MAJOR BLOWUP
Strickland has surgery after punching a door following Monday’s meltdown
SAN FRANCISCO >> Hunter Strickland may be gone, but his spirit remains.
The Giants closer had surgery Tuesday for a broken hand after punching a door following a blown a save in the previous night’s loss to the Miami Marlins.
Then some bad blood between the two clubs that began during a recent road trip to Miami, plus an incident involving Strickland and outfielder Lewis Brinson on Monday night came to a head in a 6-3 win by the Giants at AT&T Park.
Before the game was three innings old, Giants rookie starter Dereck Rodriguez hit Brinson with a pitch, and Miami starter Dan Straily, already trailing 3-0, hit Buster Posey, who had a tape-measure home run in the bottom of the first.
Home plate umpire Andy Fletcher, having issued a warning after Brinson was hit, immediately
ejected Straily and Miami manager Don Mattingly, much to the thrill of a crowd of 37,242.
The Giants were feeling a little stung after blowing a ninthinning
lead for the first time this season the previous night and then losing their closer to a self-inflicted injury.
“After the game, he had a little snap and punched a door,”
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He fractured his hand. So he’s probably going to be out six to eight weeks.”
Strickland posted a lengthy apology on his Instagram account which he linked to Twitter, leading with the headline “Sometimes the hardest battle we fight is the battle within.”
Bochy said it was a right pinkie injury similar to the one which sidelined Madison Bumgarner when he took a comebacker in the final game in spring training. Like Bumgarner, Strickland needed surgery, which was performed Tuesday. Bumgarner was out more than two months before making his initial start of the season on June 6.
The injury occurred, according to Bochy, after Strickland
left the mound following his fourth blown save of the season. With the Giants leading 4-2, Strickland walked two batters and gave up three hits in onethird of an inning, leaving with a 5-4 deficit.
When Strickland left the mound, he had a brief exchange with Brinson, who had one of the hits during the inning and was at third base. Brinson had taken a pitch near his chin early in his at-bat and flipped the bat following his hit.
By the time reporters arrived, Strickland had composed himself and took responsibility for the loss, calling it “unacceptable.”
Strickland was vague about the Brinson exchange, only conceding, “I was in the moment and I wasn’t too happy with myself.”
Bochy said he didn’t hear about the injury until he’d gotten home after Strickland went to the trainer’s room for X-rays.
Strickland has had issues controlling his emotions in the past. Most notably, Strickland threw at Washington’s Bryce Harper last season three years after the outfielder had hit a home run off him during the playoffs.
With Strickland out and Rodriguez (2-1) leaving after
five innings and 92 pitches, the Giants turned to Ty Blach, Mark Melancon, Will Smith and Sam Dyson for four scoreless innings.
As for the early tit-fortat, Bochy wasn’t saying the Giants threw at Brinson, but he wasn’t saying they weren’t either. He twice brought up the fact that third baseman Evan Longoria was placed on the disabled list after being hit in the hand by Straily in Miami, and that Kelby Tomlinson was hit in the back Monday night.
“My response I guess would be were they throwing at Longoria?” Bochy said. “Tommy got hit in the back last night. So that’s my response. Were they throwing at him? These things you don’t know.”
On the Giants television broadcast there was speculation that Mattingly had threatened Posey as he was leaving the field following his ejection.
Posey denied it. Sort of. “No, he didn’t, and even if he did you guys know I wouldn’t talk about that,” Posey said. “But no, he didn’t.”
For his part, Rodriguez said he wasn’t in a situation where throwing at a batter made any sense.
“There was a runner on second and third with less than two outs,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t want to get a sac fly or anything so I want to go (inside). It just ran too
much, and I got him. It happens.”
Smith walked the opening batter of the ninth, but struck out Derrick Dietrich. Bochy called on the righthanded Dyson, who got Brian Anderson on a gameending double play.
Bochy said afterward the closer’s job would largely be Dyson’s, with Tony Watson also chipping in on occasion.
Posey acknowledged that the Giants are in good shape in that they have pitcher’s such as Smith, Dyson, Watson and Melancon — all who have closing experience — but at the same time said Strickland would be missed.
“I’ve known Hunter for a long time now and part of what makes him good is his fire,” Posey said. “Unfortunately, just made a bad choice and knowing him, I know nobody feels worse about it than he does. But the reality is we’re going to suffer a little bit because of it.”
• Gorkys Hernandez hit a two-run home rin the second inning, his eighth, and another run came home when Brandon Belt was walked with the bases loaded. The Giants added two more in the fifth on an RBI double by Alen Hanson and a bloop run-scoring double by Hernandez.
• Hanson had three hits and made a sparkling defensive play at short subbing for Brandon Crawford.