SAN FRANCISCO -- The first half didn’t go exactly to plan for Tyler Mahle, but the veteran right-hander will head into the All-Star break with some positive momentum after turning in one of his best starts of the season in the Giants’ 4-2 win over the Rockies on Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Mahle allowed one run on five hits over a season-high-matching seven innings to earn only his second win of the season, and his first since April 22.
“Every game I go in confident that I’m going to pitch well, and it just hasn’t been happening,” Mahle said. “Today, I made some good pitches. The defense played great and we scored some runs in key moments. That’s what took us over the top today.”
Jesus Rodriguez delivered an RBI double and Casey Schmitt cranked a go-ahead, three-run shot to back Mahle, who improved to 2-8 with a 5.31 ERA over 15 starts this year. Schmitt now has 19 home runs through 87 games, tied with Rafael Devers for the most on the team.
The Rockies scored their lone run against Mahle on a controversial delayed balk call that resulted in Giants manager Tony Vitello’s ejection in the top of the third inning.
Mahle was getting ready to throw a pitch when Rockies third base coach Andy González appeared to point out a balk on Mahle's prior pitch to third base umpire Ryan Wills. The umpires convened and ruled that Mahle had indeed balked because he hadn’t declared whether he’d be throwing out of the windup, allowing the runner at third base -- catcher Brett Sullivan -- to score the game’s first run.
The balk also nullified the strike that Mahle threw to Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak, but the count remained the same on the scoreboard at Oracle Park, creating confusion when Moniak appeared to strike out on the next pitch, which was actually strike 2. Later in the at-bat, Moniak reached on a single.
“It was just a whole messed-up situation,” Mahle said. “It was my fault. It was a weird situation because I didn’t declare and then I didn't know what happened after the pitch had happened. No one called anything. I messed that up, and then the weird thing was they took the pitch away after they didn’t call a balk until later.”
Vitello was then ejected by crew chief Lance Barksdale for arguing the calls.
“I just wanted to know how we could reverse back in time,” Vitello said. “The example I used is if a guy doesn’t pause, it’s technically a balk. But once the pitch is made, the pitch is made.
“That was the first argument. The second portion was if you were to be able to obliterate a pitch off the face of the earth, then why did everyone not know it was 0-1, not 0-2 on Moniak? Those were the things where I was coming from.”
It’s the second time that Vitello has been tossed from a game in his first year as Giants manager. He was also ejected on April 5 for arguing a call that ruled outfielder Jerar Encarnacion ran outside the designated lane on his way to first base.
“Probably it was a debate that was never going to end,” Vitello said. “I’m sure you’ve had some with your friends where eventually somebody punches somebody or you just walk away and agree to disagree.”
The hullabaloo ultimately wasn’t much of a disruption for Mahle, who stayed locked in and didn’t allow a run for the remainder of his 104-pitch outing.
“I could have unraveled there, but I just tried to do my job and make pitches after that,” Mahle said.
The Giants hoped Mahle would be able to solidify their starting rotation after signing him to a one-year, $10 million deal, but the 31-year-old struggled to produce consistent results early this season. He recorded a 6.04 ERA over his first 11 starts before landing on the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.
Mahle has continued to put up mixed results since returning on June 24, but he could turn into an intriguing trade chip for the Giants if he can build on Saturday’s performance in the second half.
“I’m a big believer that preparation pays off, but I think ultimately since he’s come back off the IL, he’s looked a lot more like himself,” Vitello said. “If he does that consistently, eventually he’s going to get wins under his belt.”