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Like all sports, baseball has its own language. Box of Corn, Texas Leaguer, Humm Baby, and a one-syllable bit of nastiness that can punch through any level of fake crowd noise a team can generate. Statcast should record the decibels and run a daily ranking.
Starter Tyler Anderson shot that epithet in Anaheim skies with bazooka strength Monday night after a three-run fifth inning that cost the Giants a lead, the big one hitting a two-point brace Albert Pujols.
But it’s not who (beeps) first, it’s who (beeps) last. In this case, it was Mike Yastrzemski in the ninth inning as he watched Tommy La Stella’s two-run homerun fly over his head, another shot from Trevor Gott, another ninth inning lead blown in. a 7-6 Angels win, another kick in the temple for the majors’ fourth-worst team.
The Giants can only change vocabulary one way, but with a ninth inning lead. If they have one on Tuesday, Gott won’t be on the mound.
No matter how confident the Giants are in Gott, a coach knows he has to try something else after the same guy takes a 7-2, 6-3, 6-5 lead in four games.
And Gabe Kapler will.
“In the long run, my level of confidence in Gott hasn’t changed,” Kapler said. “In the short term, we may need to look for a softer landing point for him and assess what other options we have for high leverage times.
“Obviously Trevor is going through a really tough time. Nobody feels worse than him.”
What the other 27 players feel is also important. Kapler shouldn’t have to remind them that they’ve all been through bad times. But they’re human, and even if they want to support Gott, they know a change is needed.
Brandon Belt, whose two-run homerun kicked off another fine attacking game, understands that delicate balance.
“Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t have to make these decisions,” Belt said. “Gotter is a very good pitcher and I have every confidence in the world in him. My teammates are doing it too. He’s struggling to do it right now. It looks like it’s been a long time, but it’s been three games, and three games don’t define a season. “
Kapler pulled the right levers after Yastrzemski’s two-point brace in the sixth turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Pablo Sandoval started the rally in three points with a single, Mauricio Dubon added another and Chadwick Tromp hit a sacrificial fly.
Jarlin Garcia threw an eventful but scoreless sixth, Tyler Rogers allowed Pujols to finish seventh with a double play and Tony Watson threw a perfect eighth which Kapler believed would make the ninth a good place for Gott. The closest would face the Angels 9-1-2 hitters and wouldn’t need to tackle Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Pujols if he had a perfect inning.
Gott looked better and confident as he took out Brian Goodwin on three shots. But David Fletcher, who extended his hitting streak to 15 major games in the first inning, crushed a high fastball through the right side for a single.
The low 1-2 curve ball that La Stella hit wasn’t terrible pitch, certainly not as bad as the ones he threw at Matt Olson, Stephen Piscotty, Sean Murphy and Mark Canha of Oakland who left the construction site in San Francisco. But Gott could have taken advantage of it if he had buried the land in the earth.
So what are Kapler’s options?
He could conclude with a combination of Watson and Rogers. Both throw well, can take out lefties and righties, and get some field balls when they’re right.
In a season meant to identify the talents of the bullpen, Kapler could see if Garcia has the stomach for the role that goes with it. Shaun Anderson, who got a crack in the role after the Giants traded Will Smith last year, hasn’t pitched well in 2020.
It doesn’t matter who Kapler chooses, then he must determine who gets the important intermediate heats in a group that has so little experience in the big league – and who will now include Gott.
At least the giants have had some way to go. They regularly score runs even without a lot of hot guys at once.
Every Giants starter has had at least one shot except Tromp, who got a sacrificial fly.
Belt had a homerun for the second time in two games. Dubon had two singles and a steal that helped the points and Yastrzemski had a single to go with the two-run double in the sixth that saved Anderson a loss after the southpaw made a big mistake on the bad hitter.
Kapler had just left Anderson to face Trout with two runs and one out after Trout had hit his 10th home run the previous time.
In addition to showing his faith in his starter, Kapler also kept his promise to rely more on improved rotation with his pen now a sieve.
Anderson asked Trout to hit an ocean liner for the second takedown. But Rendon doubled the tying point at home before Pujols hit his two-run double for a 5-3 Angels lead.
Pujols hit a rope at the base of the short fence along the left field line. His body language suggested he thought he had had his 660th homerun to tie Willie Mays for fifth all-time.
“He was going strike after strike,” Kapler said of Anderson. “This is the recipe for success in this league for me. There are times when you’re going to have to go through what could be three Hall of Famers in a row in the middle of a line, where it’s hard to come out completely unscathed.
“But I thought he was attacking the zone, he was efficient and we wanted him to continue.”
The Giants had a lot to forget when they flew to Anaheim. Blowing those leads against Oakland and then being camouflaged 15-3 in the sweep was… what’s the better word?
“It’s very demoralizing,” said Darin Ruf. “It’s very difficult physically and mentally to get past him.”
Now they have to overcome it again, knowing that they can fight for three hours to get to the right place, but don’t know who will finish the job.
Henry Schulman covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @hankschulman
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