Casey Schmitt was not pleased with the way the series against Miami was going, as shown by this image below from the 2nd inning of Saturday’s game.
Note the expression: the dark shadows under his eyes, his slack-jaw and mouth ajar. Note his posture: the shoulders slumped, his arms thrown over the dugout railing for support. Clearly, Schmitt wasn’t doing too great. He had just made a dumb mental error that completely undermined a chance at an early lead. Thrown out at second base. Back-picked to be
exact. He had inexplicably run through the bag on a lead-off double, rounded it too aggressively as the play developed in front of him in shallow left, and realized too late that he had strayed too far. In a desperate attempt to get back to second as the relay throw came in, he slipped well shy of the base. From his his knees, I distinctly remember him stretching out his arms and screaming up at the heavens as the tag was applied. Schmitt slammed the ground with his fist, cursing his stupidity, the hard infield, the studs on his feet before sulking back to the dugout.
Shock, disbelief, embarrassment, anger, bitterness — that’s a stiff emotional cocktail to swallow…again. Because, somehow, this had happened before. The night before to be exact. Not even 24 hours had passed. In the 6th inning in Friday’s game, Schmitt had rounded second on an infield single with an eye on third base, and shortstop Otto Lopez nabbed him as he drifted too far away from second. Lopez’s 180 and throw caught him completely by surprise. He stumbled, tried to scramble back to the bag, but had no chance.
It’s the kind of mistake a player should make once in a blue moon, or once in their career. Schmitt made it twice in back-to-back games. We’ve all been in his shoes before — just not in front of 40,000 people, not including the viewers at home.
That’s what that vacant expression was in the 2nd: His mind and spirit and body awkwardly processing it all in real time. How could this have happened again?
But this is a happy story, a story in which our main character goes through impossible hardship and comes out the other side better and stronger for it. This is a story in which Casey Schmitt goes from this
To this
To this
And really, what’s the only explanation to why two grown, professional sports men could be so touchy and friendly and smiley with each other?
Yup, that’s right: Dingers. Hot taters. The day, the series was rescued by three of them: Two solo shots from Drew Gilbert and Heliot Ramos, and a 2-run shot from Schmitt.
Hit home runs, never feel sadness.
Saturday afternoon was shaping up to be another dud. Another lost day at the plate. Another game in which Robbie Ray labors earnestly on the mound while the ungrateful offense bends over and spins around their bats before collapsing into a heap.
Marlins starter Eury Pérez, and his 98 MPH four-seam, stitched together four pretty seamless scoreless innings. In a war of attrition against Ray, the Miami offense scratched a single run in the 3rd for the lead. The RBI cashed on a half-swing accidental single from Xavier Edwards.
Knowing this offense and the fact that Robbie Ray has been the Matt Cain of 2026, the probability of that excuse-me single being the decisive hit in a 1-0 loss was high. But by the 5th inning, Pérez’s command started to wane. The tall right-hander had to work his way back into the at-bat against Drew Gilbert after falling behind in the count. He grooved a 3-0 fastball on the inside-third of the plate that Gilbert took all the way. He then grooved a 3-1 fastball to the exact same spot, and Gilbert lined it over the Wille Mays wall in left.
An inning later, the game still tied, Schmitt awoke from his coma on a mission of self-redemption. Matt Chapman stood in scoring position after his lead-off double. Rafael Devers’s pop up proved useless and unproductive. If the Giants were to take the lead, and if Schmitt wanted to be the one to give it to them, a hit would be needed. Schmitt provided. And he didn’t wait around either. With steam coming out of his ears, he dug into the batter’s box and hurled his bat at the first thing that moved. A fastball, up and in, and Schmitt barreled it, giving the baseabll the dirtiest look imaginable as it turned tail and bolted for the left field bleachers. 106 MPH off the bat. 404 feet from home. A no doubter with some attitude, and not a small bit of relief as well.
Amazing what a home run and a lead can do for one’s mental health.
And then this was just good for the soul.
With Schmitt in his happy place again, the Giants, as a team, followed suit.
While the bullpen arms handled the Marlins line-up, the Giants’ offense added three more runs in the later innings, with Patrick Bailey and Luis Arraez both collecting 2-out RBI singles, and Heliot Ramos launching his third homer off the year to right in the 8th.
Though it started out looking like an awful case of déjà vu, Saturday’s 6-2 win turned into a much more dynamic display by the offense. After a night which lacked displays of power and hits of consequence, the San Francisco line-up woke up and slugged. 8 of their 11 hits went for extra bases. They also worked 5 walks as a team with two of those free passes coming around to score. Jung Hoo Lee and Matt Chapman both reached base three times. Ramos, Arraez, and Schmitt also had multi-hit efforts.
While the runs came too late to earn Ray a deserved win, it kept him from an undeserved loss. San Francisco will send Landen Roupp to the mound tomorrow to pitch for their third consecutive series win.
