San Francisco Giants defeated Los Angeles Angels 8-2

Full revelation: I did not see the first eight and a half innings of the San Francisco Giants’ 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.

Why would I? Sure, it’s my job, but what do the first eight and a half innings have to do with actually covering the team?

From Friday through Monday, the Giants led the Ninth inning three times, losing all three times. What happens in innings one to eight is all academic.

That I did not see.

But like me hie considering, here’s what I may have noticed:

• Mike Yastrzemski leaves the game with a home team, which it feels like he does at least once a week. It was a beauty, as are all Giants home games.

• After the Giants took the lead in the bottom half of the inning by giving a solo home run to Giants killer Tommy La Stella (thank goodness they did not have to take him back until … / check notes … tomorrow), the Giants took the lead again on a two-run home run by Pablo Sandoval. It was not only Sandoval’s first home game of the year, but his first extra-base hit of the year.

And it came on a spectacular Sandovalian swing.

Yup. Just off your run from the mill, flat swing home run on a 91mph fast car at the shoulders. Sandoval has 149 running home games and I’m pretty sure at least 145 of them look hilarious.

• The Angels tried to ban things again in the bottom half of the inning, helped by taking Jo Adell at a 3-2 pitch, which was a no doubt hit for literally everyone (Adell included), except the referee. After a bunt (what is that?), The Angels had rounds on second and third with only one out.

A David Fletcher driveway looked like the game was tied, but Yastrzemski saved the day. You have to sit through his home track again to see the highlight, but I think you are fine with that.

I have no idea if Yaz took a good route for that catch, because it’s almost impossible to tell with the broadcast angles. Maybe it was a spectacular catch, or maybe it was a routine play that made him impressive.

However, it looked impressive.

• The Giants kept the Angels’ two-out magic at bay, but they had their own to offer. In the fifth inning, after Sandoval struck out on a pitch to see a pitch that was roughly one shoe from Shaq’s out of zone, the sudden-hot (wrong, check that: the always hot, suddenly hot-hit) Brandon Crawford came up with two up and two out and called one in line to score both runners.

• That gave the Giants a 6-1 lead, which felt completely unsustainable, considering they blew a five-run lead in the ninth inning just a few games ago. So they did the ridiculous thing and added.

With two outs in the top of the ninth, and none on, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria, and Sandoval hit back-to-back-to-back doubles, pushing the lead to 8-1. Comfortable? Hell no. But better. Much better.

So now we come to the bottom of the ninth, when I finally turned on the TV.

And lo and behold, I will be honest, it did not start that hot. Shaun Anderson picked up the mound, and immediately sent a couple of mid-90s fastballs to Mike Trout’s head.

Here is the first:

Photo by Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images

Here is the second:

Trout had not hit a grand slam on a 3-0 field, so there was no reason to throw at him * – the only possible reason for Anderson to get married was that Longoria took a half suitcase earlier to the rib cage.

* If it’s not clear, this is a joke. There’s never a reason to throw a fastball at someone, let alone stand on your head.

That hopefully was just that Anderson had no control, that’s what Gabe Kapler’s postgame demanded.

I have no idea if Trout has another level – I do not want to know what that looked like – but being angry at the best player in baseball before playing him twice is not a recommended strategy, although it is abundantly clear is of the Giants don ‘t have recommended strategies for ninth.

Anderson later walked Trout, and followed it up by allowing a single to Anthony Rendon. If you had visions of the Giants finding a way to blow a ninth lead of seven runes, you were not alone.

But alas, Anderson allowed only a single run before the door closed, giving the Giants their first win in a week.

A few notes:

• The Giants veteran bats are starting to come. Crawford now has four hits on the extra base, after not entering a game on Sunday. Sandoval had his first two extra-base hits of the season, and Belt now has one in each of the last three games.

• Trevor Cahill made his second start of the season, and looked pretty good. He gave up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run in 4 innings, while hitting 4.
• On the other hand, the Giants became the first team to rough Dylan Bundy this year. Bundy entered the game after giving up just 2 home games at the start of 2 starts – the Giants agreed that total. He had just 3 runners run in 28.2 innings – the Giants ran 4 times. He had only allowed 5 runs, but the Giants grabbed 4 on his total. Is this offense sometimes good?
• Finally, I’ll leave you with some awesome photos from the game:

Photo by Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images

Photo by Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images

Go Giants.