Every Giants-Dodgers game is something substantial in this rivalry.
The two storied franchises played 24 head-to-head contests this season and fittingly won a dozen games apiece. Since 2010, the Giants have a slight 111-110 edge in the overall series.
After watching the Giants’ season end with a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers on a controversial check-swing call on Wilmer Flores Thursday night in Game 5 of the NLDS, many had flashbacks to the night of July 22. That night, Darin Ruf waved at what should have been the game’s final strike, but first-base umpire Ed Hickox ruled he didn’t go around.
LaMonte Wade Jr. singled home the game-winning runs on the next at-bat. The Giants needed all 107 of their regular-season wins to take the National League West title and claim homefield advantage, making Oracle Park the site of Thursday night’s drama.
Perhaps the baseball gods had a hand in the cruel makeup call against Flores, nearly three months in the making. When addressing reporters after the game, Ruf couldn’t help but think back to his own check swing in Chavez Ravine.
“It didn't look like he went,” Ruf said. “But a check swing earlier in the year helped us out too. So it's kind of funny how it comes down to those two events.”
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Flores’ check swing will be remembered forever in Giants-Dodgers lore, but it wasn’t the reason for San Francisco’s demise this series. Once again, the offense couldn't get much of anything going against the Dodgers stable of powerhouse pitchers in Game 5. Beyond Ruf’s thunderous 452-foot solo blast against Julio Urias in the seventh inning, the Giants only had three runners reach scoring position all night.
For the series, the Giants were outscored 21-10 and averaged just two runs per game, while putting together a dismal team slash line of .182/.211/.302. The powerful lineup which led the National League in dingers was nowhere to be found.
“I just think it's just a disappointing way to end,” Kapler said. “There are other reasons we didn't win today's baseball game, so that was just the last call of the game.”
PECOTA win projections be damned, this 2021 Giants team defied all odds, but it’s over now. So is San Francisco’s Cinderella status, and Ruf knows it.
“We exceeded so many expectations this year that I think the bar's going to be raised for us going into next year and going into spring and early in the season,” Ruf said. “So we're not going to sneak up on anybody, but I know that the guys in that clubhouse are guys that are ready for that too.”