Infielder Christian Koss delivered something to San Francisco Giants faithful that is a fan’s only reprieve amidst a blowout.
Heading into the top of the ninth inning of their game on Sunday August 10, 2025, the Giants were losing 8-0 against a Washington Nationals team that is one of the worst in baseball. It was the latest bad day in a string of many for Oracle Park home fans. The Giants are 2-11 in their last 13 home games with only 30 total runs scored.
But Giants fans were in for a bit of a show when Koss was put in to pitch. In an era where both leagues employ designated hitters, the years of pitchers hitting are gone. So days that position players pitch are a rare chance to see a player pitch out of position.
Not only did Koss entertain the fans after an extremely boring and discouraging day on the offensive side of the ball for San Francisco, but he was actually the Giants’ best pitcher all game.
Koss pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing only one hit and getting all three other batters he faced to fly out.
So, as he exited the field, the Giants faithful gave him a standing ovation. They hadn’t had much to cheer for so they made sure to not let the opportunity pass them by.
Bob Melvin on the Loss
Just a few minutes after giving Koss a standing ovation, Giants fans were making a much different sound. They showered down boos on the Giants after the 8-0 loss was sealed.
Giants manager Bob Melvin was extremely disappointed with San Francisco’s effort. He called the entire day “awful” other than starter Justin Verlander getting his milestone 3,500th strikeout.
“We had 40,000 people here and we don’t give them anything the entire game to root for,” Melvin said. “That probably is as disappointing a game as we’ve had all year.”
The Giants’ announced attendance for Sunday’s game was 40,089 people, a sellout crowd. San Francisco had 38,742 paying fans at their 4-2 loss to the Nats on Saturday August 9, 2025 and 38,679 fans at their 5-0 win over the Nationals on Friday August 8.
The Giants continue their homestand with a three game series against the San Diego Padres and a three game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. They hope to win most of those games and make coming to Oracle Park a better experience for Giants fans.
The Best of Giants Position Players Pitching
Koss’s appearance on the mound Sunday was actually his second pitching outing of the season. Back on April 22, 2025, Koss pitched a clean top of the ninth inning of an 11-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, also at Oracle Park.
The Giants also had Mike Yastrzemski take the mound in a game this season before he was traded to the Kansas City Royals. He pitched the top of the ninth in a 13-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on July 9, 2025.
But one player is arguably the best and undoubtedly the most iconic position player to take the mound in San Francisco Giants history. That is none other than the Panda, former Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval.
Sandoval threw two scoreless innings for the Giants in 2018 and 2019. But the legend of Pablo pitching goes beyond the fact that he just got through the inning: it was how he did it.
Mixing a relatively high-velocity fastball with nasty offspeed stuff, looking like he belonged on an MLB mound.
The impressive outings sparked a “Let Pablo Pitch” movement. Fans and even teammates playfully demanded that former manager Bruce Bochy give Sandoval more cracks at pitching for the Giants, with cool t-shirts displaying their affiliations.
Sandoval still takes the mound from time to time for the Staten Island Ferryhawks of the independent Atlantic League. He even started a game in 2024. In true Pablo fashion, he threw 5 ⅓ scoreless innings.
Giants fans can only hope that if they see Koss or any other position player take the mound again, it is because they are winning big and not losing big.
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