Camilo Doval, pitching in his third straight game, struck out Trea Turner with the bases loaded to complete the sweep of the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. That's the defending NL champion Phillies in case you forgot. The Giants jumped on Taijuan Walker for four runs in the 1st and chased him from the game. Ross Stripling threw three scoreless but then loaded the bases with one out in the 4th. A double from JT Realmuto made it 4-2 and then Stripling left with a back injury. Sean Manaea gave up a run on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3. In the 5th Bryson Stott homered to tie it but the bullpen put up zeroes the rest of the way. Jakob Junis struck out three in the 6th and Scott Alexander needed only seven pitches in the 7th, getting a huge double play from Stott to end the frame. John Brebbia got through the meat of the order in the 8th to give the Giants another chance.
Southpaw Gregory Soto took over in the bottom half and the Giants responded with two righty pinch-hitters, J.D. Davis and Mitch Haniger. Both got hits. Joey Bart attempted to sacrifice but managed a bunt single instead and the bases were loaded for LaMonte Wade, Jr. He forced out a run at home but the next batter Thairo Estrada singled in a run. Michael Conforto forced out another runner at home but Wilmer Flores drove in two with a single to make it 7-4 and we all breathed easier.
Doval had to add some drama in the 9th with a hit, a hit batter, and walk loading the bases and turning over the lineup. Leadoff hitter Turner struck out on four pitches and that sealed the deal. The Giants won three games in which their starters gave them a mere 11-2/3 innings pitched and allowed seven runs! The relief corps really stepped up when they were needed. Rookie Tristan Beck was the only reliever not used in the series. Doval threw 3-1/3 over the three games with Brebbia (2-2/3), Alexander (2-1/3), Tyler Rogers (2 IP), Junis (2 IP), and Taylor Rogers (1-2/3) each appearing in two games. Manaea logged 1-2/3 this afternoon. It's an off-day tomorrow, and a well-deserved one.
Anthony DeSclafani takes on Sandy Alcantara and the Miami Marlins Friday night (7:15 PT) in San Francisco.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
p.s. rookie C/OF Blake Sabol is slashing .280/.330/.473 after two hits today
9 comments:
I thought that one of the walks by Doval was bizarre, because where each of the first 3 pitches were, which were called balls, all had been called strikes multiple times during the game. He got the triple squeeze. 11 saves now.
I was about ready to pass out in the 9th but Doval got it done. Turner is struggling this year (by his standards) and I keep expecting him to break out. Looks like he'll have to do that against someone else!
Michael Baumann at FanGraphs does a really nice look at our very own LaMonte Wade, Jr.
Right now Wade is among MLB's elites (that is, Juan Soto and Max Muncy) in terms of walk rate. And that's driven by his selectivity, what they call "chase rate" in saber-speak. He doesn't chase pitches outside the zone. He's one of the most disciplined hitters in the game. He gets burned on those shadow-zone or borderline pitches because he just doesn't swing a lot anyway, but he's hammering pitches in the zone (.271/.434/.500) so it seems like a fair trade-off.
He's 29 years old and is playing regularly. He should be in his prime as a ballplayer. And we get to see it!!
Joey Bart goes to the IL with a groin strain and Patrick Bailey gets the call-up. Bailey is a switch-hitting catcher who was the Giants top pick (#13 overall) in the 2020 draft. He's from North Carolina and went to NC State.
Reliever Ryan Walker got promoted as well. Ross Stripling goes to the IL. Walker played at Washington State. He's been in the system since 2018 when he was the 916th player taken (31st round!). He started to turn it on in 2021 in Eugene A+) at age 25 and got promoted to Richmond (AA) last season. He's struck out 23 in 20-1/3 IP with only three runs allowed so far this year at Sacramento (AAA). He was stingy with homers across five minor-league campaigns, giving up only nine in 214 innings.
Walker is a rough name for a reliever.
Walker Buehler does OK with it!!
Is Buehler a reliever?
No, but I imagine "Walker" is a bad name for ANY pitcher! Remember Bob Walk?
A last name could be free base. Or balk.
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