SAN FRANCISCO — A week later, the 2022 baseball season already has its first row over the unwritten rules.
By the end of Tuesday night’s second inning, the Giants had already built a nine-run lead over the Padres, ambushing starter Yu Darvish with six runs in the first and four more in the second. At that point it was essentially game over. The drama was just beginning.
Steven Duggar, whose single went over the final run of that second inning, promptly took second base by a nine-run lead. Then at the end of the sixth, with the Giants still leading by nine, Mauricio Dubón dropped a sick single on the third baseline.
The Padres’ dugout did not respond kindly to the situation. Manager Bob Melvin chirped from the top step. First baseman Eric Hosmer made his feelings known to Dubón.
“I definitely told him how I felt, how we think about it,” Hosmer said after the Giants’ 13-2 win at Oracle Park. “He said it was a sign given to him by their staff. I just told him that I think you need to be a little smarter in this situation. You’ve obviously been playing pro ball for quite some time if you’re at this level. You have to be smarter than that.”
The Giants thought otherwise. They felt that Dubón’s bunt and Duggar’s steal were within the unwritten rules. Those were the smart games, they said.
“I fully support both decisions,” said Giants manager Gabe Kapler. “Our goal isn’t just to win a game in a series. It’s trying to win the entire series. Sometimes that means trying to dig a little deeper into the opposition’s pen. I understand that many teams don’t like this strategy.”
“And I understand why. That’s something we talked about as a club ahead of the season and that we were happy with that strategy. It’s not meant to be disrespectful in any way. That’s because we feel very cool and strategic. It’s the best way to win a streak. When I say cool, I mean calm. We’re not emotional about it. We try not to hurt anyone. We just want to get as many runs as possible, force the other pitcher to throw as many pitches as possible. If other clubs decide they want to do the same to us, we have no problem with that.”
Two years ago, of course, the Padres were at the center of another unwritten rule infraction when Fernando Tatis Jr. scored a grand slam in a 3-0 run with his team leading by seven runs in Texas. The Rangers weren’t too pleased, and the next pitch was sailing behind Manny Machado. In the days following the incident, the Padres defended Tatis and noted the importance of berthing runs.
On Tuesday night, it was the Padres, down by nine runs and seemingly struggling with the Giants bending (or breaking) unwritten rules to boost the scoring. Nothing further came of the incident, however, and the Giants easily won the game with right fielder Wil Myers putting up the eighth inning for San Diego.
Dubón’s Bunt came on the mound at the end of the sixth with right-handed Dinelson Lamet. It was a perfectly executed bunt on the third baseline. Lamet didn’t stand a chance. Padre’s third baseman Machado barely moved.
“I’m not trying to respect anyone,” Dubón said. “We’re just trying to win a series. That means holding rallies so we can burn guns. That’s it. I’m not trying to respect anyone.”
Nonetheless, Dubón arrived at first base to an irate Hosmer and an irate Padres dugout. Afterward, Melvin simply said, “I have no comment on either of them. I really don’t want to go into that.”
The Padres and Giants have 17 more games this season, and their series finale is scheduled for Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. PT. Does Hosmer consider this matter closed?
“The game is over, we lost, it happened,” he said. “Of course we were angry about it. But we won’t talk about it any further. It happened. That’s it. Move on to the next, try to win a streak.”
In the eyes of the Giants, that was all they were trying to do all along.