SAN FRANCISCO — After talking to reporters late Sunday afternoon, Patrick Bailey reached into his locker and pulled out a glass of good red wine. An hour earlier, the rookie catcher had prevented most of his club from progressing to something more difficult.
Bailey’s two-out homer in the tenth inning gave the Giants a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers, preventing a Bruce Boci sweep and sparing some of his team more difficult questions. The save ended a four-game losing streak for the Giants, and it wasn’t long before Gabe Kapler made the heartbreaking decision to end an exciting weekend.
Kapler pulled Logan Webb after 8 2/3 innings, only to see his near All-Star give up a singles tie and then miss a brilliant home run in the top of the 10th. The Giants took the lead as Bailey threw up his hands and caught a Will Smith fastball over the wall into left field.
It was the perfect landmark in the perfect spot for the 24-year-old who has solved a lot of problems for the Giants since his introduction in May. Bailey hasn’t had much success with broken balls hitting the right side this season, and Smith has thrown the slider 50% of the time.
“Until I moved on to two-strokes, I was just looking for a warm-up,” Bailey said.
Bailey watched the fastball fly towards the benches on the left, afraid it would hit the chevron section along the rest of the wall. When the ball ran out, the pitch exploded and the bench gasped.
For most of the day, the Giants played a familiar tune. Two months and four days after a 1-0 draw, the first of his career, Webb appeared to be set on yet another goal, and it was needed. The running back lineup totaled 17 strikeouts and continued to squander chances, but it only took Webb 96 runs to complete eight close innings.
Kapler initially held off Webb, drawing applause from 35,000 people at Oracle Park. When he came out twice after that, the sound was strange. At first, there were cheers for Kapler’s decision, but they soon drowned out Webb’s applause.
Keibler knew it would be an exciting weekend at Oracle Park when Bochi returned to meet the man who took the lead when he was gone. The Rangers won their first two games and Kapler faced questions about two big decisions. On Friday, he sent rookie Mark Matthias to hit Brandon Crawford with an uppercut. A day later, he stood with Austin Slater, despite real relief, and watched as Slater rallied in a devastating double play.
These employees were trying to take emotions out of their decision-making process, and this was demonstrated by the toughest call of the weekend. Kappler said the choice between Webb and Camilo Duval in 27th was “a big problem”.
“I will always trust Logan in this situation, and I equally trust Duval,” she said. No matter how conspicuously he “took the ball from Logan,” I would put it this way – quite honestly – that I gave the ball to Duvall. I had a lot of faith that Duvall would come in and get the swing and the error, or the ground ball. Softer than the one he has.
After a quick second-place finish, Duvall quickly made it to the hole, but JB Martinez raced to equalize as Ezequiel Duran beat Crawford for first place. In the dugout, Webb sat blankly, but later said he understood the decision.
“He comes out and gives the ball to the best in the game. I’m not going to complain about that,” Webb said. “As a member, you always want to hang out there, right? But I also understood. Duval is also very good and we trust each other. Everyone here trusts each other.
“I have 100% confidence in Duval. It was a strange game, but in the end we won. That’s all that matters.”
The decision was excellent, and even if the giants lose, it is probably the right one. As good as Webb is, Doval is an equally solid choice in baseball if you just have to, and he’s been nearly flawless at stake this season.
But sometimes you make a good call and get a bad result, and when your team is playing baseball like the Giants have been playing for the past few weeks, every move gets stronger. The Giants were close to scoring a goal for the ninth time in their last 29 games, and it is at these points that the decision-making process becomes especially uncomfortable for the referees.
Instead, Bailey offered a reprieve.
The road wasn’t any easier, with the Tampa Bay Rays arriving on Monday and the Giants heading to Atlanta and Philadelphia, but their rookie catcher gave them a good night’s sleep on Sunday and made history. Blake Sabol stunned the St. Louis Cardinals in a similar moment early in the season, and Bailey and Sabol became the first group of rookie catchers to catch teammates on the same team that same season.
Even Kapler acknowledged that Homer had added value, although he added that the Giants needed to get up on Monday and prepare for the Rays anyway. The Giants try to look at every game the same, but given the state of the game, what the lineup did in the 9 2/3 innings, and given what happened in the ninth…it was a hesitation.
“It would be a truly heartbreaking loss if it continued in that direction,” Kapler said.
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