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What we learned when the Giants salvaged Snell’s strong start with a 1-0 win Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time as a Giant, Blake Snell managed to pitch five innings. He was dominant, too, looking exactly like the pitcher who won the Cy Young Award last season.
Snell qualified for the win, but he’ll have to wait to get his first victory with the orange and black. The Giants didn’t win this game until the ninth, when Brett Wisely tied the game and a wild pitch brought in the final run in a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Giants trailed by a run with one out in the ninth, but Patrick Bailey’s single got them going. With two on, Wisely hit an 83 mph fly ball up the middle that got past reliever Trevor Richards and second baseman Leo Jimenez. Richards then lined a two-strike changeup to Thairo Estrada, allowing Tyler Fitzgerald to race home to score the winning run.
Snell was on a pitch count after leaving the IL for the second time, but his 73-pitch outing was easily his best in San Francisco. After throwing out a runner to end the fifth, Snell got into a lengthy discussion with pitching coach Bryan Price and assistant pitching coach J.P. Martinez.
The Giants handed the ball to the bullpen and were behind two innings later. Ryan Walker has pitched like an All-Star, but he hit a two-strike slider to third baseman Ernie Clement, who hit a three-run homer into the stands.
Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi struck out a career-high 13, but the Blue Jays pushed him into the eighth inning and nearly paid for it. Fitzgerald hit a solo homer and the Giants put two on base for Matt Chapman, who got five straight outs off right-hander Nate Pearson before connecting on a 99 mph fastball.
Is Blake back?
The Giants allowed Snell to go through three rehab starts to ensure he was fully ready to return to the big leagues. He pitched five hitless innings at Triple-A last week in his last appearance and nearly matched that tally Tuesday.
The only hit Snell got was a single by Davis Schneider in the second inning. Snell walked three, but he threw out one runner and got out of another jam with a double play. This was his fifth appearance in the past two seasons with fewer than two hits.
Overall, Snell’s stuff was pretty good, even during his rough starts, though his command and shape on his pitches weren’t close to what he was looking for. On Tuesday, he hit a season-high 97.7 mph top velocity. His four-seam fastball averaged around 96 mph.
Other
On his first day back in San Francisco as an All-Star, Heliot Ramos laughed when asked if he would like to participate in the Home Run Derby.
“Do you think I have enough juice for that?” he asked.
Yes. Yes it does.
Ramos hit his 13th home run of the 2024 MLB season, moving him back ahead of Chapman for the team lead. The only players in the National League with more homers than Ramos since his debut on May 8 are Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and pitcher Christian Walker. Only Chicago’s Ian Happ has more RBIs than Ramos’ 42 over the past two months.
The 13 homers came in 55 games, putting him on pace for 38 homers in a full season. That’s more than enough to get him to the Derby for years to come if that’s something he wants to do.
Unexpected turn
By the time Randy Rodriguez pitched a quick sixth inning, the Giants had the Blue Jays right where they wanted them. Walker came on in the seventh inning but was hit hard, allowing a double and a three-run homer, plus a liner to second that was stabbed by Wisely.
Walker hadn’t allowed an earned run since June 1 and had allowed just one run, period, in his previous 15 appearances. When he does allow them, they tend to be in bunches. He has 38 scoreless appearances this year, but also three in which he has allowed three runs.