Giants’ frustrations with umpires lead to pregame ejection for coach before loss

A long day at Oracle Park opened with a bang on Saturday, even if it went unnoticed by most fans: Ron Wotus, a non-traveling member of the San Francisco Giants coaching staff, got himself tossed during the scorecard exchange. 

The bench coach for the Giants‘ three championship teams the previous decade, Wotus clearly didn’t care for the ejections leveled the previous night. Alan Porter, who was the home-plate umpire Friday night, had tossed manager Tony Vitello and he and Wotus exchanged some heated words Saturday until Wotus earned the early shower. 

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That was the most significant action in the first game of the day-night doubleheader until Lars Nootbaar‘s grand slam in the seventh off reliever Ryan Walker made up the bulk of the scoring in the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ 7-1 win.  All three baserunners reached via walks, two by starter Matt Wilkinson in an otherwise excellent six-plus inning home debut, and one by Walker. It was the second slam the Giants’ bullpen has allowed this week following Eugenio Suárez‘s drive off Dylan Smith on Wednesday, the centerpiece of the Reds‘ historic comeback from a six-run deficit in the ninth.

Wotus clearly was defending the Giants’ manager and, in doing so, he reflected the anger still percolating in the Giants’ dugout. There was a strong feeling after Friday’s game that the umpires are singling Vitello out because of his lack of pro baseball experience, or, at the very least, are quicker with the hook than they might be with others. Both Vitello and director of pitching Frank Anderson, who came with Vitello from Tennessee, have seen umpires make disparaging comments to them this season because of their college background, and Vitello said things “turned personal real quick” with Porter on Friday. 

Dusty Baker, on hand for Jeff Kent’s jersey retirement before Game 2, said he’s unsure if the treatment Vitello is receiving is just because he’s a rookie manager or because he came from the college ranks. “Maybe both,” Baker said. 

Vitello and the umpires kept their distance Saturday, at least in Game 1. The lineup-card exchange before Game 2 will be watched closely, and the choice for delivering the card will be interesting. 

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Wilkinson, 23, worked limited innings in his two stints as more of an opener; two in his big-league debut against Cleveland, his former organization, and 3⅔ innings at Boston on Sunday. With the Giants playing two games Saturday and the bullpen covering four innings the night before, Wilkinson needed to go as deep as possible, and he scattered three hits in his first six innings of work, retiring 12 in a row in the middle innings. 

He didn’t walk a batter until the seventh, when eight of the nine pitches he threw were balls, likely a sign of fatigue. Walker, back up from Triple-A Sacramento just this week, walked Tim Tawa then gave up Nootbaar’s slam on a 2-2 fastball at the top of the zone. Typically, Walker throws the four-seam fastball sparingly, just 4% of the time entering Saturday. Last year, he threw two, total. 

The Giants’ staff, especially the relievers, are under instructions to throw strikes because they’ve walked far too many – 48 this month from the bullpen entering Game 1, fifth most in the majors. Avoiding walks is laudable, but too many strikes can backfire occasionally, making pitchers a little more predictable. 

Left-hander Seth Lonsway, who was called up earlier in the morning, made his big-league debut and struck out Ildemaro Vargas to open the eighth. He gave up two hits and the Diamondbacks scored an unearned run off him thanks to Turner Hill’s error in left, and Arizona scored two more off him in the ninth. 

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Jung Hoo Lee, the Game 1 bobblehead honoree, drove in San Francisco‘s run with a single in the eighth. 

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This article originally published at Giants’ frustrations with umpires lead to pregame ejection for coach before loss.