SF Giants end road trip with whimper as Walker blows save
The fate of the Giants season wasn t going to be determined by how they performed on this -game road trip against the New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels A lot of ball still remains But the cross country swing did serve as an early litmus test one that tasked them with facing two of baseball s best teams For all their excellent play in New York and Philadelphia the trip ended with a whimper Closer Ryan Walker inherited a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning but blew the save allowing four runs as San Francisco lost to Los Angeles - on Easter Sunday at Angel Stadium forcing the Giants to settle for a - road trip You re going to have specific bad days Unfortunately it happened in current times manager Bob Melvin communicated reporters in Anaheim Walker who converted all five of his saves entering play after going -for- on save chances last season stepped on the mound with a peaceful - lead But it was fleetly apparent Walker didn t have his typical command He walked Mike Trout to begin his outing Walker s payoff sinker appeared to clip the zone but home plate umpire Laz Diaz called the pitch a ball then allowed a single to ex-Giant Jorge Soler bringing the tying run to the plate Logan O Hoppe singled to load the bases then Walker drilled Zach Neto to gift the Angels a run and shrink the lead to - The closer s plunking of Neto set the table for Jo Adell to play the hero Adell then pulled Walker s - sinker to left field and the Angels began to fly Soler scored easily Kevin Newman pinch-running for O Hoppe did as well Third base coach Eric Young Sr waved home Neto and Neto scored the game-winning run with a headfirst slide that barely beat San Francisco s relay The Giants challenged the call but it was upheld Walker s blown save cost Justin Verlander his first win with the Giants after the -year-old turned in a vintage outing allowing one earned run over six innings with six strikeouts Five starts into his tenure with San Francisco and Verlander remains stuck on career wins I feel like I ve been trending in the right direction Verlander reported reporters in Anaheim It was nice to give us a better chance to win the present day Verlander entered play with a ERA the worst mark in the starting rotation but retired the first nine batters he faced before allowing a leadoff double to Taylor Ward to start the fourth The right-hander only needed pitches to complete the first three innings but labored through a -pitch fourth inning managing to put another zero on the board despite the Angels loading the bases It s one of those situations where Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi was pitching well Verlander revealed You got the bases loaded and even though it s the fourth inning you kind of know the contest s on the line right there So it felt great The Giants scored the encounter s first run in the top of the fifth when Willy Adames drove in Heliot Ramos with a single but the Angels got that run right back when Neto homered on Verlander s first pitch in the bottom of the fifth San Francisco re-took the lead in the sixth with catcher Sam Huff s first homer with his new unit a two-run shot that gave the Giants a - lead Adames added an insurance run in the seventh with another RBI single to extend the lead to - That three-run lead appeared to be enough especially after Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers pitched scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth respectively Ultimately it was not The Giants will now return for what will be an emotional two-team homestand They ll begin with the Milwaukee Brewers the club that Adames played for from - before signing a franchise-record seven-year million deal with the orange and black On Saturday with Bruce Bochy s Texas Rangers in town the Giants will celebrate the career of Brandon Crawford who declared his retirement this offseason
