Puig slaps as S.F. is tickled by another win
LOS ANGELES — Whatever happens Wednesday night, when the Giants play their final game of the year at Dodger Stadium, the August 2018 edition of the great rivalry will be remembered as the Nick Hundley series.
He is among the funniest, most mild-mannered Giants in the clubhouse. On the field, he can be a beast. He showed it with his first pump when he hit the game-winning single in the ninth inning of the opener. He showed it again when he took on Yasiel Puig on Tuesday night, leading to a brawl that got very physical.
This three-game set, which the Giants secured with a 2-1 victory, also might be remembered for the Dodgers asking the “America's Got Talent” folks to produce a contest to find a closer. Oh, and for two great and late Giants wins. They followed Monday’s four-run ninth by
beating closer du jour Kenta Maeda on Alen Hansen’s twoout tie-breaking single in the ninth. Brandon Belt lumbered home from second base in his first game back from a knee injury. The knee held up fine. “I wasn’t running fast enough to hurt it anyway,” Belt said. “I felt like I was swimming under water.”
The Giants won their third straight game. The brawl was a draw, with Puig and Hundley both ejected, to the Giants’ disbelief because Puig connected on Hundley three times, while the catcher only raised his hands to defend himself.
“Their guy is the one who got physical,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I don't understand what they came up with with Nick, but that’s what they came up with.”
However, Hundley did start the altercation, verbally.
The Giants led 1-0 on Hanson’s second-inning RBI single combined with six shutout innings from Andrew Suarez, who chucked aside five bad starts since the All-Star break.
The fight began with two outs in the seventh when Puig fouled off a 1-1 Tony Watson pitch. Puig angrily tossed his bat in the air and caught it, as if to say, “I should have killed that ball,” something he often does — and did Monday night more than once facing Madison Bumgarner.
As Puig stepped out of the box, Hundley jawed at him.
“He told me to stop complaining and step back in the box,” Puig told L.A. writers. “He just kept coming after me and kept complaining. I wasn’t going to let them disrespect our house.”
The two went chest to chest at the plate, and the benches emptied when Puig shoved Hundley twice. The scrum moved toward the screen, with Dodgers trying to hold back Puig and Hundley restrained by a Dodgers coach, George Lombard.
This is the part that upset the Giants: Puig took one more shot at Hundley, swatting his mask, as the catcher’s hands were restrained.
“I saw him coming,” Hundley said. “Unfortunately, I wasn't able to defend myself in that spot. I was tangled with somebody else. It’s up to the league to look at that and decide on discipline.”
Hundley did not believe he did anything to warrant a suspension. Puig made it clear that if he does time, Hundley should as well.
Hundley declined to reveal what was said.
“That’s stuff that stays on the field,” he said. “We both made the choice to get in each other’s face. We made the choice to go at it.”
The fight seemed to fire up both teams. The Dodgers, dead in the water offensively for seven innings, tied it 1-1 in the eighth against Sam Dyson on Justin Turner’s third double and Manny Machado’s first RBI hit since July 30, a single.
The Giants let the Dodgers enjoy their run for one commercial break. Evan Longoria and Belt greeted Maeda with singles. Austin Slater botched his sacrifice attempt, resulting in an out at third, and Steven Duggar struck out before Hanson hit his winning single.
Belt would have been toast had strong-armed Kiké Hernandez made a good throw, but it was high and wide, and the Giants led 2-1.
Will Smith then saved his third consecutive game — Chapter 2 of the Hundley Series, Chapter 1 of Hundley against Puig.
“We’re all competitors here. We’re grown men,” Smith said. “Sometimes the blood gets flowing and stuff happens.”