News » strikeouts and one walk

Buster Posey certainly thought he got hit by a pitch in retaliation.

Manager Bruce Bochy is still disappointed the Marlins plunked Evan Longoria last week and the third baseman is now recovering from surgery on his left hand.

Miami’s Don Mattingly insists nobody on either side was intentionally hit and became upset that the umpires warned both teams too quickly.

Posey homered in the first James Bradberry Jersey , Gorkys Hernandez hit a two-run drive in the second and an RBI double later, and the San Francisco Giants held their lead this time to beat the Marlins 6-3 on Tuesday in another night of plunking by both pitching staffs.

Marlins starter Dan Straily and Mattingly were automatically ejected in the second after Straily hit Posey on the left arm with a pitch. Both sides had been warned by plate umpire Andy Fletcher the previous inning after Giants rookie starter Dereck Rodriguez beaned Lewis Brinson as tempers flared for a second straight game.

Whether it was intentional by Straily, Posey said: ”I don’t know. It sure seemed that way.”

Three players were hit and both benches warned early, upsetting Mattingly that the warning came after only his player had been hit.

”I think everybody knows if you give one warning after one guy then you’re asking for trouble out of the blue,” Mattingly said.

He added: ”I’m sure Rodriguez didn’t mean to hit Brinson and Straily didn’t mean to hit Buster. … If they thought there was going to be something going on they should have given both teams warnings before the game. If they thought it was intentional on their part, (Rodriguez) should have been out of the game.”

The tension began during Monday’s series opener when Hunter Strickland took exception to Brinson’s celebration following his tying RBI single in the ninth off the Giants closer, who blew the save and took the loss. Brinson appeared to say something to the reliever on his way to first. Brinson was at third when Strickland was pulled and the two exchanged words.

The Giants closer later broke his pitching hand punching a door in frustration and had surgery Tuesday.

Rodriguez (2-1) struck out six over five innings. He hit Derek Dietrich in the fourth but it wasn’t considered intentional so he was safe from being tossed from his fourth career start. He had a no-decision in a 16-inning Giants win against the Marlins last Thursday.

Straily was ejected for the first time in his career while Mattingly got tossed for the 35th time as both player – seven times – and manager.

”My response I guess would be: Were they throwing at Longoria? (Kelby Tomlinson) got hit in the back last night, so that’s my response, were they throwing at him?” Bochy said.

Elieser Hernandez relieved Straily (2-3), who had been 4-0 with 2.82 in his initial six starts against the Giants.

Andrew McCutchen immediately singled and Brandon Belt drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Giants up 4-0 – the same lead they held in the early innings Monday only to squander it and fall 5-4 as Strickland gave it up and lost his cool. He will be out six to eight weeks.

JT Riddle hit a two-run triple in the fourth following singles by Starlin Castro and Miguel Rojas. Brian Anderson’s RBI double four batters later snapped an 0-for-10 stretch over his previous three games.

The Giants added on in the fifth with consecutive RBI doubles by Alen Hanson, his second of the night, and Hernandez.

Posey sent the first pitch he saw from Straily midway up the bleachers in left-center before Hernandez – who didn’t hit a single homer all last season and now has eight – connected following Hanson’s double leading off the second.

The Marlins left the bases loaded in the second after Rojas reached on second baseman Joe Panik’s one-out throwing error and Riddle singled before Brinson was plunked.

STRICKLAND’S (LATEST) PUNCH

An X-ray after Monday’s game revealed the break of Strickland’s pinkie, similar to what sidelined lefty ace Madison Bumgarner to begin the season after he was hurt in his final spring training start.

Strickland, who apologized on social media Tuesday, had shown Bochy maturity since his fight with Nationals star Bryce Harper in late May of last year.

Bochy said after the game Sam Dyson would be his regular closer. Dyson came in to relieve Will Smith and record the final two outs on a double play for his second save.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: 1B Garrett Cooper (bruised right wrist) played four innings for a second straight game at Class A Jupiter and was set to continue his rehab with Triple-A New Orleans.

Giants: SS Brandon Crawford is expected to rejoin the team from paternity leave Wednesday and play again Thursday. … All went as expected with Longoria’s surgery on his hand and he was accompanied by athletic trainer Dave Groeschner at the procedure in Los Angeles. Longoria was headed to Arizona and is in a soft cast for a few days then is scheduled to rejoin the Giants in the Bay Area on Friday or Saturday. … RHP Johnny Cueto, who threw a 40-pitch, two-inning simulated game Monday, is likely headed out soon to begin a rehab assignment as he works back from inflammation in his pitching elbow. … RHP Pierce Johnson was on his way from Triple-A Sacramento to take Strickland’s roster spot.

UP NEXT

Marlins: RHP Jose Urena (2-8, 4.18 ERA) looks to win back-to-back starts for the first time this season and build off his best outing of 2018. He tossed eight shutout innings Friday at Baltimore.

Giants: LHP Derek Holland (4-7, 4.48), coming off a loss last Friday at the Dodgers, pit

CLEVELAND — Cody Allen is one of the least acclaimed yet most productive closers in the major leagues. On Friday night. when the Cleveland Indians open a three-game series with the Oakland A’s, Allen will be in uniform at Progressive Field for the first time as the Indians’ career saves leader.

In pitching the ninth inning of a 3-2 Cleveland win in Kansas City on Wednesday, Allen posted his 140th career save, breaking Bob Wickman’s franchise record of 139, which had stood since 2006.

“He means so much to all of us,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said of Allen. “This is a kid who was drafted in the 16th round, but through being a consummate professional, he’s now the Indians’ all-time leader. That’s pretty awesome. It’s a big accomplishment Jake Muzzin Jersey , and he’s not close to being done.”

Allen (2-3, 3.38 ERA) ranks seventh in the American League this year with 18 saves, but his year-in, year-out consistency has been his trademark. He has had at least 30 saves in each of the last three seasons. Only two other closers in the majors can say that: the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen and Boston’s Craig Kimbrel.

“This is something I’m extremely proud of,” Allen said of passing Wickman as the club’s saves leader. “It’s something I get to hang my hat on for my career. It’s very cool.”

The A’s (48-39) come to Cleveland with nearly the same record as the Indians (48-37), but what a difference a division makes. The first-place Indians lead the AL Central by 11 1/2 games. The A’s are in third in the AL West, 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Houston Astros.

The A’s won two of three games from the Indians last weekend in Oakland. That was part of a longer streak in which the A’s have won eight of their last nine. Since June 16, Oakland is 14-3.

“I think we’re having a lot of fun,” A’s third baseman Matt Chapman told MLB.com, “and no matter what the score is, I don’t think we count ourselves out. There’s no panic in the dugout. We just keep playing our game. We trust that we’re a good team.”

On Friday night, the A’s will send Paul Blackburn (2-2, 6.46 ERA) to the mound. In his last start on June 29 in Oakland, Blackburn baffled the Indians, pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings and giving up just three hits in a 3-1 victory.

Blackburn has started five major league games this year. In the one against Cleveland, he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and an opponents’ batting average of .150. In the other four starts, he’s 1-2 with an 8.83 ERA and an opponents’ batting average of .324. In two career starts against the Indians, Blackburn is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA.

Cleveland will counter with Carlos Carrasco (8-5, 4.24), who will make his first start since June 16, a 9-3 loss to Minnesota in which he was knocked out of the game in the second inning after getting hit in the right arm by a line drive off the bat of Joe Mauer.

Carrasco was placed on the 10-day disabled list the next day with a right elbow contusion. He made one rehab start at Double-A Akron on June 30, pitching four scoreless innings and giving up one hit with four strikeouts and one walk.

Carrasco’s last legitimate start was his best start of the year, a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on June 11. In that game, he pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up two hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts.

In six career appearances, including five starts, against Oakland, Carrasco is 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA.