Unknown Giants reliever becoming postseason star
SAN FRANCISCO – Yusmeiro Petit introduced himself to the baseball-watching world with a tour de force performance in the San Francisco Giants' epic 18-inning win in the division series, then waited and waited some more.
The pitcher who had earned that critical victory over the Washington Nationals with six shutout innings had not gotten the call since that Oct. 4 game.
Manager Bruce Bochy was saving him for just the right situation, and it presented itself when the balance of the National League Championship Series was starting to tip toward the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
Holding a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning of Game 4, St. Louis was looking for a victory that would not only tie the series, but guarantee it would return to Busch Stadium. The Cardinals had already broken out for seven hits to that point, including their sixth home run of the series, and knocked former postseason hero Ryan Vogelsong out of the game after three innings.
That's typically the time when teams can pour it on and build on their lead, attacking the soft underbelly of an opponents' bullpen. But much like the Nationals, the Cardinals found Petit impossible to figure out, baseball's version of a Rubik's Cube with an assortment of precisely located breaking pitches complemented by a fastball that never tops 90 mph.
Petit shook off the rust and struck out the first three batters he faced, then completed three innings of one-hit shutout ball as the Giants came back to notch a 6-4 win that put them ahead 3-1 in the series.
"That was pretty huge,'' first baseman Brandon Belt said of Petit's effort, the first half of six scoreless innings by the bullpen. "When you're off for a week like that, it's pretty tough to come in and pitch good. That's exactly what he did. He gave us three shutdown innings and gave us a lot of confidence.''
By rallying from an early 4-1 deficit – the second-largest margin the Giants have ever overcome in the postseason – they moved within one victory of reaching the World Series for the third time in five years, after winning the championship in 2010 and 2012. Staff ace Madison Bumgarner will go for the clincher Thursday at AT&T Park.
Petit helped make that possible with his usual strategy of mesmerizing hitters with his soft stuff – his curveball has been especially effective of late – only to sneak his modest heater by them. Randal Grichuk and pitcher Shelby Miller went down swinging at fastballs in the 87-88 mph range, and Matt Carpenter stared at a 90 mph four-seamer for strike three to close out the fourth.
Petit allowed just two runners to get on base – one erased on a double play – as he pitched through the sixth, when San Francisco erupted for a decisive three-spot aided by two throwing miscues by Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams.
The rally gave Petit his second win of the postseason, tying him for the team lead with Bumgarner.
"These have been the best two wins of my life,'' said Petit, who shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen during the season. "When I got to the mound I didn't have the feeling on the ball for the first batter, but I was able to find it for the second and I mixed my pitches to get the outs.''
That bought the Giants time to go ahead in their own inimitable style. As has been their trademark through the playoffs, they cashing in on their opponent's mistakes. Of the 22 runs San Francisco has scored in six playoff games this year, 12 have come in without a hit.
This time it was Adams contributing to the Giants' cause. Adams had a hard time finding the handle on Gregor Blanco's soft chopper with runners on second and third in the fateful sixth, then compounded the problem with his short-hop throw to catcher Tony Cruz as Juan Perez scored the tying run.
The next mistake – both plays were correctly ruled fielder's choices, not errors – was even more costly.
With one out, Adams fielded Joe Panik's grounder and stepped on the bag, then tried to double up Blanco at second, but his throw sailed and pulled shortstop Jhonny Peralta off the bag, allowing Brandon Crawford to score and Blanco to reach scoring position. He came home on Buster Posey's single to make it 6-4.
"We've been doing a lot of the little things right,'' Crawford said after the Giants won their 14th postseason game in their last 16. "They kind of go unnoticed. People think we're getting lucky or whatever. But we're putting pressure on teams by doing things right, by running the bases well, by getting bunts down, by playing good defense.''
It's not especially artistic or awe-inspiring. Then again, neither is Petit, yet he has become a major contributor to what may wind up as another World Series run.
GALLERY: NLCS - CARDINALS vs. GIANTS