In the NBA, a confluence of sleep deprivation, cross-country travel and volume of games played in a row make up what’s commonly known as “scheduled losses.”
The Giants had one of those Monday afternoon. The club’s first lockout leftover game forced the team plane to break up their east-to-west flight and stop in Milwaukee for a one-game showdown.
More than a subpar travel itinerary stacked the odds against San Francisco against the Brewers. It was a Blackjack game, and Milwaukee showed an ace with Corbin Burnes. The Giants countered with a pair of fives — Sam Long opening their second bullpen game in four days.
Burnes blanked SF for 6.2 innings, but the Brewers busted. Joc Pederson silenced hecklers by launching a go-ahead two-run homer off Trevor Gott, then Luis González picked the perfect time to hit his first big league home run in the ninth.
It culminated in the Giants packing up and boarding the team plane, once again, with another win. They were finally heading home.
The Giants return to the Bay Area for a three-game Bay Bridge Series after winning eight of their 11-game, four-city road trip. They outscored opponents 56 runs to 28, securing two series sweeps in the process.
Here’s how they did it.
Absorbing blows
Anthony DeSclafani (ankle) and Alex Cobb (abductor strain) started the road trip with the Giants and finished it on the injured list.
For a team whose identity begins with a starting pitching rotation that has the potential to be elite, losing two said starters could — should — be especially damaging. But San Francisco had the resources to tread water.
Both bullpen games — the roadie finale and the series-opener in Washington D.C. — were uninhibited successes.
Sam Long started both of them, and has now thrown 5.2 scoreless innings. Jakob Junis was excellent, tossing five three-hit innings fresh out of Sacramento. Yunior Marte, another call-up, has made five strong appearances.
The usual cadre of Tyler Rogers, Dominic Leone Jake McGee and Camilo Doval was as advertised. On the year, San Francisco’s relievers have posted a 1.65 ERA. Tyler Beede might be the single member of the bullpen that could be considered unreliable.
That consistency up and down the pen is how teams can overcome injuries to starters. But the Giants have had to do more than just that, too.
Along with DeSclafani and Cobb, the show has gone on without LaMonte Wade Jr., Evan Longoria, Tommy La Stella and Mike Yastrzemski.
Yastrzemski hit the COVID list ahead of the series finale against Washington. His positive test came so close to first pitch, the Giants couldn’t get a player to the game in time. But reinforcements did arrive in Milwaukee…
…in the form of Luis González. Oh yeah, the guy who hit the game-winning home run. Not so bad for an injury replacement player.
Organizational depth matters. It can be the difference between an 8-3 road trip and a 6-5 one.
Dominating the long ball
There have been fewer home runs this year. Barreled hits are traveling less far. Juiced balls are out of style.
That all could, at least hypothetically, hurt the Giants, who led the National League in home runs in 2022. But if the relative decrease in long balls remains constant across the board, it shouldn’t really matter.
Although totals are down, the Giants have still hit 19 home runs — fourth most in MLB. Just as importantly, their pitchers have allowed nine homers, tied with the Dodgers for fewest.
In 2021, the Giants won 107 games by clobbering home runs as well as they suppressed them (they hit 241 and allowed 151, the best ratio in baseball). That trend seems to be continuing.
Joc Pederson is tied for the MLB lead in home runs and has hit as many homers through 14 games as any Giant ever.
On the 11-game road trip, San Francisco left the park 13 times and allowed only six bombs. That two-to-one ratio is unsustainably excellent.
As cute as the Giants’ small-ball tactics have been this year, the home run battle is the most important game-within-the-game. And the Giants have already started to build cities on the Catan board.
Taking care of business
All three of the Giants’ losses on the road came against the Mets. New York was expected to be one of baseball’s best clubs preseason and that projection has borne out so far, with NYM posting a 13-5 record and +35 run differential.
It’s a minute sample, but the Giants have proven they can compete with talented opponents (see: wins over Milwaukee, San Diego). The real story here is that the Giants have retired teams they should.
PECOTA projected the Guardians to be a 77-win team and the Nationals to finish 71-91. The Giants, if they’re going to compete in the National League West, are going to have to beat the teams they’re supposed to.
In 2021, the Giants went 17-2 against the Diamondbacks and 15-4 against the Rockies. They took six of seven from the zombie Cubs and five of seven from the rebuilding Nationals.
Thing is, if it was that easy, every good team would, simply, beat up on the crap ones. Banking wins can come in handy when you already know the division race can come all the way down to Game 162.