San Francisco Giants Jerar Encarnacion heads home after a tenth inning bunt single by Brett Wisley against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in DC on Thu Aug 8, 2024 (AP News photo)
Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024
Nationals Park
Washington, D.C.
San Francisco Giants 9 (59-58)
Washington Nationals 4 (52-64)
Win: Camilo Doval (4-1)
Loss: Robert Garcia (2-4)
Save: Camilo Doval (23)
Time: 3:26 (2:02 rain delay)
Attendance: 12,423
By Stephen Ruderman
The Giants battled through one helluva game in D.C. that featured two rain delays and went 10 innings to pull off their biggest win of the season, as they won it 9-5 to win this four-game series against the Nationals and get back over .500 for the first time since the end of May.
As the Giants tried to get back over .500 for the first time since an off day on May 30, today’s game would be played under unusual circumstances. With Tropical Storm Debby closing in on Washington, the game was moved up four hours, and there was an urgency to get this thing in. However, with spotty storms out ahead of the main storm itself, that was going to make things quite difficult.
They were already up against the clock in this one. Little did anyone know just how crazy this game would be.
It was a matchup of left handers. DJ Herz took the ball for the Nationals, and the red-hot Tyler Fitzgerald would lead things off. Fitzgerald went hitless last night, but he wasted no time today, as he lined a double to left field to start the game.
Michael Conforto and Matt Chapman both walked with one out, and that brought up Mark Canha. Canha worked the count full, but on the payoff, he was wrung up on a changeup a few inches off the plate by Home Plate Umpire Stu Scheurwater.
It was a call that would most likely have not been made if this game was not up against the clock, but Scheurwater most likely wanted hitters to swing the bat today. Bob Melvin, who Scheurwater threw out after a foul tip call on April 21, let Scheurwater know just how he felt, and Melvin was tossed out of the game.
The Giants were able to get a run when Jerar Encarnacion walked following Melvin’s ejection, but the Giants certainly felt that they should have had at least two runs.
Kyle Harrison made the start for the Giants, and the Nationals responded in the bottom of the first. Alex Call walked with one out and stole second. With two outs, Keiburt Ruiz fisted a base-hit to left field, which scored Call to tie the game.
Herz pitched a scoreless top of the second, and Harrison threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the second. After Michael Conforto singled to start the third, the rains came, and the tarp was pulled onto the field.
The game resumed, and after Canha singled with two outs in the top of the third, Mike Yastrzemski put the Giants back ahead with a ground rule double to left-center.
Harrison then threw a scoreless innings in the bottom of the third and fourth, and Eduardo Salazar did the same in the top of the fourth. After Jacob Barnes threw a scoreless inning for Washington in the top of the fifth, the Nationals made some noise in the bottom of the fifth.
Luis Garcia lined a base-hit to center to start the bottom of the fifth and stole second. Jacob Young sacrificed Garcia over to third, and CJ Abrams got Garcia in with a sacrifice fly to right to tie it at 2-2.
After Abrams’ sacrifice fly, Harrison was out of the game. Harrison did alright through four and two thirds innings. He only threw 61 pitches, but sitting through the rain delay earlier most likely shortened his outing, as that can take a toll on starting pitchers.
Sean Hjelle finished the bottom of the fifth for the Giants, and Barnes threw another scoreless inning in the top of the sixth. Jordan Hicks came in for the Giants in the bottom of the sixth, and pitched through a base-hit and a walk for a scoreless inning.
The game then started to somewhat move along, as former Giant Derek Law pitched a scoreless top of the seventh for the Nationals. Erik Miller was brought in for the bottom of the seventh. Ildemaro Vargas would be the first hitter Miller would face. Vargas hit a fly ball to deep left field, and left-fielder Michael Conforto leapt up at the wall to take away a home run from Vargas. For Miller, he ended up pitching a 1-2-3 inning. Despite all the scoreless innings, there didn’t seem to be that many 1-2-3 innings in this one.
The rain started to come down again as the game moved to the eighth. Canha led off the top of the eighth against Law and hit a sharp ground ball to third that hit off the glove of Ildemaro Vargas, and Canha reached on an infield hit. First Base Umpire and Crew Chief Mark Carlson called for the tarp, and the game went into its second rain delay.
Law voiced his displeasure with Carlson. Perhaps Law wanted the delay before the inning started, but he would just have to settle for it coming after Canha’s infield hit.
Law was back out after the second delay ended, and he ended up throwing a scoreless inning. Ryan Walker then threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth.
Kyle Finnegan came in for Washington in the top of the ninth. With one out, Tyler Fitzgerald lined a base-hit to left for his second hit of the game. Heliot Ramos walked, and he and Fitzgerald executed a double steal of second and third. Conforto then walked to load the bases, but Chapman struck out for the second out.
The rain started coming down again, and with two outs and the bases loaded, it would be up to Mark Canha. Finnegan got ahead in the count 1-2, and then Canha got a high fastball and lined it the other way to left for a base-hit. Two runs scored to give the Giants the lead, but after right-fielder Alex Call’s throw home went into the camera well, Conforto scored, and it was 5-2.
It was Canha’s fourth hit of the game, and at that point, the biggest hit for the Giants this season. He was originally awarded second base, but upon review, it was determined that that Call made the throw after Canha had reached third—the rule is that the runners advance two bases at time of a throw that goes out of play—and Canha was awarded third.
The Giants were three outs away from their biggest win of the season and getting back to over. 500,, as Camilo Doval came in for the bottom of the ninth. However, with Doval in, it would get dramatic.
The rain kept falling, and it got heavy, as the stadium lights shined off the infield dirt. This was an official game, but with two rain delays already in the books; a tropical storm on its way; and the fact that suspending this game and playing it at a later date would require some drastic shifts in the two games’ schedules, they kept playing.
Doval walked two, but he also got two outs. The left-handed-hitting Luis Roberts was at the plate, and Doval got ahead 1-2. Doval was a strike away, but Roberts took a 1-2 98-MPH cutter at the top of the zone and hit a home run the other way to the corner in left to tie the game. How Roberts hit that ball out the other way through the rain, I’ll never know, but Doval had blown his fifth save of the season.
The Giants were a strike away from their biggest win of the year and getting back over .500, but it was immediately snatched from them out of thick rainy air. Fortunately, Doval was at least able to get this game to the 10th.
As Robert Garcia, who finished the top of the ninth, threw his warmup pitches, the grounds crew at Nationals Park spent several minutes putting new dirt in the infield. The rain had stopped for the most part, and with dry new dirt in the infield, we were a go for the 10th.
Of course, Jerad Encarnacion, who made the final out in the top of the ninth, was the automatic runner at second for the 10th. Yastrzemski led off the inning by hitting a ground ball to short. Encarnacion foolishly took off for third, and was going to get nailed, but the throw from shortstop CJ Abrams was offline, so everyone was safe.
Brett Wisely was up, and Bob Melvin, who had been sitting either in his office or the runway between the clubhouse and the dugout since his ejection in the very first inning all those hours ago—and who I assume was still managing the game under the shadows—put on the safety squeeze. Wisely got the bunt down and reached first, and Encarnacion scored to give the Giants their lead back.
Patrick Bailey also laid down a bunt, and as Garcia attempted to nab Yaz at third, the throw was dropped by Vargas at third. The bases were now loaded, but Garcia retired the next two.
Conforto then came up with two outs, and he blooped a fastball off the fists into left for a base-hit, and two scored to make it 8-5. Joan Adon came in, and Chapman singled to center to score Bailey and make it 9-5
Taylor Rogers would be the man tasked with closing this baby out in the bottom of the 10th, and he threw a 1-2-3 inning to end this insane game.
When it was all said and done, Camilo Doval got the win, despite blowing the save, and Robert Garcia suffered the loss.
You really have to hand it to the Giants for grinding through this game. They scored nine runs without a single home run, and they went 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position.
Considering the circumstances this game was played under; the Giants’ status in this pennant race; and the ups and down of this wild game itself, they truly showed the fight and resilience of a playoff team.
The Giants improve to 59-58, and with the Braves suffering their fifth-straight loss, the Giants now trail the Braves by two and a half games. However, the Mets won their game to leapfrog the Braves for the third wild card spot, so the Giants are three out. A gain of a game would have been nice, but you can’t complain about a gain of a half game.
The Giants return home for a 2012 World Series rematch against the Detroit Tigers in a series that will feature a 2014 Giants reunion. The series will start tomorrow night with Robbie Ray (2-1, 4.40 ERA) taking the ball for the Giants. First pitch will be at 7:15 p.m.
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