Back in the win column.
The San Francisco Giants won on Saturday, and they did it the only way they know how: by one run. But they also did it the way they planned for six days ago, when they swung a trade with the Boston Red Sox, the team they just beat: by way of Rafael Devers.
Devers exacted his revenge on Saturday, and he did it with emphasis. The Giants won the baseball game 3-2 because Devers was in it, on their side. They would not have won the game had he not been.
He won’t get credit for one full win on the WAR charts, but the Giants are 43-34 because he wore orange and black on Saturday, and they’d be 42-35 if he did not.
It happened in the third inning, with two outs and Andrew Knizner on base, courtesy of an error by David Hamilton. Devers, who had ground out in his first at-bat, took a very straightforward one to measure, two to rake approach. The first pitch from former teammate Brayan Bello was a 95-mph fastball, belt high on the outer third of the plate.
Devers watched it slam into the glove of Connor Wong with a satisfying thwack.
And so Bello tried it again, pumping another fastball — this time at 96 — to the same location. And Devers, as he’s done so many times in his first few games with the Giants, swung out of his shoes.
This time he made solid contact. And true to his introductory presser promise, he was unperturbed by the toils of Oracle Park, choosing instead to adapt to the environment and spin the ball the other way, clearing the left field wall by a stunning amount for a left-handed hitter.
The Giants didn’t know it then, but they would need those two runs. To that point they had scored just one, courtesy of the hitter who, thanks to Devers’ arrival, has been relegated to just the second-best power hitter on the team, Heliot Ramos.
Ramos took on more of a battle, seeing six pitches from Bello in the first inning before launching a cutter into the bullpen, where it easily cleared the fence but unfortunately fell short of smacking Sean Hjelle in the face.
For eight innings, it seemed like that run by Ramos would be enough. Landen Roupp bounced back from his difficult outing last week to dominate Boston’s hitters for six innings, allowing just three hits (all singles) and three walks, while striking out seven. After his six innings ended, the one run Ramos provided would have been enough.
Randy Rodríguez needed just nine pitches to conquer the seventh inning, and when it ended, the one run Ramos provided still would have been enough.
Tyler Rogers required a mere 10 pitches for the eighth inning, and when it ended, the one run Ramos provided still would have been enough.
But Camilo Doval ran into ninth-inning trouble, and suddenly Ramos’ run was not enough. Now they needed the two provided by the new guy; the new star.
Doval, intent on milking the Giants’ love of one-run wins, gave up hits to the first three batters, allowing one run to score in the process. An error by Knizner allowed a second run to score, while a stolen base moved the tying run into scoring position with just one out.
But after early-season closer controversy, Doval is now the finisher without debate. He got himself into the mess, but Bob Melvin trusted him to get out of the mess. And a groundout and a popout later, he did exactly that.
Eight of their last 10 wins have now come by one run. Thanks, Raffy.