SAN FRANCISCO — Scott Kazmir is back in the big leagues, and he was good enough Saturday to have people wondering if he was a one-game feel good story or a potential factor down the road.
Kazmir, who hadn’t pitched in the majors since 2016, gave up just two hits — a home run and a single by Max Muncy — and one run in four innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park.
It wasn’t enough to stop the Dodgers from beating the Giants, 6-3, behind Walker Buehler (3-0) and pulling even with their rivals in the NL West with both teams at 28-18 before a crowd of 13,360.
After being held to one run against the Dodgers Friday night, the Giants had just one run through seven innings until Buster Posey hit a two-run home run in the eighth, his ninth of the season, against Alex Vesia.
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen came on in the ninth and retired the Giants in order for his 11th save.
Jarlin Garcia came on for the Giants in the fifth after Kazmir had thrown 55 pitches, 38 for strikes. He took the loss, but walked no one and struck out two. At age 37, Kazmir’s fastball was consistently between 91 and 93 mixed in with a change-up which was between 80 and 81.
Kazmir was signed from Triple-A Sacramento to start for the Giants against the Dodgers, the team for whom he threw his last pitch in the majors in 2016.
The man who delivered the news was Giants manager Gabe Kapler, a teammate of Kazmir’s with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009.
“I talked to him late, late, late last night and again this morning,” Kapler said during a pregame video conference. “It’s actually pretty gratifying to deliver that to him. Through the phone, I could tell he was smiling.”
The only thing Kazmir didn’t have to smile about in his Giants’ debut was a 1-1 change-up to Muncy in the first inning. Muncy hit his ninth home run of the season as well as his fourth splash-hit as a visiting player.
Kazmir was 1-0 with a 2.84 earned run average in Triple-A Sacramento in two games with one start. A year ago, Kazmir was playing Independent League baseball for Eastern Reyes del Tigre in Sugar Land, Texas. He had battled arm injuries since 2017, last pitching for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in the Dodgers organization.
The Giants got a look at Kazmir in spring training and were pleasantly surprised at what they saw.
“It’s a fantastic story. It’s a story of perseverance and one of resilience,” Kapler said. “Last year he was pitching in independent baseball, got a chance to come to camp with us and worked hard at his craft. I remember watching his first bullpen in Scottsdale and it just didn’t look too much different than what we saw in ’16.”
Kazmir was 10-6 with the Dodgers in 2016 before his arm trouble began. He’d also resurrected his career once before in Oakland with the A’s, with whom he was 15-9 in 2014, earning his third selection to the All-Star Game.
Not coincidentally, Giants president of operations Farhan Zaidi was an assistant G.M. to Billy Beane that season with the A’s.
In 12 major league seasons, Kazmir has a 108-96 record and 4.01 earned run average. He earned his first two All-Star appearances with Tampa Bay, and also played for Cleveland, the Los Angeles Angels and Houston.
Kazmir’s minor league odyssey includes 10 teams and two foreign countries.
“It’s not easy to be an established major league pitcher with a long career and a lot of service time and made a ton of money and then go back to pitch in independent ball to try and get another shot because you believe in yourself and think you can get outs at the major league level,” Kapler said. “To see it all come together for him it’s quite a story.”
“It’s not Scott Kazmir circa 2005, but not far off from where he was toward the end of his last major league stint,” Kapler said. “Change looks good. It’s been an effective weapon for him throughout his career. Deliver looks good. Strong and healthy.”
