Giants' Smyly exits game vs. Rangers with…
Giants' Smyly exits game vs. Rangers with injury
San Francisco Giants pitcher Drew Smyly exited Saturday's game at Oracle Park with the Texas Rangers near the start of the fifth inning with what was described as left index finger discomfort
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – AUGUST 1: San Francisco Giants' Drew Smyly (18) pitches against the Texas Rangers in the first inning of their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic fans are not allowed in the ballpark. The 2020 Major League Baseball season was shortened to only 60 regular season games. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By Curtis Pashelka | cpashelka@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: August 1, 2020 at 8:08 p.m. | UPDATED: August 2, 2020 at 3:56 a.m.
SAN FRANCISCO — Giants left-hander Drew Smyly exited Saturday's game at Oracle Park with the Texas Rangers near the start of the fifth inning with what was described as left index finger discomfort.
Smyly was pitching to Rob Refsnyder and had a 1-1 count when play was halted. Smyly, still appearing to be in some discomfort, was visited on the mound by manager Gabe Kapler and trainer L.J. Petra. He later tried to throw some practice pitches, but could not continue and came out of the game.
After the Giants' 7-3 win Saturday, Kapler said Smyly will have an MRI on Sunday.
Right-handed reliever Shaun Anderson replaced Smyly and got Elvis Andrus to ground into a double play. After Anderson walked both Nick Solak and Adolis Garcia, he was replaced by Caleb Baragar, who struck out Joey Gallo to end the threat.
Up until that point, Smyly had been enjoying an effective start, allowing three hits and two earned runs on 71 pitches. He had seven strikeouts.
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Smyly should have escaped the first inning unscathed when the Rangers scored their first two runs, but the Giants botched a rundown that allowed Elvis Andrus to get back to third base. Todd Frazier then singled to right to score both Andrus and Joey Gallo and give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
Smyly, 31, threw 57 pitches through three innings. Kapler has been looking for more efficiency from his starting staff, which had not been able to complete five innings in the first eight games of the season.
"He started to get very efficient and he started to really attack the strike zone," Kapler said of Smyly. "What that did was, it enabled him to pitch into the fifth inning. We felt like he really had a chance to complete that inning."
But as has been the case for most of the homestand, the Giants' offense provided enough run support to overcome the hiccups by the starting staff. Coming into Saturday, the Giants had scored 25 runs in four games at Oracle Park, which included their 9-2 win over the Rangers on Friday night.
Evan Longoria and Donovan Solano both drove in two runs as the Giants took a 4-2 lead in the third inning.
In his first start of the season on July 26, Smyly lasted 3 1/3 innings, throwing 64 pitches and allowing one earned run in what turned into a 3-1 win over the Dodgers.
Curtis Pashelka | San Jose Sharks reporter
Curtis Pashelka is the San Jose Sharks reporter for the Bay Area News Group. Prior to covering the Sharks, Curtis served as the high school sports editor for the East Bay. He also worked as a general assignment reporter covering motorsports, golf and college basketball, and as a backup writer on the A's, Giants and Warriors. He started at the organization in 2000 and spent close to eight years covering high school sports.
cpashelka@bayareanewsgroup.com
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