What we learned as Giants salvage Snell’s strong start with opt-out

What we learned as Giants salvage Snell’s strong start with opt-out originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area

POINTS BOX

SAN FRANCISCO – For the first time as a Giant, Blake Snell went five innings. He was also dominant, looking exactly like the pitcher who won the Cy Young Award last season.

Snell qualified for the win, but will have to wait to get first in orange and black. The Giants didn’t win until the ninth, when Brett Wisely tied the game and a wild pitch brought home the final run in a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Giants trailed by one run with one out in the ninth, but a Patrick Bailey single got them going. With two on, Wisely hit a 133 mph bouncer up the middle that got past reliever Trevor Richards and second baseman Leo Jimenez. Richards then threw a two-strike changeup to Thairo Estrada, allowing Tyler Fitzgerald to run home for the win.

Snell was counting pitches after leaving IL for the second time, but his 73-pitch performance was easily the best in San Francisco. After singling out a runner to end the fifth, Snell had a long discussion with pitching coach Bryan Price and assistant pitching coach J.P. Martinez.

The Giants turned the game over to the bullpen, and two innings later, they were behind. Ryan Walker pitched like an All-Star, but hit a two-hit slider to third baseman Ernie Clement, who hit a three-run shot into the stands.

Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi struck out a career-high 13, but the Blue Jays pushed him to eighth and almost paid for it. Fitzgerald hit a solo homer and the Giants scored two off Matt Chapman, who picked off five consecutive fouls from right-hander Nate Pearson before hitting a 99 mph fastball.

Is Blake back?

The Giants allowed Snell to undergo three rehab sessions to make sure he was fully ready to return to the big leagues. He threw five hitless innings at Triple-A last week in his last appearance and nearly matched that Tuesday.

Snell’s only hit was a single by Davis Schneider in the second inning. Snell walked three, but hit one of the runners and got out of another jam with a double play. The outing was his fifth in the past two seasons with fewer than two hits.

Snell’s stuff was generally very good, even during his rough starts, although his command and pitching shapes weren’t close to what he was looking for. On Tuesday, he topped out at a season-high 97.7 mph. His four-seam boat averaged about 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 went to center in the fourth for his 13th home run of the 2024 MLB season, putting him back ahead of Chapman for the team lead. The only National League players with more homers than Ramos since his debut on May 8 are Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles Dodger slayer Christian Walker. Only Chicago’s Ian Happ has more RBI than Ramos’ 42 over the past two months.

His 13 homers played in 55 games, putting him on pace for 38 homers over 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

When Randy Rodriguez threw a quick sixth, the Giants put the Blue Jays right where they wanted them. Walker came in for the seventh but was hit hard, giving up a double and three-run home run, along with a blown line drive 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 starts. When he gives up on them, they tend to stay in groups. He has thrown 38 scoreless games this year, but also three in which he allowed three runs.

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