Melvin, Giants infielders address ‘unacceptable’ miscommunication originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN DIEGO — After five easy outs on just 17 pitches, Ryan Walker He made a save celebration, one of the most creative of today’s game. He turned an imaginary switch and looked up at the imaginary water.
The game is over. Turn on the shower.
After this one, it was more fitting than ever. The Giants had a lot to wash, even after getting a 7-6 win and series victory at Petco Park.
The Padres nearly pulled off a massive comeback thanks in large part to Tyler Fitzgerald And Marco Luciano collided on a fly ball to second base with two outs in the seventh inning, allowing two runs to score. As if the play itself wasn’t frustrating enough, Fitzgerald and Luciano exchanged a few words as they went down into the dugout, pacing back and forth until Matt Williams stepped in to calm everyone down.
It was a sequence that left manager Bob Melvin furious. The Giants played sloppy baseball in the second half, and the last big mistake led Melvin to call his overused closer with one out in the eighth inning.
“It’s a miscommunication. No matter whose fault it was, it was a miscommunication,” Melvin said. “It’s unacceptable. It’s just bad. Bad baseball. We’ve got to clean up our act. Our defense has got to get better.”
Fitzgerald and Luciano then stood at their lockers and discussed the incident with reporters. As with Melvin, they agreed that it would not happen again and both expressed regret for not discussing it in a more private setting. Fitzgerald began his session by saying that he had made the mistake. He had moved too far from his shortstop position, but explained that it was because Luciano had not called him back.
Luciano said he was calling for the ball, but the noise of Petco Park prevented Fitzgerald from hearing him. He was also waving his hand to call it, but Fitzgerald couldn’t see him because, like Luciano, he was looking at the sky.
“It’s just a basic thing, communication, it goes back to high school and college and what I was taught in this sport is communication,” Fitzgerald said. “If anything, you have to be more on the loud side of things. We just don’t have that connection right now in the middle where we’re communicating on the same page, but I don’t blame him.
“I’m trying to get across that we have to yell louder, because if I don’t hear anything, I’m going to run out there and try to make the play. Again, it wasn’t my ball. It was my mistake ultimately. Hopefully in the future we’ll yell as loud as we can.”
The mistake happened on a day when Melvin sent out a team of rookies and sophomores. At first it looked like a disaster, but Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s error on a Suns ball sparked a six-run rally that included home runs by Matt ChapmanJerar Incarnation and Luis Matos.
The Giants were rolling and Spencer Bivens did his part, providing a second good start in as many chances this season. The breakaway pop-up in the seventh reduced the deficit and Camilo Doval gave up a two-run home run to bring the Padres within one run. Melvin struggled trying to get five outs from Walker, but it was probably the only way the Padres could get within one run. Giants The Yankees left Petco Park with a victory on Sunday. Walker started his afternoon by stealing the tying run at first base.
“He’s a guy I’ve played with for years,” Fitzgerald said. “You never would have guessed this three or four years ago, but look at him now. It’s really cool to see. He’s definitely calmed things down a little bit.”
Walker doused a heated bench with cold water, but the incident will have repercussions. Fitzgerald and Luciano had planned to discuss the play and Melvin said he would talk to both players.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said.
Earlier in the day he had to talk to another young player. Heliot Ramos He didn’t run hard on his fly ball to right, which kept him from reaching third base when Tatis whiffed. Melvin talked him into it, even though Ramos ended up scoring on Chapman’s home run.
“He said he’d never do that again,” Melvin said. “Look, he plays every day, he plays hard every day. A fly ball to Tatis is usually an out, but we also talked about here, the sun in right field could be tough. He couldn’t be more sorry. He’s a hard-playing guy, he’s a great kid, he’s learning.”
That’s what happened this month for the Giants, who won their first series since mid-August. Luciano is learning to play second base at the major league level. Even Fitzgerald doesn’t have much recent experience at shortstop, as the Giants tried to turn him into a versatile player in training camp and the first half. Encarnacion, who hit a crucial three-run home run, made his first major league appearance at first base.
It was one of seven consecutive hits by Joe Musgrovewho started his day by striking out six of the first 10 batters he faced. There were some arguments at the end, but the Giants still managed to secure a happy flight home to San Francisco.
“In the end, we played a really good game, other than that little bump. I’m really happy with the win overall,” Fitzgerald said. “If that didn’t happen, everyone would be really happy right now. Don’t let that take away from how well the rest of the team is playing.”
