Tony Vitello shares reaction to Giants' ninth-inning collapse, loss vs. A's
Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks to reporters following San Francisco's 9-6 loss to the Athletics on Thursday at Oracle Park.
Tony Vitello shares reaction to Giants' ninth-inning collapse, loss vs. A's originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Tony, it feels like you- we, we g- have asked you a lot about the bullpen this month.
What's sort of your assessment of today in particular, and maybe over the past month and, and, Killian's work today?
Yeah, I mean, the, the month has been come and go, as it, you know, all facets of the game can do on you a little bit.
I think if there's any theme, off-speed pitches with hand speed is something we talked about, in Miami.
I think somebody grabbed me on that.
you know, strikes as of late has been way better.
but obviously in those situations too, you know, giving up hits is, is kind of the cost of doing business when you're throwing strikes.
But it's a little different when you're in the seventh, eighth, and ninth inning.
but as, as far as today, yeah, it wasn't good.
I mean, we gave up a touchdown in the last three innings.
you could certainly, if you wanna play devil's advocate, if you're in a courtroom, there's two sides of the whole thing.
You could talk about some balls, you know, finding holes or a broken bat hit and things like that.
but the bottom line is we needed to do better, and again, if you're gonna play both sides of the, of the coin or however you wanna say it, the A's I think had been held down, well below their capabilities offensively, and, eventually they were gonna get some hits.
Unfortunately, it was against us today.
Victor Barraco has shown some consistency here the last two days.
I think the homer was, like, the same spot, same distance, same bat speed.
could you see him maybe getting a little more time in- including maybe against right-handers?
Yeah, I think so, and I mean, we, we pitched him in Miami against a righty that was spinning all breaking balls.
That's usually kinda majority of the matchup thing.
I, I think the, the main reason being, I mean, we, we knew that capability was there.
It certainly, has been impressive the last two days at the plate.
I think getting into a little bit of a comfort zone and working hard pre-game in the outfield would contribute to that as much as anything.
it's good to have a guy that's a, a hard worker and a team guy and ready and willing to do whatever you ask, and on top of it, he stands in that box, like I said, very hitter-ish last night.
And how is, Susak?
Is he okay?
lower back tightness.
probably day to day.
That was, if anything, it'd certainly be nice in here for a lot of reasons to be, talking after a win, but he would've gotten accredited with a lot, 'cause he just kind of manned up and couldn't really swing the bat.
you hate to change catchers on Rup in the middle of that deal, and so that was the goal.
And watching him kind of walk and sit down on the bench in between innings, that, that might've even been asking a little too much.
But that's what he wanted to do.
The, the spot we tried to get in, and then we had to get him out of there.
So we'll check on him tomorrow, but for now, day to day stiffness in the back.
It's, back-to-back quality starts for Landon.
What have you made of these last two outings, and what's maybe been different compared to, you know, that rough patch that he was going through?
Yeah, I think better body language.
better job of handling adversity.
I think, you know, when he walked time, I haven't looked at the ABS or, or watched the video, but it looked like every pitch was right around, the strike zone.
Didn't get any calls, and again, maybe they're, they're just off the strike zone.
but he was right back to it.
And, and then the number one thing really out of those three would be just looking to induce contact.
And, you know, we were kind of a swing moment in the game there where something else happened.
Maybe he could've came out 15 pitches earlier than he did.
But if you really looked at it, they, they hadn't driven any balls against him.
I mean, there was a couple balls that were squared up to an extent, but, you know, because he was attacking, they put some balls in play.
But again, kind of cost of doing business there.
His, fielding ability, how much of a weapon is that?
Like, kind of having really another, almost infielder on the mound at some times, and, and what'd you think of the play behind the back?
Yeah, on a not good day, at least mention it's a fun topic.
Those guys argue.
I would throw out my votes in spring training, and then the season's gone on, and guys like Walker too have, have made really good plays.
Webby's made an achievement.
but it matters.
I, I even, I'll just Y- you know, I forget who I asked, but I asked how much of a, a difference maker it is at this level compared to college, 'cause it's a massive deal to have somebody that can hold runners and field your position, and I disagree with the answer based off my assessment.
I think it's a massive deal.
every out matters.
Obviously, we lost by three, but you don't know if you can go back in time and flip one of those at-bats into an out like he did with that spectacular play.
and then it kept him in the game too.
I mean, that was his last hitter.
we'd, we'd kind of brought it to the breach, but I don't know how you don't give him the next guy after he makes that play.
Did you get an explanation for why you didn't get an appeal on that check swing in the ninth, or did you?
I, I did, but I didn't I'm not the smartest, but I didn't, I didn't understand it.
I, I can't speak for another person, but it sounded like should've but didn't.
Again, I didn't, I didn't You know, maybe 'cause I was, had the blood boiling, I didn't quite understand the answer.
Does an appeal have to happen before the challenge?
That's protocol.
but you know, a couple other things were mentioned too.
I think, you know, however it's got listed in there, the ABS is obviously new, and there's certain things that have to occur.
I assume it's, it's allowable to, to check after the ABS, even if that's needed.
I mean, at that late in the game, you know, I think everybody's intent is to get it right.
