Gausman’s big moment for SF Giants was two weeks in the making

SAN FRANCISCO — The decision to send Kevin Gausman to the plate Friday night in a tie game with the bases loaded wasn’t something that came to manager Gabe Kapler in a flash of brilliance.

Kapler had pondered the scenario for awhile, wondering which of his pitchers would be best suited being an emergency pinch-hitter if he was out of position players. And when Gausman delivered a sacrifice fly that scored Brandon Crawford ahead of a throw from right fielder Joc Pederson, the fruits of a research project paid off in a big way as the Giants won 6-5 in 11 innings.

Quality assurance coach Nick Ortiz was commissioned by Kapler “a couple of weeks back to spend some time thinking about that.”

So Ortiz, Kapler said, talked to other coaches on the Giants’ staff and then relayed in the information to the manager.

“He prepared a little document that talked about our pitchers’ hitting and bunting and ranking them and thinking about that,” Kapler said.

When the pitcher’s spot came up in the ninth inning, Kapler said the decision was between Gausman and left-handed pitcher Sammy Long.

“He’s swung the bat well, good work in the cage and pregame,” Kapler said. “He was part of our bullpen last night. There are some drawbacks there. You get into a really long game and he might be a pitching option.”

Gausman, who pitched Thursday against San Diego, was not going to pitch.

“I asked Nick on the bench, what do you think?,” and we talked about Sammy and Gaus and he felt pretty good about Gausman,” Kapler said.

Gausman then delivered the 256-foot sacrifice fly to right that won the game.

“I think Gausman was the right choice because of the quality of his at-bats,” Kapler said. “He doesn’t always have something good happen at the end of those at-bats but he generally speaking has a good idea at the plate. He knows what he wants to do and works really hard for those moments. I felt like he was the right guy.”

LONG OPTIONED, TROMP DFA’D: With Alex Wood reinstated from the injured list after recovering from COVID-19 to start against Atlanta, the Giants optioned Hill to Triple-A Sacrameneto and designated catcher Chadwick Tromp for assignment.

Long is 2-1 with a 5.53 earned run average and has pitched twice in September. In his last outing, Long gave up one hit and no runs in 1 1/3 innings Thursday in a 7-4 loss to the Padres.

Tromp, the Giants third catcher behind Buster Posey and Curt Casali, played in nine games this season and hit .222 (4-for-18).

CUETO ON SCHEDULE: Right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto ramped up his throwing program from 90 feet to 120 feet and according to Kapler could get on a mound on Sept. 27 or 28.

Cueto has been on the injured list since Sept. 1 with a right flexor strain.

LURIE HONORED: Former Giants owner Bob Lurie was honored in a pregame ceremony with a plaque on the Wall of Fame outside the stadium between King and Second streets.

Lurie bought the Giants from Horace Stoneham in 1976 and kept the team in San Francisco when the team appeared on the verge of moving to Toronto. Lurie owned the team from 1976 through 1992, eventually selling the team to Peter Magowan and a group of local investors.

LINEUP VS. ATLANTA

2B Tommy La Stella

1B Brandon Belt

3B Kris Bryant

LF LaMonte Wade Jr.

SS Brandon Crawford

RF Mike Yastrzemski

C Curt Casali

CF Stephen Duggar

P Alex Wood