[新聞] Giants hang on after Wilson's tantrum
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Giants hang on after Wilson's tantrum
By Chris Haft / MLB.com | 7/2/2011 1:08 AM ET
DETROIT -- Brian Wilson's emotional outburst in the Giants' dugout Friday
night seemed to parallel the team's apparently imminent meltdown on the field.
Fortunately for Wilson and the Giants, Jeremy Affeldt induced Brennan
Boesch's soft line drive that shortstop Brandon Crawford turned into an
unassisted double play to halt the Detroit Tigers' ninth-inning rally and
seal San Francisco's 4-3 Interleague victory.
Until that instance of baseball luck, the Giants appeared destined to absorb
their third consecutive loss in an opponent's last at-bat. Instead, they
escaped with an improbable triumph that was made that much more entertaining
by Wilson's tantrum.
The source of Wilson's frustration wasn't just his second straight blown
save, which was forged in the eighth inning when he yielded Magglio Ordonez's
two-out RBI single that tied the score, 1-1. Wilson's anger escalated in the
ninth inning, after Pablo Sandoval's second RBI double and bases-loaded walks
by Nate Schierholtz and Crawford put San Francisco ahead, 4-1.
Detroit's ninth began with singles by Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta off
Wilson. Ryan Raburn forced Peralta at second base before Wilson walked Alex
Avila to load the bases. That set up Brandon Inge's RBI single and prompted
Giants manager Bruce Bochy to replace Wilson with Jeremy Affeldt.
What happened then was maddening enough. Second baseman Emmanuel Burriss
mishandled Andy Dirks' grounder for an error, scoring Raburn and keeping the
bases loaded.
Up came Boesch, who hit what initially appeared to be a single up the middle
that almost certainly would have scored two runs to win it for Detroit. But
the ball traveled to Crawford as he converged on second base, making it
simple for him to make the catch and step on the bag to end the game.
"I knew [Boesch] didn't hit it that well," Crawford said. "I thought he got
jammed a little bit. Then I saw Inge come off the bag and I knew we had a
shot."
Affeldt briefly considered the worst.
"He hit it and I turned around and looked and went, 'Please no -- I mean,
yes,'" he said.
Detroit manager Jim Leyland summarized the conclusion succinctly.
"For us, it was hit in exactly the wrong spot, and for them it was hit in
exactly the right spot," Leyland said. "That's a tough one. You don't have to
be very far off [the base]. I mean, you're trying to score. There's nothing
you can do about it. Just a freaky play."
That was nothing compared to Wilson's escapades. He strode from the mound
after Bochy removed him and, after briefly stalking around the dugout, picked
up one of the two large plastic orange beverage containers and flung it to
the floor. He grabbed a bat and, with a running start, used it to pummel the
defenseless container. Still furious with himself, Wilson briefly resumed
pacing the dugout before he flung the bat and swiped at a tray bearing bubble
gum and sunflower seeds, which explained why television cameras showed him
flexing his pitching hand later. In an unintentionally hilarious act, Wilson
returned the beverage container to its proper place.
"I was [angry] about what happened. That's it," Wilson said. "It's not that
enjoyable to go out and give up two runs."
Asked whether his temper had ever erupted so physically, Wilson replied, "I
don't know. Mentally, yes. ... I gave myself 30 seconds. It passed. I came
back to reality."
Told that ESPN's "SportsCenter" likely would replay his display endlessly,
Wilson said, "I don't watch 'SportsCenter.'"
As for his hand, Wilson said, "My hand is fine. Ask the wall."
The Giants threw their support behind Wilson, who has blown save
opportunities in two consecutive games just once previously: Sept. 9-10,
2008, against Arizona. This squandered chance offset another solid
performance by Madison Bumgarner, who struck out nine in 7 1/3 innings and
left with a 1-0 lead.
"You're going to have snaps and frustration," Bochy said. "There's a lot of
intensity going around with these guys. That's how they play, so they have to
let it out. Willie does. What's important is that he keeps his poise on the
mound."
It also was just the second time this season that Bochy had inserted Wilson
in the eighth inning. Bochy reasoned that Wilson was mostly fresh, despite
pitching Thursday and allowing Aramis Ramirez's ninth-inning home run that
forced extra innings.
"He made some good pitches," Bochy said. "They just got enough of it to get
base hits."
Affeldt put matters in perspective by citing Wilson's body of work for the
Giants: "He's picked us up so much in the past, he deserves for us to pick
him up."
Particularly after Wilson throws inanimate objects down.
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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