Giants: Asked to get one out, lefty Smith allows HR
The Giants’ franchise has a long and glorious history in the AllStar Game, dating back to 1934, when Carl Hubbell struck out five legendary American League hitters in succession. They’re used to crafting a strong, powerful presence, with Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Barry Bonds among the most theatrical standouts of the San Francisco years.
Tuesday night’s mood, in Cleveland, felt more like Atlee Hammaker.
Giants reliever Will Smith never did get to show off his nasty slider. Asked to get just one out with the bases empty in the seventh, he started Joey Gallo with a fastball and
watched it follow a screaming path into the rightfield seats for a solo homer. After dropping in a curveball for a strike to Francisco Lindor, Smith threw another one — and Lindor hit a onehop rocket that was speared by third baseman Mike Moustakas to end the inning.
There will be better days for Smith, who is accustomed to getting innings all to himself, but seasoned Giants fans remember Hammaker entering the 1983 AllStar Game in the third inning at old Comiskey Park in Chicago. Hammaker gave up two home runs, a twoshot shot to Jim Rice and the only grand slam in AllStar history, by Fred Lynn. Hammaker allowed seven earned runs and left the game with a tidy ERA of 94.50.
Other observations from the American League’s 43 win:
By the end of fifth inning, all of the starters for each team had been removed. In the case of so many players — Cody Bellinger, Christian Yelich, Ronald Acuña Jr., Nolan Arenado and especially Mike Trout — that’s just wrong. What’s the rush? Players on both teams raving about Trout in the leadup and he vanishes after two atbats?
Several participants wore microphones in the early innings, and it was a harmless, enjoyable enterprise. Managers Dave Roberts and Alex Cora debated over what the next pitch would be. Yelich and Bellinger had a goodnatured conversation as they awaited pitches in the outfield. And when George Springer, Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley were miked up at once, fans got a glimpse of an Astros team that mixes excellence with a hangloose, funloving nature. The A’s are eight games behind Houston in the loss column, and that won’t change much — but Oakland’s status in the wildcard standings, just 11⁄2 games out, is one of the great stories of the first half.
If fans were getting their first look at A’s reliever Liam Hendriks, who pitched the sixth, they had to be thinking, “Who’s this rube?” Facing Trevor Story, Hendriks got his spikes caught in the dirt and delivered a little hopstep curveball way outside. Then he fired a fastball over everybody’s head and onto the screen. Hendriks also gave up Charlie Blackmon’s home run to rightcenter, cutting the A.L. lead to 21. However: Hendriks struck out Kris Bryant, Story and Pete Alonso, the winner of Monday night’s Home Run Derby, on blazing fastballs.
It was terrific to watch the Cubs’ Javier Baez face Minnesota pitcher Jose Berrios in the third, and not just because they’re two of the most dynamic entertainers in the game. The two grew up together in Puerto Rico and faced each other in youth sports before Baez moved to the United States. Berrios’ wife is a sister of Baez, the two families spend most of the offseason together, and they gathered for “like six hours, watching the kids run around,” Berrios said, in Cleveland on Monday night. (Baez took his usual fearsome cut and flied to left.)
Reds pitcher Luis Castillo took the mound in the fourth, fashioning a firsthalf ERA of 2.29 and reminding Giants fans that he was traded for (this is just dreadful) Casey McGehee in December 2014. Castillo struck out two batters in a 123 inning, mixing a 98mph fastball with a devastating changeup, and as the Astros’ Bregman told reporters Monday, Castillo is “incredible. One of the best pitchers in all of baseball. We’ve been talking about that as a team since we’ve faced him, how the fastball and changeup look identical out of the hand. He’s a superstar. He’s a stud. Probably one of top two or three pitchers in the game right now.”
As for McGehee, he hit .213 in 49 games for the 2015 Giants, got released in July, and was out of the big leagues by the end of the following season.
Frightening moment in Sunday’s Futures Game: Another neardisaster with the maple bat, which often doesn’t just break but shatters. In the case of Cubs catching prospect Miguel Amaya, it was a halfbat whirling toward D.L. Hall, and the Orioles’ pitcher was lucky the dull end — not the lifethreatening weapon — hit him in the leg. So everybody shrugs it off, no problem, but it’s only a matter of time; the worst news is coming. And let’s just say it: Maplebatwielding hitters have zero pride, without the slightest concern about a player or fan getting impaled by their cheap equipment.