Hometown kid Trivino settles things down as Giants win another

Hometown kid Trivino settles things down as Giants win another originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

PHILADELPHIA — In the offseason, the Philadelphia Phillies put accordion doors in front of the seats in their visiting bullpen, allowing relievers to hide from the elements and raucous fans if they want to. As cold and windy as it’s been in Philadelphia this week, it’s those fans who provide the harshest welcome to Giants relievers when they start warming up. 

The visiting bullpen at Citizens Bank Park is legendary for allowing fans to practically be on top of relievers who are warming up, and Philly being Philly, they aren’t kind about getting that extra access. Lou Trivino learned that the hard way on Wednesday night. 

As Trivino started to get loose, he heard the usual array of personal insults. He couldn’t help but smile, and he kept himself from yelling back. He wanted desperately to inform the fans around him that he’s from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, a 45-minute drive from the ballpark. He grew up rooting for Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. He’s one of them.

“It’s Wawa or bust,” he said late Wednesday night, providing his credentials. 

As Trivino got loose, though, he found that not everyone around him was bringing taunts. He saw old high school and Legion Ball teammates, and others he hasn’t seen in years. They waved and he waved back, and then he went out and settled what otherwise was the most disjointed game of the year.

Both bullpens got loose in the first inning, and it wasn’t just the area around those mounds where curse words could be heard. The Giants’ bench watched in frustration as Robbie Ray threw 39 pitches in the bottom of the first and walked four despite being gifted a 4-0 lead, and by the bottom of the fourth, the game was tied. 

But Trivino took over in the fifth and had a clean inning. By the time he left the mound, the Giants led 11-4, and that was the final score. Trivino picked up his first win since Aug. 21, 2022, and it was very, very well earned. 

“He had to go through the middle of their order there, through the lefties. It really did settle things down,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He threw strikes, didn’t walk anybody, that was huge to give us two innings like that. And really [Spencer Bivens] at the end, as well, and [Camilo Doval] came in and got a clean inning and threw the ball really well, too.

“What started out a little rough on the pitching end ended up pretty clean.”

Trivino, Doval and Bivens combined for five one-hit innings and five strikeouts. On a night when Ray walked five and Phillies pitchers issued nine free passes, the late-game trio walked just one. That crispness allowed the offense to take over, and the Giants ended up running away with a win on a very ugly night of baseball. 

Ray was a big part of that early, and he said afterward that he had trouble finding his direction to the plate in the first inning because his front side was flying open too fast. He was disappointed that he wasn’t able to adjust on the fly. The Phillies took advantage, striking back for a pair of runs as Ray tried to find his command. 

Ray ended up pitching four innings for the second time on this trip that has seen the lineup score 20 runs in his two starts. Rain halted the first one, and the Giants’ bullpen put a stop to Philadelphia’s momentum Wednesday. 

“They’ve been picking us up,” Ray said. “It’s time to reciprocate.”

If there is an early red flag for this team, it has been starting pitching that is shakier than expected. But the bullpen also might be as good as any in baseball, something Trivino learned the hard way. 

Injuries kept the veteran right-hander out of the big leagues for two years, but he saw San Francisco as an appealing home, in large part because Melvin had him in Oakland. What Trivino did not realize when he signed was how deep the bullpen mix was, and he had to fight harder than expected to make the team. 

Trivino won a job in camp, and he said Wednesday that the win meant more than he ever could have imagined. It came with family members and friends in the stands, and it’ll make it a bit easier to swallow the 36 tickets he’s leaving on Thursday for the series finale. 

The crowd this week has included Trivino’s parents and in-laws, and after the win, he recalled a conversation he had with his father this spring. Every year, it’s the same thing. His father asks how the team is looking, and the son responds that it’s spring training and you just never know. But this March, the younger Trivino felt something different. He told his dad the Giants were going to surprise everyone.  

“I think we’re very good,” Trivino said. “The pitching is outstanding, the hitting is outstanding, the defense is fantastic. It’s great, and it’s a good feeling to be part of something like this.”

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast