In the box score, it goes down as Jeff Samardzija hitting Joc Pederson.
But the Giants starter on Saturday gave the Dodgers star hitter more of a buzz after the game.
Following a pair of controversial middle-inning calls in the Giants’ 7-2 loss at Oracle Park, Samardzija did his best to restrain himself, calmed down after a lot of barking toward home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher.
But with a bit of a smirk, he couldn’t resist.
“Did a hell of a job of not getting out of the way,” Samardzija said about the sixth-inning pitch that came in a 2-2 game.
Samardzija’s 101st and final pitch was his most scrutinized, Fletcher ruling the ball grazed Pederson’s thigh after Pederson appeared to tell the umpire, with an 0-2 count, he had been hit. A Bruce Bochy challenge was unsuccessful, Samardzija was pulled and two batters later the Dodgers pushed the go-ahead run across and never looked back.
“It happened fast to me,” Samardzija (3-5) said after his 5 1/3-inning, three-run outing. “From what I saw, [it’s] obvious what I saw. I’d have to go back and check out the film. But obviously, that’s an out you want to get right there, and I’ve been making that pitch all day, that comeback sinker. Again, I’d have to see it again. It’s just unfortunate there.
“Had him set up for the right pitch, and I guess clipped his thigh.”
It was the pitch that ended his night, but not the one that got Samardzija most steamed. That was thrown an inning earlier, when a two-seamer to Corey Seager, on a 1-2 count, was incorrectly called a ball. Seager hammered the next pitch for a double, tying the game at 2-2.
As he walked off the mound, Samardzija did some shouting Fletcher’s way.
“We had him struck out, and he doesn’t get the call there,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “That’s a tough break for us, for Shark.”
Samardzija was more coy.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” he said, before offering, “Everyone saw the game, watched it on TV. … I don’t have much to say about that.”
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