Patrick Bailey swings between extremes. He’s arguably the best defensive player in the game as well as one of the worst offensive ones. His -17 Batting Value on Baseball Savant ranks in 2nd percentile. Watching him hit, especially in the first half, was like watching a senior citizen drive on the freeway. A lot of squinting, reading road signs aloud under their breath, hard-braking as the car straddles the shoulder in the far right lane approaching the next exit at a crawl while we hold our breath:
Will they take it? Will they get off the interstate?
Bailey did before the All-Star break, managing a .203 average with an OPS that fell well short of .600. He’s been better in late-summer, but that isn’t saying much. The underwhelming offense is a problem. Some previous under-the-breath grumblings have gained volume as it feels like at times the concrete bat outweighs the platinum glove. Surely there is a more balanced, middle ground option not tethered to the extreme poles of elite fielder and pool-noodle hitter?
Then Bailey decided to douse the nay-sayers with Gatorade by making history…again.
Weird history. Compounding history. History that’s very specific and affirming: Yes, this improbable thing you have witnessed twice is completely unique to our 125+ year history. Yes that guy who did that bonkers thing early in the summer did another pleasantly bonkers thing.
Note how these two feats have never been authored by any Major Leaguer in the same season. There are no qualifications to position, or whether the hitter was turtle slow, or had just caught 10 frames of pitching, or could count his home run total on one hand at the start of the game, or again — not to harp on this — was possibly the worst hitting starting position player in the league.
This was a never-before-seen season’s feat accomplished by the last person on earth you’d expect to do it.
The Giants and their fans went home weightless on Friday night, carried on the backs of fluttering butterflies again thanks to Bailey. Around the league teams like the Mets, D-Backs, Reds, Padres, Cardinals (and, oh yeah, the Dodgers) took a step back while San Francisco took what could be a moon-landing step forward.
In a fantastic and high-strung game where defense and pitching reigned, the Giants somehow stayed upright in a contest that in the earlier in the summer, they felt programmed to lose. Blowing a Justin Verlander quality start, at this point, is ingrained in this team’s DNA. Going into the weekend, the veteran had nine such games and the Giants had won just one of them. He was set-up for his third win of the year in his last outing before another gut-punch from Ryan Walker.
On the other side of the hill, Yoshinobu Yamamoto posted another one-hit, one-run outing over 7 innings, striking out 10 and retiring 20 straight hitters in a row after Willy Adames’ run-scoring double in the 1st. San Francisco recorded their second hit of the night against LA pitching in the 9th inning and saw the potential winning run be cut down at the plate.
With the scored locked at one run apiece, a Mookie Betts throwing error and a one-out Rafael Devers single placed the winning run within 90 feet of home. Dave Roberts swapped reliever Jack Dreyer for Blake Treinen and intentionally walked Adames to load the bases. Bob Melvin countered by swapping Luis Matos at third with the speedy Grant McCray. Everyone on the field in the dugout and the stands glanced at each other with side-eyes and level brows. A cacophonic chorus of engines revved in anticipation. Two pitches later Wilmer Flores lifted a breaking ball to center. It was not deep, 230 feet, and to the absolute wrong person in the outfield. In a league of really good defensive centerfielders Andy Pages is near the top, and his best quality might be his arm.
Knowing all of that, there was never a world where Grant McCray wasn’t going to shift into gear and punch it from third. On that shallow of a fly, just put your head down and pray for a bad throw, a catcher bobble, maybe a blocking interference call… It’s not the most convincing strategy for a team trying to make the postseason, but the Giants are well past the point of stride-with-pride into October. If they want to get into the playoff party, it’s going to be through less graceful means. Some helpful bumblings (see Mets), a side-door left ajar, perhaps a cracked window…or perhaps just barreling in through the front. It was all McCray could to do as he saw Pages’ throw pocket itself into catcher Ben Rortvedt’s glove on the fly.
Most reasonable people would’ve called it for LA at that point. In such an offensively-skint game as Friday’s, it’s rare to get more opportunities like that. What was left of the “high-leverage” arms like Joey Lucchesi and Ryan Walker had been used. An untested rookie Joel Peguero would go up against the league’s best with a Manfred Man already in scoring position. LA was riding the momentum from the previous play, and, in recent close games, they had precedent.
Precedent? What’s that? A top of the 10th that felt primed to be a soul-crushing slog of slug from the Doogers turned into a miraculous boon for San Francisco. Peguero needed just three pitches to record three outs and strand two runners, with a massive retaliatory assist from McCray in left.
After walking Shohei Ohtani intentionally, the red-hot Betts lifted a fly ball to medium-deep right. 276 feet from home towards McCray who had just entered the game. This was McCray’s fourth appearance in the field in September, he hadn’t recorded a put-out since August 19th, and considering his low-leverage role on the club, it had been months, a year, since he had seen the baseball come his way in a meaningful moment. The ire of being thrown out home burning in his stomach, perhaps the frustrations of a season with little opportunity fueling that fire as well, the young outfielder dared Redvordt to go. He did and McCray unloaded a triple-digit throw towards third. It bounced three times on its way to third, somehow gaining speed with each skip. It beat the runner by plenty, and just like that, the game needle jumped its groove again.
From the foundation of that defensive play, the Giants built the winning rally. Matt Chapman advanced Christian Koss to third with a groundout to lead-off the inning. Roberts swapped one battered-and-bruised reliever for another: Treinen for Tanner Scott, who is getting paid a decent chunk of change to have his worst year ever (his words, not mine). The decisive homer was on him, but he got a tough break facing Jung Hoo Lee when what appeared to be a swinging strike three was ruled by home plate umpire Bill Miller to be fouled into the ground. Outs obviously matter. Two instead one is huge when the winning run stands at third — but no one in LA seemed to be flustered by the call. The only baserunner that Scott cared about was Koss. Runners behind him meant more options on defense, so Lee proceeded to take the walk and Casey Schmitt was sent on to first intentionally. Scott wanted to face Bailey.
At the time, that decision made all the sense in the world.
Impeccable vibes to start a seven-game stretch against LA. The Dodgers are in a stupor right now — did the walk-off wake them? Did it poke the bear (as a loud Friday win has in the past), or send it scurrying deeper into its den (see recent series in Baltimore)? The opposing starting pitchers aren’t going to get any easier with Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow on the mound, but the Giants will counter with their top of the rotation in Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.
Based on what happened Friday, these two teams — one on the rise, the other scuffling — are meant for each other in this moment.
