An Uncharacteristic Day at AT&T Park, by Chuck Strom

Lately, the San Francisco Giants have followed their usual script of good pitching and weak hitting, as illustrated by the last three starts by Madison Bumgarner, losses by scores of 2-0, 1-0, and 3-2. They are doing much better in the standings than they should, mostly because they have owned the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers with a 9-3 record in head-to-head matchups. Yesterday, in their getaway-day game with the San Diego Padres, I expected a similarly low-scoring game, particularly since James Shields, with a 7-1 record, was pitching for the Padres. My hope was that sinker-baller Chris Heston, who recently extended the franchise’s annual no-hitter streak to its fourth year against the New York Mets, would be able to match Shields and keep the Giants competitive in the game.

Heston, as it turned out, showed up as advertised, shutting out the Padres through six innings, but otherwise the game was one of the strangest I have seen, as suggested by the following:

1. Four triples hit by the Giants, the most by the franchise in a home game since 1924

2. Thirteen runs and 19 hits by the Giants, both season highs

3. A dropped pop fly by San Diego between home and third base

4. Six runs coughed up by the Giants bullpen in the eighth inning, two of which resulted from successive shallow fly balls that landed in front of an apparently befuddled Angel Pagan in center field

When the Padres finished their barrage, the score had gone from 9-2 to 9-8, and I decided to be a fair-weather fan and left early, not wanting to witness a final collapse. I need not have worried; the Giants scored four runs in my absence and won comfortably.

I could have thought that I’d taken a wrong turn and ended up at Coors Field in Denver, but there was the Giants’ 2014 championship flag flying just over the 421-ft sign in center field. It looked terrific.

– Chuck Strom

Throw Day for Madison Bumgarner, by Chuck Strom