Casey Schmitt made the mistake that detonated the worst loss of the season. With a game-ending double play on his mind, Schmitt couldn't do what he does best.
A ground ball clanked off his glove and crashed to the ground, and moments later the game did as well.
A little more than 24 hours later, Schmitt launched 423 feet of redemption and then some. Because if this year goes the way the Giants think it will, Schmitt's grand slam off Yoshinobu Yamamoto will go down as one of the signature swings of the season.
The 26-year-old stared down the Giants dugout off the crack of the bat, waddling his way out of the box.
A lot of swagger for a career .221 hitter with 13 home runs to his name. But an ice-cold reminder that Schmitt, a day removed from the low point of his season, is all right. The Giants, now tied for first with the same record as the Dodgers, are all right. And this whole season, which effectively began 257 days ago when Buster Posey stepped in to lead the franchise, is going quite all right.
Up next: It’ll be Landon Roupp (4-4, 3.29 ERA) against an old friend, Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 4.35 ERA). The future Hall of Famer has started more games against the Giants than any other team in his career. He’s 26-16 with a 2.04 ERA in 58 starts. Pretty incredible.
Giants coverage, especially Baggs, likes to scapegoat one player. Rockies loss was a TEAM loss: if Doval had 3 walks, it would have been emphasized more than Schmitt’s missed DP. Krukow screamed last year in a postgame that it doesn’t matter if a closer gets a bad call or your defense makes errors, you can’t walk batters ever. Ever?! Ramos bobbled a ball. A ball dropped between Birdsong + Fitz. Adames missed a backhand catch, that plated 2 runs. TK said in season opener: “Adames isn’t so great about going to his backhand.” None of that mentioned by Baggs, who sets tone for coverage. Doval wasn’t clean in either outing vs the worst team, but he kept the Giants from being swept. Rodríguez wasn’t even mentioned by Baggs.
Padres lead beat writer, Kevin Acee, doesn’t scapegoat 1 player in team losses. It’s refreshing