Tensions escalate, but S.F. holds on
Strickland out with broken hand after punching door
Try to connect the dots, if they do not give you a headache. The result is a picture of two teams that have played six times in nine days and will end their season series Wednesday with contempt oozing from both sides.
Thursday in Miami, Marlins pitcher Dan Straily broke Evan Longoria’s hand with pitch. On
Monday night at AT&T Park, Giants closer Hunter Strickland broke his pitching hand punching a door after he blew a save and got into it with Lewis Brinson when the Marlins center fielder bat-flipped a single.
On Tuesday night, hours after Longoria and Strickland underwent surgery to fix their hands,
rookie Dereck Rodriguez drilled Brinson in the second inning of a 6-3 Giants victory.
Straily appeared to retaliate in the bottom half by hitting Buster Posey, causing Straily and Miami manager Don Mattingly to be ejected. On his way out, Mattingly threatened retaliation “if not tonight, tomorrow,” according to Giants manager Bruce Bochy.
In the one dot that mattered, the Giants finally found a way to hold a lead against Miami after blowing eight of them over the six games. Ultimately, the important story behind the beanball battle and bad blood between these teams was a pitcher in his fourth big-league start keeping his head about him and getting a victory.
“He really handled himself well,” Bochy said of Rodriguez. “We needed to win a ballgame. He stepped up and did a terrific job.”
Rodriguez overcame a threerun fourth and left after five leading 4-3.
With Strickland out six to eight weeks, Sam Dyson will become the primarily closer. He got the save Tuesday by getting the final two outs after Ty Blach, Mark Melancon and Will Smith combined to retire 10 hitters without allowing a run.
Lord knows what will happen Wednesday when the Giants and Marlins meet for the final time in 2018. But it’s fairly clear that Rodriguez hit Brinson on purpose with runners on second and third and one out in the second inning, even if Rodriguez and Posey both went with the “just pitching inside” postgame comments.
Bochy suggested that Brinson got one in the hip because of Longoria’s broken hand and Kelby Tomlinson being hit in the back Monday night. Asked for his response to Posey getting hit in retaliation, Bochy said, “My response is, were they throwing at Longoria? And Tommy got hit in the back last night.”
After Rodriguez hit Brinson, home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher warned both sides, prompting an angry response from Mattingly, who felt a warning was not appropriate without one guy on each side getting hit because it put Straily at a disadvantage. If he retaliated, or even plunked a Giant by accident, he would be ejected.
Sure enough, Fletcher tossed Straily and Mattingly immediately after the Marlins righthander hit Posey.
Mattingly denied speculation from Giants broadcasters Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper that he threatened Posey by saying, “You’re next.”
“I would not say that,” Mattingly said.
Posey concurred, sort of, denying that Mattingly threatened him but adding that “even if he did I wouldn’t talk about that.”
The Giants did not indicate that Brinson was hit because of his bat flip or dustup with Strickland on Monday night, but if they did hit him on purpose, why else would they pick him?
Bottom line: Posey and Gorkys Hernandez homered, Brandon Belt drew a bases-loaded walk, and Hernandez and Alen Hanson each hit RBI doubles to provide Rodriguez and the bullpen enough runs to hold on for the Giants’ second win against Miami in six tries.