The Giants won their third straight game and have captured the season series against the St. Louis Cardinals, but they lost two key position players while doing it.
San Francisco’s win came at a cost, as J.D. Davis and Mitch Haniger got injured on consecutive plays in the third inning. Haniger was diagnosed with a fractured right forearm, and Davis a sprained right ankle.
Both left the game early, portending uneasiness for their well-being. Davis rolled his right ankle while sliding into third base and Haniger got hit in the right forearm by a changeup one pitch later.
Shortly thereafter, elite prospect Luis Matos and David Villar got removed from their ongoing Triple-A game. If Haniger, Davis or both need to hit the injured list, Matos — who has hit six home runs in his past six games — is the most likely call-up.
Rookie Patrick Bailey, a budding star, hit his third home run and hugged his longtime teammate Keaton Winn, who made his MLB debut, after the final out. But Haniger’s season is in jeopardy, and Davis could be hobbled for weeks. Their immediate futures, and how the Giants (35-32) replace them, are much more significant than San Francisco’s 11-3 victory.
Also in the eventful game, Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty appeared to instigate a fracas that nearly escalated to a brawl. Both dugouts and bullpens cleared in the middle of the fourth inning and LaMonte Wade Jr. had to be held back in the commotion.
No ejections or penalties were issued during the delay. At that point, the score was tied as boh clubs traded a pair of first-inning runs.
But after acting up, Flaherty quickly allowed three runs on four singles.
Casey Schmitt, in for Davis, singled home a run. Then his fellow rookie, Patrick Bailey, doubled Schmit home. That string knocked Flaherty out of the game.
Brandon Crawford safety squeezed another run home, bringing up Wade. Flaherty never got to face the first baseman who apparently irked him.
Cobb didn’t get further than Flaherty, leaving after just four innings. The broadcast showed manager Gabe Kapler having a spirited discussion with Cobb when he made the decision to go to the bullpen. No inning was easy for Cobb, but he was only at 79 pitches.
Both of the two runs he allowed came in the first inning, continuing a strange pattern. In the first innings of games, Cobb has a 6.43 ERA. In all other innings, he has a 2.33 ERA.
The other pattern emerging with Cobb is a strange imbalance from start-to-start. He has strung together consecutive quality starts just once this year, which is hard to do for a pitcher with a 3.09 ERA.
Cobb may have been frustrated, but his team didn’t give him anything to complain about. After he departed, San Francisco tacked on three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
Michael Conforto tallied his fourth hit of the game, then Mike Yastrzemski and Bailey hit back-to-back home runs.
Bailey now has more home runs as a right-handed hitter in 46 MLB plate appearances than he did all of last year at Double-A, in 70 tries.
The offense providing the Giants a 9-2 lead allowed Keaton Winn to debut out of the bullpen. The Iowa native’s family drove to St. Louis, teared up and prayed for him while he took the mound.
San Francisco continued to pour it on the Cardinals, who have looked unrecognizable for most of the season and sit in last place of a weak National League Central.
As intermittent boos rained down from disgusted fans in Busch Stadium, Winn allowed one run in four innings.
Winn pitched well in his first MLB action. The other rookies — Sabol, Schmitt, and Bailey — went 4-for-11 with three runs scored and four RBI. Given the severity of Haniger’s injury, a mighty Matos could very well join them indefinitely, continuing the dawning of a fresh Giants generation.
