Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
On a night when the Giants went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and when balls magically became strikes too regularly, including early strikeouts to Buster Posey and Mike Yastrzemski, because Angel Hernandez is a strange kind of magician, the frustration that Gabe Kapler allowed after the game must have been the freshest in his mind, having just reviewed the replays himself.
“I thought we made the correct call to challenge it,” the Giants manager said about Mike Tauchman getting controversially thrown out at second, which replay review did not overturn. “I thought he was safe.”
As did Tauchman.
The first hitter in the ninth sent a hit to left-center that Cody Bellinger misplayed, and Tauchman — who has barely played in the past few weeks and entered the at-bat 6-for-50 this month — wanted to be aggressive and thought he could get to second.
Bellinger recovered, scooped up the the ball and made a throw that easily beat Tauchman, but Tauchman’s round-about slide gave him a chance. He pulled his left arm up, which meant he would tag the base with his right and meant Chris Taylor had a longer swipe to tag him. It also meant he had one fewer hand to ensure he stayed on the bag, and he did come off, though it did not appear Taylor’s glove was still on him.
Tauchman was ruled out, and the official determination was it was inconclusive whether he had stayed on the base as Taylor was applying the tag.
“Initially, I avoided the tag enough to get my hand in there. Whether or not I came off…” said Tauchman, trailing off after the Giants’ 3-2 loss at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. “It’s tough, it’s frustrating. That’s the call they made, and that’s kind of just the way it goes I guess. It was a really close play. … That was the call, and you got to live with it.”
The Giants died with it. After Tauchman was thrown out, Jansen struck out Posey and got Alex Dickerson to ground out, finishing a day on which the Giants knocked 11 hits but came away with two runs. The five hits (and three home runs) by the Dodgers beat them.
Top 9th – Giants challenge call that Mike Tauchman is out at 2B; Replay Official could not definitively determine that the runner maintained contact with the base as the fielder was applying the tag, call stands, the runner is out. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/pw2PPH5ksu
— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) June 29, 2021
“When you’ve got two teams like that, sometimes that’s the margin,” Tauchman said over Zoom. “It’s razor thin.”
Kapler managed the later innings differently than usual in large part because Austin Slater has been hitting differently than the Giants and Slater would like.
In the eighth, with two on and one out against against righty Blake Treinen, Kapler turned to Curt Casali — not Slater, not Mauricio Dubon — to pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot. Casali struck out before LaMonte Wade Jr. flew out.
“Casali’s at-bats have been strong of late,” Kapler said of the backup catcher, who is hitting .176 but is 9-for-22 in his past eight games. “With Treinen on the mound, as difficult of an at-bat as that is, I thought he had a good chance to potentially draw a walk. He’s been patient for us.”
Slater has been worse. The outfielder is 4-for-36 (.111) this month, and there is wonder whether Jaylin Davis takes his place on the 26-man roster.
Kapler could have gone to Slater an inning earlier, too, when they had the same spot — two on, one out — for Dickerson. But lefty Victor Gonzalez had faced three batters, so if Kapler went to Slater, Dave Roberts may have gone to Treinen.
“Wanted to leave Dickerson’s bat in the lineup in case Jansen came in the game,” Kapler said after Dickerson flew out and Brandon Crawford tapped out, ending the threat.
Mike Yastrzemski, who left the game in the seventh inning after fouling a ball off his leg, has a right lower leg contusion, Kapler said. X-rays were negative, and the outfielder is day-to-day.