© Stan Szeto | USA Today
Evan Longoria is alright, but neither he nor manager Bruce Bochy enjoyed the experience of him being hit in the back by a 97 mph fastball Friday night. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Kyle Crick threw wildly against the Giants – his former team – nearly hitting Longoria earlier in his at-bat before connecting with his back, and coming close to doing the same to Joe Panik later in the seventh inning.
Longoria looked upset before walking to first base, as did Bochy. Later in the inning, Panik stared down Crick on the mound after he was nearly hit.
“I think everybody was more upset just because when a guy is throwing that hard and he really doesn’t have an idea of where it’s going,” Longoria said. “I mean Joey (Panik) almost gets hit and a couple other guys brushed back. Obviously, you’re not expecting the guy to throw the ball over the middle of the plate every time, but when a guy is throwing that hard and he’s throwing it all over, it just doesn’t make for a good situation.”
Longoria said he didn’t think Crick had any negative intent, but that it was clear his control was missing. Longoria added that he hopes to play tomorrow after coming out in the top of the eighth inning for Chase d’Arnaud.
“It was just at the point in the game where I just felt like if I’m trying to give myself the best chance to play tomorrow then the best chance is to just get out right then and get some ice on it,” Longoria said. “I feel fine now, it’s obviously going to be sore. But I think it’s just going to be one of those things where you wake up tomorrow, see how it feels. There’s no x-rays, nothing like that.”
Bochy confirmed that his expectation for Longoria is similar and that he thinks he’ll be “alright.” Bochy talked to home plate umpire Shane Livensparger after the inning, in which he was visibly upset from the dugout.
“Panik almost wore one,” Bochy said. “He just missed him before. He’s wild out there, I get that. But you hate to see your guys get smoked like that and another guy almost get it. We know Crick, but he hasn’t been that wild.”
Outside of the incident with Crick was a 13-run offensive performance by the Giants that was met with 10 runs from the Pirates. Bochy said the performance was a long time coming.
“We’ve been due for a game like this where we break it open, although they came back and made it a game,” Bochy said. “But it’s better offense than what we’ve been doing. It’s going to be important that this offense gets going a little bit. That’s going to be the key for us to get back in this thing.”
Longoria said he hopes the team will continue to build on the win.
“We got our butts whooped last night and then we put up 13 today,” Longoria said. “It shows some resiliency and even though the game ended up being close today, it’s a win and I think offensively, we were able to build some confidence and momentum.”