SAN FRANCISCO — Was it legal? Was it dirty? The San Francisco Giants tried to avoid the nastiest terms after Matt Holliday pummeled their scrappy second baseman, Marco Scutaro, with a late and hard takeout slide in the first inning of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. But one thing was unmistakable: It ticked them off.
Somehow, Scutaro played five more innings before leaving with an injured left hip. By then, Scutaro had gamely contributed a two-run single in a messy four-run fourth inning, and the Giants had run Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter out of the game. San Francisco’s 7-1 rout, its first victory in four games this postseason at AT&T Park, tied the series at one game apiece, with play shifting to St. Louis for Game 3 on Wednesday.
How’s this for delicious happenstance for the Giants? On Scutaro’s hit, Holliday, the left fielder, muffed the pickup for the second St. Louis error of the inning, allowing another run to score. Then in the eighth, Scutaro’s replacement, Ryan Theriot, singled in two more runs.
“I don’t know about the baseball gods, but I believe in God, and I believe in karma,” said Giants right fielder Hunter Pence. “Scutaro inspired all of us.”
Scutaro left the park before the game ended. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said X-rays of Scutaro’s hip showed no fracture, and he may be sent for a magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday. His status for Game 3 is uncertain.
“He was hurting,” Bochy said. “You could see him hobbling a little bit. He goes out and gets a big hit and plays well, but as the game went on, it gradually got worse.”
Holliday was on first base after a one-out single when Allen Craig grounded slowly to shortstop Brandon Crawford. Scutaro properly kept the bag between himself and the runner for safety, so Holliday needed a big effort to prevent a double play. Holliday dropped down right at the bag, turned his body and raised an elbow as Scutaro threw over him to first, too late to get Craig.
The collision looked gruesome. The raucous crowd of 42,679 booed Holliday before every at-bat the rest of the game.
“I tried to take the second baseman out — obviously no ill intent,” Holliday said.
“I’m not a dirty player. I wish I had started my slide a step earlier. I play hard and I’m trying to stay out of a double play. That’s really all it comes down to. People can say what they want. I hope he’s O.K.”
Bochy said: “I think they got away with an illegal slide there. That rule was changed a while back. And he really didn’t hit the dirt until he was past the bag. Marco was behind the bag and got smoked. It’s a shame someone got hurt because of this. That’s more of a roadblock.”
Various Giants, even the special assistant Will Clark, stopped short of calling the slide dirty. “It was clean because it was over the top of the bag, but it was very, very late,” said Clark, whose July 1988 takeout slide of St. Louis second baseman Jose Oquendo, now the club’s third-base coach, triggered a famed Cardinals-Giants melee.
Giants catcher Buster Posey said the slide appeared shaky to him, too. “I don’t think the intent was to hurt him, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was a late slide,” he said. Holliday said he asked Posey about Scutaro before an at-bat later in the game.
Pence said: “We’re not bad-mouthing Holliday. He’s playing hard. We do not feel that he went to hurt Scutaro. Scutaro got hit at a bad angle. Everything’s on the line right now. Scutaro pushing through it pumps you up.”
Lost in all this was a strong effort from San Francisco starter Ryan Vogelsong, who outpitched Carpenter while giving the Giants their first quality start (three earned runs or fewer in at least six innings) of the postseason.
By limiting the Cardinals to one run and four hits over seven innings, Vogelsong providing a badly needed break for the bullpen after its five and a third innings of no-hit relief in Game 1.
Carpenter, out most of the season with right shoulder problems before making three starts late in the regular season, lasted only four innings and committed one of the two Cardinals errors in the fourth that led to three unearned runs.
That the Giants handled Carpenter the way they did was almost stunning. Carpenter was 4-0 last year in postseason, and took a 10-2 career mark into Monday after tossing five and two-thirds scoreless innings to win Game 3 of the division series.
But Angel Pagan, the former Met, provided an instant spark with a leadoff homer — his second this postseason — on Carpenter’s fourth pitch. Scutaro singled on the sixth. Carpenter tied the game with a second-inning double before the Giants broke out in the fourth.
Brandon Belt doubled with one out and stopped at third on a single by Gregor Blanco. Carpenter corralled Crawford’s high chopper near the first-base line and tossed on the run toward first. But Craig, the first baseman, also pursued the ball before scrambling back toward the bag. Unable to set his feet, Craig missed the throw. Carpenter was given an error as a run scored.
Vogelsong sacrificed with two strikes, earning a standing ovation. Pagan walked to load the bases. Scutaro singled to left-center for two runs, with Pagan scoring on Holliday’s error.
“It was pretty incredible what he was able to do,” Pence said of Scutaro.
Somehow, Scutaro played five more innings before leaving with an injured left hip. By then, Scutaro had gamely contributed a two-run single in a messy four-run fourth inning, and the Giants had run Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter out of the game. San Francisco’s 7-1 rout, its first victory in four games this postseason at AT&T Park, tied the series at one game apiece, with play shifting to St. Louis for Game 3 on Wednesday.
How’s this for delicious happenstance for the Giants? On Scutaro’s hit, Holliday, the left fielder, muffed the pickup for the second St. Louis error of the inning, allowing another run to score. Then in the eighth, Scutaro’s replacement, Ryan Theriot, singled in two more runs.
“I don’t know about the baseball gods, but I believe in God, and I believe in karma,” said Giants right fielder Hunter Pence. “Scutaro inspired all of us.”
Scutaro left the park before the game ended. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said X-rays of Scutaro’s hip showed no fracture, and he may be sent for a magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday. His status for Game 3 is uncertain.
“He was hurting,” Bochy said. “You could see him hobbling a little bit. He goes out and gets a big hit and plays well, but as the game went on, it gradually got worse.”
Holliday was on first base after a one-out single when Allen Craig grounded slowly to shortstop Brandon Crawford. Scutaro properly kept the bag between himself and the runner for safety, so Holliday needed a big effort to prevent a double play. Holliday dropped down right at the bag, turned his body and raised an elbow as Scutaro threw over him to first, too late to get Craig.
The collision looked gruesome. The raucous crowd of 42,679 booed Holliday before every at-bat the rest of the game.
“I tried to take the second baseman out — obviously no ill intent,” Holliday said.
“I’m not a dirty player. I wish I had started my slide a step earlier. I play hard and I’m trying to stay out of a double play. That’s really all it comes down to. People can say what they want. I hope he’s O.K.”
Bochy said: “I think they got away with an illegal slide there. That rule was changed a while back. And he really didn’t hit the dirt until he was past the bag. Marco was behind the bag and got smoked. It’s a shame someone got hurt because of this. That’s more of a roadblock.”
Various Giants, even the special assistant Will Clark, stopped short of calling the slide dirty. “It was clean because it was over the top of the bag, but it was very, very late,” said Clark, whose July 1988 takeout slide of St. Louis second baseman Jose Oquendo, now the club’s third-base coach, triggered a famed Cardinals-Giants melee.
Giants catcher Buster Posey said the slide appeared shaky to him, too. “I don’t think the intent was to hurt him, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was a late slide,” he said. Holliday said he asked Posey about Scutaro before an at-bat later in the game.
Pence said: “We’re not bad-mouthing Holliday. He’s playing hard. We do not feel that he went to hurt Scutaro. Scutaro got hit at a bad angle. Everything’s on the line right now. Scutaro pushing through it pumps you up.”
Lost in all this was a strong effort from San Francisco starter Ryan Vogelsong, who outpitched Carpenter while giving the Giants their first quality start (three earned runs or fewer in at least six innings) of the postseason.
By limiting the Cardinals to one run and four hits over seven innings, Vogelsong providing a badly needed break for the bullpen after its five and a third innings of no-hit relief in Game 1.
Carpenter, out most of the season with right shoulder problems before making three starts late in the regular season, lasted only four innings and committed one of the two Cardinals errors in the fourth that led to three unearned runs.
That the Giants handled Carpenter the way they did was almost stunning. Carpenter was 4-0 last year in postseason, and took a 10-2 career mark into Monday after tossing five and two-thirds scoreless innings to win Game 3 of the division series.
But Angel Pagan, the former Met, provided an instant spark with a leadoff homer — his second this postseason — on Carpenter’s fourth pitch. Scutaro singled on the sixth. Carpenter tied the game with a second-inning double before the Giants broke out in the fourth.
Brandon Belt doubled with one out and stopped at third on a single by Gregor Blanco. Carpenter corralled Crawford’s high chopper near the first-base line and tossed on the run toward first. But Craig, the first baseman, also pursued the ball before scrambling back toward the bag. Unable to set his feet, Craig missed the throw. Carpenter was given an error as a run scored.
Vogelsong sacrificed with two strikes, earning a standing ovation. Pagan walked to load the bases. Scutaro singled to left-center for two runs, with Pagan scoring on Holliday’s error.
“It was pretty incredible what he was able to do,” Pence said of Scutaro.
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