In the third inning, Brandon Crawford had what looked like a surefire double. He cracked an 88-mph fastball to deep center field, a screaming drive beelining toward the visitor’s bullpen.
But Cubs center fielder Mike Tauchman came out of nowhere to dive on the warning track, making a spectacular catch.
Tauchman’s play might not have been a surprise to Giants fans who saw the outfielder’s defensive prowess up close in 2021. But it was the type of special play that tends to happen on the types of special baseball games. A Dewayne Wise-type catch.
Kyle Hendricks, the 33-year-old veteran, came four outs shy of the 319th no-hitter in MLB history. Mitch Haniger’s eighth-inning double broke up the starter’s bid. Had Hendricks (8IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 3K) completed the no-no, Tauchman’s third-inning grab would’ve become a legendary moment in Cubs history.
Hendricks’ eight shutout innings of one-hit ball handed the Giants (32-32) a 4-0 loss. The feat of avoiding getting no-hit doesn’t mask the fact that San Francisco has now lost a series to the last-place Cubs, continuing a trend of being unable to handle lesser talented opponents.
The Giants have now lost series against the Royals, Tigers, Cubs and Nationals — none of whom are expected to contend this season. They’ve also dropped six of their last seven games at Oracle Park.
Never an All-Star, nor a Cy Young winner, Hendricks has stuck comfortably in the Majors by relying on elite command. He led MLB in 2020 with 0.9 walks per nine innings. In 2016, he finished third in National League Cy Young voting with a 2.13 ERA.
Hendricks once tossed a complete game shutout in 81 pitches and lost a no-hitter in the 9th inning. He still hasn’t summited the mountain.
A Chicago Cub for all 10 of his MLB seasons, Hendricks doesn’t overpower hitters. He never touched 90 mph, but worked efficiently and kept the Giants mostly on the ground.
“Obviously, he’s been doing it a long time in the league, he’s a good pitcher,” Haniger said postgame. “A lot of his pitches have a lot of movement, deception. Obviously a good changeup. Not going to blow you away with velocity, but his changeup is going to make his fastball play up a lot.”
Hendricks tossed five scoreless innings in just 59 pitches, though he did allow some loud contact. The flying Tauchman robbed Crawford at the warning track, and Mike Yastrzemski and Joc Pederson hit a pair of 388-foot outs. All three pieces of contact had expected batting averages over .500, but the Giants stayed hitless.
By then, Hendricks was working with a four-run lead. John Brebbia had opened with two perfect frames, but Jakob Junis shakily relieved him.
Matt Mervis parked Junis’ third pitch to the right field arcade, where it bounced into McCovey Cove for a solo home run.
The next inning, Junis allowed another solo shot — an opposite-field wall-scraper from right-handed hitter Christopher Morel.
Both homers came on sliders Junis misplaced up and over the middle of the plate. Junis then allowed two more runs in his third inning of work, pushing his season ERA to 4.58.
Earlier in the week, the Rockies no-hit the Giants through five innings, only for San Francisco to storm back for its biggest comeback victory of the season.
But Hendricks carried his no-hitter longer than Connor Seabold could. Hendricks struck out LaMonte Wade Jr. — only the starter’s second punchout of the game — to continue his no-hitter through six. Then he needed just 13 pitches to get through the seventh.
Wade, who has arguably the best eye in baseball right now, said Hendricks was hitting his spots and keeping hitters off-balance by varying speeds.
“Just moving the ball everywhere,” Wade said. “Everything’s moving. Not too much straight.”
The Giants were in serious jeopardy of becoming the first team to get no-hit this season. The franchise has only gone hitless 15 times since 1901, and never since 2013 against Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey.
While the Giants made solid contact early, no more such barrels came — until Haniger’s double with two outs in the eighth inning.
As they got no-hit, the Giants’ message in the dugout didn’t change. There were no ra-ra speeches.
“It definitely weighs on you the longer the game goes,” Sean Manaea, who threw a no-hitter in 2018, said.
Manaea fanned five in 4.1 no-hit innings of his own, continuing to pitch with conviction in his bullpen role.
Finally, Haniger delivered the hit. He became San Francisco’s second base runner of the game, joining Michael Conforto, who walked in the second inning.
Even as Hendricks yielded to the bullpen in the ninth, Haniger and Conforto remained the only two Giants to reach base.
The Giants have still never been no-hit at Third and King. The last time they got no-hit at home was on June 10, 1997 — exactly 26 years ago.
The loss didn’t go down in history, but it sent the Giants back down to .500.
