SAN FRANCISCO — A heated Gabe Kapler was ejected Thursday for his first time as a Giants manager as his team stumbled its way to an eighth straight loss to the rival Dodgers.
The incident that led to Kapler’s outburst came after Jarlín García struck out James Outman to end the top of the sixth and appeared to exchange a brief back-and-forth with Mookie Betts, who was in the on-deck circle. However, it was likely also a product of consecutive four-game sweeps at the hands of their rivals, who downed the Giants again Thursday, 5-3, widening the gap in the National League West to a season-high 21.5 games.
“Who wouldn’t be frustrated? We’re all frustrated,” Kapler said afterward. “We don’t want to play like this.”
The Giants led longer Thursday than they had in any of their previous seven losses to the Dodgers, thanks to recently acquired J.D. Davis’ first home run as a Giant. Within an inning and a half, however, they trailed again.
This got Gabe Kapler ejected for the first time as #SFGiants managerpic.twitter.com/CeiLZEUJOQ
— Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) August 4, 2022
By the time first-base umpire Phil Cuzzi tossed Kapler, the Giants were in a 4-2 hole.
Davis’ second-inning home run, an opposite-field shot just over the arcade in right, gave them a 2-1 lead. But Betts stole it right back with a three-run blast to left in the fourth, the first batter faced by reliever John Brebbia after starter Jakob Junis allowed Outman and Gavin Lux to reach.
In 72 innings of baseball with the Dodgers since the All-Star break, the Giants led at the conclusion of three of them. They were swept in a four-game series in San Francisco for the first time since 1979; lost eight straight to Los Angeles for the first time since 2006-07; and, including last week’s sweep at Arizona, have lost a franchise-record 11 straight games against NL West opponents. Over the eight-game skid against the Dodgers, they’ve been outscored 45-23.
“It’s never fun to get swept, let alone by your rival,” said Junis, who was on an 80-pitch limit and exited after 3⅔ innings with three earned runs (two of which came on Betts’ homer). “We haven’t been playing great, so yeah, there’s definitely some frustration.”
García painted the outside corner with a fastball to get Outman looking for the last out of the sixth, then pointed at Outman and signaled at his head, an apparent reference to a Dodgers celebration. Betts, who made the same gesture after homering off García during the four-game sweep last week in Los Angeles, appeared to take exception.
García was ejected along with Kapler for “taunting” Betts, according to crew chief Dan Bellino.
Speaking through Spanish-language translator Erwin Higueros, García said he was “competing” and not “trying to be disrespectful.”
“Not even Mookie Betts; he’s one of my favorite players,” García said. “I just did the same gesture they do when they hit a home run. He did that against me the other day.”
This is the initial exchange between García and the Dodgers that preceded Kapler's ejection 👀 pic.twitter.com/R9PdPEkgMX
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 4, 2022
As Kapler escorted García back to the dugout, Cuzzi trailed him and got his attention. When Kapler turned around, the typically even-keeled manager began to unleash into the umpire with more fury in 45 seconds than he had shown in two-plus seasons.
Kapler, Bellino said, was ejected for “derogatory comments” directed at Cuzzi. Kapler said he took exception to “being scolded in front our dugout about how to approach and address our players.”
“I had already gotten Jarlín off the field. Things were completely under control,” Kapler said. “I wasn’t happy with it and probably didn’t handle it perfectly.”
Kapler had been ejected four times in two seasons managing the Phillies, but Thursday marked the first time he was tossed as San Francisco’s skipper. Bench coach Kai Correa, who tried to intervene but was shoed away by Kapler, took over as acting manager for the final two-and-a-half innings.
His players appreciated the rare show of emotion from their manager.
“I appreciate him having my back,” García said. “Obviously if anything were to happen, I’d have his back.”
“Sometimes it’s necessary to stick up for yourself or your team and get kicked out,” said Junis, who was already back in the clubhouse and had to be a little surprised when he saw Kapler walk in. “It’s not the worst thing. Sometimes it lights a fire under your team. Anytime he has the chance to stand up for us, I’m sure he’s gonna do it.”
Any number of issues — over eight straight losses to the Dodgers, over a 3-12 skid since the All-Star break, over a 14-28 record since June 18 — could have led to Kapler’s frustration boiling over.
On Thursday, it would be easy to point to the decision to remove Junis with two outs in the fourth at 79 pitches. More consequential, though, was what occurred immediately before that: Junis walking the No. 9 hitter (Outman), who could have been the third out.
“I wish I could have that one back, for sure,” said Junis, adding that he has yet to regain the feel for his all-important slider since returning from the injured list. “That was biggest at-bat in the game, for me at least.”
Betts turned on the third pitch Brebbia threw and put it in the left-field seats.
The home run negated any good vibes generated by a rare defensive highlight earlier in the inning when Mike Yastrzemski and Wilmer Flores executed a perfect relay to nab Joey Gallo at home plate on Lux’s double into the right-field corner.
