News of punched doors, plunks, and ejections dominated this entertaining, and tense, Tuesday night matchup between the Giants and visiting Miami Marlins. Between all the antics, there was a baseball game, and an important one for the reeling Giants who needed a win any way they could take it.
They got one. The Giants beat the Marlins 6-3.
The pregame news that Giants closer Hunter Strickland was placed on the disabled list due to a fractured hand he suffered punching a door fittingly started a hectic night. Hours later, Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson was beaned on the first pitch of his opening at-bat. It was a deliberate continuation of a series of events Monday night, in which Brinson and Strickland exchanged unpleasantries in a 5-4 Marlins win.
A half inning later, in the bottom of the second, Buster Posey was beaned. Marlins starting pitcher Dan Straily and manager Don Mattingly were both ejected. Mattingly initiated the plunk against Posey, much to Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s rage.
Once all of the antics settled down, the focus resumed to the baseball, which featured the Giants as the better team from start to finish.
Posey got the scoring started in the first inning, crushing his fifth homer of the season to put the Giants up 1-0. In the second inning, Alen Hanson, who went 3-4 on the night, led off with a double. Gorkys Hernandez hit a homer in the next at-bat to extend the Giants lead to 3-0. Brandon Belt’s walk scored the Giants’ fourth run. The Marlins narrowed the lead to 4-3 with a three-run fourth inning, but the Giants followed it with two more runs in the fifth inning to regain a three-run lead. That was all it took.
No win is desperately needed with more than half the season left. But the Giants have limped to seven losses in their past 10 games, including four of their past five against a last-place Marlins team.
For the Giants to shoot out of a cannon to produce four quick runs, giving starter Dereck Rodriguez the support he needed, was massive. This team moves forward without being full strength, and that will continue for the foreseeable future. Now at 36-38, the Giants are only five games back from the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Giants will conclude their home series with the Marlins Wednesday afternoon before playing seven more games during this homestand.