Error allows Nationals to score five in first, best Giants 11-5
All the buzz around baseball is that offense is down, but you’d never know it from the Giants versus Nationals games this season.
The series done for the year, the teams combined for 76 runs in the six games. And, much as there is talk of a dead ball lowering averages, an ill-timed error is always a sure-fire way to get a lineup going, as was the case in Washington’s 11-5 victory at Oracle Park on Sunday.
Jason Vosler couldn’t stab a possible double-play bouncer by Nelson Cruz in the first inning and Giants starter Alex Cobb — just off the injured list — threw 33 more pitches after the error and had to come out after just twothirds of an inning. The Nationals scored five runs in the inning, only one of which was earned. The Giants have made errors in eight consecutive games.
“Sometimes those balls land on the grass and sometimes they land in gloves for double-play balls and easy converted outs,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “First we have to own that we can play better baseball than we did in this series and we can definitely play better baseball than we did in this game.
“Vos has played a pretty high quality third base for us and today obviously wasn’t his best day on that particular play. I think he just tried to go to the bag before he secured the baseball. He makes that play nine out of 10 times.”
Cobb, who had been sidelined because of a groin strain, was fatigued by the end of his outing and walked three of the final four men he faced. He wasn’t pleased with how he pitched.
“It was just kind of a combination of bad luck, really bad pitches and not just executing that one pitch you need to get out of the inning,” he said. “There were plenty of opportunities just to make one pitch and not let that unravel the way it did and I just didn’t do it.”
Krizan’s big hit: The Giants, who have eight players either on the 10-day IL or COVID IL, were the team without much firepower Sunday, with no hits through the first four innings against Josiah Gray.
Jason Krizan broke up the nohitter with his first big-league hit, a two-out single in the fifth. Krizan, whose family was in the stands, played in 1,132 minorleague games over 11 seasons before getting his first big-league hit. First-base coach Antoan Richardson told him to make sure to soak it in.
“Their pitcher stepped off the mound at the crowd’s reaction and Ant told me to take a look around at the crowd, so it was really awesome,” Krizan said. “It’s cool to see that the love and support that I’ve gotten. There have been a lot of people who have helped me along the way get to where I’m at. And all I can say is thanks to everybody. It’s been unbelievable.”
After the game, the Giants announced that Krizan — and pitcher Yunior Marte — had been optioned to Sacramento.
Krizan was 0-for-5 over his first two big-league games and walked in his first plate appearance Sunday before borrowing Joc Pederson’s bat and using it for his single.
“I saw him a couple of innings later and hugged him and said, ‘Thanks for giving me the bat!’” Krizan said.
“It’s a really special moment for everybody in the dugout and obviously huge for Jason and for his family,” Kapler said. “I’m really glad that that that happened. You never take a single hit for granted in the major leagues, you never take a moment for granted in the major leagues.”
With Gray out of the game, the Giants put up five runs in the seventh. Luis González had an RBI single and Mike Ford, acquired one day earlier, knocked a two-run single in the inning, and Wilmer Flores’ hustle to avoid the return throw on a possible double-play grounder allowed another run to come in and kept the inning alive for Ford’s hit. The Nationals responded by adding three runs in the eighth off Jake Mcgee.