SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants often play night games on Saturdays, a way to avoid the national TV window in the afternoon and also allow parents to bring their kids after early morning Little League games or soccer practice. The first pitch on Saturday, though, was at 1:05 p.m., and that really, really benefited the home team.
Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas lost two balls in the sun in the bottom of the fifth and the Giants took full advantage, scoring six runs en route to a 10-3 blowout that evened this three-game series.
Casey Schmitt’s 10th homer of the year put the Giants on top in the fifth, and that’s when the fun with the sun started.
Vargas whiffed on a two-out pop-up that turned into a double for Matt Chapman. After a couple of walks, Harrison Bader hit a high pop-up that again looked like the third out of the inning. This time it was Vargas and catcher Drew Romo who both stared into the sun and lost the ball, which dropped foul at Vargas’ feet. Three pitches later, Bader hit his second grand slam in a week, breaking the game open.
It Can Work
The Giants again started Schmitt in left field as a way to get Bryce Eldridge in the lineup, and it certainly looked like the right play. Aside from a ball to the wall that would have been tricky for any outfielder, Schmitt looked like a normal left fielder, and that allowed the Giants to get two powerful bats in the mix.
Schmitt’s homer put him two shy of his previous career-high, and he very easily became the first Giant to reach double-digits. Rafael Devers and Willy Adames are second on the team with six. He added a single, raising his OPS to .864.
Eldridge reached base three times for the first time in the big leagues, and nearly had much more to show for his second straight start. He hit a 110 mph rocket down the right field line in his first at-bat and missed a homer by a few feet; on the 11th pitch of the matchup with Erick Fedde he hit a 109 mph single.
FUN-damentals
The six-run rally happened an inning after the Giants scored three runs, and that frame came with a few glimpses of what has been missing during this brutal start.
Schmitt had a productive out, bringing Luis Arraez home from third with a deep fly ball to right. Devers and Chapman followed with back-to-back singles, and Chapman took the extra base when the throw on his hit went to third. That allowed interim third base coach Ron Wotus to wave him home on Daniel Susac’s single.
Per FanGraphs, the Giants have been the worst baserunning team in baseball this season, but that was a positive sequence.
Hello, Old Friends
Adrian Houser’s breakthrough with the White Sox early last season helped him land a two-year contract in San Francisco, and in May, he had looked more like the pitcher the Giants expected. Early on Saturday, he was dominating his old teammates.
Houser allowed just one baserunner the first time through the order and had a shutout going through four, but the White Sox put three runs on his line in the fifth. He ended up getting pulled in the inning and allowed seven hits in 4 2/3 while striking out five.
Houser has a 5.30 ERA through 10 starts. He was at 2.10 in 11 starts for the White Sox last season before they traded him to Tampa Bay.