Darren Yamashita
Gabe Kapler rarely puts his thumb on the scale to assess a game’s weight because there are 162 of them. Baseball is a game of level-headed thinking, of awaiting for luck to turn, of trusting that the process and not necessarily the results is what matters.
And yet, The Process relented slightly to the weekend’s reality.
“We’ve had spirited discussions about how we can be the best club that we can be through this series,” Gabe Kapler said before play started. “But in particular for this first game.”
Above the next game hovers a big question mark, with perhaps Nick Tropeano, perhaps a called-up Scott Kazmir, perhaps a bullpen effort filling in for Logan Webb.
It made extracting a win out of Alex Wood’s series opener all the more significant, but Wood was not the best former Reds pitcher on the mound Friday night.
His former teammate, Trevor Bauer, was excellent and wrote the first chapter of his new book as Giants Enemy — a title he fully leans into — and the Giants couldn’t get to the Dodgers’ bullpen, either, in a 2-1 loss at Oracle Park in front of a season-high 12,753 fans.
The defeat drops the Giants (28-17) to just a game up on the Dodgers and a half-game — at the moment — in front of the Padres, who were midgame as of publication. Such is the case in the National League West this season, as the Giants, who had won five straight and have the best record in baseball, are a game away from being in third in their own division.
The Giants lost a game but gained an enemy.
Bauer was everything he was cracked up to be, for better or worse. His stuff was filthy, his act immediately entered him into villain territory at Oracle Park, and his arm relentless; he was at 113 pitches after six, yet went out for the seventh anyway. He wanted to spare the bullpen and lasted a season-high 126 pitches, limiting the Giants to one run in 6 1/3 innings.
There were just two hits off Bauer — one an Alex Dickerson dribbler down the third-base line, one a Brandon Belt well-placed bloop down the left-field line — and two moments that marked the emergence of a new heel, wrestling merging with baseball.
The first that introduced him to Giants fans arose in the fourth, when a four-seamer appeared to catch the corner for strike three on Evan Longoria, and Bauer strutted halfway to the foul line. That’s when he looked up and realized it was a ball; he glared at home-plate ump Chris Guccione and circled his way around the mound.
With two on, two outs and the fans in a frenzy, he got Alex Dickerson, who couldn’t check his swing for the final out. With theatrics that would make Robert De Niro proud, he grabbed at his imaginary sword and sheathed it, awakening a crowd that quickly grew to loathe him.
Even a socially distanced, smaller Oracle Park fan section drummed up enough boos to rain upon Bauer upon his being lifted in the seventh. He walked off and cupped his ear, and the outroar grew. In case he wasn’t clear enough, he then waved his arms and asked for more, glorying in the anger.
The Dodgers bought a $102 million villain, and he is playing the part well.
This guy…
pic.twitter.com/faPqI8uU8z— KNBR (@KNBR) May 22, 2021
Bauer was at the center of everything. The Dodgers were threatening in the sixth, and his turn to bat came and he was nowhere to be found. A minute later he emerged from the dugout putting on his batting gloves. With two on, he hit what may have been an RBI single to right, and at the very least would have brought up Mookie Betts with the bases loaded. Instead, Mike Yastrzemski fielded the one-hopper and threw a cannon to first. The crowd’s biggest outburst of the night came from Bauer grounding out to right field.
The Giants’ only run came with his help, too. In the sixth, a couple walks got the first rally going, and Evan Longoria batted one back to Bauer, whose glove knocked it down toward the third-base line. He fielded it and threw wildly to first, which is what fans wanted to see. It narrowed the lead to one, but that’s as close as the Giants would come.
Bauer’s loud game quieted Wood’s six strong innings in which he allowed two runs — both on a Chris Taylor homer in the third.
The Giants couldn’t touch Bauer or Nate Jones and Blake Treinen, and the Dodgers have struck first.