SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants got blown out on Wednesday night and lost a game in the NL West standings to the team that's been trying to chase them down for a couple of months. But those weren't their biggest concerns.
Buster Posey was pulled in the third inning of an 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers after taking a foul tip off the mask an inning earlier. Manager Gabe Kapler said he was optimistic because Posey was feeling better after the game, but the Giants will wait until Thursday to see how their All-Star catcher is feeling.
Posey took a foul tip off A.J. Pollock's bat in the second inning and needed a moment to gather himself and check his equipment. After a long top of the third, he was replaced by Curt Casali, who was going to start the series finale on Thursday anyway. Kapler said the foul tip "rung (Posey's) bell pretty good."
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"He felt a little bit of dizziness and we decided to get him out of there," Kapler said. "He did see our doctor and was checked for a concussion. He has not been diagnosed for a concussion, but we're going to keep monitoring him and see how he feels tomorrow. He's feeling better after the game, so that's a good signal.
"I'm optimistic because he's feeling better now. Obviously we just want to see how he comes in tomorrow, but that's what I expect is just to keep checking in with him. As of now, he's feeling better."
The Giants will surely be as careful as possible with Posey, who takes this issue as seriously as any on the field. Posey never really had concussion concerns until he was hit in the head by a pitch in 2017, and two years later he suffered another concussion when he was struck by a foul tip. After that second one, Posey said he would spend part of his time on the IL talking to doctors and doing additional research on the long-term effects of concussions.
"When you're dealing with the brain, you've got to be cautious," Posey said in 2019. "I definitely value who I am and will be as a husband and father, first and foremost. At the same time, I enjoy doing my job and plan on doing my job."
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Both of Posey's previous concussions came with short IL stints. It's unclear what this latest foul tip will result in, and initially, it didn't look like it would be an issue. Posey stayed in the game after adjusting his mask, but pitcher Anthony DeSclafani admitted that surprised him. DeSclafani crouched down on the mound as soon as Posey was hit.
"That's for sure scary," DeSclafani said. "It squared him up pretty well. I was super-surprised that he stayed in the ballgame."
With or without Posey, the Giants didn't have much of a chance Wednesday. DeSclafani had his second eight-out start of the year against the Dodgers, who have given him trouble all season. On the other side, the Giants continued to have no answer for Walker Buehler, who has allowed just three earned runs in 34 innings against the Giants this season. Buehler cruised through seven shutout innings.
"We have a high standard for ourselves and we expect to be more competitive than we were tonight," Kapler said. "We have to figure out ways to adjust so the next time we see him we're better than we were tonight."