SAN FRANCISCO — Gabe Kapler turned to Camilo Doval for a four-out save on Monday, and 24 hours later, he nearly did it again. Kapler had Doval get loose in the eighth inning on Tuesday, but didn’t need him until the ninth.
As he talked about the sequence before the series finale, Kapler admitted he hated even thinking about it. Doval has one of the most gifted right arms the sport has ever seen, but the Giants still try to apply guardrails where they can.
Two hours before Wednesday’s game, Kapler thought John Brebbia might be his closer for the day, since Doval had gone back-to-back after a couple of weeks of heavy usage. His full-time closer had different ideas.
Doval played catch in the morning and told the staff he was ready to go. When the Giants scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Doval came out of the bullpen to close out a 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and clinch the first sweep of the year.
"Camilo wanted this opportunity today," Kapler said. "We planned that out pregame. We were even prepared to use him in a tie-game situation, but the save (opportunity), it was clear. He's earned that right and we trust him."
Doval became the first Giants closer since Will Smith in 2018 to record saves on three consecutive days, and he did so under a coaching staff that doesn't even like using middle relievers and setup men on three straight days. The durability goes far beyond this series, though.
The 25-year-old leads the staff with 20 appearances, nine of which have come in the last 16 days. He has been on the mound for the final out of all nine Giants victories this month, saving eight of them and coming out of the bullpen to protect a four-run lead last Thursday after Cole Waites ran into trouble.
With the latest save, Doval tied San Diego's Josh Hader atop the NL leaderboard with 11, and he has generally made relatively quick work of the ninth this month. In his eight previous appearances, Doval allowed just one hit and walked three, but the Phillies made him sweat on Wednesday.
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After a single, Doval nearly plunked Brandon Marsh and then hit Josh Harrison. After he walked Bryson Stott on four pitches to load the bases for the heart of the lineup, Doval was visited by pitching coach Andrew Bailey and quality control coach Nick Ortiz, who interprets during mound meetings.
Doval had been annoyed at two pitches he felt were incorrectly called balls during the walk, and the message was to forget what had been called and control what he could control. He pumped a first-pitch strike to Trea Turner and then dialed it up to 98 for a second strike. After a sinker in the dirt, Doval snapped off a 91 mph slider that Turner waved at, ending the game.
Doval punctuates most of his saves with a hop off the mound, and this time he added two quick pounds of his chest. He had passed another test as a big leaguer, succeeding on a third straight day.
"It's for me to get ready and get accustomed to pitching as many days as possible," he said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. "I want to make sure that when there's a save opportunity, I want to be ready."
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Doval is looking far down the line, knowing that the Giants may need him to pitch every game if they make the postseason, or to go multiple innings at times. It's a possibility that looks slightly more likely than it three days ago, when the team was reeling from another disappointing road series.
The Giants bounced back to sweep the reigning National League champs, moving back within three games of .500. The final win came on a day when both Rogers twins were down and starter Ross Stripling lasted just 3 1/3 innings because of back tightness. They had their closer, though, and they were able to hand him the lead and let him run with it, even after all they had asked of him the previous two nights.
"One of the things that we look for is, is a guy able to sustain his stuff and pitch 15 pitches, 20 pitches, 25. We haven't seen much dip from Camilo over the last couple of years and we also haven't seen much of a dip on back-to-backs," Kapler said. "I thought it was great that he had all his stuff against Turner but it doesn't surprise me."