Story by
Giants lose out on historic spring training perfect game after 26 outs
- Story by
- Giants lose out on historic spring training perfect game after 26 outs
Giants lose out on historic spring training perfect game after 26 outs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SCOTTSDALE — There is nothing like the intensity in a ballpark during the final three outs of a perfect game, and with history (kind of) on the line Sunday afternoon, many Giants fans tried to bring the energy.
Advertisement
They stood and cheered every pitch as Gregory Santos worked his way through the ninth, but if you looked down the first base line, there was a clear reminder that this game would not count: Dozens of kids were lining up near the right field wall so that they could run the bases after the final out.
The Giants did not end up getting their spring training perfect game, or even a no-hitter. Santos walked Milwaukee Brewers infielder Cooper Pratt with two outs in the ninth and then gave up a double to Blake Burke, which ended the no-hitter and shutout. Burke later provided another reminder that spring training is an odd mix at times.
After the final out, Giants manager Tony Vitello and director of performance Quentin Eberhardt went over to chat with Burke, who was on Tennessee's national championship squad two years ago. Vitello remembered Burke as being a major reason why the Volunteers won their first title.
Advertisement
"He was a fun one," he said. "But not today."
Spring training history books are remarkably incomplete, especially before about 15 years ago. But that would have been the first Cactus League perfect game in at least a couple of decades, according to research done by the Giants' PR staff.
It started with five dominant innings from Robbie Ray , who struck out eight and now has thrown nine hitless innings over his last two outings.
"I felt really good with my slider," Ray said. "I felt like I made some big strides with it today and I felt like I could throw it in any count. It just felt normal again, which is great. Honestly the biggest thing is I wasn't having to think about anything. I was just kind of out there in a flow state and just pitching.
Advertisement
"Hear the pitch, throw the pitch. That's pretty good when you can do that."
The only close call for Ray was in the third, when Blake Perkins hit a bloop to shallow right field. Second baseman Christian Koss went deep onto the grass but the ball initially bounced off his glove. As Koss went into a slide, he caught the bobble and held on.
"I didn't think he was going to get to it," Ray said. "He got to it, bobbled it and caught it — it was great."
Carson Seymour struck out one in the sixth, and Tristan Beck had a very quick seventh. He gave up a 110 mph line drive to open the eighth, but it was hit right at center fielder Jared Oliva . Luke Adams followed with another line drive but it was right at shortstop Osleivis Basabe . Matt Gage entered and got a fly ball to left, the 24th consecutive out of the afternoon.
Advertisement
Santos has not pitched in recent weeks because he had to fly back to the Dominican Republic for a family matter. Vitello said it was simply a win that he was back in a game with a week to go until the Giants head home and start making bullpen decisions.
Santos got the first two outs before issuing the walk. The Giants were out of ABS challenges and a couple of pitches were close, but they would have been ruled balls even if catcher Jesus Rodriguez had the ability to challenge. Burke followed with a double inside the first base line.
Vitello hasn't been thrilled with the quality of play in recent days, and he didn't get to fully soak up the bid for a (spring training) perfect game. He said he was having lots of conversations with players during the game, although he was aware that the Giants had not walked a batter. In the ninth, he realized it was a perfect game.
Vitello noted that it was a good time to have a good game. It's investors weekend, and many of the team's owners are in Scottsdale. Historically, the Giants have played awful baseball with the bosses in town. It's been a running joke for years.
Advertisement
"I just want our guys to play well, especially when it's a weekend where we're here (at Scottsdale Stadium) the whole time (with) investors," Vitello said. "I thought we were fighting. It's just the last couple days we didn't play as well as we could have. In some certain areas we could have done little things better, and today they just seemed to be really focused."
