Bottom of the fourth inning and the San Francisco Giants Jorge Soler rounds the bases after hitting a three run homer against the Los Angeles Angels at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Jun 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Los Angeles Angels 6 (28-43)

San Francisco Giants 13 (35-37)

Win: Spencer Bivens (1-0)

Loss: Jose Suarez (1-2)

Time: 2:48

Attendance: 41,008

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants were able to avoid an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels, as the Giants pounded the Angels into submission with nine-run bottom of the fourth inning and a 13-6 blowout to salvage a game in this series.

The Giants lost the first two games of what was very much a winnable series against the lowly Angels. Sunday, they looked to avoid getting swept in front of a sold out crowd on a drop-dead gorgeous Father’s Day at Oracle Park.

However, Kyle Harrison, who was supposed to make the start Sunday, was scratched and placed on the 15-Day Injured List after he sprained his right ankle in a bullpen session Saturday. With Harrison suddenly on the IL, Bob Melvin was forced to have to navigate through another bullpen game.

Left-hander Erik Miller got the start, and he ran into some tough luck in the top of the first inning. Michael Stefanic grounded out to short to start the game, but with one out, Luis Rengifo hit a chopper along the third base line that skipped off Matt Chapman’s glove and got by, which allowed Rengifo to reach base.

The play was ruled a base-hit, and Rengifo would then take second base on a passed ball by Patrick Bailey. Taylor Ward grounded out to third for the second out, and Rengifo was unable to advance. However, former Giant Kevin Pillar floated a base-hit to center field to score Rengifo and put the Angels on the board.

It would also be a bullpen game for the Angels, and Ben Joyce would be the opener. Brett Wisely struck out looking, and then Heliot Ramos stayed white hot with a ground ball to right field for a base-hit. However, Joyce got through the rest of the inning without any problems.

Spencer Bivens, who was called up to replace Harrison on the roster, would be the pitcher for the top of the second. Bivens has quite a remarkable story. He made the baseball team at Penn State, but he was just as quickly booted off after testing positive for marijuana.

Bivens pitched in 2017 and 2018 for Rogers State University in Oklahoma, and after he wasn’t drafted in 2019, he went all the way to France to pitch in a league that only played on weekends. He returned to the United States in 2020 to pitch in the little-known Washington League for a team called the Steel City Slammin’ Sammies.

The Washington League was one of the very few leagues other than Major League Baseball that played baseball in the COVID Pandemic Year of 2020, and Bivens took full advantage of that.

“I’m happy I stuck with it,” said Bivens. “I’m happy I pursued baseball in the U.S., because if it wasn’t for COVID, I don’t know if I’m here.”

Bivens split time between the Frontier League and the Atlantic League in 2021. He started the 2022 Season in the Atlantic League, but he was finally brought into organized baseball by the Giants, who signed him to a minor league deal.

After pitching in the minor leagues throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Bivens went 4-0 with a 2.81 ERA in 21 games for the Sacramento River Cats this season. He also pitched this past off-season in the Mexican League. Then last night, just over 12 days shy of his 30th birthday, he finally got the call that he was going to the big leagues.

“I don’t even think I’ve had time to think about it,” said Bivens. “It’s happened so fast. It’s been unbelievable. You can’t make it up, and I have no words.”

The first hitter Bivens faced was Zach Neto, who Bevins out swinging on a sinker in the dirt that Bailey threw to first to complete the out. Nolan Schanuel then hit a home run to straightaway center to make it 2-0.

“I was really high, and then really low, really quick,” said Bivens. “But [I] just [did] not let it overwhelm [me]. Solo home runs don’t usually beat you. I’m just happy to be able to stay composed and get after it.”

Indeed, Bivens stayed composed. In fact, he retired the next eight men he faced, and he ended up retiring nine of 10 and striking out four over three innings in what was quite an impressive major league debut.

“You never want to forget what that day’s like,” said Melvin. “Coming out of the bullpen [in front of] a packed house here [and being in the] big leagues, especially with what he’s been through in his career, that’s about as good as it gets.”

The Giants wasted a two-out opportunity against Joyce in the bottom of the second, and then they drew left-hander Jose Suarez in the bottom of the third. Brett Wisely led off the inning with a double, and Ramos singled him over to third, which brought Bailey to the plate.

Bailey hit a ground ball to third that was fielded by third-baseman Luis Rengifo, who caught Wisely leaning off the bag at third. Rengifo caught Wisely in a rundown and tagged him out for a rough first out. Rengifo banged himself up when he tagged Wisely, but he stayed in the game.

Matt Chapman flew out to left field, and Michael Conforto popped up to Rengifo in foul territory, as the Giants had wasted another opportunity.

The Giants would get another opportunity against Suarez in the bottom of the fourth, and this time, they would cash in. Jorge Soler walked to start the inning, and Wilmer Flores doubled him over to third. Soler appeared to have an easy score, but he was held at third by Third Base Coach Matt Williams to the chagrin of this impatient sellout crowd.

Austin Slater pinch-hit for Mike Yastrzemski, and he was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Thairo Estrada. Estrada has been struggling, but he had hits in each of the first two games of this series.

Estrada then lined a double down the left field line, as the ball deadened out at the ball in the corner, and two runs scored to tie it up. Wisely then shot a double to the gap out in right-center, as back-to-back doubles had given the Giants a 4-2 lead.

For the Giants, they were just getting started. Old friend Hunter Strickland struck Ramos out swinging for the first out, but Bailey lined a single to load the bases for Chapman, who singled on a sharp one-hopper that hit off the wrist of Rengifo at third. This time, Rengifo had to leave the game with a left wrist contusion.

Conforto fouled out, and then Jorge Soler, who has finally been swinging the bat better with runners in scoring position, hit a three-run home run to left. The Giants had now scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth, and they led it 8-2.

“[Soler]’s done it his whole career,” said Melvin. “It’s just been a little bit of a struggle for him here to this point, but that’s who he is.”

Flores reached after Cole Tucker, who had moved over to third, bobbled a ground ball, and threw it away. That brought up Slater, and he lined a base-hit out to right-center to score Flores and make it 5-2.

All in all, the Giants ended up scoring nine runs in the bottom of the fourth. This was the fourth time in the history of Oracle Park that the Giants had a four-run inning. The last time was Sept. 7, 2008, when the Giants scored 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning of that game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sean Hjelle came in for Bivens and threw a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. Jose Marte, who had finished the bottom of the fourth for Strickland, would have pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth had it not been for a one-out error by Nolan Schanuel at first, but he ended up pitching the minimum regardless after Bailey grounded into a double play.

Luke Jackson pitched a scoreless top of the sixth, and Marte did the same in the bottom of the sixth. Taylor Rogers then worked his way out of some two-out trouble to pitch a scoreless inning in the top of the seventh.

Austin Slater led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to straightaway center off Carson Fulmer to make it 10-2. Tyler Rogers replaced his brother in the top of the eighth and gave up a leadoff double to Cole Tucker, but he pitched a scoreless inning anyway.

The Giants decided to score three more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Soler hit a ground-rule double with nobody out to make it 11-2, which capped off quite a day for him. Soler went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and four RBIs.

Trenton Brooks then got in on the action with an opposite-field base-hit to left to score Soler and make it 12-2. Angels Manager Ron Washington had enough, and he brought in infielder Luis Guillorme to pitch. Another run would score when Wisely grounded into a fielder’s choice to make it 13-2.

Melvin decided to bring in his closer, Camilo Doval, who had not pitched in four days, for a maintenance outing in the top of the ninth. To be blunt: it didn’t go well. Doval was all over the place, and he got torched for four runs and four hits over just a third of an inning. Doval kicked a cooler and slammed his glove to the ground when he returned to the dugout.

“It’s tough for a closer to come in in that situation,” said Melvin. “He’s used to the game being on the line…..[but] he was our last guy that was fairly rested, and obviously, it didn’t work out. Closers typically don’t want to be in games like that.”

Fortunately, Ryan Walker was able to put out the fire, and the Giants were still able to win easily. Hey, at least the Giants won and were able to let a bit of frustrations out with a 13-run day at the plate.

To cap off Spencer Bivens’ special day, he got the win in his major league debut, and Jose Suarez took the loss.

“It doesn’t really feel real; I’m just waiting to wake up from the dream,” said Bivens. “It’s nothing like I imagined it, and it’s even better that it’s that way.”

Bivens also received lengthy praise from his skipper.

“He [knew] he [was] gonna have to give us three innings,” added Melvin. “We were going to have to go through everybody in the bullpen today…..I [had] two guys I [didn’t] want to use, but Spencer knew that [he had to go] three innings and he [would] probably have to get through it, and he did it efficiently, too.”

Melvin also said that he thought about sending Bivens back out for the fifth, but with how long the bottom of the fourth was, and the fact that Bivens had to sit awhile, Melvin decided against it

Oh yeah, and how about those 13 runs by the offense. They also got 16 hits. Six guys in the Giants’ lineup had two-hit games: Wisely, Ramos, Bailey, Soler, Slater and Estrada.

The Giants improve to 35-37, and they will now head back on the road for a unique three-city road trip. First, they will travel to the North Side of Chicago to take on the Cubs for three Monday night. Then they’ll travel to Birmingham, Alabama for a special game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field Thursday night, followed by two more games against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Saturday and Sunday.

The Giants have yet to announce who they will go with in the series opener Monday night. The Cubs will go with their young right-hander, Javier Assad, who has had quite a good season. Assad is 4-2 with a 2.81 ERA.

First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. in Chicago, 5:05 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

Giants News and Notes:

Prior to the game, the Giants released right-handed reliever Nick Avila. Avila was on the 40-Man Roster, and a spot had to be cleared for Bivens.

Sunday’s sellout crowd of 41,008 is the largest crowd at Oracle Park since Sept. 4, 2022, when 41,189 fans filed into Oracle Park to watch Wilmer Flores complete a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with a walk-off home run.

Sunday was also the sixth sellout of the season for the Giants, already doubling their total of just three last season. The Giants have had a total attendance of 1,247,527 through 37 home games this season, which is the highest total at this point of the season since 2018, when they had drawn 1,432,567 fans through 37 home games.