San Francisco Giants run into issue typically reserved for winning teams
LOS ANGELES — he San Francisco Giants have won five of their last six games and must now confront a dilemma typically reserved for the most successful teams in baseball.
When should they rest their closer? Will Smith has earned saves in all five of the team’s wins over the last week and has seen his workload increase dramatically during the club’s best stretch of the season.
After Smith saved Monday’s 3-2 victory over the Dodgers, manager Bruce Bochy said he would prefer to rest Smith on Tuesday.
“I’m going to try to give him a break when I can, but we’ll see where we’re at,” Bochy said. “His usage his really picked up here in the last week and a half. I’m going to talk to him.”
Smith pitched four times in five days last week as the Giants won both games of a twogame set against the Padres before the lefthander saved each of the first two games of a three-game series against the Brewers. Bochy told Smith immediately following the team’s fourth straight win that he would rest regardless of whether the Giants needed a closer on Sunday, and Smith admitted he would enjoy the day off.
The Giants didn’t end up needing a fill-in for Smith in Sunday’s loss to the Brewers, but they turned to him again on Monday for the series-opener at Dodger Stadium. Bochy said he would need to check on Smith’s arm before ruling out the possibility of using him, but the Giants manager expressed a hope his club might run away with a victory for the first time in two weeks.
“It would be nice if we win a game, to do it in easier fashion,” Bochy said. “But that’s not our style is it?”
Smith is off to a historic run to begin his season as the veteran lefty is 19-for-19 in save opportunities. It’s the longest streak a Giants closer has enjoyed to start a season since Rod Beck successfully saved his first 28 chances in 1994.
Bochy understand the Giants have to be cautious with Smith for a number of reasons and not only because he’s just two years removed from a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2017 season and the first month of 2018.
Along with ace Madison Bumgarner, Smith is one of the top players expected to be available on the trade market this summer and no organization wants to acquire a pitcher who is overworked. The Giants haven’t put too much stress on Smith’s arm to this point in the season, but a recent hot streak has forced them to monitor how often Smith is appearing in games.
Smith had seven combined save situations in March and April, six in May and he’s already had six in June, including five in the last seven days. A sudden increase in usage is a challenge for any reliever, but Smith continues to exceed expectations as he’s showcased dominant form that makes him the odds-on favorite to represent the Giants at the All-Star Game in July.
Sandoval hopeful to avoid injured list Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval needed four stitches on his right pinky after having his hand stepped on by Dodgers slugger Max Muncy in the fifth inning of Monday’s game.
Sandoval said after the game that his runsaving stretch at first base that left his hand exposed on the dirt for Muncy’s cleat was “worth” the pain, but he may not play in either of the club’s next two games.
Bochy said Tuesday he hoped to rest Sandoval for the next couple of days and said the switch-hitter is “day-to-day” with a right pinky laceration. The Giants are optimistic Sandoval will be able to avoid a stint on the injured list, but it appears they’ll miss his presence in the starting lineup until at least Thursday’s series finale.
Tyler Skaggs dominates as Angels reach .500 in win over Blue Jays
TORONTO — On the day the Angels reached .500 for the first time in more than two months, starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs walked into the Rogers Centre visiting dugout after the sixth inning of an eventual 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday night in a huff.
Skaggs had just thrown his hardest pitch of the season, a 95-mph fastball, to the outer edge of the strike zone. Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. couldn't catch up to it and struck out, marking the fourth straight hitter Skaggs had retired since the defense bailed him out of a jam an inning earlier. Skaggs had thrown only 72 pitches and scattered three hits. His curveball was coming out of his left hand sharper than it had all season. The deeper into the game he got, the more he resembled the pitcher who carried a 2.64 earned-run average through his first 16 starts a year ago.
Yet there was reliever Cam Bedrosian, warming in the Angels bullpen as Skaggs began his attack on the top of Toronto's batting order for the third time.
Three outs later, Skaggs approached manager Brad Ausmus.
"Why is someone warming up?" Skaggs asked Ausmus. "This is my game. That shouldn't happen.
"Hang up the phone."
Ausmus was just guarding against the possibility of Skaggs allowing two hitters to reach base in what was then a one-run game. Bedrosian, the freshest arm in the bullpen and one of the team's best relievers, could have doused a fire if right-handed hitters came to the plate representing the go-ahead run.
But Bedrosian never entered the game. Skaggs faced another four batters and retired them all on 15 pitches. By the time Skaggs struck out Rowdy Tellez to end his outing, rookie Ty Buttrey needed to get only two outs in the eighth inning before turning it over to Hansel Robles for the save.