Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants somehow won a game during which the Angels fired off victory fireworks, which a replay review put a damper on. More importantly, though, they hope they did not lose Brandon Belt.
The first baseman is en route to San Francisco and will get his knee scanned on Thursday, Gabe Kapler said after the Giants’ wild, 9-3, 13-inning win at Angel Stadium on Wednesday, which had a surreal amount of strange moments but Belt’s was a scary one.
In the eighth inning of a 1-1 game, Belt laid down a second bunt in as many days for a hit, then was daring in trying to go first to third on a Donovan Solano single to right. The throw got by Anthony Rendon, and Belt never slid, instead awkwardly slowing down then navigating around the base and trying to charge home. He was a bit hobbled, which helped the potential go-ahead run get thrown out on a play that looked Little League.
After he was tagged, again without a slide, he tried to make it to the dugout but instead went down behind home plate. Trainers looked at Belt for several moments before he was helped off the field, and Kapler did not want to comment further beyond the fact the team would get diagnostics.
Brandon Belt has been taken out of the game after injuring himself on this play pic.twitter.com/xJyilbk2gp
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 23, 2021
Adding to the concern is Belt’s right knee was the one that needed season-ending surgery in 2018.
Darin Ruf replaced him — and made a strong throw home in the 12th, which nabbed Juan Lagares upon review and kept the Giants alive. Ruf was just activated from the injured list for Tuesday’s game.
Belt, who has hit the IL once with an oblique strain this season, has an .875 OPS this season and would represent a significant loss, even if LaMonte Wade Jr. could come back up. Another first base option, Wilmer Flores, was held out of Wednesday’s starting lineup because of hamstring tightness.
Kevin Gausman on Shohei Ohtani: “You can tell he’s different. Even just warming up, how many people he has out there watching him, how many cameras are out.”
Gausman went seven innings allowing one run, and Ohtani did the same in six innings. Both surrendered just a solo shot.
“From the start of the game I think he was 92-94, and seemed like anytime he got into a jam, he went to his plus-plus stuff,” Gausman said of Ohtani, who struck out nine. “His fastball toward the end of the day was 97-99. I think that just kind of goes with the type of athlete that he is.”
The Giants will stay on turn in throwing Johnny Cueto, Alex Wood and Sammy Long against the A’s at Oracle Park beginning Friday. They’ll enjoy Thursday being idle.
“It was a long game for everyone. In front of an off day, it’s good that we’re going to have that extra time to rest,” Kapler said.