It was understandable to think a white flag was being waved when it was announced before Wednesday’s finale against St. Louis that Tony Vitello planned to rest Rafael Devers.
The veteran had played in 309 straight games. He had spent the past fortnight terrorizing opposing arms. The relationship pitchers had with Devers had the same off-kilter power dynamics as a tree and a lumberjack. His slugging percentage since August 24th is above .900., while his 1.411 OPS leads the Major Leagues. The prevailing joke around the water-cooler was he needed a rest because his arms were tired from carrying the team.
Devers deserved a day off — even if it was a significant hit to the Giants’ chances of winning, and considerably lowered the average service time of the starting line-up considerably. Sans Devers, Jung Hoo Lee was the elder statesman with just two seasons worth of games (321) under his belt. Utility infielder Christian Koss possessed the second longest resume at just 132 MLB appearances. On paper — and on the field for most of the day — the Giants came off as headless and punch-less. Kids stacked on each other’s shoulders, wrapped in a trench coat and topped with a fedora.
For 7.2 innings, 23 of 27 outs, playing big-leaguer went about as well as expected. Five runners reached base against St. Louis starter Andre Pallante, and just one first inning run scored. Their portfolio from the plate consisted of three singles, two of them by Koss, since the 1st. Pitching and defense suffered from an unsightly ooze of inexperience impossible to ignore. Starter Blade Tidwell, in his 15th career game and seventh start, was put to work by Cardinals bats. A mental error by Tidwell in the 3rd dominoed into a 3-run homer off the bat of Leo Bernal.
With one out, it looked as though Tidwell had Iván Herrera picked off at first base. Herrera left early, Tidwell stepped off and did as he was taught: run straight at the runner and force them to commit to a base. Tidwell was a bit overzealous in his pursuit. He ran too far and too close to Herrera before lobbing the ball to Koss, and his momentum took him across the basepath, allowing the runner to lunge into the pitcher, draw contact and coax an interference call.
Herrera essentially drew a foul, and in doing so, changed the complexion of the whole inning. Instead of a rosy two outs and nobody on situation in a 1-1 game, Tidwell, noticeably frustrated, had the reminder of his mistake breathing down his neck at second base. The righty was forced to nibble to big Alec Burleson and eventually walked him. He doubled up on his 4-seam fastball to Bernal — flat and at the top of the zone — and the catcher didn’t miss it.
Tidwell lasted into the 5th, but a leadoff single, followed by a hit batter and a walk, ensured his early exit. Lefty newcomer Philip Abner limited the damage to just one earned run in the frame, ending Tidwell’s day with 5 earned over 4+ innings pitched. The 25 year old has now allowed 5 or more runs in three of his seven starts and has yet to throw six complete frames.
The Cardinals would add on in the 6th after Jonah Cox, playing second base with just 13 prior innings at the position, forced an ill-advised throw to first on a softly hit ground ball off the bat of Nathan Church that skipped past Eldridge, bounded over the railing and disappeared into the camera well. The error unnecessarily pushed a runner over to third, and promptly scored on a José Fermín sac fly.
Mental and physical errors had inflated the Cardinals’ run total to six. The offense’s lone run felt distant. They had no dominating presence, not even a shade of Devers, in their line-up for the entire afternoon. By the 8th inning, when Koss flew out to center for the second out, the anticipated loss felt inevitable…
And somehow, 15 minutes later, the Giants had won. The Giants had five baserunners all game. Then, as if a switch was flipped, six reached in a row. Six scored. A 6-1 bummer into a miraculous 7-6 lead. Water into wine. A game-winning, sweep-securing rally completely conjured out of thin air.
The six-run rally in the 8th grew from humble origins. Brett Harris, in his SF debut, barely flinched as he wore a 79 MPH breaking ball on his thigh. Five pitches later, Turner Hill walked to load the bases. Eldridge, responsible for the Giants only run, added two more by slapping an outside fastball through a hole where the shortstop usually stands. Right-hander George Soriano came in to face Cox, who made a poor bunt attempt on the first pitch and watched another go by. Down a quick 0-2 he lunged at a change-up, hitting it so poorly towards short that he easily legged out a single. Another run in, the tying run now on base…the inning began to feel different, like it had purpose, a direction, like it was building towards something. Rafael Devers loomed somewhere in the dugout as a potential pinch hitter, only to be used in extreme circumstances, in break-the-glass emergencies when one swing could change the outcome. But he wasn’t needed. Another power source was plugged into.
Jung Hoo Lee worked the count full. He jumped all over an inside fastball, but got it too early, lining it off the right-field bricks well-wide of the foul pole. He shrugged off the disappointment, collected himself back in the box, and jumped all over the subsequent slider for a game-tying double. A pitch later Shay Whitcomb ambushed a first-pitch fastball, scoring Lee and earning the infielder his second game-winning knock of the series.
Thin air might not be fair. While Devers has hogged all the attention, Eldridge has put together an impressive 18 game on-base streak of his own in which he’s hitting .364 with 13 BB, 19 RBI, and 1.002 OPS. It hasn’t necessarily been dominated by displays of power (2 HR in 18 games), but by a much more disciplined approach in the box. Both of his run-scoring hits this afternoon went to the opposite field. And Lee, while struggling overall as of late, has continued to be a menace with two outs. His .383 batting average continues to lead the Majors.
And after Tidwell, a trio of cobbled-together relievers did a nice job of keeping St. Louis within reach of a miracle.
As I mentioned before, Abner gladly traded a run for two outs with a double play ball in the 5th. He needed just four-pitches to get out of that mess, and limited the damage inflicted by Cox’s throwing error in the 6th — both key moments that helped make the 8th inning rally possible. Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson came out of the pen for the first time, pitching a scoreless 7th and 8th, while earning his first career win. And Trent Harris recorded his first save with just six pitches, working around a lead-off single by with a 6-4-3 double play off the bat off pinch-hitter, Jordan Walker.
The first real series sweep of the year. Not stoked that I had to wait until September for it — but at least they delivered it in style.
