The Giants World Series runs in 2010, 2012 and 2014 produced a number of household names, but also featured a number of unsung heroes.
Who was the most unsung? That was the question Murph & Mac discussed on their show last week.
Brian Murphy floated three names — Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt and Freddy Sanchez — as potential players worthy of grabbing the honor. Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper disagreed.
“The guy that saved them was Yusmeiro Petit,” Kuip said last Tuesday.” “It was time and time again where they needed somebody to eat up two or three innings or, like the game in Washington, eat up six.
“He did it all the time. He did it in games where they were out of it. He did it in games where they were very much in it.”
A starter-reliever hybrid, Petit was crucial to the Giants’ title in 2014, tossing nine scoreless innings in the first two rounds of the postseason. Six of those came in an 18-inning marathon vs. the Nationals. He also retired 46 consecutive batters to set a new Major League record during the 2014 season, and was famously one out away from a Perfect Game vs. the Diamondbacks the year before.
In four seasons with the Giants, Petit posted a 3.66 ERA in 90 appearances. Petit has stayed close, spending the last two seasons in the Bay Area with the A’s
“He’s done a really nice job pitching for Bob Melvin,” Kuiper said.
Listen to the interview below.
