While I might have bought the idea of pitcher tossing a total video game in 2020, I couldnt actually purchase the concept of a San Francisco Giants pitcher doing so.
And even if I could, I would steadfastly have declined to think it would be Tyler Anderson.
It took all of one day for Kyle Hendricks and the Chicago Cubs to make me appear like I ought to get my “I compose about baseball for a living” card withdrawed.
Elections being held exclusively on the moon? Sure, OK, its kind of predictable. Fake meat completely simulating steak tartare? I can see it. The discovery that Bigfoot is real, and has been procreating with the Loch Ness Monster? Whatever, its 2020.
Before the strange, transformed, and abridged 2020 season started, I stated this about starting pitching: “We effectively may go a whole season without a single total video game.”
Tyler Anderson tossing a complete video game?
And what did he do, in his third MLB video game? Oh absolutely nothing much, simply have his 3rd straight game with a loud double that went beyond 100 miles per hour in exit speed. Sure, that pitcher (Matt Grace), had actually simply given up 2 walks and a very tough double. Junior Guerra, who you might remember from such hits as “Walked Joey Bart with the bases packed on Friday night” strolled Yastrzemski with the bases filled. And then he walked Dickerson with the bases loaded.
Good stuff.
Guerra has provided 3 of them.
It feels a little bit disingenuous to state that play is gorgeous, but its … well I dont know what it is. Its something, which something is remarkable, and I cant take my eyes away.
Crawford could not score, as he needed to play things carefully, but a four-pitch walk drawn by fellow pinch-hitter Mauricio Dubón again filled the bases with no outs.
He offered up just 3 hits and 1 unearned run. He walked no batters (though he struck one). He set down the side in order five times, and needed less than 10 pitches to make it through an inning on 4 events.
For the 2nd day in a row, they filled the bases without any outs in the very first inning. This time it came on three straight strolls, a rather stunning development since Arizonas starter, Zac Gallen, had provided just 8 complimentary passes in 30 innings entering into the game.
Predicting the Giants to be bad is like ordering a breakfast sandwich: you desire to end up with generous quantities of egg on your face.
Come on, y all. Lets not be ridiculous.
Sure, that pitcher (Matt Grace), had actually simply quit 2 walks and an extremely hard double. And sure it was simply his 2nd look of the year. Putting in a righty to deal with two lefties, one of which is the groups best player?
It backfired.
It might backfire.
He wasnt missing out on many bats– he had a simple 10 swing-throughs and 4 strikeouts– but he kept tough contact at bay, and never looked intimidated. He kept counts in his favor, and as a result never ever had to throw meatballs over the plate for DBacks players to wallop.
Enough about me. Anderson was masterful on Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, setting down the opposition over and over and over, and generally making it look easy.
And what did he do, in his third MLB video game? Oh absolutely nothing much, just have his 3rd straight video game with a loud double that exceeded 100 mph in exit velocity. This one seemed like a crowning achievement, looked like a crowning achievement, and ultimately fell a few inches brief of his first career crowning achievement.
The Giants have now drawn a bases packed walk a whopping 6 times this year, which is currently three-quarters as numerous as they drew a year ago.
Thats when Arizonas supervisor, Torey Lovullo, made a curious choice. With lefties Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson due up, Lovullo got the only left-handed pitcher in his bullpen.
This is an ambiguous method of me saying that I look clueless as can be right now. Ive never ever taken pleasure in looking bad more than when I anticipate the Giants will be miserable and end up being wrong.
But after the Diamondbacks tied the game in the top of the seventh inning, the Giants as soon as again returned to the faithful and effective bases on balls.
On Friday they got no runs out of the circumstance, and on Saturday they eked out simply one. For a long time, that was plenty enough.
Just an unique performance all the method around.
Yastrzemskis walk was extremely nice, but it wasnt nearly the nicest thing he performed in this video game. In the 6th inning he made the type of ideal field catch that we havent seen in San Francisco since the 2014 World Series.
The bottom half of the seventh begun with Brandon Crawford drawing a walk. In came Joey Bart for his first appearance of the day, after he began the video game on the bench.
Offensively, the Giants put down their home run striking bats and took a pacifistic method to run scoring, utilizing walk after walk after walk to score their five runs.
Therefore, with one defensive emphasize, 8 strolls, and a masterfully tactical approach by Anderson (and an extremely great game called by Chadwick Tromp), the Giants won the game 5-1, protected a series success, and now have a five-game winning streak.
It wasnt subduing and even especially amazing, but it was a masterclass in playing chess on the baseball diamond, with each pitch serving a function and establishing the next one.
Junior Guerra, who you might remember from such hits as “Walked Joey Bart with the bases loaded on Friday night” strolled Yastrzemski with the bases loaded. And after that he walked Dickerson with the bases filled. That provided the Giants a 3-1 lead, and set the table for Donovan Solano (RBI fielders choice) and Brandon Belt (RBI single) to make the lead comfortable.
And he ended up being the first Giant since … wait for it … Chris Stratton in 2018 to throw a nine-inning total video game.
