Yaz sends message to Gold Glove voters

SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski showed why he was a 2021 Gold Glove finalist in Tuesday night’s 4-3 series-opening win over the Tigers at Oracle Park.

Yastrzemski displayed his mastery of the position by making an incredible leaping catch to rob Miguel Cabrera in the eighth inning and executing a perfect throw to second base to prevent Javier Báez from stretching a single into a double in the fourth.

Yastrzemski’s performance highlighted a strong defensive game for the Giants, who were coming off a sloppy 10-3 defeat that sealed a series loss to the lowly Reds on Sunday. Manager Gabe Kapler said afterward that he planned to use Monday’s off-day to meet with his coaching staff to discuss ways “to right the ship and get back on track.”

The result?

“Much, much crisper,” Kapler said. “Noticeably crisper and one of the better defensive games we’ve played this season. If we play defense behind our starting pitchers like that, we’re going to win a lot of games.”

Yastrzemski came through for the Giants at the plate, too, delivering a two-out, two-strike single to knock in a pair of runs in the fifth and help back left-hander Carlos Rodón, who struck out four over six innings of one-run ball to lower his ERA to a splendid 2.62 on the season.

Rodón allowed only seven hits and one walk, though he was removed after throwing 86 pitches due to a split nail on his left middle finger. Kapler said Rodón deals with the issue “perpetually” and doesn’t see it as a major issue.

Rodón leaned exclusively on his fastball-slider combination to stymie the Tigers, improving to 3-0 with a 0.67 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 27 innings over his last four starts. The 29-year-old currently ranks third in the National League in strikeouts (105), seventh in ERA (2.62) and eighth in opponents’ batting average (.210), making him a strong candidate to earn his second consecutive All-Star selection.

Rodón said he believes his recent dominance is partly due to his ability to retain a calmer demeanor on the mound, though he gave credit to his defense, as well.

“The boys were making plays tonight,” Rodón said. “I definitely have to give my hat's off and kudos to them.”

The Giants have struggled defensively this year, entering Tuesday with the third-fewest defensive runs saved (-24) in the Majors, according to FanGraphs, though they showed that they’re capable of playing to a higher level against the Tigers.

“It seemed like there was a little more sense of urgency,” Yastrzemski said. “Sometimes you just need an off-day to refresh and kind of remember who you are as a player and kind of get back in the swing of things.”

Yastrzemski set the tone early, ranging 111 feet into foul territory to snag a fly ball off the bat of Robbie Grossman for the first out of the game. He then flashed his strong arm to lead off the fourth, playing the ball perfectly off the wall and firing a strike to second base to nab Báez. That play came two days after Yastrzemski made a mental mistake by throwing to the wrong base on Sunday, helping the Reds run away with the game early.

“I think in many ways he just understands the angles very well out there,” Kapler said. “He’s great around the wall, he’s fearless with his body. We’ve seen him play a good center field as well. I think he’s also made some plays more recently that he’d like to do over. I think for that reason, he’s showing an elevated level of concentration and athleticism. He’s an excellent outfielder. It’s just a matter of time before he gets on course where he’s making play after play like that.”

Yastrzemski only added to his highlight reel with his unreal catch in the eighth, which denied Cabrera his third hit of the night. Yastrzemski dashed toward right-center field, leapt and snowconed the ball to make the grab for the second out of the inning.

“It was hit hard, but it went right in the lights right away,” Yastrzemski said. “I caught a glimpse of it in the half-second to have an idea that like, ‘All right, this ball is over my head, I probably need to jump a little bit.’ But I think I jumped, closed my eyes and put my head down. I was kind of just hoping it went in my glove, and I’m glad it did.”

The Tigers went on to pull within one on Willi Castro’s RBI single off Dominic Leone, but Camilo Doval managed to keep the Giants’ 4-3 lead intact by striking out Jonathan Schoop with the bases loaded to end the inning. Doval returned to the mound in the ninth and worked a scoreless inning to cap his four-out save, helping the Giants take the first matchup of this brief two-game Interleague series.

“That play changed the whole game,” Cabrera said, referring to Yastrzemski’s catch. “After that, we got a good rally, two walks, base hit. If he didn't catch that, I think we were going to take the game there."