Camilo Doval didn't have any time to ease back into action upon his MLB return in the Giants' 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday at T-Mobile Park. The flamethrowing right-hander fittingly was thrown into the fire in the seventh inning -- an unfamiliar situation for a player who served as the Giants' closer for a majority of the last three seasons.
With two outs and runners on the corners, Doval took the mound with San Francisco holding a 4-3 lead over Seattle. Doval proceeded to throw five consecutive balls before finding his rhythm and getting the Giants out of the inning with their one-run advantage intact.
Following the game, manager Bob Melvin detailed the adversity Doval faced entering the game in a middle-inning high-leverage situation, uncharted territory for a player who typically closes games out in the ninth inning or later.
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"Look, that's probably the guy you need to be a little bit careful with at times," Melvin told reporters. "He's not used to coming into games like that, too. The game is on the line, so he's probably trying to be a little fine with his pitches."
With the bases loaded, Doval worked back from a 2-0 count to induce a groundout from former Giants outfielder Mitch Haniger, but that wasn't the end of the evening for the All-Star reliever. Melvin sent Doval back out for the eighth inning, where he retired the side in order, including back-to-back strikeouts to close out the frame.
Melvin acknowledged the precarious position he put Doval into, lauding the reliever's composure and ability to gut out a scoreless outing, which could be exactly what the long-time closer needs as he seeks to rediscover the groove that previously earned him a reputation among MLB's best backend bullpen options.
"I put him in a tough spot," Melvin said. "So, I think the unfamiliarity of that spot, and then once he got through it and as the next inning went along, you started to see his really good stuff. It was great to see him be able to do something like that. It should do a world of good for his confidence, and obviously, it was huge for our team to pitch a little different role.
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After being optioned to Triple-A Sacramento earlier this month, Doval returned looking like a man on a mission to reestablish the dominance that launched him into baseball stardom.
Ryan Walker firmly is entrenched as the Giants' new closer -- Melvin reiterated as much after Saturday's win -- which means that Doval's middle-inning excursion could become commonplace moving forward as the 27-year-old reliever seeks to carve a new role for himself in San Francisco's shuffled bullpen hierarchy.
Doval took his Triple-A demotion on the chin and came back up to the big leagues with a vengeance, helping the Giants secure a victory they absolutely had to have to keep their remaining MLB playoff hopes alive.
Where Doval fits into the Giants' new-look pitching rotation remains to be seen. The good news is, if he pitches like he did Saturday, it's a pretty enviable problem for Melvin and San Francisco's brain trust to have.
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