Gausman grinds, splits difference in return

ATLANTA -- One start after saying he had lost that extra bite on his splitter, Kevin Gausman -- fresh off the COVID IL due to side effects from his vaccine and weathering a 35-minute rain delay in the first inning -- looked more like his All-Star self in facing his former team.

Gausman delivered his second quality start in eight outings since the All-Star break, but it wasn’t enough as the bullpen slipped in the Giants’ 6-5 loss to the Braves in the series opener on Friday at Truist Park.

Gausman leaned heavily on his splitter once again -- throwing it on 39 of 91 pitches -- to excellent results. Although he only got four whiffs and one strikeout on the pitch, the Braves swung at it 20 times and went just 1-for-8 against it overall. Freddie Freeman was the only one to hit the splitter harder than 95 mph (98.3 mph), and that went for an easy flyout.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler didn’t think that pitch was all the way back to where it was when Gausman earned his first All-Star Game selection earlier this season, but it can still be a very effective pitch drawing weak contact. Heading into the game, opponents had just a .151 wOBA against the pitch, fourth best in baseball among pitchers with at least 100 results against their splitter.

“He rarely gives up hard contact on that pitch,” Kapler said. “If you go back and look at the history of the pitch, it's one of the elite pitches in the game, so it's not a surprise. We're not necessarily looking for that pitch to be perfect, but just that he keeps throwing it because, just historically, good things happen when he throws that pitch.

“It doesn't mean it has the best action, it doesn't really have to have the next best action all the time. It's just a pitch that hitters don't tend to get the barrel on.”

Gausman worked through traffic and gave up two runs in the early innings, but oddly enough his turning point came after he did the splits and fell while covering first base on a grounder in the third inning. The play aggravated a hip injury that has bothered him since his April 24 start against the Marlins.

Pushing through the pain, Gausman got ahead of hitters by filling up the strike zone. Crucially, his splitter improved throughout the start, and the right-hander did not issue a walk -- just the fifth time he's done that in 26 starts this season.

“It's pretty good tonight,” Gausman said. “I felt like I had some ones that were back to what they were. I also had some pretty bad ones that were up and in on righties. I'm trying to throw that pitch down and away, so it's a bad miss for me, but you know it's definitely better than it has been and that's encouraging going forward for sure.”

The Giants lifted Gausman for a pinch-hitter after 91 pitches, and his absence was immediately felt. He took a no-decision as the Braves put up a four-spot in the seventh to take the lead for good on Ozzie Albies’ RBI double off Tony Watson and Jorge Soler’s go-ahead three-run homer off Zack Littell.