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The season is young, but we have our first unwritten rules dispute. On Tuesday, the Giants took an early lead during a game between the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants by a nine-run lead by the end of the second inning. They weren’t done yet.
Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth inning: Mauricio Dubón hit a bad single while the Giants still had a nine-run lead. The Padres were obviously not happy about the decision to make bunt. San Diego coach Bob Melvin had a few words for Dubón, as did Eric Hosmer.
“I definitely told him how I felt, how we felt about it,” Hosmer said. “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 must be smarter than that.”
The Giants had a different opinion. Giants manager Gabe Kapler said:
“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 get a little deeper into the opponent’s pen. I understand that many teams don’t love this strategy. And I understand why. It’s something we’ve talked about as a club ahead of the season and that we’re comfortable with that strategy. It’s not meant to be disrespectful in any way. It’s because we think very coolly and strategically. It’s the best way to win a streak. When I say cool, I mean calm. We’re not in it emotionally. We’re not trying to hurt anyone.
Dubón also defended himself, saying, “I’m not trying to respect anyone. We’re just trying to win a streak. That means holding rallies so we can burn guns. That’s it. I’m not trying to respect anyone.” “
The Giants scored four more runs after the Bunt to win 13-2.
CBS Sports incorrectly stated in the original version of this story that Run Differential is one of the tiebreakers MLB will use in place of Game 163 in the 2022 season. Run differential was discussed as a tiebreaker, but that rule didn’t make it into the new CBA. The five tiebreakers MLB uses this season are head-to-head record, intradivision record, interdivision record, last half of intraleague games, and last half of intraleague games plus one until the tie is broken. We apologize for the error.