Trevor McDonald To the Rescue

Sep 22, 2025 | 2025 Season, Latest Post

 by
Greek Giant

Desperate times call for desperate measures, as the old saying goes. For the Giants, the starting pitching situation had hit condition red. With the Dodgers taking the first three games of the four-game weekend series in Los Angeles and knocking San Francisco out of playoff contention in the process, Sunday’s game was one played for pride. Sometimes pride can be a major motivator. Buster Posey and the Giants most likely discussed that very concept with rookie Trevor McDonald before his first Major League start.

What a first start it was! The rookie, who made his MLB debut on the final day last season, threw six innings, with one run allowed on six hits and three strikeouts with only one walk and a generally dominant performance against the best line up in the Majors! McDonald’s was the reason the Giants could salvage a game against their arch-rivals with a 3-1 victory. McDonald, is an unlikely hero with a 9-9 record and an ERA of 5.31 in Sacramento in 142 1/3 innings pitched as a starter this season, not exactly numbers that scream ‘he’s ready to be called up.” But, as I wrote: the Giants were facing desperate times in a lost season so it was the right move to promote a rookie and see what he could do in this situation. Nobody, I mean nobody wanted to see another game pitched by relievers.

McDonald got his outing going in a very positive start with a strike out of  Shohei Ohtani swinging on a 94 mph sinker. He made Ohtani look very bad in the process and it was game on from there for the rookie right hander.

“I think it definitely fuelled me. I think it took a big amount of pressure off right off the rip. It kind of settled me down and got me in a rhythm.”

-Trevor McDonald

McDonald favored his curveball (45 percent) and his sinker (42 percent) to strike out three and induce nine groundouts, allowing him to get through six-plus innings on only 89 pitches (60 strikes). Seven of his 11 swinging strikes came on his curveball, which held opposing hitters to a .182 batting average at Triple-A Sacramento this year. McDonald. utilized tailing fastballs to complement the offspeed pitches making that 94 MPH heater look and feel like a 98 MPH fastball that gave the Dodger hitters fits most of the day. McDonald was also helped by a strong Giants defense with a diving catch by Heliot Ramos in left and a superb play behind second base to rob a hit by Christian Koss. He demonstrated great poise in staying ahead in the count, the key to his success, in order to match Los Angeles starter Emmett Sheehan zero for zero.

“To be able to go through that lineup in his first start for us — I’ll tell you what, he’s not afraid. There was some determination in him. We lose the first three games, there’s a lot riding on it. He pitched great. He showed us a lot.”

-Bob Melvin

Sheehan pitched seven shutout innings and struck out ten Giants. At one point he retired 15 San Franciscans in a row and we were all thinking: “Here we go again..”. But the game turned when Blake Treinen entered the game to pitch the top of the eighth inning.

With a lead off single by Christian Koss and a single by Drew Gilbert that sent Koss to third base the Giants were in business with runners on first and third and nobody out. Patrick Bailey then hit a ground-rule double down the right field line to score Koss and put runners on second and third. It’s a bad rule that says the runner on base can only advance two bases. Gilbert would have scored easily on the hit. It’s a rule that needs to be changed to the umpires’ discretions. From there a walk to Rafael Devers loaded the bases with one out before Adames was walked to put the Giants in the lead. Then Matt Chapman hit a slow-roller to short that scored the third run. Why on Earth the Dodgers were not playing in there I will have no idea. At the end of the day it did not matter as the Giants hung on thanks to Ryan walker’s save.

The Dodgers scored their run to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Michael Conforto, who has destroyed the Giants this year and been below replacement level against every other team in baseball, hit an RBI single. The Giants were able to avoid further damage thanks to Bryce Eldridge’s dive and grab of a liner and his throw to third base that doubled off the runner. He was aided by a good scoop from Matt Chapman. it saved the game for San Francisco.

All in all this was a nice win and a way for the Giants to head home feeling a little better about themselves despite the obvious disappointment of the series’ outcome. For the 2025 season the Giants finished 4-9 against the Dodgers and 3-10 against the Padres. They were outscored 83-139 and gave up an average of 5.35 runs in those 26 games going 7-19, a terrible mark that pretty much cost them a shot at the postseason. Factor in the 6-7 record against Arizona and you get 13-26 or a winning percentage of .333, simply not good enough.

The Highlights

Tonight’s Game

The Giants return home for the final six games of the season with a game against the Cardinals at Willie Mays Field at 6:45 PM. It will be McGreevy versus Verlander for the starting pitcher matchup.