Tony Vitello ejected before the good part of Giants’ win vs Rockies

SAN FRANCISCO — In a game that began with a three-man umpiring crew, less than 24 hours after all hell broke loose on a catch/no catch call, Tony Vitello had every reason to be confused.

The Giants’ manager came out of the third base dugout to have a word with the umpires twice in the span of a few pitches early Saturday afternoon, and the second time got him tossed.

Vitello was ejected for the second time in his career in the third inning of an eventual 4-2 win, after confusion over a balk led to the Rockies’ first run and further chaos ensued when what at first appeared to be a strikeout was wiped out and eventually turned into a single.

It all started when Tyler Mahle was called for a late balk after Brett Sullivan led off the inning and made it to third. Sullivan was awarded home, giving Colorado a 1-0 lead. Although the reasoning for the call wasn’t immediately made clear, it appeared to have to do with Mahle not declaring whether he would pitch out of the windup or the stretch.

However, it wasn’t home plate umpire and crew chief Lance Barksdale who first raised the issue. It came from the Rockies’ third base coach, Andy Gonzalez, and led to a long talk that apparently made the umpires come around to Colorado’s view of things.

That prompted Vitello’s first entreaty onto the field of play. He barked at Barksdale and got some clarity, even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. What brought him out for a second time, and led to his ejection, was that the pitch Mahle was ruled to have balked on — strike one to Moniak — was nullified by the balk. That, however, wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.

Even Moniak was so sure he struck out a few pitches later that he retreated to his dugout. But he was called back, then laced a single into center field on the next pitch.

At that point, Vitello had seen enough and let the umpiring crew hear it. He even got in a parting shot directed at the third base umpire, Ryan Wills, as he made his way back into the dugout and down the stairs into his office, where he watched the final two thirds of the game.

What it means

The balked-in run ended up being the only one allowed by Mahle over seven innings in his strongest start since returning from a hamstring strain — arguably all season.

The seven innings of one-run ball from the right-hander should only help his trade value, with less than a month to go until the Aug. 3 deadline. It matched his longest start of the season, shutting out the Dodgers for seven frames back in April, and was only the second time in four starts back from the injured list that he completed five innings.

That start against the Dodgers on April 22 was the only other time Mahle earned a win.

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Who’s hot

Vitello didn’t stick around long enough to witness the Giants’ first hit against Kyle Freeland. Even though the left-hander took a 7.46 ERA into the game, San Francisco wasn’t able to crack him until Luis Arraez lined his first of two hits with one out in the fourth.

It wasn’t until Arraez had notched his 37th multihit game of the season, following a single from Heliot Ramos to lead off the sixth, that the spigots really began to open.

That brought up Casey Schmitt, who launched his 19th home run of the season out to left-center. The three-run shot broke open a ballgame that had been tied at 1 and entered the third baseman into a new tie, with Rafael Devers for the team lead in home runs.

Who’s not

Once the Giants warmed up, only two players didn’t get in on the hit parade.

Devers gets a pass, after homering, reaching base four times and driving in all three of their runs Friday night, but the prolonged funk Willy Adames is in only continued.

With one game left on the home stand — and until the All-Star break — the $182 million shortstop dropped to 2-for-21 over the past six games at Oracle Park.  

Up next

The Giants wrap up the first half with one more game against the Rockies. Trevor McDonald will seek to rebound from the eight runs he allowed in his last start as San Francisco attempts to take three of four and give itself some separation from the bottom of the division.