Wood drops battle to old friend as Giants lose again
CINCINNATI » Alex Wood spent a season here — not a very memorable one, mind you, missing most of it with a back injury — but that wasn’t why he would have had this game circled on his calendar.
No, the personal significance for the Giants’ No. 3 starter was realized when the Reds’ No. 5 hitter stepped to the plate in the first inning. That man was Kyle Farmer, his roommate at the University of Georgia. The best man in his wedding. Someone he shares a tattoo with honoring their former teammate who was paralyzed.
Wood and Farmer have taken such parallel paths
— even traded here together from the Dodgers in December 2018 — that the plate appearance in the first inning of Saturday’s 3-2 loss was the first time the two best friends had faced each other in 16 combined majorleague seasons.
On a day that Wood allowed only four hits over 5 2/3 innings, it was Farmer who came up with the big one. Two Reds had reached when Farmer stepped in for his first-ever at-bat against Wood in the first inning. With one swing, Farmer earned eternal bragging rights and put the Giants into a 3-0 hole they couldn’t climb out of, launching a 1-2 sinker over the 379-foot sign in left field.
The three runs were enough to lock in a series loss against a team that took MLB’s worst record into this three-game set. Wilmer Flores nearly knocked in the tying run with two outs in the ninth, but Joey Bart was thrown out at home plate to end the game.
Farmer got the upper hand on his friend. He rounded the bases with his head down, then crossed home plate for the Reds’ third run of the first inning.