SF Giants get the best of former reliever Littell to beat Rays

After allowing a season-high 18 hits, Giants limit Rays to just 3 on Tuesday behind Jakob Junis and Sean Manaea; Wilmer Flores, Thairo Estrada go deep in SF’s first multi-homer inning since mid-June

Zack Littell’s last two walks off the mound at Oracle Park have not been pleasant.

Littell marched back to the visitor’s dugout in the sixth inning Tuesday evening after his shutout bid evaporated and his former club took a commanding lead in an eventual 7-0 win, 11 months, three teams, and a new role after publicly airing his grievances with manager Gabe Kapler last September, never to be seen in a Giants uniform again.

Littell, now a Rays starter — not an opener — traded zeros with Jakob Junis and Sean Manaea for five innings, frustrating Kapler enough to get him ejected in the fourth inning, before the Giants’ long-dormant bats woke up to finish with seven runs on nine hits, one of their best performances since the trade deadline.

Thairo Estrada homered to left to break the scoreless tie, and Wade Meckler lined a single into center for his first MLB hit, prompting Rays manager Kevin Cash to issue a pitching change. Littell did not object this time. But Wilmer Flores also went yard on the first pitch from new reliever Kevin Kelly.

It was the Giants’ 10th multiple-homer inning of the season, but their first since June 13, a drought that has lasted nearly as long as their futility at the plate.

“I think tonight we swung the bat much better and we had some good fortune,” said Kapler, who watched the game from the batting cages after being ejected in the bottom of the fourth. “I believe that’s why we had some skewed numbers and a great victory.”

The Giants’ third win in their last 11 games came at an ideal time to extend their lead in the wild card standings. The Cubs, Phillies, Marlins, and Reds all lost to the Giants (64-56), keeping them from falling out of the playoff picture by 212 games.

Littell later stated that it was “definitely fun” to see his former teammates and that he bore no resentment for how his time in San Francisco ended. Before the game, Kapler echoed that sentiment.

“I love every guy in that locker room, coaches, and staff,” Littell said to reporters in the visitor’s locker room. “Competing against guys you know is always fun.” The first time you hear it, you get a little head nod. They went out there and grinded out some at-bats and put good swings on balls, in my opinion.”

Estrada was moved to the ninth hole, with rookie Meckler, in his 94th game out of college, batting second for the second night in a row, in an attempt to shake the Giants’ prolonged slump. The effects of which had begun to wear on Kapler, who vented his rage on home plate umpire Chad Whitman.

Whitman’s third questionable strike call on Meckler in his first two at-bats, both of which resulted in strikeouts, proved decisive for Kapler, who began barking from the dugout, earning his second ejection of the season, before getting his money’s worth in a heated face-to-face exchange.

“Obviously, I didn’t think those were strikes,” said Kapler. “Wade didn’t consider them strikes. I was obviously irritated and reacted, but I reacted on behalf of Meck, who deserves to have all of us stand up for him.”

Meckler, whose command of the strike zone Kapler compared to LaMonte Wade Jr. and Brandon Belt, expressed gratitude for Kapler’s encouragement.

“It feels very good to have a manager who will go out there and stand up for you, especially when you can’t really say anything as a player,” Meckler explained. “I don’t want to appear disrespectful to (the umpires) by saying anything.” I’ve appeared in two Major League Baseball games. Eventually, I hope to establish a reputation for knowing where the strike zone is and that if I say something, there’s a reason for it.”

Before getting some of the best work of the year from Junis and Manaea, the Giants had lost five of their previous six bullpen/bulk-inning games.

After allowing a season-high 18 hits in the first game of the series, the Giants matched a season high by limiting the Rays to three hits. The tag-team duo combined for 713 scoreless innings, with Tyler Rogers (in his first outing in eight days) and Luke Jackson (who struck out the side) each contributing clean frames to complete the job.

“Junis was as good as he’s ever been,” said Kapler. “He pulled out a razor-sharp slider. I believe Manaea was inspired by Junis’ performance and simply attacked the strike zone with his pitches. At the top of the zone, he was extremely effective. Sean may have run out of gas a little near the end.”

Junis struck out a season-high seven batters while recording called strikes or whiffs nearly half of the time he threw his signature slider. He pitched the first four innings, striking out five batters in 313 pitches, the most he’d thrown since June 22 (62).

Meckler demonstrated his versatility by making a sliding catch in center field and beating out a dribbler to second for his second hit of the night. Meckler, a former walk-on who was cut from his college team, slapped his hands after reaching first base for the first time as a major leaguer with a line drive single in the sixth inning.

What was his reaction to his first hit?

“Relieved,” he exclaimed.

He hasn’t decided what he’ll do with the keepsake, but it could be a nice consolation prize for his mother, who was at the ballpark but wasn’t in her seat for either of her son’s two hits.

As the Giants piled on two runs in the seventh and eighth innings, Michael Conforto doubled home Joc Pederson. It was Conforto’s third hit of the game, and he now has multiple hits in four straight games. Lifting his foot to avoid catcher René Pinto’s tag, Pederson slid his left hand across the plate in an acrobatic slide that thwarted a Rays challenge.

Pederson smiled and pointed back at Whitman as soon as he saw him signal safe, as if to say, “You saw that!”

Kapler did, thanks to slow-motion replays of the television broadcast.

“That was a really funny moment,” said Kapler. “It was fantastic to see Joc break out in that big smile, both in the moment and then when the camera panned to him in the dugout after the call was confirmed on the field, and just a huge smile came out.” It’s what makes Joc unique.”

Flores, who was out with an ear infection on Monday, returned to the lineup with his team-leading 16th home run of the season.

Estrada’s homer was his first since returning from a month-long absence 10 days ago.

Kapler was pleased with what he brought to the bottom of the order, lengthening a lineup that had struggled to string together rallies for the past two months.

“Estrada at the bottom of the lineup is a dangerous, dangerous hitter,” he explained. “I think what gives us the best chance to win games in the future is for everyone to be able to hit in different spots in the lineup, just like we like our defenders to be able to play all over the field.”