Andrew Baggarly

1 day ago | nytimes.com | Andrew Baggarly

SAN FRANCISCO — Every cool and rational head in the ballpark at 24 Willie Mays Plaza understood that Miami Marlins closer Calvin Faucher didn’t do it on purpose. Faucher was trying to protect a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning Wednesday night. The last thing he wanted to do was hit the San Francisco Giants’ first batter, Dominic Smith, with a two-strike curveball. And there’s zero chance that Faucher meant for his next pitch to ride up and hit Casey Schmitt on the left hand.

2 days ago | nytimes.com | Andrew Baggarly

SAN FRANCISCO — When the San Francisco Giants signed three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander in January, they expected him to be an oracle in their clubhouse and an asset every fifth day on the mound. They might have hoped to get something else out of the deal, too: the bonhomie that accompanies a common cause. Verlander, 42, is a future inner-circle Hall of Famer who has expressed determination to notch the 38 victories he needs to reach 300 in his career.

4 days ago | nytimes.com | Andrew Baggarly

SAN FRANCISCO — It was one of those rare afternoons on the shores of McCovey Cove. The wind was blowing out, the sun was shining and the San Francisco Giants’ waterfront ballpark played extra small Sunday. The Giants hit three home runs, weathered three from the visitors and took advantage of a misplay in the seventh inning to claim a 9-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Mike Yastrzemski one-hopped a drive into McCovey Cove for his first home run since April 30.

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Andrew Baggarly

SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers did not pause to admire his first home run as a San Francisco Giant. He did not hold a pose. He did not twirl his bat. He definitely didn’t shoot a “look what you’re missing” glare into the visiting dugout, where the Boston Red Sox — the franchise with which he’d spent the entirety of his major-league career and the players who were his teammates as recently as six days earlier — were leaning against the railing. Devers did not saunter out of the batter’s box.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Andrew Baggarly

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants shook up the baseball world on Sunday when they acquired Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, and although pragmatism will never prevent the punditry from declaring instant winners and losers, the truth is it’ll take a year or five before anyone can conduct a full accounting of the deal. But the second-order effects on both rosters following a blockbuster trade? The winners and losers in uniform? Those are a bit easier to analyze in real time.