Last call for Giants: Flores rung up, super SF season ends

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wilmer Flores swung — or he didn’t — and that was it. Last call for the San Francisco Giants.

A surprising and spectacular ride for the Giants came to a startling halt Thursday night. Flores slowly walked back to the dugout after being called out on a disputed check-swing, finishing a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the NL Division Series.

“It looked like he didn’t go. I mean, that was my take on it,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.

“I just think it’s just a disappointing way to end,” he said.

Kapler added: “It’s heightened on the last play of the game ... in this case a check-swing."

“That’s going to be the thing that is talked about quite a bit and I understand why," he said. "I just don’t know how much sense it makes to, for us, on our side, to pick that apart. I don’t know how much, how helpful it’s going to be.”

Kapler’s ballclub, which set a franchise record with 107 wins in the regular season and had stayed a step ahead of the Dodgers the whole year, couldn’t quite finish off the defending World Series champs in a winner-take-all game.

Instead, their final chance ended when Flores was rung up on an 0-2 pitch from Dodgers ace Max Scherzer working in a rare closer's role.

With a runner on first and two outs, Flores appeared on TV replays to hold up on a low-and-away slider that missed the strike zone. Plate umpire Doug Eddings checked with first base ump Gabe Morales, who ruled Flores swung — check-swings are judgment calls and not reviewable under Major League Baseball replay rules.

“I mean, the immediate emotion is frustration, right?” Kapler said.

“Super tough. Yeah, I mean, obviously you don’t want a game to end that way. I know these guys work really hard to make the...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Last-call-for-Giants-Flores-rung-up-super-SF-16534605.php