four homers, with ten hits overall. Austin Slater opened the season by drawing a walk, bless his heart, and added a home run later. Buster Posey opened his first season in two years with a cannon shot into the left-field bullpen, setting off a minor tremor along the San Andreas fault, so we're told. (And in a just world, that would have been our lede this morning.) Kevin Gausman, according to form, was, well, he was Kevin Gausman, with six and two-third one-run innings, two hits, six K's, game score of 70. And, also according to form, no win to show for his fine effort.
In the bullpen diss-a-thon sure to follow, let's exempt Caleb Baragar, who relieved Gausman in the seventh with a run in and two down. Yes, he walked the guy he was supposed to get, but he got the next guy, and it stayed 6-1 Giants. Apres lui, le deluge. Yesterday we used the term "lots of walks" to describe Matt Wisler, who opened the eighth, and he opened it with a leadoff walk. Then two singles, one run, and in comes Jarlin Garcia, Wisler's lefty counterpart. Walk to load the bases, then walk in a run. Now it's 6-3. Here comes Tyler Rogers. No walks-- but a two-run double (6-5) and then a two-run throwing error by Brandon Belt on the double-play ball that could have ended the inning. Now it's 7-6. Rogers, to his partial credit, then got out of the 11-batter nightmare with no further damage.
The Giants tied it on Alex Dickerson's homer in the ninth, and it was up to Jose Alvarez in the tenth. He wasn't up to it, was he? Not exactly a walks machine over his eight-year career, he was one last night, issuing three in a row, forcing in the "funny runner" who began the frame on second and ended it crossing the plate.
Bright moments: Posey's dramatic, wonderful, uplifting return. Folks, he belted that one with the sweet quick swing we all fell in love with ten years ago. You gotta see the video, with Kuip and Kruke's narration... Eight thousand real people in the seats, with a nice hand for Posey as he rounded the bases... Gabe Kapler doing it again with his pinch-hitters: Dickerson in the ninth, batting for Slater, who'd already homered, belting the game-tying shot himself... Gausman showing everyone that 2020 was no fluke... Evan Longoria, not to overlook him, opening the scoring with a solid opposite-field rip... Alone amid les miserables, Jake McGee retiring the side on eight sharp pitches in the ninth.
And that brings a final sullen thought: While Kapler deserves kudos for his lineup management, he still has a long way to go when it comes to handling his relievers. Then again, it's the first game of the season, and he's got to find out who can pitch and who can't. Quickly, if you please.
No comments:
Post a Comment