“I was shocked when I turned around and Craw was running,” he said. Soon, the celebration gave him his answer. The pitcher noted “that’s the first time I’ve pulled a ball in the big leagues, so I didn’t really know how to gauge it” or know whether he had done his job. Gausman’s teammates chest bumped him and cheered near first base a day after the right-hander took his first defeat since July 30. Instead, Gausman hit a flyball to shallow right field and Brandon Crawford beat the throw home with a head-first slide. “I honestly thought he’d probably take that 3-2 pitch so he didn’t expand the strike zone and maybe swing at one over his head or something,” Snitker said. “Obviously I never would have thought I would have got in that situation coming to the ballpark today.”īraves manager Brian Snitker got caught off guard by it. “More than anything I was trying to not look ridiculous, just take good swings, swing at strikes,” a giddy Gausman recounted. 184 average this season, hit for reliever Camilo Doval, who had never batted in his professional career. The Giants had only pitchers left on the bench when Gausman, with a. The Giants, saved when Donovan Solano came off the COVID-19 injured list and connected for a tying, pinch-hit home run with two outs in the ninth, moved two games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division race.Ītlanta had its NL East lead trimmed to two games over Philadelphia.
