Falling pitcher leads to odd win
Pedro Baez fell off the mound. There was no gust of wind that made him tumble. Nobody pushed him. He didn’t faint. He simply got his spike caught as he delivered a seventh-inning pitch.
And that’s essentially how the Giants beat the Dodgers 6-4 in the opener of a four-game series.
Because a runner was on third base during Baez’s mishap, a balk was called. Gorkys Hernandez scored, breaking a 4-4 tie. Moments later, Joe Panik’s sacrifice fly scored Kelby Tomlinson, and another chapter of Giants-Dodgers lore, this one goofier than most, was in the books.
“Wow,” Tomlinson said. “It kind of took me off guard. It was kind of confusing.” “Crazy,” Hernandez said. The Giants trailed 4-2 before their unusual game-deciding rally in the seventh inning that began with Brandon Belt’s bunt single, included run-
scoring hits from, of all people, Hernandez and Tomlinson, and featured the mother of all balks.
The Baez moment reminded old-timers of the tale of Stu Miller, a Giants reliever who supposedly was blown off the mound in the 1961 All-Star Game at Candlestick Park. That didn’t happen exactly like that, but it remains a heck of a story.
Baez didn’t need a nudge from Mother Nature. His fall was all on him, and it proved costly.
“It happens occasionally,” said manager Bruce Bochy, recalling Santiago Casilla’s walk-off balk in San Diego in July 2016, the result of the former Giants closer tripping off the mound. “You take it, though. That’s a big run there.”
Five relievers combined for 52⁄3 scoreless innings. Tony Watson pitched into and out of an eighth-inning jam, stranding two runners when retiring Austin Barnes in a 12-pitch at-bat. Hunter Strickland pitched the ninth and earned his sixth save.
The Giants opened the scoring with solo home runs in the second inning by Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford. Longoria’s traveled 425 feet and barely reached the MacBleachers, the section in right-center that Mac Williamson reached with ease the other day. Crawford’s landed in the right-field arcade.
The Giants have 27 homers this season, tied for fourth most in the National League. Quite a change from last year when they homered just 128 times, by far the fewest in the majors.
Handed a 2-0 lead, Derek Holland gave it back and then some. The Dodgers rallied for four runs in the fourth inning on RBI doubles by Yasmani Grandal and Yasiel Puig, and when pitcher Hyu-Jin Ryu also doubled to drive in a pair, Bruce Bochy had seen enough and pulled Holland.
As Holland struggles — one quality start among five and a 5.76 ERA — another lefty is dominating in the minors and could pitch his way into a longterm rotation spot. That would be Andrew Suarez, who’s expected to be called up Tuesday to start against the Padres.
The Giants need a sixth starter because of the doubleheader, but Suarez could force the issue if he pitches anywhere close to how he’s pitching in the minors: 1.93 ERA and 1.157 WHIP with 23 strikeouts and nine walks.