The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 6-3 tonight, thanks almost entirely to tonight’s episode of the Grant McCray Show. But more on that later.
Logan Webb got off to a decent start, allowing three runs on ten hits, three strikeouts and two walks in six innings, but it could have been a lot worse.
Webb got off to a rocky start. He allowed a single to Luis Arraez in the bottom of the first inning before Jurickson Profar followed with a single of his own. Arraez reached third base and the Giants used their challenge to make the tag play, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the safe call was upheld.
Webb walked Jake Cronenworth to load the bases for Manny Machado, who scored Arraez with a first-pitch single. Xander Bogaerts then hit a double play that allowed Profar to score and gave the Padres a two-run lead early in the game.
That wouldn’t last long, though. In the second, Patrick Bailey hit a line drive single down the right field line, followed by a first pitch single from Brett Wisely after a ground ball up the middle. And then McCray put on the Infinity Gauntlet and went for it.
McCray saw an 88 mph hanging slider that he sent so far into right field that it looked like it would bounce off the second deck and hit his fourth home run of the year, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead.
After the game, McCray mentioned that his game plan for tonight was not to swing at any sliders, but added that he needed to take advantage of Padres starter Dylan Cease’s mistake. And he did.
He kept that going in the fourth inning in a slightly different way. Bailey worked a walk, followed by a single by Tyler Fitzgerald that was shot between the infielders and into left field, and Wisely worked a four-pitch walk to load the bases for the man of the hour.
Although it would have been perfectly typical for this game to hit a grand slam, he instead hit a double play. But it was enough to give Bailey a point and extend the Giants’ lead.
Things got dicey again for Webb in the fifth inning when Tyler Wade hit a ground rule double to start. A sac bunt by Mason McCoy moved him to third base with one out before Arraez singled him. Things seemed to get worse when Cronenworth and Machado both hit singles, loading the bases for Bogaerts. Luckily, Webb managed to retire him with a ground out to end the inning and get out relatively unscathed.
Camilo Doval came in as a pitcher in the eighth inning and impressed, striking out Machado, Bogaerts and David Peralta one after the other, throwing out Machado and Peralta.
Bailey started the ninth inning with a walk and got to second base on a wild pitch. And then McCray came to bat with two outs. With only a one-run lead, he didn’t want to leave anything to chance and did what he does best: hit home runs and chew gum. And then the gum ran out.
He saw a 92 mph four-seam fastball from Yuki Matsui and sent it on an even longer trip, this time to right-center field.
Ryan Walker made things a little more exciting in the bottom half of the inning by allowing a leadoff double to Fernando Tatis Jr., but after that the Padres went down one by one, leaving the Giants with a win and a much-needed morale boost.
And in my personal opinion, the rest of the Giants should treat McCray to a steak dinner at the nicest restaurant in San Diego right now.
