Rookies give glimpse into future as Crawford lauded
The crowd at Oracle Park rose to their feet to celebrate Brandon Crawford, the last player standing from a bygone championship era. Kyle Harrison and Casey Schmitt then made cases to be the Giants' future.
Good vibes couldn't overcome bad offense and the Giants lost the final game of the season to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon. Los Angeles took the 7-6 edge in the head-tohead series between the two rivals and the Giants finish the season 79-83. The Giants didn't score more than two runs in any of the final eight games.
With Crawford's tentative goodbye to the team he's played 1,655 games for, the fan celebration and some strong rookie performances provided some highlights — and perhaps a little hope that there would be something to cheer for again.
Much like his debut so far, Harrison's Game 162 start against the Dodgers wasn't pretty, but showed promise. He hit three Dodgers with pitches, but held the NL West champions — rolling out all their starters — hitless through five innings. He struck out four and even mixed in a few cutters and 15 changeups along with his primary fastball and slider combination.
“That was awesome,” Crawford said. “I went up to him a couple times and said, `hell of a job,' that's a great lineup he went through a couple times.”
Harrison had some help defensively, including a diving catch by Mike Yastrzemski in right field to rob James Outman of a hit in the second inning. He also got in his own way. Harrison hit Freddie Freeman and Will Smith in back-to-back plate appearances in the first inning to the Dodgers' ire. Later, Harrison hit Chris Taylor in the knee with a slider and Taylor writhed in pain on the ground, but wasn't pulled until the eighth inning with a left knee contusion.
A tough Dodgers lineup got Harrison's pitch count up to 93 pitches by the end of the fifth inning, but the rookie had four strikeouts and induced weak contact. Only DH J.D. Martinez and third baseman Max Muncy got hard contact off Harrison.
“Weird day, I felt like I had good stuff today but let a couple pitches get away from me,” Harrison said. “Wasn't intentional. Not trying to hit anyone. Just competed a little too hard and had some pitches run away.”
John Brebbia relieved Harrison for the sixth inning and allowed the Dodgers their first hit to the first batter he faced, Smith, and walked Muncy before leaving the game. Taylor Rogers gave up RBI singles to Kolten Wong and Outman. Then Kiké Hernandez broke it open with a three-run home run to make it 5-0 and Rogers was removed from the game with lower back tightness.
Harrison finishes his rookie season with a 4.12 ERA in seven big league starts. The 22-year-old heads into the offseason with a clear goal to “get bigger and stronger” in order to build up endurance to pitch deeper into games.
The Giants treated Game 162 as a goodbye to Crawford, whose contract expired after the game ended. Fans packed the ballpark flashing signs thanking the hometown kid for his 13 years in a Giants uniform.
He was reinstated from the 10-day IL for the final game and batted leadoff for the second time in his career. Interim manager Kai Correa said the decision was to get Crawford the opportunity for as many at-bats as possible. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and was taken out of the game to a standing ovation in the top of the ninth.
Crawford's mini-me stole the show.
Blake Sabol's hit off hot Dodgers pitching prospect Bobby Miller was the Giants' only one until Schmitt hit a solo home run off reliever Ryan Pepiot in the sixth inning. The rookie hit a second home run in the eighth inning.
Schmitt and Marco Luciano are vying to be part of the Giants' starting infield next season year if Crawford doesn't re-sign. Whatever Crawford decides, Schmitt learned a lot from the mild-mannered veteran he called “papa.”
As has been tradition since 2015, only in non-must-win games, Crawford chose the walk-up music for each of his teammates for Game 162. He chose “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers for his infield pal Schmitt.
Schmitt also hopes to get “bigger, faster and stronger,” but also more consistent. The 24-year-old made his debut on May 9 and got off to a torrid start, but started to chase pitches too much out of the zone and was shuttled between Triple-A Sacramento and the big leagues. But injuries kept him in San Francisco long enough to play 89 games; he finishes with a .200 average and .547 OPS.
Throughout, he's showed off a strong arm and instinct defensively. Playing alongside one of the best shortstops in Giants history can only give him an edge.
“I learned how to just take it as it is and to think differently,” Schmitt said. “Just watching how he goes about his business. He's a special guy. I'm really grateful I got to be around him.”