Giants series recap: San Francisco splits series with Braves after Sunday’s ninth-inning stunner

May 30, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Juan Uribe (2) points to a fan after scoring on a RBI single by catcher Christian Bethancourt (not pictured) in the fourth inning of their MLB baseball game with the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports.

Game 3

I don’t think I want to talk about Saturday’s game—do I have to? Let me put it this way: If I never see another game like Saturday’s…well, you get the idea.

The Braves scored a run in the second, another in the third, fourth, fifth and eighth. I kept thinking “We’ll be OK—we own the eigth inning.” And then we were in the 8th inning. Despite a couple of hits and an error, the Giants put up a goose egg when it was all said and done. Joe Panik was put out at second on a Pence groundout–even though the Braves second baseman wasn’t touching the bag when he had the ball.

Wait, what? How can that be? Stuart Miller explained why in a New York Times article from May 3, 2014:

“It is the so-called neighborhood play, an unwritten rule going back decades that allows middle infielders to protect themselves by getting out of the way of hard-charging runners. In the process, they fail to complete the most basic task: touching the base while holding the ball.” Miller quoted Tony LaRussa to explain the reason why the neighborhood play is not reviewable: “This is for safety,” said Tony La Russa, a Hall of Fame manager who was a key member of the replay committee, when asked why the neighborhood play remained protected. “Nobody wants these guys getting clobbered.”

Just like that, the “magic wand-doo” inning became the “magic wand-don’t” inning. When the Braves came to the plate in the ninth, they tacked on three more.

Uribe had a great game—the Braves scored eight runs and Juan took part in five of them (3 runs, 2 RBI). He was a good Giant, but let’s face it—we’d prefer him to be a terrible Brave. I think the boos gave him more incentive to stick it to us, so let’s not boo him again, OK? No ooo’s either, please.

Final score: Giants 0, Braves 8

The Braves gave the Giants a taste of the medicine they were dishing out to everybody the month of May. And it was an extremely nasty pill to swallow. To use another metaphor–the shoe doesn’t fit so well on the other foot. So spit the pill out or take the shoe back, but either way, let’s not do this again.

Next: On to slide four