The beauty of the San Francisco Giants’ remaining schedule is that, even if they’ve fallen out of contention, the team on the other side is playing with real postseason implications at stake.
On their first visit to Camden Yards since 2019, it wasn’t such an exciting proposition for the Baltimore Orioles, who are still jostling with the Yankees for the American League East and ran into a 6-foot-4, 225-pound buzzsaw Tuesday night.
Blake Snell had everything working over six shutout innings as the Giants (73-79) began their final road trip of the season with a 10-0 win, snapping a four-game losing streak and avoiding falling further under .500 than they had been all season.
Dotting the strike zone with fastballs in the upper 90s, making batters look foolish with a sharp slider and mixing in a darting changeup, Snell struck out 12, racked up 22 swings and misses and didn’t allow a hit after Emmanuel Rivera’s soft single in the second inning.
The Giants got all the offense they would need on the first swing of the game and, in a positive sign for an offense kept off the scoreboard three times in a row on the past home stand, continued to build on it with timely hitting from the bottom of their lineup before everyone got involved in a six-run ninth inning.
Here are three takeaways from the 10-0 win:
Yaz’s revenge
A lot has changed since the Giants’ last trip to Camden Yards from May 31-June 2, 2019.
On that trip, a recently acquired outfielder known better for the name on the back of his jersey than for anything he’d done for team on the front of it got his first chance to show the Orioles organization what it was missing out on. Just a week after making his major-league debut, Mike Yastrzemski slugged his first career home run while going 4-for-11 in the series against the team that stashed him at Triple-A for three seasons before trading him to the Giants.
More than five years later, it’s hard to imagine the Giants without Yastrzemski. He is their longest-tenured player (the only one left from the team that played here in 2019), a dependable right fielder and a leader in the clubhouse.
Yastrzemski also slugged 102 home runs between visits to Baltimore, and in his first at-bat back went deep again. Leading off the game, Yastrzemski sent a fastball from Orioles starter Albert Suárez onto Eutaw Street, then later singled in another run and worked a 12-pitch walk as the Giants widened their advantage to a 10-0.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Mike Yastrzemski #5 of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 17, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The Giants have a crowded outfield picture heading into next year, and it’s an open question whether Yastrzemski, 34, will be a part of it. Entering his third year of arbitration, Yastrzemski is due a raise from his $7.9 salary this season but is making a strong case to stick around, with five homers in 13 games this month.
Then again, the Giants had no trouble getting rid of his predecessor as the longest-tenured player in the clubhouse, Austin Slater, who was in the opposite dugout.
Ramos’ hustle
On the Giants’ last road trip, manager Bob Melvin had to scold Heliot Ramos for not hustling out of the box on what looked like a can of corn to right field. The sun had other ideas, and Ramos’ lackadaisical base running prevented him from taking third when the ball got past Fernando Tatis Jr.
Consistently impressed with the daily effort from the 25-year-old first-time All-Star, Melvin was hesitant to even say anything. When he did bring it up, the manager said Ramos “couldn’t be more apologetic” and “said he’ll never do that again.” He added, “he’s a great kid, he learns.”
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Well, Ramos held himself to his word when he popped a two-strike curveball high into the air over shallow center field in his second at-bat against Suárez.
Ramos was frustrated he missed a curveball up in the zone but put his head down and kicked it into high gear anyway. When the ball fell between center fielder Cedric Mullens and second baseman Livan Soto, Ramos was standing on second base. It didn’t result in a hit or a run, but it was the kind of meaningful progress you look for this time of year from players in your plans for next season, which Ramos clearly is.
Ramos got in on the fun as the Giants turned it into a rout, doubling home the fourth of six runs in the ninth inning and chasing Craig Kimbrel from the game.
Housekeeping
The last time Brett Wisely started at third base, it was because Matt Chapman was finalizing his six-year, $151 million contract extension. On Tuesday, it was because Chapman jetted back to the West Coast to be with his wife, Taylor, for the birth of their daughter.
Shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald made his return to the lineup after leaving in the third inning of Thursday’s game with lower back pain and missing the next three games. He was the only Giants batter without a hit or an RBI, finishing 0-for-5 with four strikeouts.