San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello, right, argues with umpire Marvin Hudson (51) as he is thrown out of the during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
By Maggie Akins
San Francisco — You could feel the energy of Mike Krukow throughout Oracle Park Sunday afternoon through all the “Atta Babe, Kruk” signage. Today was his day.
While it was the Giants’ final game of the season, it was Krukow’s last broadcast as the Giants’ broadcaster alongside his partner, Duane Kuiper. Krukow has been behind the microphone since 1990 and is a Giants legend, known as a forever Giant. Manager Tony Vitello spoke of Krukow pregame, referring to him as the ultimate teammate.
The classic chant, “Beat LA,” roared through the stands, but it did not come true for the Giants in the final game of a three-game series, losing 5-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants close out the season with another sweep.
Many Giants fans will recall this season as one of the worst in history, and the rest will wipe it from their memory. The Giants posted a 65-97 record overall, barely scraping by a 100-loss season.
Sunday’s game was like a rotating pizza of pitchers. Each inning was a different piece of the bullpen, despite no change in the fifth inning and two changes in the third inning.
It then became a pitchers’ bout with not much offensive showing until the 10th inning. Alex Call hit a double that allowed Miguel Rojas to score, making it a 2-1 ballgame after it was tied 1-1 through six innings. Andy Pages joined the party and hit a three-run homer to shoot the Dodgers’ lead up to 5-1. That sealed it, and now the Dodgers are preparing for the postseason.
Now that the season has come to an end, Vitello referenced how fast the season went by, but said that it felt like there have been a lot of chapters.
“The final chapter has been fun,” Vitello said.
Vitello was ejected in the third inning after arguing about a pitch to Mookie Betts with plate umpire Ryan Blakney and getting in the face of crew chief Marvin Hudson. This is the most ejections by any manager in the regular season. It has been a year of learning for Vitello after he got hired with zero professional baseball experience after winning a national championship with the University of Tennessee.
The Giants have a lot to look forward to, however. Rookie Bryce Eldridge brought out the majority of the positives for the Giants, and his development during the offseason is something Giants fans can anticipate come spring training. Eldridge has the ability to be a strong performer and leader for this squad in the future.
Even though the Giants did not win, it felt like there was a win already for Krukow and his career.
