Will Giants go international again after 'challenging' Mexico City series?
Will Giants go international again after 'challenging' series? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
MEXICO CITY -- A day after the Giants and San Diego Padres combined for 11 homers in a game that didn't always resemble baseball, MLB officials informed Gabe Kapler that there had been a malfunction with the ballpark's humidor, which is meant to make balls less lively. But that wasn't the reason for the home run derby.
As is the norm during MLB’s special events, the balls were stored at the same settings as they would be at sea level, which was a mistake given that Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú is more than 2,000 feet higher than Coors Field. Even storing them at Coors Field’s humidor levels for a couple of weeks might have been helpful, but the weekend was as much a learning experience as it was an NL West series.
The Giants lost both games, with Sunday's more closely resembling baseball at Oracle Park or Petco. That was in part due to the pitchers. Alex Cobb allowed three runs over five innings and had a more normal stat line than the previous day's pitchers, and Yu Darvish went six innings -- allowing three homers -- before turning it over to a bullpen that didn't allow a hit. None of it was easy, though.
"It was challenging," Cobb said. "Watching the game yesterday, knowing I was going to pitch today, your mind starts racing a little bit. I threw a couple of bullpens while I was out here and the ball wasn't moving very much. I just kind of showed up and fortunately had enough stuff and movement to get me through five."
While the ball flies further in thin air, it also comes out faster for starting pitchers, and Cobb took advantage. His fastball averaged nearly 96 mph and he hit 97 twice, something he had done just four times previously in his career. Camilo Doval seemed to enjoy the weekend as much as anyone, and he hit 103 mph and threw his four fastest pitches of the season on Sunday.
Perhaps the best example that baseball in Mexico City isn't dead on arrival was John Brebbia, who struggled Saturday and felt like he was throwing a ball that had a cover on it. A day later, Brebbia struck out the side. He said he looked at his pitch characteristics after his first outing at 7,349 feet and realized he wasn't getting as much horizontal movement as usual.
"The more reps you get, the easier it can be," he said. "I was starting my pitches in different places [on Sunday]."
Sunday's game, a 6-4 Padres win, was a sigh of relief for MLB officials who traveled to Mexico City for MLB's first-ever regular-season games in the city. A return trip looked like a bad idea after Saturday's game, but MLB is planning to run it back next year, with two teams already chosen and making plans to come down and check out the ballpark.
For the Giants, the trip was a long time coming. They tried to go to Asia for the first time in 2015, but the title run the previous October was so grueling that they opted for a normal spring. The Giants intend to get in the mix for future international games, although it might be a while before this staff agrees to go back to the altitude of Mexico City.
Kapler wasn't the only member of the coaching staff to speak to MLB officials, with one venting his frustrations during a Sunday morning conversation. The Giants also lost Brandon Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski to muscle strains, and several others had close calls.
As weird as Saturday's game was, it was part of a bigger plan, and MLB likely didn't mind that the game got so much attention on social media, even if pitchers hated it. Adjustments have to be made -- including to the humidor -- but overall the first trip to Mexico City was pretty smooth. It also allowed players to experience something new, and over time perhaps they'll appreciate that. First, a few of them need to work on lowering their ERAs.
"The environment was really cool," Cobb said. "The game itself was a challenge. The dry air, the altitude, physically it's exhausting. And then your stuff just isn't doing what it normally does."
--- There was good news for Crawford, who was "doing better than expected" on Sunday morning, per Kapler, and could return to the lineup as soon as Monday in Houston. It'll be much longer for Yastrzemski, who is likely to hit the IL after getting an MRI on Monday.
The roster move shouldn't be difficult. Brett Wisely was active over the weekend as a 27th man for the two games and, as a left-handed hitter who can play center field, should slide into a platoon with Austin Slater.
--- The final accounting on all the homers: 15 over two days, including eight by the Giants, who now rank third in the majors.
The 11 homers on Saturday were the most ever in a nine-inning Giants game. The franchise record is 12, set on August 16, 2019 when Yastrzemski hit three of them in a wild extra-innings win in Arizona. Wilmer Flores had two for the Diamondbacks that day.
The Giants and Padres set an MLB season-high for runs on Saturday, scoring four more than the previous high. At three hours, 44 minutes, it was also the longest nine-inning game of the season.
RELATED: Giants' first Mexico City experience 'unfair' for pitchers
--- Crawford's jersey was sent to the Hall of Fame after he hit a homer at the highest elevation in MLB history. It's the first Gigantes jersey in the Hall.
The shortstop also earned bragging rights, hitting the longest Giants homer of the Statcast Era. At 482 feet, his blast on Saturday edged Alex Dickerson's 480-foot homer at Coors Field three years ago. Crawford also edged good friend Brandon Belt, who hit one 475 at Coors Field in 2015.
--- The line of the weekend came from -- who else -- Brebbia. When the Padres challenged a play in the seventh, saying an inside pitch had hit Fernando Tatis Jr.'s bat, Brebbia walked over to the plate and stood around with Tatis and catcher Joey Bart.
"I asked him if he thought it was a foul ball," Brebbia cracked, "because I was immediately going to take that information to the umpire."
