Giants react to first home series win of the season after beating Phillies
Giants manager Tony Vitello and his players speak with the media after San Francisco's 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday at Oracle Park.
Giants react to first home series win of the season after beating Phillies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Tony, there's been so much bullpen talk this week.
can you kinda go through what you saw from that group, and also did you have a chance to celebrate Gage in getting his first win?
not entirely.
Out of respect to you all, I came in here, but I think he's getting his just due.
I know everybody's excited for him, 'cause he's a guy from day one you could tell was such a good hang, and that presence kinda carries over into the game.
Literally good with him in any situation.
know if he's available, there's a great chance he's gonna throw somewhere in there.
It's just a matter of where, where we see fit.
but he got a big out for us, and then was able to I mean, any out you can get in the game, you need 27 of them.
So, was able to go back out there, which I thought was key, too, to the game.
But, well, today's guys were good.
you know, Miller, he was supposed to come in and finish the game yesterday.
We score a couple extra runs.
We played the hand we s- we kinda saw fit.
it's not You know, it kinda stinks.
You know, it's g- it's good we scored more runs, but he didn't get the pitch yesterday, so there's kinda two ways you can approach today.
and he, he looked determined, so, it was, it was pretty impressive stuff out of him, and it's, it's good.
The two guys, that finished the games the last two days are guys that are gonna need to finish games for us at some point.
So, the more experience and more reps those guys can get doing that, it'd be great.
But yeah, ups and downs all year long with, with, with those guys.
It'll, it'll happen because a lot of those guys are gonna have to come in in tough situations like Killian did.
but again, those starters, I, I have a lot of faith in those guys putting us in a decent position when they come out of the game.
And it's interesting, Tyler's bullpen was really good.
I know it's a bullpen, but it carried over into the game, and he was sharp from the get-go.
Devers had been struggling coming into play.
He grounded into a double play early.
Just how big of a swing was that for him, but also for the team as a whole?
Yeah, I think it was massive because everybody's c- sees his frustration in the dugout.
I've told you guys before, he's really good about, if he does get emotional, kind of, kind of put it in his back pocket after a few seconds.
But everybody can see it, and every- also everybody knows what he's capable of.
And you get oohs and aahs at almost every swing from somebody over there.
so everyone wants it for him bad.
They know what he can do, but it just hasn't clicked.
He hasn't found his rhythm yet, and a part of that is, you know, he, he, as a family, he, he becomes a father again and goes home, and then has a hammy in spring training, so he's kinda just getting his cleats underneath him as far as at-bats go.
So, a matter of time before good swing's picked up and, you know, same as everybody else, I'm a broken record, but he- he's not gonna be able to hammer it every time.
But if you look at three of the last, what, six at-bats he's had, it's been a, a, a, a pretty good sight to see him swing that bat.
Tony, everyone knew that these first four series were a really tough way to start the season.
how do you feel about how you've gotten through it, and how important was it to get these two in a row before heading out on the road again?
Yeah.
no, it'll be, it'll be good to get out on the road.
Like I said, it provides more time for these guys, to kinda do their thing and, and step away from everything here.
also, it just, they, they kinda seem to have the right mentality of kinda letting it all hang out and play the villains on the road or whatever you wanna call it, so looking forward to that.
But if you're really looking ahead, looking forward to getting back here because the crowds have been exceptional.
Like I said, I've been here before.
I'm well-versed at what the fan base is all about.
To me, it's exceeded expectations, so it'll be good to get back here when that time arrives.
a- and, and try and I mean, we gotta play for each other, but, you know, try and get these people what they deserve, too, because your question was about the four series so far.
the first one was disappointing.
There's, there's no shaking it.
you know, we got overemotional.
Our expectations were too high.
We built it up too much and then got too low, and we also just didn't play well.
a- and we got beat, so you started out 0 and 3, and y- you feel like you're running in sand a little bit.
But if you had a magic power and you were able to remove that, we just played a road series, against a tough divisional opponent.
we played two teams that I, I assume, I don't read anything, but I assume they're predicted to or at least predicted to be in the hunt as playoff teams.
and we won two of those series and played 500 ball if I'm not mistaken.
So, it'd be awesome to be in a better situation, but I think we found some things out about ourselves that can be valuable in the long run, and also play- playing pretty decent ball right now.
so all in all, there's, there's plenty of positives to look at, but we certainly gotta be motivated, to learn from mistakes in the past and, and hunt down the best version of ourselves.
You mentioned, Mahle earlier, but what do you think about the way that he's able to work around the walks and then get through the, the Phillies lineup the way that he did?
Yeah, if you're gonna walk guys, he kinda picked, y- you know, ones well to do it off of.
you know, I, I think he's a guy who's, you know, got good stuff.
A- and today I thought it had a little bit, he was a little more crisp with that stuff.
but he's also kind of a hybrid.
He's also kind of a location pitcher a little bit.
so it's key for him to do a combo of both.
I also think he's got enough savvy in him to kinda know when to attack the zone a little bit more and when not to.
so I don't know that he plays poker, but I'm willing to bet he's a good poker player.
I, I think he can kinda play his hand a little bit, if that makes sense.
So, I think he navigated it well because, he's always gonna be competitive.
But I think he had good stuff today, but I think part of it is he, he, he knows kinda how to work his way in and out of stuff out there.
I hope what I'm seeing is right.
Still getting to know the guy, but like I said, I'm, I'm a big believer in those five guys we have.
You've, I mean, you've talked a lot about guys maybe being tight and trying too hard.
Sure.
Do you get the sense that they've loosened up over these last two games?
Yeah, I think so.
again, I, I think in San Diego, they showed it as well as they could, and it carried over, here in the first game, against the Mets, and then-Whatever, whatever occurred, it, it reappeared of just getting the too, getting down too low when it doesn't go well.
when you get punched in the mouth, it's g- it's gonna happen.
It's, it's obviously a lot better to stay relaxed and stay somewhat even keel.
You can't ignore things when they don't go, go well for you.
but just, just got way too down.
So if you were to pull those, you know, two games out that were back-to-back that were incredibly frustrating, I know the one didn't go our way, that completed the Mets series.
the one didn't go our way to start the Phillies series.
But I'm telling you, if everybody, you know, was in the locker room for the entire time, not just the time where they gotta, you know, they know you guys are around, it's, i- it's been the right environment, to answer your question.
So I, I still don't think it's, we've found the best of that.
but it's, it's been the right environment.
just curious if you can share a little more insight into going to Killian there.
I mean, pretty against book to have him face those two left-handed hitters, but not only did he get the result, but I mean, he broke those guys down pretty good too.
Yeah, I mean, I, I, I think it's, it's tough.
And, you know, I, I've kinda said the mix of things before.
You got s- the past, which y- you have to g- put some weight into what guys have done in the past.
And with Killian, it's a tricky one, because of injury and not a ton of experience.
And then you got spring training, which it just You know, I've, I've tried to lean on Bochy on that one and, and others.
but even the guys like Wo, who's around spring training, y- you kinda can only put so much weight i- i- into that.
You gotta kinda discredit some things on occasion in spring training.
And then we got a very short amount of games we've played here that you gotta read and kinda go off on.
So, and then you got this.
Well, you can't see it.
Maybe I shouldn't show it.
But you got all these boxes and all this data.
And, and I can show you guys what it says, and, hopefully, We're, we're definitely using it, but we're not leaning on it, and that's the only thing we use.
I, I think sometimes it can become a tiebreaker.
sometimes it's so, i- i- it's such a loud number that you do invest in it on the analytical side.
And then the rest is just who you think the best guy is down there.
And, I think he's throwing the ball pretty dang well.
He's in, he's in a really good spot, as it relates to his stuff.
And, and I've known that guy a long time.
I think he's always had the right mindset.
He's not real fiery, but he's, he's got it internally.
He got it burning, inside him, I believe so.
So, you know, you throw all those things in a hat and you walk out there and you point.
And like I said, if it goes well, maybe you don't say anything or maybe you say a good thing.
And if it doesn't go well, then you can throw knives.
Two more.
Tony, obviously, Raffi Devers made a huge difference today.
He's known as a guy who could carry a team for extended periods.
For whatever reason, that really hasn't happened here in the win column.
But do you see him as a guy who could carry a team, could carry this team moving forward?
I think it's really unique at any level when y- y- it, you guys, you guys see a ton of baseball.
And the, and there's probably some things, that you're smarter than even, you know, coaches that are better than me.
or, or have even more experience than, than, than some of the most experienced coaches.
fans come to the games, they follow, especially if they're loyal.
But there's no greater respect than when it's coming from your peers.
And so my point is, only occasionally have I been in dugouts or heard players talk about a guy where they see him kinda, they put him on a pedestal that's different than, than others.
And that's what goes on.
That's what I meant with the oohs and ahhs.
And, it doesn't mean our guys aren't capable of doing what he's capable of doing on a given night.
But, that's, that's my best way of answering yes without just saying yes and making it sound like fluff.
I think our players see that and believe that he can do, spectacular things.
So, and for good reason.
and, and I, I think too, in his career, it's, it's unique.
There's, you know, he's relatively young and there hasn't been a lot of consistency provided to where, he can look back when this year is over and say there is consistency to this year.
He's, he's got experience now.
He's familiar with his teammates, and familiar now with this organization.
So be fun to watch his body of work just for this given year.
And a follow-up in the back on, on Raffi.
Just that swing of the bat, the momentum it provides, 3-0, and maybe loosening you guys up, then Killian.
Just kind of specifically with today's game, just the momentum swing that gave your dugout on a getaway day.
Yeah, I mean, it was like a huge hit in football or a, a big dunk in basketball and then some because, you know, it was, it was a towering drive and i- it was something that you got an emotional boost out of, but then you get a three-run y- you know, lead out of it as well when it didn't seem, it was kind of a tug of war there.
so it's hard to really put a, a dollar value or again, an analytical value on how much that meant, but it was a huge swing.
I usually have got a decent feel, a- as I'm sure you all do, on when a guy hits it, but that thing hung up.
And usually when it kinda hangs, you know, that means it stays in the park.
But it just hang, you know, hung and hovered over the batter's eye area a- and eventually landed on it.
So it was a, a pretty impressive shot.
And again, I think the way he hit that homer speaks more to the, you know, prior question about is he capable of, of doing something where he can literally win you a game or a handful of games on offense?
I think the answer is yes.
That's one more reason why.
Oh, it feels great.
Yeah.
You can tell the vibes in here are pretty good.
So we wanna keep that rolling for the next series.
It seems two weeks into the season when the door opens, we're not sure whoever's gonna come out of there.
How has it just been from your perspective in the bullpen?
Has, you know, is everyone just ready to pitch at any time?
Yeah.
Yeah, pretty much.
Whenever you get the call, you're gotta be ready to go.
And-I mean, this is my first season being a reliever full-time, so, it's kind of new to me.
But yeah, I just try-try to stay ready, and whenever you get the call, be ready to go.
Did you think that, you'd have the-- a lineup pocket with Schwarber and, and Harper?
You never know.
You never know.
Yeah.
yeah, like I, like I said, I shouldn't have probably walked the first guy on four pitches, but to, to go face Schwarber and Harper, but yeah, no.
Anything can happen, I'll be ready for it.
So- Yeah it was cool to get in that, in that situation.
You did get a couple good breakdown swings from two pretty good lefty hitters.
I mean, what was sort of your, thought process facing those two guys?
just not giving in, competing and giving them my best stuff, you know?
yeah, just compete and give it.
Not giving in.
Tell me about Johnny going back to spring training with this bullpen.
He was gonna be a little slow with that.
Like, as games go along, he's gonna find, like, a little more.
How do you, how would you say the, specifically at the back end of this bullpen, is kind of starting to find, you know, a form, a iron, however you want to put it?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I, I don't really try to play manager and stuff.
It's not my job.
I just, my job's just to go out there and compete with my best stuff.
So, we'll leave that in the manager's hand, the coach's hands, and everything.
but yeah.
It's obviously early, but to get a series win before a long road trip, how just key is that for momentum as you guys hit the road now?
It's really good.
Yeah.
That's what we're-- It's like I said, the vibes are good in here, so let's keep that rolling for the next series and the one after that, yeah.
What was your perspective of, I don't know, were you in the bullpen when Rafi hit that home run?
I was, yep.
I got to see it land right over in the net.
It's good.
We were all fired up.
We love having-- We love home runs.
We love scoring runs.
It's, it's good.
Yeah.
Kind of a unique perspective though for you standing where you were, right?
Like it's, "Hey!"
Yeah.
You hear it, and then you look, and you try to find it, and then it's going way over the fence.
Yeah.
Nice job, Devers.
So it seemed like you had a few walks mixed in there, but were able to pitch out of traffic.
And how much was it?
Was, were you effectively wild today, or were you-- How'd you feel sort of the day went for you?
yeah, in the middle of the game there, I kind of lost it.
Like, pitches were doing weird things.
Like I was, you know, way out of the zone.
But for the most part, I was, you know, filling up the zone and, just off when I was, especially up and into those lefties.
I threw some good pitches in there, but they were just off and, you know, I'm not trying to get them to chase there.
I was trying to throw it, you know, right at Patty's glove, which is top of the zone in.
Mm-hmm.
and we were just missing.
So, that was pretty frustrating, but was able to, you know, escape some of those jams, yeah.
This is the first time you've been able to get really deep into a game.
Just how did it feel to kind of walk off the mound to kind of the ovation you got there?
yeah, it was cool.
you know, felt like, like I said, kind of lost it there in the middle.
If I would've, you know, kept it going, Patty was throwing down, you know, good signs and, we could have got a lot deeper.
But, like I said, kind of lost a little bit there.
and then Gauger came in and, you know, closed the door on that inning, so that was great.
What would you say about the way, you know, this bullpen as a whole, and specifically these last two nights, has really protected, you know, leads once starters have left the game?
Say that again?
I can't really hear.
What would you say about the way that this bullpen has protected leads over these last two nights once starters have left?
Yeah, I mean, great.
I mean, putting up, you know, how many zeros, from obviously the, Robbie yesterday, and then the guys that came in after him, and then the guys that came in toni-- today, putting up a lot of zeros and, you know, that's, you know, we have that ability and, so, it's good to, you know, do it back-to-back nights and, you know, get a little momentum.
What do these back-to-back nights do for just the general morale of the team in here after the start to the season?
Yeah, especially, you know, after being in a little rut there.
You know, we, back-to-back days, play the baseball that we know we can, that we can play.
You know, putting up zeros and, guys, you know, playing defense, and then, you know, guys all over the base paths.
You know, a lot of hits, a lot of, you know, quite a few runs.
So, that's, you know, what we can do on a normal basis.
And, yeah, and it shows it the last two nights.
How'd you look back on maybe this just start to the season, knowing in the context of the, the difficult opponents you guys have had, you know, the start to sort of- Yeah, but, I mean, obviously, yeah, difficult opponent, opponents and we, what did we lose?
Four or five in a row or whatever.
but we had the ability to win some of those games, you know, and, and we just, we just missed it by just a, by just a touch.
So, if some, if the ball rolls our way in a couple of those games, you know, we're looking at it, we're sitting in a different spot.
Like, you know, everyone's, you know, kinda on us 'cause we started out three and seven or whatever.
Yeah.
But it could have easily been, a different story.
So, no, I think we're feeling good and ready to go, have a good road trip.
How big was Rafi's swing obviously in a zero-zero game, a three-run shot kind of jolt everything the rest of the way?
Yeah, it was awesome.
big time for him, big time for the team.
that was, that was great.
I wasn't here.
obviously I wasn't in the dugout, but, yeah, I mean, we were jumping around in here, pumped up, so, very happy for him, yeah.
Forty-five pitches behind the splitter.
Was that feeling good today?
yeah.
split was feeling-- Every-everything was feeling pretty good.
like I said, I was just trying to, you know, fill up the zone.
obviously I walked and then I walked four, you know, so, kind of lost it there.
But, yeah, no, all my pitches were feeling pretty good.
so yeah.
Knew by that point your senses weren't so overwhelming.
You knew it was Japanese barbecue sauce.
I mean, my, my eyes were burning, that's for sure.
So I knew there was some kind of hot sauce, but kind of smelled like pickles, but I didn't think we had pickles in the clubhouse.
And then someone was like, "No, it's barbecue sauce."
And then I, as I got my eyes coming back to me, the, the bottle was sitting on the shelf in there.
So I was like, "Yep, there's the barbecue sauce."
Good toxic.
Yeah.You were obviously drafted by this team, you know, in 2014.
What does it mean to, you know, not only get your first win, but to do it with the team that originally drafted you?
I mean, it's just an amazing experience 'cause, like, I didn't think I'd be able to be in this position.
Like, being released in 2018 and then now coming back and getting my first win.
Like, I've had small stints with other teams, and I was out maybe on the hook for one or two, but never got it.
And now having an actual decision next to my name other than a loss is, is a lot of fun to actually think about.
When Rafi hit the three-run homer, did you think that like, "Oh, I'm in, I'm in position for a win?"
Was that front of mind?
Oh yeah, of course it was.
It was like, "Okay," like, "now go out, go get your get the job done.
I probably have only two hitters, so go attack 'em."
And I was able to get Marchand, and then they pitched to Kemp.
I made a good pitch, and the only thing he can do with that pitch is exactly what he did, and that's what Vientos and Lindor did versus me with the Mets.
So, and then Tony came and got me, he got Killian, and Caleb did his job and got out of the inning, and then it was smooth sailing after that.
Did you happen to have any family in attendance for this game?
I actually had, my host family from the Cape.
They flew out from, from Boston, and they, they were here, so actually didn't even get to see them because of the beer shower, and now we're leaving in about 20 minutes.
Did you get any other memento or anything?
I got the, I got the ball and the lineup card, but that's about, that's about it for now.
But the beer shower took its, took its toll.
How do you, how do you feel your time is at, and where, where do you feel your comfort level is right now at the plate?
No, bastante bien, gracias a Dios.
Sabemos que las cosas no han salido como uno quiere, pero esos son momentos, y yo s el tipo bateador que soy.
No tengo que temerle de nada de estos momentos.
S que las cosas irn van a salir positivas en algn momento, y nada, todo bien, gracias a Dios.
Everything is, is very well, thank God.
I, I know the type of hitter I am.
I really don't, dwell on how things are going.
I just know that eventually things will start clicking in for me, especially because, again, I know the type of player I am.
You don't wanna wear the unicorn mask?
Por qu?
No te quieres poner la mscara de unicornio- Me la puse un da, me la puse cuando di mi primer home run y no vea pa'lante y dije, "No, eso no es pa' m." I wore it when, after I hit my first home run, and I couldn't see in front of me.
So then I was like, "If I can't see, I'm not wearing it."
Rafi, could you sense the change in energy t- in the dugout, in the stadium following your home run?
S, se siente la energa positiva de que estamos en el, en el marcador arriba, pero sabemos que eso cambia.
No siempre vamos a salir por la puerta grande.
Siempre nos man hay que mantenernos positivos.
Son cosas que van a pasar, cosas que uno la tiene que dejar atrs y vamos pa'lante y nada, siempre positivo todo el mundo en el dugout.
Definitely, I can see the change of vibe when, we, we have the lead, but that's just in the moment.
we have to, and we also realize as a team that, that things can change really quickly.
Enjoy it at the moment, but also keep in mind that that's the way the game is.
Your numbers maybe haven't been Rafi-like numbers, the first couple of weeks.
is there Can you explain that?
Or, and, and more than that, do you feel that maybe today could- Contento, contento, bastante contento por los nmeros que tengo.
El ao pasado, no, a esta poca no tena, yo creo que ni hit.
Tena una X cantidad de ponches que nunca los haba tenido en mi carrera.
Tengo que estar contento por los nmeros que tengo en este momento.
I'm very happy the way things are progressing for me right now.
If I remember correctly, at this point last year, I did not have a hit.
I had a tons of strikeouts, but I know that things change during the course of a season.
Could a day like this lead to something big, like for a week or a few weeks, kind of carrying the team sort of thing?
Un da como, como el que tuviste hoy es algo positivo para ti que te puede ayudar a seguir adelante, algo que t crees que puedes cargar el equipo sobre tus hombros.
Siempre, siempre trato de dar lo mejor de m. Siempre voy a dar el 100% de m. No, no, como dije anterior, no todos los das las cosas van a salir positivas.
Hay momentos buenos, momentos malos.
Lo nico que uno tiene que hacer, tomar las cosas con respeto y pa'lante.
Todo es da a da.
Like I said before, things are not going to come out the way you want 'em.
You're gonna have good days, bad days, but you also have to give 100% of, of effort, and that's exactly what I do every time I play.
I give my 100%.
You know, some guys say that they feel like they're in a better rhythm at the plate when they're playing the field and not just DH-ing.
Do you ever feel that way?
Eso se siente, se siente la diferencia porque solamente uno no est pensando en bateo.
Estamos pensando en la defensa, en cmo cubrir primera, cmo Hay muchas cosas, es muy diferente.
Solamente t ir a, al dugout, sentarte y pal case, solamente pensar en tu swing.
Eso es algo, vamos a decir, bueno, pero a la vez no es tan bueno.
There's a lot of truth to that because when you're playing the field, you're just, you're just not thinking about your next at bat.
You're covering first.
You're obviously keeping your mind occupied and when you're gonna cover, where you're gonna throw, who's gonna throw to you.
And definitely it does help me when I'm playing on the field.
Like I said, just DH-ing, you're just sitting there and just waiting for your next turn at bat.
Tony has mentioned guys maybe playing tight or trying too hard.
Has that been the case with you, and can these last two games maybe change that?
no.
Como te dije, como lo dije anteriormente, siempre voy a dar el 100% de m. Nunca voy dizque un 90, un, un 110.
No tengo ms de ah.
Solamente tengo un 100% y creo que lo doy todos los das.
I don't think that way.
Like I said before, I give 100%, and I think that's my speed.
I only have one speed, and my speed is 100%.
I don't give 90%.
I don't do, I don't do 80.
I go all out.
