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I wrote a bunch of different opening sentences to start this recap, taking different angles on how to approach what happened at Oracle Park between the Atlanta Braves and our San Francisco Giants this Friday. evening, but all have become obsolete, awkward, boring, not good.
The root of the problem is that I have to use words to explain what happened and now after watching this game words don’t do it for me.
I kind of want to lie in my bed with the covers pulled over my head and watch Donovan Solano’s home run disappear into the left field tunnel and over and over …
or watch Brandon Crawford pick a 110 MPH Grounder dive to his right again and again …
or watch Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer in the arcade over and over …
or watch LaMonte Wade Jr. dive into the San Francisco Bay again and again …
or watch Logan Webb throw a left turn slider for wave and miss three over and over …
or watch Kevin Gausman unload as Ken Griffey Jr 1997 on a 3-2 fastpitch with the bases loaded in the 11th over and over …
It’s not a hot catch, but the 2021 Giants are a fun team. What makes a team fun is not only that they win, but that they win unexpectedly. This 6-5 win over the Braves is a prime example of the “unexpected”.
What set the tone at the start was the Brandon Belt two-point homerun against Ian Anderson.
Logan Webb had just seen his first inning turn a dime: after striking out the first two batters, he gave up three quick hits that resulted in two runs and left Webb feeling blinded. It was a disorienting turn of events, but before Webb pitched another pitch, the Giants fought back. Ruf walked to start the set and Belt went deep to tie the game with two points per play.
It was an immediate pickup and Webb didn’t lose the reboot. He pitched six more shutout innings, allowing just three more singles and scoring nine strikeouts in total for the game.
During those eight rounds, I had a lot of fun.
The Braves were aggressive in the box, swinging early and putting the ball into play. The Giants came out with little stress. Logan Webb’s lead, slider and change-up were dancing everywhere. Brandon Crawford humbly added to his year of career with powerful strikes and defensive highlights. He and LaMonte Wade Jr. both contributed home runs, making it 4-2 entering the 9th.
But Tyler Rogers, replacing Jake McGee in the save situation, gave up two singles over two lengths to Austin Riley and Adam Duvall. Two batters later, Rogers threw an 82 MPH fastball at Travis d’Arnaud who placed it in the left-field bleachers for a three-run homerun and the lead.
That’s about where I stopped having a little fun.
In the fire of my outraged disbelief and righteous anger, I returned to August 27 when Jorge Soler hit a three-run homer in the 7th to take the lead and win the Giants. It was going to be strangely similar. An established lead vanished in a swing in the heat of a pennant race. Will Smith warms up in the enclosure, faces his former team to end the match and runs away with a victory that is rightfully ours …
But just like they did in the first, the Giants offense unplugged the power cord and forced a hard reset of the game with Donovan Solano exploding in the 9th.
Another angle:
Tony Watson and Camilo Doval stuck their legacy runners in the 10th and 11th to pick up Tyler Rogers and settle in … and I find myself here again, trying to explain the inexplicable.
So why try? Words are stupid.
Let’s watch and appreciate it and don’t try to understand.
Kevin Gausman, bottom of the 11th, bases loaded, full count …
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