Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants did not want to lose without tearing apart the rule book in search of a loophole.
As Gregory Polanco lofted a long flyball to center with the bases loaded and one out in a tie game in the 11th inning, the Giants say they saw the slugger pass Will Craig, who was the baserunner at first. Perhaps influenced by the Cody Bellinger/Justin Turner moment earlier this year, when Bellinger overtook Turner and a home run became an out, Gabe Kapler wanted to ensure Polanco lapping Craig did not matter.
He was ensured. After a few minutes of discussion that confused many, umpire Tom Hallion dashed the Giants’ hopes.
“We just wanted to ensure that there wasn’t any rule that would work in our favor if we looked at it,” Kapler said after the Giants lost, 3-2, in Pittsburgh on Friday. “Tom assured me that they thought about it from every angle, and that the run scores no matter what as a sacrifice fly.”
There is no downside to asking.
“Sometimes you kick yourself for not asking the right questions, and you don’t always know what the perfect question is to ask in those scenarios,” the manager said after Caleb Baragar allowed his first earned run in 31 appearances. “So I just asked him to think about it from every angle.”
Mike Yastrzemski crashed into the right-field wall trying to make what would have been a game-saving play on Adam Frazier’s triple that led off the 11th. He appeared to be uncomfortable in the outfield.
“It’s something that I’m definitely going to have a conversation with him and see how he’s doing,” Kapler said over Zoom. “He really gave everything he had on that play and sacrificed his body to try to make that catch.”
Kevin Gausman pitched into the ninth, when a runner he passed to Jake McGee would score for the only blemish on his statline, and struck out a career-best 12 in a thoroughly dominating effort that should have been rewarded with a win.
He was excellent and he was … off.
“It was a grind tonight physically,” Gausman said after he lowered his ERA to 1.84. “It just felt like I couldn’t find my delivery, just kind of felt out of whack.”
It sounds similar to Anthony DeSclafani‘s sluggish self during his abbreviated, five-inning outing Thursday. The Giants had dealt with several injuries during and shortly after their country-country flights this year, and Gausman said it’s possible the long flight to Pittsburgh played a role.
His splitter was again unhittable — he got 16 swings and misses on the pitch, aided perhaps by PNC Park shadows that hurt hitters for each team — but his fastball averaged 94 mph, down from a season average of 94.6 mph.
If this is a depleted Gausman, the Giants will be happy.
Kapler on Steven Duggar’s tremendous catch in center field on a Kevin Newman drive that had an expected catch rate of 15 percent:
“That was a huge play. I really think that set the tone for us on defense. He got an excellent jump on that ball, laid out completely. The only way he makes that plays is he gets a perfect jump, makes a perfect route and has really good accuracy with the glove.”
DIVING DUGGAR. pic.twitter.com/PUUoFTju9d
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 14, 2021