San Diego Padres’ Trent Grisham, left, runs toward Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) after scoring against the San Francisco Giants during the 10th inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Sep 27, 2023 (AP News photo)
San Diego (79-80). 000 010 100 3. – 5. 10. 0
San Francisco (78-81). 010 100 000 0. – 2. 5. 3. 10 innings
Time: 2:52
Attendance: 32,151
By Lewis Rubman
SAN FRANCISCO—For Sean Manaea, the past may be the future. The veteran of eight years in the show, Manaea once was a mainstay of the A’s starting rotation; he no hit the powerful Red Sox in 20018, arguably his best season with Oakland, when he went 12-9, 3.59.
Traded to the Padres for the ’22 season, he was pretty much of a bust, going 7-8, 4.96. The Giants signed him as a free agent this year, and he was relegated to the bullpen and didn’t return to the rotation until September 12.
Manaea shut the Dodgers out on three over seven innings in his last outing and came to work tonight with an ERA of 2.00 in his three starts, which is in stark contrast to his overall mark of 7-6, 4.51. His fine performance didn’t prevent the Giants from falling apart in the tenth inning and losing, 5-2, to Manaea’s previous employers, the San Diego Padres.
Manaea completed his 1,000th inning as a big leaguer when he got Matthew Batten to pop out to first to end the fourth frame. In all, he hurled 6 + frames tonight, allowing only one run in the six but another in the plus. Both runs were earned, one coming on a home run.
Manaea faced 24 batters and threw them exactly 100 pitches, 67 for strike. He allowed seven hits and didn’t issue any walks. It was a satisfying performance, but Manaea had to settle for a no decision that reduced his ERA to 4.44.
The left handed veteran Manaea was opposed by the right handed rookie Matt Waldron, making his sixth major league start out of eight appearances. He was 1-3, 4.58. His ERA as a starter was 4.91; it’s 3.72 pitching out of the pen. Waldron also produced a credible performance. Over six innings he held the Giants to two runs on five hits and two walks. One of the hits was a four bagger.
Manaea threw 82 pitches, 54 for strikes. He, too, had to settle for a no decision and reduced his earned run average, which now stands at 4.35. Seth Barlow replaced him on the mound after the crowd of 32,151 had finished singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Thairo Estrada’s solo home run in the home second, his 14th round tripper of the season, put San Francisco ahead, 1-0. The 418 foot blast to left center came on a 73.9 mph knuckle ball that sailed off the Giants’ second baseman’s bat at 102 mph. The knuckler is Waldron’s favorite pitch; he throws it 27.2% of the time.
The Friars tied the score in the top of the fifth with a leadoff double by José Azocar, followed by a nubber in front of the plate that went as a single to Brett Sullivan and sent Azocar to third, from which he came home on Bogaerts’ sac fly to center.
The Giants came charging back in the bottom of the third with Michael Conforto’s leadoff double against the National Car Rental advertisement in left center field. With two outs, they foiled The Cure on Tyler Fitzgerald’s pop single to shallow right, and the orange and black was (were?) back in the lead, 2-1.
But not for long.Garrett Cooper ended Manaea’s night’s work with his 17th home run of the year, a leadoff blast that cleared the same National Car Rental ad against which Conforto had hit his two bagger. Ryan Walker entered the game as Manaea left to warm applause. Walker lived up to his name and allowed a walk and hit a batter, but that was all.
The submariner Tyler Rogers. set his ex teammates down in order in the eighth helped by Flores’s wonderful backhand stop and off balance throw to first on Machado’s bouncing ball down the third base line to end the inning.
Roberto Suárez kept it tied with a scoreless eighth.
The top of the ninth brought Camilo Doval to the mound for the home team. Kim, the first Padre he faced, lifted a foul fly to right on which Yastrzemski made a beautiful tumbling rollover catch for the first out. Cooper lined a double down the third base line.
Jurickson Profar pinch hit for Batten, and Eddie Roario was inserted as a pinch runner for Cooper. Doval fanned Profar, bringing Trent Grisham to the plate as a pinch hitter for Azocar. Doval got him out on a tricky bouncer to Estrada.
Josh Harder, who had earned the save in last night’s battle, walked Marco Luciano on four pitches to start the Giants’ ninth. Bailey, batting right handed — his strong side — for the first time tonight, struck out swinging, also went down swinging. Austin Slater pinch hit for Wade and forced Luciano out at second, 6-5, sending us into extra innings.
John Brebbia, yesterday’s unexpected opener, replaced Doval on the bump for the top of the 20th. He retired Bret Sullivan on a grounder to short, but zombie runner Grisham advanced to the third on the play and scored on Bogaerts’ sac fly to right. Tatís reached first on Luciano’s throwing error, and the Giants conceded a walk to Soto that put Tatís on second.
With Machado at bat, Bailey tried to pick Tatís off and threw the ball into center field, allowing both runners to advance a base. Both of them scored when the Manny you love to hate dumped a Texas League single into center.
Tom Cosgrove was chosen to protect the friars’ 5-2 lead in the bottom of the frame. Luis Matos pinch hit for Yaz and grounded out to short. Slater had to hold on at second, where he again had to remain when Flores bounced out to third. Héliot Ramos pinch hit for Pederson and grounded out to short to end the misery.
Brebbia, now 3-4, 3.55, was charged with the loss, even though a less porous defence might have resulted in him getting the win. Hader, the pitcher of record when the Padres forged ahead, got the win, making him 2-3, 1.16. Cosgrove got the save, his first.
The Giants will have a day off tomorrow to lick their wounds. They’ll play host to the Dodgers on Friday. No pitchers have been announced.
