© Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco Giants were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday. Yet, the 6-2 loss felt exponentially less helpless than the two which preceded it. Unfortunately for the Giants, they found themselves down 2-0 in the first inning like they did Saturday. That back foot first inning start has defined this season, and set the tone for a game that was lost in the early innings.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s game:
The early inning madness
By now, it’s evident that the Giants have a cataclysmic issue with the first inning. There’s no end in sight, and it’s worth reminding just how bad the problem is. They actually scored a run in today’s first inning on an opposite-field single from Buster Posey, but not before allowing two to the Diamondbacks. It left them at an almost unbelievable 53-11 first inning deficit on the season. Entering today, the Giants allowed, on average, one run per first inning exactly and scored two runs per first inning on average. It’s the worst offensive and defensive run-scoring inning for the Giants by far:
https://twitter.com/hutchdiesel/status/1132745000045776896
Shaun Anderson was the latest Giants starter to become a casualty of the Diamondbacks’ early-inning hitting. He finished with nine hits and six runs allowed (four earned), one walk, one strikeout and one home run allowed over five innings. It followed a four-inning, nine-run (seven earned) allowed performance from Andy Suarez on Saturday, and a 2 2/3-inning, five-run (all earned) allowed performance from Drew Pomeranz on Friday.
Here’s a breakdown of how the first innings went this weekend – a series in which the Giants allowed 34 runs, and Ketel Marte was heavily involved in bringing some early pain to the Giants. It’s a prime example of how the Giants often fail – as a team that struggles mightily to score runs – to give themselves a chance from the get-go:
Sunday’s first inning:
- Jarrod Dyson lined out to right
- Marte homered with 436-foot bomb over Triples Alley
- Eduardo Escobar singled to left
- Escobar to second on wild pitch, advances to third on errant throw from Buster Posey
- Adam Jones hit sacrifice fly to center, Escobar tagged and scored
- Christian Walker grounded out to third
Saturday’s first inning:
- Marte hit leadoff triple
- Ildemaro Vargas reached on Sandoval error, Marte scored
- Eduardo Escobar lined out to center
- Wild pitch, Vargas to second
- Adam Jones singled, Vargas to third
- Kevin Cron lined out on diving catch by Kevin Pillar, Jones doubled up at first, Vargas tagged and scored
Friday’s first inning:
- Marte flied out
- Vargas homered
- Eduardo Escobar struck out
- Adam Jones singled
- Christian Walker struck out
Yaz has a day
Sunday started out in, let’s say, bittersweet fashion for Mike Yastrzemski. He secured his first major league hit, but quickly erased his own progress by over-running first base, with what was also his first major league base running error.
Here’s what it looked and sounded like, with tremendous commentary from Duane Kuiper, who went from yelling, “This could be it, this could be it,” then, “Heads up kid, get back!” once Yastrzemski found himself in no-man’s land. It also featured a whirlwind of emotions from his family and wife:
Mike Yastrzemski’s first major league hit… and first major league base running mistake pic.twitter.com/j6JKfEiHWY
— Jake Hutchinson (@hutchdiesel) May 26, 2019
But redemption was in store. In his next at-bat, Yastrzemski singled to left, this time without the added drama. Then, in his third at-bat, with the Diamondbacks still putting on a shift to the right side of the infield, he put a jolt into the ball, again to left field. It was smoked down the line and skipped into the corner, giving him his first career double, and a 3-for-3 start to the day. His last at-bat was a called third strike at the bottom of the strike zone with a 3-2 count.
https://twitter.com/hutchdiesel/status/1132779631411511296
Coonrod’s debut was electric
Sam Coonrod was called up today in place of Suarez, and while Yastrzemski stole the show, Coonrod was fantastic, and also had his family in attendance. He also was lucky enough to have Duane Kuiper, a fellow Southern Illinois University graduate, commentating his debut:
Sam Coonrod debuting on the mound. Duane Kuiper in the booth. Greatest sports moment in Southern Illinois University sports history? #salukis
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) May 26, 2019
While Coonrod’s stats on the season with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats were abysmal, his last few innings were fantastic. On the season, his ERA in Triple-A is 7.00, his WHIP is 1.944, his H/9 is 12.0 and his BB/9 is 5.50. He did, however, have a 15.0 K/9 rate. It was that last stat, combined with his last 4 2/3 innings, that saw him called up. Over that recent span, he allowed a meager two hits, one walk and nine strikeouts without allowing any runs.
Today, he was, as The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly pointed out, throwing seriously difficult pitches to hit. He secured a 1-2-3 inning, including a play where he covered first base like it was second nature:
Sam Coonrod is throwing 98 with a two-seamer and a swing-and-miss curve. He even remembers to cover first base. This will work.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) May 26, 2019
Bonus: Duane Kuiper finds out Game of Thrones ended
In the middle of Coonrod’s inning, Kuiper mentioned that Sunday was a “big night” in that the Game of Thrones series finale – which aired last Sunday – was airing today. Here’s what happened when Mike Krukow pointed this out to Kuiper:
https://twitter.com/hutchdiesel/status/1132783847173525504
