by
Greek Giant
No matter how well a poor team will play on any given day you can be sure it will find a creative way to lost. That’s what the Giants have become: a team that finds ways to lose. Last night, in their 5-3 loss to Arizona thanks to a two-out, three-run homer by Ketel Marte, one of the best players in baseball for my money, it was a catcher’s interference call on Daniel Susac that made the difference. We’re talking a loss so bad it’s up there with the balk-off loss by Santiago Casilla in 2016. I was there. I remember it well, thinking: “You don’t see that everyday!”
Last night it was similar. Entering the bottom of ninth the Giants had a 3-1 lead!
Daniel Susac is going to be a fine player, maybe even a great one but that interference call with two outs, one runner on and the Giants in front 3-1 will be a loss very difficult to forget. The homer came off Matt Gage who blew his first save opportunity of the year and who, in all likelihood, should not have been pitching in that situation.
“I made the wrong decision, cost us the game. I mean, he’s got as good of numbers as anybody on our team and he’s gotten it done for us more times than not, but obviously it’s on me.”
-Tony Vitello
It’s a darn shame because this was a fascinating game and there were times that the Giants looked like an honest-to-goodness good baseball team. I swear!
There were back-to-back homers by Devers and Adames in the top of the second inning and the RBI double by Susac to give the Giants a 3-1 lead with Landen Roupp about to settle into a groove. There were magnificent plays in the field Devers at first in the top of the sixth innings and remarkable double plays with the bases loaded and one out in both the bottom of the seventh and bottom of the eighth innings to bail the Giants out of jams and improbably preserve the 3-2 lead until that crazy bottom of the ninth. Landen Roupp pitched very well, surrendering only one run in six innings of work, with a little help from Keaton Winn.
There were fine plays by Gilbert in left and by Will Brennan in right to turn doubles into singles by Arizona hitters. Devers had two hits in the game but at the end of the day it was another loss and put the Giants record at 20-29, a pace for a plus 95-loss season. With a few more injuries and another big slump by high-priced hitters the Giants will easily get to 100 losses and maybe a top 2027 draft pick.
This loss was so bad that it could derail an entire season. It is the type of loss that saps the energy and all the positive vibes from an entire team, maybe even an organization.
I can give you quotes from the players. I can give you more stats but let me end this post by citing our own TWG commentariat:
Today’s Game
The final game of the series between the Giants and DBacks takes place today in Phoenix at 12:40 PM with Tyler Mahle (1-5, 5.59 ERA) facing Merrill Kelly (3-3, 5.91 ERA). Expect to see a total of more than ten runs scored in the game. The Giants are in search of salvaging a win to avoid the sweep. Things are getting ugly for our ball club.
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