Ryan Walker should do Justin Verlander\u2019s laundry for a year. Or wash his car, or change his newborn\u2019s diaper for a couple months or something. It\u2019s the least he can do after Saturday\u2019s 9th inning 3-run implosion against the Cardinals.<\/p>\n
It was the third time this year<\/a> that Walker got docked with a blown save in a Verlander start (the previous being 4\/20 v. the Angels and 6\/29 vs. the White Sox).<\/p>\n Walker hadn\u2019t allowed a run since August 3rd. He had been good enough over his last 9 outings to work his way back to the top of Bryan\u2019s bullpen trust rankings<\/a>, which has generally been a harbinger of collapse.<\/p>\n The signs were there from the first pitch. A perfectly placed sinker that all-time pitch framer Bailey framed poorly.<\/p>\n The next pitch Norman Gorman (his name is actually Nolan) found a hole with a hard-hit grounder, the first Cardinals\u2019 lead-off runner to reach base since the 1st inning. Javy Lopez on the radio broadcast tried to calm the nerves of fans over the airwaves with soothing verbal caresses of That run doesn\u2019t matter with a two-run lead; it\u2019s okay, just focus on the hitter \u2014 but no one could hear him over the blaring sirens going off in their heads.<\/p>\n It had been awhile, but we had seen it before. Everything was off. It just felt yucky. For the first time in 18 games, a Giants hitter hadn\u2019t stroked a baseball over the wall. Scoring chances went unfulfilled. The line-up was just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Yoshi Yamamoto had taken a no-hitter into the 9th inning. The Mets had lost which turned up the pressure on the team to capitalize.<\/p>\n Walker tried to regain control of the frame and establish his slider against Winn and failed terribly. A bloop single by the shortstop put the tying run on base and brought the winning run to the plate. Again Javy tried to assure us that both knocks were store-brand cheap-o\u2019s, but at this point looked dice-y at best. With very little room to operate, Walker went right at the next batter, throwing four straight sinkers to a street urchin named Jimmy Crooks with five Major League games under his belt, before he literally threw the baseball right at him. <\/p>\n In a 1-2 count, out of nowhere, the sinker plunked a viable double-play candidate in the belt. At this point, it was clear the whole thing was going down. The end was near. God is dead. The bases were loaded, and it all crumbled so quickly after that. Thomas Saggese flipped the second sinker he saw to center for St. Louis\u2019s first run. Next up: the supremely-scuffling Jordan Walker against the supremely-stressed Ryan Walker \u2014 a metaphor for the inner demons a reliever must face on the mound. You don\u2019t pitch against an opponent, you pitch against yourself. Imagine this said by a Force-spirit Javy Lopez.<\/p>\n After eight consecutive fastballs to the previous three hitters, Walker chose to go back to the slider against Walker. Walker hung it up in the zone, and Walker lined it towards Matt Chapman at third. On the replay, by the way Chapman races towards the bag after the ball has kicked off his glove, it looks like he thinks he\u2019s caught the liner. Or maybe it was a last-ditch ruse to freeze the tying run and give Luis Matos a chance to make a play. Whatever it was \u2014 a ruse, a glove malfunction, a deflection \u2014 it doesn\u2019t matter. The ball found grass. Game over.<\/p>\n Walker walked it off. Your call which player I\u2019m referring to.<\/p>\n Pitching wise, San Francisco had been solid until the 9th. Verlander pitched 6 scoreless, allowing just three hits \u2014 all singles \u2014 while working around a tit-for-tat HBP and fielding error to set himself up for his third straight win of the year.<\/p>\n