Giants feel West title, magic number at 1
SAN FRANCISCO » As the Giants wrapped up their franchise record-tying 106th victory of the season at Oracle Park on Friday night, there were no dogpiles in the middle of the diamond or champagne celebrations in the clubhouse.
A 3-0 shutout victory of the Padres inched the Giants (106-54) closer to their first National League West crown since 2012, but it did not clinch the division for Gabe Kapler’s club.
With the Dodgers’ game leading the Brewers 6-5 and still playing at the time rookie Camilo Doval recorded his third save in four days, the Giants’ magic number to win the NL West stood at one.
A Dodgers team that’s won eight consecutive division titles and 103 games this season is still alive in the NL West race, but a late slip-up against Milwaukee could still allow for a delayed party at 24 Willie Mays Plaza on Friday.
The Giants matched the 1904 New York Giants for the most wins in franchise history as starter Anthony DeSclafani tossed five scoreless innings, Darin Ruf hit a first-inning home run and the Giants’ lineup manufactured enough offense to help the club secure a seventh consecutive victory.
A crowd of 33,975 managed to cheer on the Giants while simultaneously keeping close tabs on the Dodgers-Brewers game taking place in Los Angeles on Friday. With righthander Dominic Leone on the mound in the seventh inning and the Giants ahead 3-0, a smattering of boos could be heard along the shores of McCovey Cove as the scoreboard updated to reflect the gametying grand slam Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner hit in the fifth inning against Brewers starter Eric Lauer.
By winning on Friday at Oracle Park, the Giants guaranteed they will finish their 162-game schedule at least tied for the NL West division lead. A scenario in which San Francisco loses its final two games to the Padres while the Dodgers win their last three against the Brewers would force the teams to play a Game 163 on Monday at Oracle Park to determine the division champion.
The Giants struck almost immediately against Padres starter Pedro Avila as the second batter in their lineup, Ruf, hit a 110.6-mile per hour laser into the left field bleachers for a solo home run. Ruf only started for the 21st time against a righthanded pitcher this season, but Kapler said pregame that he and first baseman Wilmer Flores earned the right to play over Kris Bryant on Friday because of the consistency they’ve demonstrated at the plate in recent days.
After Brandon Crawford reached on a throwing error and Wilmer Flores drew a walk, the Giants added onto their lead when Mike Yastrzemski attempted to check his swing on a 2-2 changeup from Avila. Yastrzemski failed to hold his bat back from the strike zone as the eighth pitch of his at-bat collided with his barrel and resulted in a bloop single into shallow left field that brought Crawford home from second base.