DENVER \u2014 Rafael Devers paused to admire his home run as it soared into the second deck in the first inning Tuesday night. It was the same walk-out-of-the-box reaction and little twirl of the bat he\u2019s made after dozens of home runs in his career. But Colorado Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland took exception. Freeland walked off the mound and shouted at Devers to run the bases.<\/p>\n
Eventually, Devers did. More than eight minutes later.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s everything that happened in between on a crazy night at Coors Field: a shouting match across the infield, a benches-clearing incident between the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies, and a whole lot of shoving and jersey pulling but no right crosses thrown. The fracas included a brief second wave, resulted in three ejections, and brought a little spice to this series between NL West adversaries who\u2019ll meet again in San Francisco to end the regular season.<\/p>\n
It also might have sparked a little more fight and solidarity in a team that remains on the outskirts of the NL wild-card standings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s what a team does,\u201d Devers said through Spanish interpreter Erwin Higueros. \u201cWe\u2019re a very united team, and I think in situations like that, that\u2019s what we should do: stick up for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
Just two batters into the game, the Giants led 2-0 but lost two of their most important pieces on the chessboard. Their Nos. 3-4 hitters, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman, were ejected along with Freeland for instigating the situation. So Giants manager Bob Melvin played lineup Tetris and Devers moved across the infield while making his Giants debut as a third baseman. Casey Schmitt entered the game, bruised elbow and all after getting hit by a pitch the previous night, and hit one of the Giants\u2019 four home runs in a 7-4 victory.<\/p>\n
The Giants were missing a rook and a knight but won the game with what\u2019s become a familiar gambit. They went deep to score all their runs. Schmitt hit his solo shot in the fifth inning, Flores followed with a two-run homer and Patrick Bailey unbuckled a one-run game with a two-run shot in the ninth. The Giants won for the ninth time in 10 games, moved over .500 for the first time since Aug. 9 and hit at least one home run for the 16th consecutive game to equal the San Francisco-era franchise record set in 1962 and matched in 1963.<\/p>\n
Devers has seven home runs over the 16-game streak; earlier Tuesday, he was named the National League Player of the Week after hitting .478 with two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBIs over a six-game span. He was acquired in June to be a face of the franchise, but even franchise cornerstones need a while to get their bearings when they\u2019re traded in the middle of a season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s happening later than anyone would\u2019ve liked, but Devers is hot enough to carry the team. And everyone else is following his lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on, everybody knows it\u2019s Rafi Devers,\u201d said leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos, who singled ahead of Devers\u2019 home run and had the presence of mind to score before jumping into the melee. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be a Hall of Famer if God gives him the gift to stay healthy. He\u2019s a great baseball player, a great hitter. We knew it was going to come. He just needed to get adjusted and comfortable here. He\u2019s very happy. He feels good, he plays hard, he works hard. That\u2019s who he is. That\u2019s how people saw him coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freeland had a different viewpoint. He said he could understand a hitter expressing emotion after hitting a game-changing, late-inning home run, but felt disrespected when Devers reacted after hitting the eighth pitch of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just found it extremely disrespectful to, you know, show me up like that in the first inning after hitting the home run, standing there watching it, taking your sweet time, getting down (to) first base,\u201d Freeland said. \u201cBeen in this league for quite some time. I know he has as well. I just find that extremely disrespectful and felt that I needed to let him know about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freeland shouted at Devers, who was vociferous in reply. There was never a threat that Freeland would go after Devers \u2014 plate umpire Phil Cuzzi had both hands on the pitcher\u2019s jersey \u2014 but benches emptied and tempers escalated. Adames, who was in the on-deck circle, was the first player to reach Freeland. Chapman was next on the scene and shoved Freeland from the side. Then both teams met in a mosh pit on the infield. A second fracas broke out when Adames went after Freeland and had to be restrained by Giants bench coach Ryan Christenson.<\/p>\n
Once order was restored, umpires huddled for several minutes before announcing that Freeland, Adames and Chapman had been ejected. Devers, who stood on first base the entire time umpires were conferring, was given the signal to complete his home run trot in front of a booing crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know why he got like that,\u201d Devers said. \u201cI didn\u2019t do anything wrong. I mean, I did the same thing I do every time I hit a home run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crew chief Dan Bellino said Chapman was ejected for \u201coverly aggressive\u201d actions and for being an instigator. Bellino said Adames initially was not an instigator until he sparked the second wave when he went after Freeland. Both players are likely to be fined and a suspension isn\u2019t out of the realm of possibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor where we are in the season, I hope MLB understands the significance of these two guys,\u201d Melvin said. \u201cI don\u2019t see (a suspension) warranted for anything extensive, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devers also appeared to shove Freeland during the incident but was not disciplined. If umpires had determined that Devers warranted an ejection, Bellino said he believed that the home run would have counted and they would not have required the Giants to use a pinch runner. The umpires discussed whether Devers could be called out for abandoning the basepaths but determined that it was a dead-ball situation.<\/p>\n
What was Devers thinking as he stood on first base for eight minutes?<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just standing there,\u201d he said. \u201cI was waiting for the umpires to make a decision, to let me know if I could run or not. I didn\u2019t know what was going to happen at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the second consecutive year that Devers was in the middle of a benches-clearing incident at Coors Field. Last season, while playing for the Boston Red Sox, Devers was on third base when Reese McGuire hit a fly ball and a war of words erupted between him and Rockies pitcher Cal Quantrill.<\/p>\n
What is it about the Rockies?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on over there,\u201d Devers said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably (they) have some issues, but I really don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody knows when he takes his swing, he finishes like that,\u201d Ramos said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what problem he had. I know they\u2019re struggling and they\u2019ve been going through it. He can\u2019t be like that, you know? That\u2019s not nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m surprised it hasn\u2019t happened before with that guy,\u201d right-hander Logan Webb said of Freeland. \u201cHe just kind of runs his mouth a lot of the time. Rafi got him good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
Melvin, suddenly deprived of his starting shortstop and third baseman following an incident that the Giants did not instigate, had to get creative. Schmitt and Dom Smith were sent up to pinch hit; in the bottom of the first inning, Devers moved from first base to make his Giants debut as a third baseman \u2014 a position he hadn\u2019t played since last season with the Red Sox. Smith replaced Devers at first base, Schmitt went to second base and starting second baseman Christian Koss shifted to shortstop.<\/p>\n
Devers saved a run and preserved a 2-1 lead in the third inning when he fielded a grounder, looked home and then started a 5-4-3 double play. He looked confident and comfortable while making another running play on a slow roller. Not bad for an infielder who hadn\u2019t taken a ground ball at third base all season. He didn\u2019t even have a third baseman\u2019s glove. He borrowed Chapman\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt really good,\u201d Devers said. \u201cI mean, it has five platinum gloves in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putting Schmitt in the field was less than ideal for the Giants. His elbow was still sore from his plunking the previous night and hadn\u2019t done any throwing in pregame drills. He took fewer than 15 swings off a tee as part of his pregame work. When it became clear that he\u2019d have to enter the game, he raced underneath the dugout and tried to loosen up his arm by throwing a ball into a net.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t feel great, but it\u2019s good enough,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cI\u2019m at second, so it\u2019s not too long a throw.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schmitt barreled two deep outs prior to his home run, which came on the ninth pitch of his at-bat. His Lazarus act drew rave reviews in the postgame clubhouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cCasey, that was great to see,\u201d said Webb, who threw five innings and was in the middle of the melee when he\u2019d otherwise be getting ready to start the game. \u201cYou never really want to see that stuff, I guess, in most people\u2019s eyes. But I think it\u2019s sometimes a firestarter in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe it wasn\u2019t the greatest outcome for Adames, who didn\u2019t get a single at-bat while celebrating his 30th birthday. Adames was also deprived of a precious game while he attempts to hit the four home runs he needs to record the first 30-homer season by a Giant since Barry Bonds in 2004. For now, the Giants can say they have a 30-homer guy in their midst. Devers hit 15 of them before the trade and now he\u2019s hit 15 as a Giant.<\/p>\n
The Giants continue to trail the New York Mets by five games for the final NL wild-card berth \u2014 it\u2019s effectively six games since the Mets own the tiebreaker \u2014 so in all likelihood, they are primarily playing for each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s never varied,\u201d Melvin said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been a team that\u2019s been really tight, even during the tough times. And that\u2019s what gets you through the tough times. It shows you the fight when these guys are sticking up for their teammate \u2014 their new teammate, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rockies entered with a 39-99 record. They took the field hoping to avoid their 100th loss of the season. They did not.<\/p>\n
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