© Jason Getz | 2021 Aug 27
The bullpen San Francisco has leaned on so heavily, the one that has come up big so consistently, failed it Friday night in Atlanta.
Kevin Gausman, along with RBIs from Buster Posey and Tommy La Stella, handed the bullpen a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh. It didn’t last.
Tony Watson, who also allowed an earned run in his most recent appearance against the Mets, walked Joc Pederson, surrendered a single to Guillermo Heredia, then let Ozzie Albies line a double into left center.
Zack Littell relieved him with the lead shaved to 4-3. Jorge Soler sent his first pitch, an elevated fastball, 430 feet into the left-field seats.
While Gausman (6IP, 2ER) pumped in arguably his best start since the All-Star Break, Atlanta’s four-run seventh inning off Watson and Littell was too much for San Francisco to overcome — even after Wilmer Flores’ ninth-inning solo shot and La Stella’s nearly game-tying homer of his own. The bullpen that’s registered the second best ERA (3.08) in MLB and helped SF escape from countless jams all year, broke down in the 6-5 defeat.
For the bullpen to be put in position for a rare blow-up, the Giants had to take a lead late into Friday’s game. They did just that, led by a bounceback start from Gausman.
Gausman had registered just one quality start since the All-Star Break, on Aug. 4 in Arizona. That was the Diamondbacks, this was the Braves — the seventh-best hitting team in MLB in terms of OPS.
Against Atlanta, with a five-game winning streak on the line, Gausman regained at least some of the bite on his splitter while mixing in slightly more changeups (five) and sliders (three) than usual.
After he slipped covering first base in the third inning, falling awkwardly into a split, Gausman convinced manager Gabe Kapler and athletic trainer Dave Groeschner to remain in the game. He retired 12 of the next 13 Braves he faced, including 11 straight.
SF provided Gausman run support, too. Catcher Buster Posey returned to the lineup for the first time since exiting Aug. 24’s Mets game with right knee discomfort. He only missed two games, and picked up right where the fringe-MVP candidate left off.
In his first plate appearance back, he uppercutted a 3-0 Max Friend fastball down the right field line and into the first row. It was one of the most bizarre home runs of Posey’s career. The ball left Posey’s bat at a 44-degree launch angle at 99.3 mph, giving it a .040 expected batting average. Analytics ruled it almost certainly a pop-fly out.
But that’s why baseball’s played on diamonds, not computers. Posey’s third career homer on a 3-0 pitch traveled 341 feet and would’ve been an out in more than half of MLB ballparks.
Along with Posey’s two-run shot, Tommy La Stella ripped a two-out double down the right field line in the fourth inning to score Thairo Estrada from first. Gausman even helped himself, laying down a bunt that led to Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s run-costing throwing error.
But the Braves stayed within striking distance. Adam Duvall matched Posey’s homer with a solo shot in the second inning. Austin Riley singled home Soler in the third inning, shortly after Gausman’s spill.
Still, Gausman handed Watson and the bullpen a 4-2 lead in the seventh. The two-run lead quickly became a two-run deficit via the outlier bullpen collapse.
There was still time for a Giants comeback, one of their favorite habits. Wilmer Flores led off the ninth inning with a solo home run. But Thairo Estrada struck out looking on a ball that appeared inside. Then La Stella sent a bomb deep to right field, but Pederson leapt up at the wall to make a spectacular grab in the palm of his mit and end the Giants’ winning streak.
The Braves hugged on the field. They escaped — by inches — the Giants’ magic, something most teams haven’t been lucky enough to celebrate.