Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Rarely is a ninth-inning collapse literal, but there was Evan Longoria face down on the ground. Holding onto the lead was no longer the Giants’ top concern.
The Giants did end up grasping the lead until the final out, but the status of Longoria — and Brandon Crawford, too — is uncertain after a seldom-seen crash between two left-side infielders on a team already dealing with more than a dozen injury issues.
There were Cubs runners on first and third when Anthony Rizzo knocked a perfectly placed bouncer between Longoria, who sprinted horizontally, and Crawford, who was rushing in. They both went hard until they tackled each other, Longoria’s left shoulder taking a blow and crumpling immediately to the infield dirt, while Crawford seemed in less pain as he took a seat.
“Ground balls don’t get called like that,” said Gabe Kapler, who pulled Longoria from the game, moved Mauricio Dubon to third and inserted Donovan Solano at second. “It’s two guys who are elite at defending their positions going 100 percent. … It’s nobody’s fault.”
Crawford was able to stay in, but Kapler said the training staff would check on the shortstop. The manager said the staff was looking at the shoulder/collarbone area of Longoria, who has had the most painful allegedly healthy season in baseball. He has dealt with plantar fasciitis, hamstring tightness and most recently, side tightness, all of which have bothered him but none of which has required a 10-day IL stint.
If Dubon — inserted in the ninth for Jason Vosler — played a better second base, perhaps Rizzo never would have gotten an at-bat.
The first batter of the inning, which began with the Giants up two and groundball specialist Tyler Rogers on the mound, was Rafael Ortega, who bounced one to Dubon that he bobbled for the error. Kris Bryant slapped a potential double-play ball to Crawford, but the shortstop flipped to Dubon, who couldn’t complete the glove-to-hand transfer.
After a Javier Baez ground a single up the middle, the infield crash allowed one to score. And with two on, Rogers went to work.
He struck out Willson Contreras on a 71-mph slider that he swung through, before Jason Heyward grounded meekly to Solano — who did, indeed, convert the out.
Rogers needed to get essentially five outs before the Cubs could score two runs, and he did the job in a 4-3 win at Oracle Park.
“He’s the same every time he goes out on the mound. No situation’s too big for him,” said Kapler, who also complimented an Andrew Bailey mound visit and Chadwick Tromp’s work behind the play. “He’s always in control.”
Speaking of Tromp, he was asked about the ninth inning: “Torture baseball,” he said with a laugh.
Called up with Curt Casali on the IL, Tromp went 2-for-4 with a big RBI single to right.
Kevin Gausman was nearly unhittable yet again, allowing just two hits — one a Patrick Wisdom home run after a Crawford error, making the two runs he surrendered unearned — while striking out 10, all swinging, all on splitters.
More significantly, he said his hip “felt better” in this start, after it forced him early from his last outing in Los Angeles.
He’ll have to manage it, and he says it does not affect his delivery.
“It was always something that I would feel fielding a bunt or trying to get over to first quick and kind of aggravate it,” Gausman said over Zoom. “And then it would feel dull during the game.”
Striking everyone out would help limit his running.
Tromp caught him some last year and Saturday for the first time this season. He was asked the difference.
“Less mistakes. And I think he’s just doubling up on what works for him,” Tromp said of Gausman, who threw just one slider against the Cubs and relied heavily upon his fastball and splitter.
Scott Kazmir was DFA’d before the game. It is unclear whether he would be willing to go back to Triple-A Sacramento if he clears waivers.
“I think we would all love to have Kaz, and that goes without saying,” Kapler said.