© Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants have been abundantly clear about how badly they want to beat the Dodgers and spoil their chances at making the playoffs or winning the National League West division. That goal looked far-fetched on Friday night.
Kiké Hernandez has Madison Bumgarner’s number
There are fewer hitters in the major leagues who enjoy tormenting Madison Bumgarner like Hernandez does. He opened the game with a leadoff single tonight and repeated that result in each of his next and only other two at-bats against Bumgarner, finishing 3-for-3 against him on the evening with two runs scored. As soon as Reyes Moronta entered the game for Bumgarner, Hernandez struck out.
After tonight, Hernandez has an absurd stat line against Bumgarner. In 39 at-bats against Bumgarner, he’s batting .487 with a .923 slugging percentage – largely a product of his four home runs and five doubles – and has a .500 on-base percentage thanks to an additional walk. His OPS (on-base plus slugging) is an almost unfathomable 1.423. Coming into tonight, the league average for OPS was .728. Against Bumgarner, Hernandez has nearly doubled that mark.
Something is up with Austin Slater
Slater exited the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the top of the third, Slater picked up single from Manny Machado in left field and had a chance to throw out Hernandez at home, but his throw sailed way offline. While he has struggled defensively, he’s demonstrated tremendous arm strength and accuracy, leaving the throw to come as a disappointment.
When he left the game, Slater was replaced by Kelby Tomlinson in a bases-loaded, one-out situation, with the Giants tied at 1-1 with the Dodgers. At first, Tomlinson tried to lay down a safety squeeze, but missed. On the next pitch, he swung away and grounded into a massively disappointing double play ball to end the inning.
The Giants can’t “disrupt” the Dodgers unless they hit with runners on base
It’s well-documented that Bruce Bochy is not a fan of the term “spoiler.” He favors the equivalent “disruptor” instead. Whatever you want to call it, the Giants were not that tonight. That was not for the lack of scoring chances that the Giants created.
This season has been defined by good or great pitching that has been wasted by, well, wasted chances. The Giants entered the game with the fourth-worst batting average (.239) and the fourth-fewest RBIs in the league with runners in scoring position. There was no change in that trend tonight, as the team grounded into five double plays.
In the second inning, following a solo home run from Nick Hundley, both Brandon Crawford and Aramis Garcia walked to give Slater a two-on, no-out situation. After seeing those walks, Slater swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Gorkys Hernandez popped out to end the inning.
Two innings later, Tomlinson grounded into a 4-6-3 double play after replacing Slater. In the sixth, Joe Panik hit a leadoff single. And again, the Giants grounded into a double play, this time in 6-4-3 fashion by Evan Longoria. He repeated that exact same feat after Panik singled again in the eighth.
In the seventh, another opportunity presented itself. Crawford again walked and Garcia hit a single to give the Giants their third situation of at least two runners on with one out or less. Then Gregor Blanco, Hernandez and Chase d’Arnaud struck out in order. It represented the third time the Giants wasted that two-plus men on, one-or-less outs situation.
Aramis Garcia, for the great game he had, ended it with a double play.
Aramis Garcia is the real deal
Yes, it’s only been 17 games. Yes, some players have great starts to their careers and tail off. That may very well happen. But in a season defined by so much disappointment and pessimism, Garcia has provided a rare shot of unexpected optimism.
He has four home runs in his short time in the majors. He has demonstrated an intuitive defensive sense at first base and has been by far the best Giants hitter since being called up.
Tonight, he went 2-for-3 with a walk that he forced after fouling off a pair of pitches. Plus, on and off the field, he’s expressed confidence in himself while maintaining a poise and humility that bodes well for his long-term success.
Dodgers fans showed up in numbers, some left in ugly fashion
Tonight was an odd experience in AT&T Park with cheers often coming from Dodgers fans louder than Giants fans. That’s not to say Giants fans weren’t heard. When Yasiel Puig stepped to the plate, you might’ve been able to hear the jeers from Oakland.
There was maybe no uglier point in the game than in the eighth inning. Police officers headed down toward a section behind home plate and eventually handcuffed at least one Dodgers fan and escorted the other three next to her out of the stadium. But they weren’t the only ones to perform an exercise in poor behavior. One Giants fan rushed over to the railing and poured popcorn on the head of one of the exiting Dodgers fans, marring an already disappointing game for Giants fans.