The unwritten rules police were out in full force Tuesday night with Padres players and coaches bristling at a puzzling decision made by Giants infielder Mauricio Dubon, bunting for an infield hit with a commanding nine-run lead in the sixth inning.
Dubon got an earful from Padres vet Eric Hosmer, who greeted him with some choice words at first base. “I definitely told him how I felt,” Hosmer relayed to AJ Cassavell, who covers the Padres’ beat for MLB.com. “You've been playing professional ball for a good amount of time obviously if you're at this level. You've got to be smarter than that.”
The Padres were similarly upset when outfielder Steven Duggar stole second base with the Giants already holding a 10-1 advantage in the second inning.
“I really don’t want to get into it,” said Padres skipper Bob Melvin after the game. “We were obviously mad about it. But we're not going to continue to talk about it. It happened. That's it.”
Clearly, the Padres didn’t care for San Francisco running up the score, pushing the envelope in a game that was essentially over by the second inning (the reigning NL West champs would win by a final count of 13-2). Despite what the Padres perceived as a lack of sportsmanship, Giants manager Gabe Kapler didn’t see it that way, defending his players for keeping their feet on the gas.
“Our goal is not exclusively to win one game in a series. It’s to try to win the entire series. Sometimes, that means trying to get a little deeper into the opposition’s 'pen,” explained Kapler. “We’re not trying to hurt anybody. We just want to score as many runs as possible, force the other pitcher to throw as many pitches as possible. If other clubs decide that they want to do the same thing to us, we’re not going to have any issue with it.”
The Padres’ argument reeks of sour grapes, frustrated at a division rival eating their lunch and going back to the buffet for seconds. There’s also a certain hypocrisy in the Padres weaponing the “unwritten rules” at their convenience after Fernando Tatis Jr. pulled essentially the same stunt in a game two years ago, slugging a 3-0 grand slam with San Diego leading by seven runs. It will be interesting to see if Tuesday night’s tension carries into Wednesday’s series finale at Oracle Park, which gets underway at 3:45 PM ET.
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