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Former Giant Kevin Pillar beats current Giants with 12th inning home run

The Giants used 23 players and their entire bullpen after Anthony DeSclafani was injured in the second inning.

New York Mets v San Francisco Giants
But at least Brandon Crawford looks cool.
Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

Some games are not worth recapping and this is one of those games.

See you on Thursday, folks.

Ugh, fine. OK. We’ll talk about the San Francisco Giants 6-2, 12-inning loss to the New York Mets. But let the record state that I don’t want to. And let the record also state that I don’t advise you to. So if you reach the end of this article and feel like you just wasted five minutes of your life, and find yourself pining for your lost time, don’t blame me. I tried to warn you.

Let’s start with the good: the Giants almost won an extra-innings bullpen game. An inadvertent bullpen game, at that. There was no time to call up Sammy Long to pitch four innings in the middle of the game, because the bullpen game wasn’t supposed to happen.

But it did happen, after starter Anthony DeSclafani was forced to exit the game with ankle discomfort after registering just four outs.

Despite that — and despite only receiving one run of support through the first nine innings — the Giants came within three outs of winning.

DeSclafani pitched 1.1 scoreless innings and José Álvarez pitched 1.2. Zack Littell’s pair of scoreless innings were followed up by scoreless innings from Jarlin García, Dominic Leone, and Tyler Rogers. Just three hits, one walk, and two hit batters were given up along the way.

Victory — bizarre, unconventional victory — was right in front of the Giants faces, thanks to a glorious third-inning double by LaMonte Wade Jr.

But the seventh pitcher of the day could not hold the lead. Jake McGee played with the margins and lost, hitting Pete Alonso with a pitch, allowing a single that was very close to being an out to Michael Conforto, and giving up a sacrifice fly.

The game was tied and it stayed tied in part due to one of the best players you’ll ever see Brandon Crawford make, which is ... umm ... really high praise.

I have just two questions. How? And also, how?

Alternate angles, please.

Brandon Crawford deserved a win, damn it.

Onto the tenth, and the Giants once again used defense to try and preserve a lead. The Mets did an odd thing for a visiting team and tried to bunt the ghost runner over. Tony Watson was not here for it, fielding the bunt beautifully and getting the out at third.

One batter later and Watson had to rely on his defense — specifically Wade — to bail him out against former Giant Kevin Pillar.

Watson made it out of the inning unscathed, but the Giants couldn’t capitalize. Buster Posey pinch-hit to lead off the bottom of the 10th, and moved Mike Yastrzemski to third on a sacrifice fly. Austin Slater drew a walk, but Evan Longoria popped up with the winning run 90 feet away, and Wade flew out.

We went to the 11th inning and with it, the Giants debut of Tyler Chatwood, the last remaining non-starter in the Giants dugout. Not a position you want to find yourself in.

Chatwood did his job, kind of, allowing just the ghost runner to score, and the Giants immediately got it back on a Tommy La Stella leadoff single.

To the 12th! And suddenly Chatwood no longer had it, and Pillar found the extra mustard needed to get the ball over the fence (this time with two men on base) and the Giants lost 6-2 while using every player on their roster except their three other starting pitchers.

Hmph.