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New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
Several Giants seize late-night opportunities in stirring comeback win over Padres
Heliot Ramos sent a text message as soon as he heard the news. I appreciate your friendship. I appreciate the type of person you are and the support you always gave me. It's God's plan. So keep battling. The words were directed to LaMonte Wade Jr., whom the Giants designated for assignment after Tuesday night's stunning, 10-inning loss to the San Diego Padres. Wade had the misfortune of hitting .167 amid a lineup that was beginning to squeeze bat handles like turnips. Something had to be done before a talented pitching staff blew a gasket or before the team gave back the last remnants of their fast and frolicking April. So club president Buster Posey met face-to-face with a friend and former teammate and effectively fired him. Advertisement 'Yeah, it was a difficult decision,' Posey said. 'I think one of the trickier things for me is there's still guys on the team that I played with, so (I) had a different relationship with them as a player than I do now. I still consider LaMonte a buddy, you know. It wasn't an easy thing to do. But we've got to get some offense going.' The Giants ended the tenure of a Willie Mac Award winner whose unexpected, late-inning heroics in 2021 stood out as a particular inspiration on a team that achieved a franchise-record 107 victories. No, the Giants did not win a World Series in that charmed season. But one could argue that the breadth of their achievement was even more difficult and just as impressive. In clinching that National League West championship, they did what no other major league team had accomplished. They reduced a 106-win team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to runner-up status. They needed every one of their 107 wins to capture the division. And so many of those implausible wins were hand-delivered by the unheralded son of two longtime U.S. Postal Service workers. 'Late Night LaMonte' had kicked around the Minnesota Twins system for a half decade before coming to the Giants in an agate-typeface trade and receiving his first meaningful chance in the major leagues. He responded by making a win probability graph as useless as a compass at the North Pole. Wade flipped the game script over and over in 2021 while collecting 13 hits in 23 at-bats in the ninth inning that season. He memorably splashed a home run into McCovey Cove and over the head of his mother, Emily, while she was taking a stroll on the arcade. On a team with Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt, Wade was the player you most wanted at the plate with the game on the line. And when Wade batted in the ninth inning of the fifth game of the Giants' NL Division Series against those same Dodgers, he came within a fraction of an inch of hitting a walk-off home run that would have equaled Bobby Thomson's celebrated place in baseball lore. If only Wade had connected with Max Scherzer's pitch just an inch or two deeper, his swing could have resulted in something so much more than a cove-splashing foul fly ball. Advertisement If only 'Late Night LaMonte' hadn't been a fraction of a second too early. Instead, the Giants' season ended that night on the shores of McCovey Cove. We'd later learn that Posey's playing career ended that night, too. Everything about Posey the major leaguer was so exceptional, right down to this: the decision to walk away wasn't made for him but by him. That is not how it works for the vast majority of players. It's not how it worked for Wade on Tuesday. Posey made that decision, too. Asked prior to Wednesday's game how he would reflect on Wade's time as a Giant, Posey said he was struck by 'watching his progression as a major-league player. I think he came up as a guy that didn't necessarily believe in his talent level, and then he grew into believing in it, and he believed that he could be that guy late in games that would get big hits, and he provided many of those for us.' Several hours later, Ramos provided one more big hit. He batted in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and the fans on their feet and lashed a slider from San Diego Padres right-hander Jason Adam into the left field corner for a two-run double that completed the Giants' comeback from a five-run deficit. Jung Hoo Lee followed with a sacrifice fly and the Giants' tenuous advantage survived over the final six shaky outs in a 6-5 victory at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. A team that hadn't scored more than four runs in 16 consecutive games was able to erase a 5-0 deficit. Ramos delivered the loudest message of the night, standing on second base after his tying double, looking wide-eyed into the home dugout and screaming the same three words a half-dozen times. An amateur lip reader might decipher them as 'Let's vacuum go!' In play, run(s) 😎 — SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 5, 2025 'I just felt we needed this for the team,' Ramos said. 'It was an emotional game. We're down 5-0 so quick, we were grinding, we have been grinding. It's a mental battle for everybody. The game (Tuesday) night, we're winning the whole way before they turned it around. It's a buildup. We've been grinding and nothing goes our way. So it was super emotional that we got to get back in the winner's column and stay in it.' Advertisement Posey described watching Wade's growing sense of belief in 2021. Something similar might be happening with Ramos now. 'I wanted that chance,' Ramos said. 'To me, there's nothing better. When the fans get loud like that, basically you cannot hear anything. So for me, there's not a more quiet moment than that moment I was feeling today. It's me and the pitcher. Get my pitch. That's it. The fans are just there to pump me up. But I feel like my heartbeat and my mind were clear. I was locked into the moment. I'm embracing it.' Ramos has been the Giants' best hitter this season. He is making a case for his second consecutive All-Star selection. All of this was unthinkable a little more than a year ago, when Ramos was among the first players cut in spring training and only resurfaced on the major-league roster when a wave of injuries subsumed half the Giants' position player core. When his window opened, he was ready to jump through it. So was right-hander Sean Hjelle, who by all rights pitched his way into incumbent status when he tossed 80 2/3 reliable innings over 58 appearances last season. When he was a surprising omission from the opening day roster at the end of March, he had every reason to seethe with entitlement. Instead, he took the baseball at Triple-A Sacramento, posted a 2.97 ERA over 18 mostly multi-inning appearances, and waited for his turn. It arrived in the fifth inning Wednesday when Kyle Harrison walked off the mound with a contused left elbow after a one-hopper that deflected off him and into shallow right field for a two-run single and a 5-0 deficit. Hjelle made certain that deficit did not grow. He needed just 28 pitches while retiring eight of the nine hitters he faced, and Matt Chapman's two-run home run in the sixth inning made the concept of a comeback seem possible. When Hjelle finally received his precious chance, he was ready for it. Daniel Johnson's opportunity might have felt even more precious to him. The Vallejo, Calif., native had run out of chances with major-league affiliates this offseason, so he signed with Durango of the Mexican League before the Giants offered him a minor-league contract May 5. Johnson had played in 35 games for Cleveland over 2020-21 but his only major-league action since then had been a sliver of one game in 2024 with the Baltimore Orioles, who found themselves thin in the outfield after Cedric Mullins collided with Austin Slater. Johnson hustled to Camden Yards, pinch ran in the ninth inning, played right field in the 10th and grounded out to end a home loss to the Detroit Tigers. The next day, when Mullins reported to the ballpark with minimal neck pain, Baltimore returned Johnson to Triple A. Advertisement 'I was a filler for a day,' Johnson said. There is no guarantee that Johnson's stay with the Giants will be much longer than that. But he filled his debut Wednesday with memories while playing in the ballpark where he once stood on the seats in the upper deck so he could see over the adults who were imploring Barry Bonds to hit a home run. Johnson singled twice, scored two runs, showed no hesitation to steal a base even with the Giants down by five, and might have made the game-saving play when he combined a perfect read and route to take an extra-base hit away from Luis Arraez in the ninth inning. No triples allowed by Daniel Johnson 🚫 — SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025 Off the bat, Arraez's drive had an expected batting average of .520. A missed attempt by Johnson would've allowed Fernando Tatis Jr. to jog the rest of the way home from first base with the tying run. Instead, Johnson's sprinting, lunging catch behind right-hander Ryan Walker provided the Giants with an opportunity to escape the inning. Then reliever Randy Rodriguez entered and continued his near-flawless season, retiring two left-handed batters to record his first career save. Johnson's catch represented a save of sorts, too. It was all the more impressive considering he was playing the first game of his life in one of the league's trickiest right fields. 'I made it my business to get fly balls (in batting practice) because it was my first day,' Johnson said. 'After that, you trust your instincts. Obviously, there's elements, wind, weird dimensions. But you trust your instincts and go get it. 'We were playing kind of (shallow) and I was like, 'I have to run. I have to go.' That was the only thing in my mind: get to the ball.' Johnson's description of his urgency in right field was a near-perfect echo of Posey's pregame description of his urgency to give the roster an offensive jolt. Advertisement 'It's time to go,' Posey said. 'I think we all believe we're better than we've been with the bats the last 2 1/2 or three weeks. It's time to go.' The Giants will go forth without a player who had been one of their most inspirational. Giants manager Bob Melvin addressed Wade's departure with hitters in a pregame meeting. 'He (Melvin) always tries to keep it very simple,' Ramos said. 'He basically said, 'I know it's a lot of moves, but we're bringing in some guys who are swinging a hot bat.' He said it plain and simple. Nobody likes to see this with LaMonte. He's a friend; he's a good player. Things weren't going his way. Hitting, it's tough. You know how baseball is.' You know how it is. Nobody knows how it will go. On the day that the organization cut ties with 'Late Night LaMonte,' perhaps there was no more fitting tribute to him than this: the Giants were on the wrong end of a steep win probability graph. Then they rendered it useless. They made the needle spin. (Top photo of Heliot Ramos: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Giants designate struggling LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment
SAN FRANCISCO — The struggling San Francisco Giants designated infielder-outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment Wednesday along with catcher Sam Huff. In addition, San Francisco signed infielder-outfielder Dominic Smith to a one-year major league contract, selected outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner from Triple-A Sacramento while optioning infielder Christian Koss to Sacramento. Manager Bob Melvin said Monday that with Wade's struggle to produce his at-bats would likely go to others. 'It was tough,' Melvin said. 'Look, LaMonte's being realistic too when he said, 'I get it, I haven't performed very well,' and I don't know that at this point in time a little bit of a break and change of scenery won't be good for him. We wish him the best going forward. I'm shocked if he wasn't given another opportunity. But based on what has been going on here recently we felt like we needed to make some moves and we did.' The 31-year-old Wade, who hit a career-high .260 last season and has contributed many timely hits during his four-plus seasons with the Giants, was batting .167 (24 for 144) in 50 games this year. He went 2 for 17 with a double, RBI and three strikeouts during the team's recent nine-game road trip. The Giants entered Wednesday night having gone 16 straight games scoring four or fewer runs — their second longest single-season streak since moving to San Francisco in 1958. They did so in 19 consecutive games in 1965. Buster Posey, San Francisco's first-year president of baseball operations, called it 'a difficult decision' with Wade. 'One of the trickier things for me is there are still guys on the team that I played with. I had a different relationship with them as a player than I do now, but still consider LaMonte a buddy,' Posey said. 'So it wasn't an easy thing to do, but we've got to get some offense going.' ___ AP MLB:
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Giants designate struggling LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The struggling San Francisco Giants designated infielder-outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment Wednesday along with catcher Sam Huff. In addition, San Francisco signed infielder-outfielder Dominic Smith to a one-year major league contract, selected outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner from Triple-A Sacramento while optioning infielder Christian Koss to Sacramento. Manager Bob Melvin said Monday that with Wade's struggle to produce his at-bats would likely go to others. 'It was tough,' Melvin said. 'Look, LaMonte's being realistic too when he said, 'I get it, I haven't performed very well,' and I don't know that at this point in time a little bit of a break and change of scenery won't be good for him. We wish him the best going forward. I'm shocked if he wasn't given another opportunity. But based on what has been going on here recently we felt like we needed to make some moves and we did.' The 31-year-old Wade, who hit a career-high .260 last season and has contributed many timely hits during his four-plus seasons with the Giants, was batting .167 (24 for 144) in 50 games this year. He went 2 for 17 with a double, RBI and three strikeouts during the team's recent nine-game road trip. The Giants entered Wednesday night having gone 16 straight games scoring four or fewer runs — their second longest single-season streak since moving to San Francisco in 1958. They did so in 19 consecutive games in 1965. Buster Posey, San Francisco's first-year president of baseball operations, called it 'a difficult decision' with Wade. 'One of the trickier things for me is there are still guys on the team that I played with. I had a different relationship with them as a player than I do now, but still consider LaMonte a buddy,' Posey said. 'So it wasn't an easy thing to do, but we've got to get some offense going.' ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Giants designate LaMonte Wade Jr., sign Dominic Smith as Buster Posey seeks to jolt offense
As a cornerstone catcher on three World Series championship teams, Buster Posey was as renowned for his level-headed perspective as he was for his clutch hitting and receiving skills. But patience does not always equal indecisiveness. The San Francisco Giants' first-year president of baseball operations made a series of bold roster changes Wednesday morning to jolt a slumbering offense, designating struggling first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment and replacing him with Dominic Smith, who had opted out of his Triple-A contract with the New York Yankees earlier in the week. Advertisement The Giants made two other changes to address an underperforming bench, designating backup catcher Sam Huff and optioning infielder Christian Koss to Triple-A Sacramento. They will be replaced by catcher Andrew Knizner and lefty-hitting outfielder Daniel Johnson, neither of whom were in spring training with the club but had joined Triple-A Sacramento on minor league contracts last month. The most significant and likely the most difficult move involved saying goodbye to Wade, who achieved folk hero status as 'Late Night LaMonte' for his uncanny run of clutch hits in the late innings on the 2021 NL West championship team that won a franchise-record 107 regular-season games. Wade received only 381 plate appearances that season but finished sixth among NL players in Win Probability Added. And he emerged as a strike-zone savant to rival Juan Soto while posting on-base percentages of .373 and .380 over the past two seasons. But Wade's production fell off a cliff over the past two months while he hit .167/.275/.271 with one home run. The 31-year-old's window of opportunity with the club was closing as other options came online. Outfielder/first baseman Jerar Encarnacion, who fractured a finger in spring training, rejoined the team this week. Top prospect Bryce Eldridge hit his way into a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday, and veteran Wilmer Flores has proven to be much more productive than just a right-handed platoon partner. Wade's struggles were easier to cover up in April when the Giants got off to a hot start and scored consistently. But the club has scored just 32 runs over its last 16 games, putting considerable pressure on a pitching staff that ranks second in the major leagues with a 3.03 ERA. The Giants haven't scored more than four runs in any of their last 16 games, their longest since a 19-game stretch in 1965. And they are coming off two gut-wrenching home losses to the San Diego Padres, wasting Logan Webb's effort in a 1-0 defeat on Monday and then letting a 2-0 lead slip away in the ninth inning of a 3-2, 10-inning loss on Tuesday that probably had more to do with their inability to tack on runs than closer Camilo Doval's rare hiccup. Advertisement Before Tuesday's loss, Posey met with reporters and said the club was 'trying to exhaust all options' to jump-start an offense that hasn't received much from Wade, catcher Patrick Bailey, and most notably, $182 million free-agent shortstop Willy Adames. But the question has been floating out there ever since Posey took over the big chair from Farhan Zaidi in October: How would Posey handle the moment when he had to make difficult decisions about players who were among his former teammates? In a role that often requires callousness, how much would sentiment get in the way? Perhaps that question has been answered now. Posey, of course, was among Wade's teammates in that record-setting 2021 season. But that didn't make any difference on Wednesday. Not with the Giants' offensive challenges threatening to erode their early-season gains. Although Posey showed no signs of panic as a player, he also likely absorbed his share of lessons from former manager Bruce Bochy, including this oft-repeated line: 'If it isn't working, change something.' So the Giants will give at least a short-term look at Smith, a 29-year-old veteran of eight major league seasons with the New York Mets, Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds who didn't make the Yankees roster out of camp and was buried on the depth chart there. Smith hit .255/.333/.448 with eight home runs in 189 plate appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is expected to see time at first base and provide a little more left-handed power potential off the bench. Johnson is a lefty-hitting 29-year-old Vallejo native who appeared in one game for the Baltimore Orioles last year and 35 games for Cleveland over the 2020-21 seasons. He was playing for Durango in the Mexican League when the Giants signed him to a minor league contract on May 2; he hit .272/.312/.534 with six home runs and five stolen bases in 109 plate appearances for Sacramento. Advertisement Knizner, 30, has spent parts of six major league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers and was released by mutual consent from his minor league deal with the Washington Nationals in mid-May. He combined for a .378 average and .512 on-base percentage between Triple-A Rochester and Sacramento and represents a contact-hitting upgrade over Huff, who had struck out 25 times in 53 at-bats. And what about Wade? It's unlikely he'd be scooped up on waivers because a claiming team would take on the remainder of his $5 million salary. But because he has more than five years of service time, he can reject an outright assignment to Sacramento and become a free agent. He's almost assuredly played his last game as a Giant. (Top photo of LaMonte Wade Jr.: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
CBS News
18-05-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Heliot Ramos homers, hits go-ahead single as Giants beat Athletics 3-2 for series sweep
Heliot Ramos hit a leadoff homer in the first inning and had a go-ahead single in the eighth, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Athletics on Sunday that completed a series sweep. The three-game set was the teams' first meeting in the Northern California rivalry since the Athletics relocated from Oakland to Sacramento. With the Giants trailing 2-1 in the eighth, LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a leadoff triple and Patrick Bailey drove him in with a single to tie it. Ramos' one-out single to left drove in Bailey from second to cap the rally against A's reliever Tyler Ferguson (0-2). Randy Rodriguez (3-0) earned the win after throwing a scoreless eighth and Ryan Walker got three outs for his eighth save. After Ramos gave the Giants a 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer against A's starter Jeffrey Springs, Lawrence Butler's two-out single with the bases loaded in the fourth off San Francisco starter Justin Verlander gave the A's a 2-1 lead. Springs allowed two hits and walked none while striking out five in 6 2/3 innings, retiring 20 straight batters after Ramos' homer. Springs has given up just four runs over his last four starts. Verlander allowed two runs in four innings and is still searching for his first win of the season through 10 starts — the longest such drought to start a season in his 20-year MLB career. Key moment Giants No. 9 hitter Christian Koss dropped down a bunt to move Bailey to second in the eighth. That allowed the catcher to score the go-ahead run on Ramos' single. Key stat Verlander walked five in four innings with just one strikeout. Up next Athletics: RHP JT Ginn (1-1, 4.61 ERA) will start Monday to kick off a four-game set at home against the Los Angeles Angels. Giants: LHP Robbie Ray (6-0, 3.04 ERA) is scheduled to pitch in the first of a three-game set against Kansas City on Monday.
