Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
With Bruce Bochy, it’s never about Bruce Bochy.
At every turn he will reject credit because he wasn’t the one who put the bat on the ball; he wasn’t the one who threw the strike. He ducks praise like others seek shade, hiding from a spotlight and glare he doesn’t think he deserves.
Which makes it only appropriate that as the Giants manager was nearing accepting congratulations for a 2,000th time, he was nearly shielded from garnering the biggest headline. It was Jeff Samardzija pushing himself into history, flirting with a no-hitter in a series that already has had its share of history.
But Samardzija’s no-hitter was not to be. Bochy’s milestone was allowed to take center stage in an 11-3 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Samardzija was spectacular if slightly less than perfect. That sounds familiar for his skipper, whose career record sits at 2,000-2,022 as he nears his final week as a big-league manager.
The next big moment will be his last in the orange and black, with Madison Bumgarner expected to take the mound for Bochy’s farewell at Oracle Park on Sept. 29. After that, he will have the Hall of Fame to look forward to. Bochy became the 11th manager to win 2,000 games. All 10 before him are in Cooperstown.
A night prior, it was Mike Yastrzemski stepping into the same batters’ box his grandfather did so many times and lifting a home run to center, one of those romantic baseball moments that time will remember. Samardzija nearly contributed his own, retiring the first 17 hitters in a powerful Boston lineup before Rafael Devers interrupted history with two outs in the sixth. He jumped on a Samardzija cutter that was left over the plate and put it in the right-field seats. The no-hitter was history, as was the shutout, and eyes turned to Bochy.
Bochy was left to manage his bullpen, the biggest strength he will be remembered for. After Samardzija gave up his second hit — to Brock Holt — to open the seventh, Bochy turned to Fernando Abad, who induced a double-play ball from Mitch Moreland, though he struggled in the aftermath. A Brandon Crawford error and two singles later, and it was 4-2 Giants. But Abad got Andrew Benintendi to ground out to escape further damage.
All the runs the Giants (74-78) would need came in the first. With Carl Yastrzemski — who threw out the opening pitch, which his grandson caught — watching from the opposite dugout, Mike walked to lead off the game. Brandon Belt then doubled off the wall in left-center, and Kevin Pillar’s ground out made it 1-0. Stephen Vogt then took full advantage of his surroundings, pulling a Jhoulys Chacin fastball off the Pesky Pole to put the Giants up 3-0.
The Giants tacked on one in the fourth (courtesy a Crawford double), two in the eighth (a Vogt sac fly and Cristhan Adames single) before exploding for five in the ninth, finishing with 15 hits. Bochy could comfortably turn to Enderson Franco, making his major league debut, to secure the win because Samardzija didn’t need the insurance.
He was so tough to hit, even if all of his stuff was hittable. His first strikeout didn’t come until Benintendi in the sixth, catching the Boston star looking. And he followed it up by freezing Bogaerts, too, painting the outside corner.
But he pitched to contact, only recording three swinging strikes. He was ahead of hitters throughout, getting a first-pitch strike on 15 of the 23 batters he saw. Of his 99 pitches, 61 were strikes.
Samardzija got some help, too. Bogaerts hit a lazy grounder to Adames at third to open the fourth, and the infielder, making his first start for the Giants, bounced the throw about 4 feet in front of Brandon Belt, who made the nice pick. The next batter, Devers, lined a shot that Adames got in front of and cleanly fielded for another out.
In the fifth, Moreland hit a long drive down the right-field line, but Yastrzemski tracked it down and caught it while against the short right-field wall.
Samardzija was not perfect, but surely good enough to win. Just like his future Hall of Fame manager, for the 2,000th time.