Camilo Doval returned to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday after a two-week stint in the minor leagues.
The time away seems to have benefited the Giants’ reliever.
Doval pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings in a set-up role Saturday as the Giants posted a 4-3 win over the host Seattle Mariners.
The rubber match of the three-game interleague series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
“I don’t know that it could have gone better,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He worked on all the things that we asked him (to). You look at the numbers and you look at what he accomplished — he was throwing strikes, he was quicker to the plate. Everything that you would hope for something like this.
“For him to go down there, it’s a hard thing to swallow at first. But they said there wasn’t one minute that he was down there sulking. So he knew he was going to be back here in 15 days if everything went well. It did go well.”
The Giants got an unexpected assist from an old friend after demoting Doval, who had blown five of 27 save opportunities.
While pitching for Triple-A Sacramento, Doval and the River Cats faced Salt Lake and former Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto, who mentored Doval when he got to the majors in 2021.
“We talked for a little bit,” Doval told MLB.com. “He told me to trust my stuff and remember who I am. That’s going to help get me to where I was before and make me even better. Sometimes you have ups and downs. It’s not always going to go well. But you have to keep your head up and keep working.”
Doval said he’s willing to work in whatever role the Giants need him, though he’d prefer to eventually get back to closing games.
“The results speak for themselves,” Doval said. “I think it’s going to be based on the numbers. I’m going to keep working to see what happens.”
Mike Yastrzemski had three hits, including a double and a home run, in Saturday’s victory. Five Giants pitchers were effectively wild, combining for a four-hitter despite walking nine batters.
“You’ve got to tip your cap sometimes,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who suffered his first loss after taking over for the fired Scott Servais on Thursday. “Their bullpen was pretty tough — a couple guys that went a couple innings. We created some traffic on them, but just weren’t able to get them in.
“Still have a chance to win the series (Sunday). Just keep grinding away. I thought the at-bats were good, and we’ll just look to do more of that in the series finale.”
Giants left-hander Robbie Ray (3-2, 4.88 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday against right-hander Bryan Woo (5-2, 2.12) of the Mariners, who have lost nine of their past 11 games.
Ray helped the Mariners end a 21-year postseason drought in 2022 before being injured in his 2023 debut and missing the rest of that season. He is coming off a 4-1 victory against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday in which he allowed one run on three hits over 6 2/3 innings, with no walks and nine strikeouts.
Ray is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in five career starts against Seattle.
Woo is 1-1 with a 1.67 ERA in four August starts. He suffered a 3-0 loss to the host Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday despite allowing just two runs on two hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Woo is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one start against the Giants, whom he cheered for while growing up in the Bay Area.
–Field Level Media