John Hefti, Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Hunter Strickland produced his worst, and apparently most frustrating, outing of the season Monday night. Leading 4-2, the Giants closer allowed three runs in the ninth inning, ultimately leading to San Francisco’s 5-4 loss in the series opener against the Miami Marlins. Only to make matters worse, Strickland punched a door shortly after he exited the game, fracturing his pitching hand, which will sideline him for an estimated 6-8 weeks.
Before Strickland’s boiling point came a heated exchange with Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson.
In the first pitch of Brinson’s ninth inning at-bat, Strickland threw a 94.6 MPH fastball up and in, nearly hitting Brinson. Three pitches later, the Marlins rookie scorched a single to right field, scoring the tying run, and advancing Cameron Maybin to third base. As Brinson trotted up the line, he flung his bat toward the Marlins dugout, which apparently did not sit well with Strickland.
Later that inning, Giants reliever Tony Watson replaced Strickland. As he sauntered to the dugout, Strickland and Brinson exchanged words.
Giants reliever Mark Melancon joined KNBR’s Tolbert & Lund Tuesday afternoon and explained what he saw in the Brinson-Strickland encounter.
“My perspective was that he was disrespecting the game,” Melancon said. “I am all for being excited and being happy you got a base hit there. There’s nothing wrong with that, but holding the bat out too long, and flipping the bat, and rounding first and continuing to jaw. To me, it looked like he was looking right at Strickland. That’s just showing a guy up. It’s not needed. Be happy, celebrate with the team, do it right, but don’t rub it in anybody’s face. It’s not the right way to go about it.”
Strickland discounted the exchange after the game.
Hunter Strickland explains the moment between him and Lewis Brinson pic.twitter.com/Ss9ZWMPS8a
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 19, 2018
Melancon said he doesn’t mind if players celebrate, but there are levels to it.
“You just have to have some feel,” Melancon said. “You got to understand, hey, be excited, be happy, but understand you can disrespect somebody, too. What goes around comes around. To me, it’s no problem celebrating, but how much celebration do you do before it gets old and before somebody else takes offense to it.
Listen to Tolbert & Lund’s segment with Melancon below. For the Brinson incident, skip to the 7:35 mark.