Baseball is a game of inches, and in the Giants' 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night, it was centimeters at times.
Aces Logan Webb and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched around a tight strike zone all game with umpire Adam Beck behind home plate at Dodger Stadium -- particularly Yamamoto, who walked the bases loaded in the third inning before Casey Schmitt's go-ahead grand slam.
Beck called 92 percent of Friday's pitches accurately with 13 missed calls, per Umpire Scorecards, resulting in a plus-1.36 run favor for the Giants. Nine balls called by Beck were true strikes, with the most impactful coming during a full count to Mike Yastrzemski in the second inning.
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SIGN UP HERE Yamamoto walked five batters on the night and struck out four across 4 2/3 innings pitched, while Webb walked three and punched out four as he kept Los Angeles' star-studded lineup off balance over seven innings with a mix of pitches -- including a cutter he worked on all spring.
Changes to how balls and strikes are called could be coming to MLB soon, however, as commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters last week he plans to introduce a proposal the league's competition committee that would implement the automated ball-strike system in 2026.
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