A strike away, then an awful loss
More than three hours deep into an evening of satisfaction, the Giants’ Tuesday night turned into the Ryan Schimpf story. If you don’t find that depressing, in the wake of Monday night’s complete stinker, a horde of fans will disagree.
The Giants were one strike away from a tribute to Hunter Pence, Brandon Crawford and the two men who sent majestic drives into the left-field bleachers, Angel Pagan and Gorkys Hernandez. One strike away from reprieve for Hunter Strickland, who was handed the closer’s role and, for this night, failed miserably. One more strike from left-hander Steven Okert, given the task of dispatching this mess, and all regression would be forgotten.
Instead, Schimpf unloaded on a 1-and-2 fastball from Okert, the ball landed over the center-field fence for a threerun homer, and as the Giants batted without success in the bottom of the ninth to complete a 6-4 loss, the stadium was half-full at best.
Two straight losses to the San Diego Padres, with a pennant race at hand, will make that happen. There are no real memories from Monday night, save perhaps the lovely image of San Diego starter Paul Clemens vomiting between innings. The sequel was a ninth-inning
chamber of horrors, largely the sight of Strickland walking in a run when he wanted so badly to become the closer for real.
There is no such thing as raw desperation at this stage of the Giants’ plight, not with 18 games to go and so much in doubt, but this was a costly defeat. The Dodgers, still four games up in the West, took a tame and quiet 3-0 loss at Yankee Stadium. Consistently stifled of late by left-handed pitchers, they were five-hit by CC Sabathia and the Yankees’ bullpen, and two players who didn’t even start — Jacoby Ellsbury and Didi Gregorius — hit consecutive homers off Ross Stripling.
It was a significant development because the Dodgers are still trying to pinpoint their No. 4 starter, for now and the postseason. Stripling seemed a logical candidate, but rookie Jose De Leon is making a strong case with two winning starts and an array of pitches (particularly the changeup) that made him so effective in the minor leagues.
Then there’s Julio Urias, removed in the fourth inning Tuesday night (no runs allowed) and, despite his 4-0 record and 2.02 ERA since the All-Star break, apparently finished as a starter. The Dodgers have said that before, only to give the kid a reprieve, but now it appears he’ll be groomed as a reliever for the stretch drive and playoffs in an effort to limit his innings.
The really fascinating part, when the Giants arrive at Dodger Stadium to open a three-game series Monday night, will be Yasiel Puig’s role. He’s been on respectable behavior since rejoining the team, contributing two home runs and a fantastic catch in left field behind Rich Hill’s bid for a perfect game Saturday. (You figure Puib will be in the lineup against Madison Bumgarner and Matt Moore, for the Dodgers currently rank last in the major leagues in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS against left-handed pitching.)
The Giants’ loss was equally significant in the race to indigestion, also known as the one-game playoff between wild-card teams. The Mets, routinely banking on the improbable after a frightful torrent of injuries, got a gamewinning home run in Washington from a 27-year-old infielder, T.J. Rivera, getting his first crack at the show after six seasons in the minors. (He just might stick, having won the Pacific Coast League batting title at .353 with Las Vegas.)
The Cardinals kept the pressure on as well with a home victory against the Cubs. The Cards had just about given up on former A’s first baseman Brandon Moss, who was slumping terribly at 1-for-41 and watched his left-field replacement, Jeremy Hazelbaker, break up Kyle Hendricks’ nohit bid in the ninth inning Monday night. But Moss was back in the lineup, crushing a tie-breaking homer, and the Cardinals are banking on having several freshly recovered players — Aledmys Diaz, Matt Holliday, Michael Wacha and Trevor Rosenthal — available at some point for the fourgame series that begins at AT&T Park on Thursday night.
Do the Giants keep track of all this? Need they invest the time, or even a glance?
“Sure, they’re all involved,” said manager Bruce Bochy, admitting to some scoreboard-watching. “But I keep an eye on us trying to win a ballgame.”
What Bochy has seen, these past two nights, is the stuff of nightmares.