SF Giants Gameday podcast: Another bullpen blunder, a sneaky trade and a starter breaks out

The San Francisco Giants got their best start of the season from right-hander Kevin Gausman and received a clutch two-strike, two-out hit from Mike Yastrzemski to give the club the lead in the middle innings, but Gabe Kapler’s club couldn’t hold on to secure a series win in Los Angeles.

It was Kapler who once again ended up the spotlight on Sunday as his late-inning decision-making came under fire.

The Giants’ first-year manager removed Gausman, who had thrown just 80 pitches, after the veteran gave up a single to Cody Bellinger in the bottom of the seventh. Even though the single came on a 99.3-mile per hour fastball from Gausman –his hardest pitch of the day– Kapler elected to pull his starter in favor of reliever Tyler Rogers, who the coaching staff felt gave the Giants the best opportunity of inducing a potential double player grounder.

Rogers instead gave up a singe and ultimately gave up the lead when he left a 3-2 slider over the plate to Dodgers slugger A.J. Pollock.

The Giants ended up losing 6-2 after another right-handed reliever, Shaun Anderson, gave up a three-run home run in the eighth inning to star right fielder Mookie Betts, but fans will look back on the decision to remove Gausman as the moment the game turned in the Dodgers favor.

In this episode of the SF Giants Gameday podcast, beat writer Kerry Crowley breaks down the team’s frustrating series finale in Los Angeles and also looks at a trade the Giants executed Sunday that brought Chicago White Sox prospect Luis Basabe into the farm system.

SF Giants Gameday: Listen to the Bay Area News Group’s daily San Francisco Giants podcast, hosted by our beat reporter Kerry Crowley. We give you an all-access look at the 2020 regular season with soundbites from manager Gabe Kapler and your favorite Giants players plus the latest analysis on every move during an unprecedented season.

We Need Your Support!Several Giants articles will remain free every 30 days – and I’ve launched a free newsletter and podcast that come Monday-Friday – but for access to all of my coverage you’ll need to subscribe to MercuryNews.com or EastBayTimes.com. Click here for our latest Mercury News offer and here for the latest East Bay Times offer. Thank you! — Kerry Crowley