Homer good, but bullpen isn’t
The ball went in the air, high and deep, and the snide comments were uttered shortly after it landed.
“Will Mike Matheny ask for a review?”
“Can a fan interfere if the ball bounces untouched into the crowd?” “Replay this!” Johnny Cueto lasted 51⁄3 innings and 80 pitches Friday night in his first game since July 14, but the Giants’ bullpen turned a 5-2 lead into an 11-6 loss to the Cardinals.
If there was a consolation prize for Giants fans who endured record-breaking heat and shoddy relief, it was the play of shortstop Brandon Crawford, who doubled twice and hit a home run, which came a night after his non-homer homer.
This time, it counted. This time, no one called New York.
With Thursday’s botched review on his mind, Crawford rounded second base and glanced at the umps. Crew chief Mike Everitt smiled back.
“I wasn’t sure where it hit first,” Crawford said. “I was
honestly looking around for the umpires just to see the home run signal, not for any other reason.”
Major League Baseball admitted Friday its replay umpires in New York got it wrong when overturning Crawford’s eighthinning homer down the line in right that was caught by a fan just before the ball hit the green roof above the Willie Mays wall.
According to the ground rules, it was a home run, clearly obvious to those in the park, including the four umpires. According to folks 3,000 miles away, after Cardinals manager Matheny challenged the call, it was fan interference and changed to a double.
The fan was ejected for all the wrong reasons, and Crawford’s wife, Jalynne, helped set him up with tickets and a ball autographed by her husband.
MLB’s two-paragraph statement ended this way: “The call should have been confirmed as a home run for Crawford. MLB regrets this error.”
The Giants still lost Thursday, and Crawford still was denied his 13th homer, though manager Bruce Bochy suggested the shortstop somehow should have been credited with it.
“They made a mistake. We knew it,” Bochy said. “It’s unfortunate for Brandon Crawford. It happens. We all make mistakes. The best thing to be is honest about it, and they were.”
No. 13 came in Crawford’s first at-bat Friday, this one bouncing atop the green cushioned wall and ricocheting into the seats.
Crawford doubled in the third before Hunter Pence’s two-run triple and doubled again in the eighth. He also made a sensational play behind second, bare-handing Greg Garcia’s grounder, which took a funky hop off the bag.
Returning from blister and elbow issues, Cueto made one regrettable pitch to Harrison Bader, who hit his first career homer, and gave up three other hits. The bullpen, which has surrendered 22 earned runs in 15 innings the past five games, did Cueto no favors.
Steven Okert and Derek Law, who were called up from Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, got the final outs in the sixth, but Hunter Strickland gave up two runs in the seventh to make it a one-run game.
Josh Osich walked his only batter, and Kyle Crick finished the inning. Mark Melancon pitched the eighth, and the Cardinals made it 5-5 on Garcia’s triple. They scored six in the ninth, five off Sam Dyson in his worst outing as a Giant.
The first-pitch temperature was 93 degrees, the hottest night game (by 9 degrees) in the ballpark’s 18-year history and third hottest overall. The Cardinals loved the heat: Their four triples were second most by an opponent in the park.
Giants outfielder Jarrett Parker exited with tightness in his left side and will have an MRI exam. Bochy said he’ll miss a couple of days.