The Giants entered Friday night’s game against the Mariners with one of the more unique advantages they’ll have for the rest of the season.
Seattle, yes, has been scuffling of late, having lost seven of its last eight games heading into this series, but that’s not where San Francisco held the upper hand. On Thursday, the Mariners announced that they had fired manager Scott Servais. The decision was likely a shock for most of Seattle’s clubhouse. The Giants, then, possessed the edge in stability.
They didn’t just fail to capitalize. They imploded.
Tyler Rogers allowed four runs and failed to retire a single batter he faced in the eighth inning, surrendering six consecutive singles and blowing a four-run lead in a historically bad night on the mound. That set the stage for Seattle’s Leo Rivas to hit a walk-off single off Erik Miller in the 10th inning and handing San Francisco a 6-5 loss. Not only are the Giants back at .500, but they’ve lost ground in the Wild Card standings, too, with the Diamondbacks (73-56), Padres (73-57) and Braves (69-59) all winning on Friday.
So much for that advantage.
“We had our two best pitchers coming into the game in the eighth and ninth,” said manager Bob Melvin. “Then, it just got away from Tyler a little bit. … He’s never had an outing like that before.”
The Giants entered the bottom of the eighth inning with a 96% chance of winning, according to Baseball Savant. Not only were they winning, 5-1, thanks to a trio of home runs by LaMonte Wade Jr., Michael Conforto and Heliot Ramos, but they had Rogers for the eighth inning with closer Ryan Walker available for the ninth inning. Rogers hadn’t allowed an earned run in the month of August, and the Mariners’ offense, a unit whose only run of the night came by way of a solo home run, was one of baseball’s worst.
Rogers left the mound at T-Mobile Field without recording an out. He faced six batters. He allowed six singles that resulted in four runs and a tie ballgame. The last hit was arguably the most infuriating, a 64.9 mph bloop that dropped into left field. Rogers became the first pitcher in Giants history (since 1901) to allow six hits without recording a single out. The last Giants’ pitcher to allow at least five hits without recording a single out was Jeremy Affeldt, who did so on two occasions.
“I figured Tyler’s going to get at least an out,” Melvin said. “He’s never had an inning like that before for us. I don’t even get anybody up (in the bullpen) until at least three hits there. So, unfortunately, didn’t get an out.”
Walker entered the ballgame with his back immediately against the wall. Tie ballgame. Runner on first. Runner on second. Due up: Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena. The Mariners had all the firepower necessary to push across the go-ahead run. Walker wasn’t having it, dousing waters on the flames by retiring all three batters, getting the Giants to the ninth inning with a tie ballgame.
Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz pitched a clean top half of the ninth, and Walker matched him in the bottom half of the frame by striking out the side. To extras the two teams went. The Giants failed to score in the 10th. The Mariners, needing only one run, wouldn’t miss their opportunity. With one out and a runner on third, Rivas flipped a single to center field, easily scoring Dylan Moore and delivering Dan Wilson his first win as Seattle’s new manager.
“(Walker) did a great job coming in, getting out of it and pitching another inning, but we just couldn’t do anything with the runner on second,” Melvin said.
Doval possible to return on Saturday
Melvin told reporters postgame that “there’s a good chance” that Camilo Doval, who was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on Aug. 9, will join the team tomorrow in Seattle.
Doval was optioned to Sacramento after a blowing a save opportunity against the Nationals the day prior, his fifth blown save of the season. After being named an All-Star last season, Doval has a 4.70 ERA over 44 innings this season, his 29 walks having already eclipsed last season’s total (26).
Hicks dealing with ailment
Jordan Hicks was originally slated to pitch the bottom of the seventh inning but never saw the mound as he dealt with an ailment while warming up, describing his pectoral muscle getting “super tight” and a “feeling pretty much all the way through my arm.”
“Never really felt that specifically,” Hicks said.
Hicks said he passed all the necessary tests that they ran on him and that he will play catch tomorrow.
