Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
For seven innings, it was the game from Gabe Kapler’s dreams, and then it was a nightmare.
There were three early homers, the Giants flexing their bats. They worked Marco Gonzales out of the game, drawing three walks in six innings while adding eight hits to score five runs and create some distance. Kevin Gausman was both excellent and efficient in mowing down Seattle without much trouble or even his best stuff.
And then the eighth inning came, and the Giants’ pitchers command went.
Matt Wisler faced three batters with 14 pitches and didn’t record an out, walking one and surrendering two singles. In came Jarlin Garcia, who was fortunate to strike out Evan White — he threw a couple of very hittable fastballs and got White to chase what would have been ball four — but he also walked two batters before getting pulled.
A game that had been 6-1 became 6-3, and in came Tyler Rogers with one out and two on. The submariner promptly let up a double to Dylan Moore to cut the lead to one, before hitting Jake Fraley. He then got what he wanted from Jose Marmolejos — a ground ball — but Brandon Belt threw wildly of Brandon Crawford in trying to turn two.
The edge was gone in the exact fashion Kapler loathes.
“Particularly when you build a good lead, the number one most important thing that you can do is come into the game and pound the strike zone,” said Kapler, who consistently listed off throwing strikes and pitching quickly as focal points for all Giants pitchers during camp. “… In order to hold on to a lead, you’re going to give up some hard contact from time to time, and that’s going to be frustrating. But not being able to throw strikes — that’s going to hurt you at the major league level.”
Especially frustrating is these relievers — along with lefty Jose Alvarez, who walked three, including the walk-off walk in the 10th — are all legitimate major league pitchers with experience. These are not experiments or recent minor league starters finding their way, like so many cases in the Giants’ bullpen last year.
Wisler was dominant for Minnesota last season, as was Garcia for the Giants. They combined to allow four earned runs in 43 2/3 innings in 2020. They combined to give up five earned in one-third of an inning in Thursday’s season opener.
Wisler, Garcia and Alvarez “have done it in their careers, and that’s why you bring veteran guys in, to be able to handle those things,” Kapler said after the 8-7 loss in 10 innings. “It’s one game, and I want to call it like it is — which is we need to do a better job of coming in and throwing strikes — but I also want to keep this in perspective. These guys have a history of strike-throwing, and I trust that that’s who they’re going to be going forward.”
Belt said he makes the throw cleanly to Crawford 99 times out of 100.
“Just kind of yanked it a bit,” said the first baseman, who did not think his lack of play during the spring influenced the error.
Why didn’t Kapler stick with Jake McGee, who threw an eight-pitch ninth with ease, for the 10th?
“We see Jake as a guy that we’re going to need for the entire season,” Kapler said over Zoom. “See him as a sprinter. … He’s not a guy that we’re going to try to get length out of. We really see him as a one-inning pitcher right now.”