Tony Vitello just made his first unforgivable blunder as SF Giants manager

A lot happened in Thursday's contentious matchup between the SF Giants and Cincinnati Reds. From guys getting intentionally drilled to the benches clearing after the final pitch of the game, it is understandable that a blunder from manager Tony Vitello flew under the radar.

In the top of the eighth with Luis Arraez at the plate, he hit a ball to left-center that Reds center fielder TJ Friedl laid out to grab. On first glance, it looked like a great diving catch to prevent an extra base hit. But on further examination it's clear that the ball popped out of his glove and hit the ground.

Tony Vitello completely missed an obvious challenge opportunity for the Giants

Arraez should have been on second base easily had the Giants challenged the call, but Vitello, his coaching staff, and the video room completely missed it.

To Vitello's credit, he owned up to the blunder after the game. He said he did not challenge in time and also said he was not sure where Arraez may have been placed had the challenge been successful.

Still, that's just something that cannot happen in that situation. Yes, the Giants were up by three runs at that point and had the game in hand. There are no guarantees that someone would have driven Arraez in had he been granted second base after the challenge. San Francisco's offense has left more than a few ducks on the pond this season.

But maybe the Giants would have gotten an extra insurance run as a result of challenging that call. With how shaky the bullpen has been at times, that run could have made all the difference.

Thankfully, Erik Miller came in and closed the door with a slam as he punched out Sal Stewart and then started pointing at Reds players as they stormed the field. Yet, if the Giants had somehow ended up losing that game there would have been egg on Vitello's face.

That blunder came a day after the Giants did not have a right fielder for a moment as Jerar Encarnacion could not find his glove in the dugout. These are fairly minor things, but if amateurish stuff like this continues then there will be increased scrutiny of Vitello who has already drawn some heat early on.

As it stands, the missed challenge can be viewed as a mistake that did not have an impact on the final score. Vitello and his staff need to learn from it though and ensure it does not happen again.

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