How Giants' Caleb Baragar retired five dangerous Dodgers in MLB debut

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In a normal year, Noah Baragar would have had a pretty tough decision to make. The Giants do a wonderful job of getting a rookie's whole family to the ballpark in time for his potential debut, but when Caleb Baragar called back home to Michigan earlier this week with life-changing news, he knew his family could not make the trip to Los Angeles this weekend. 

Noah Baragar was due at a friend's wedding anyway, and that's where he watched his brother take an MLB mound for the first time.

What Noah Baragar, and a national audience, saw was one hell of a debut. Caleb Baragar, a lefty added to camp late, came on with a runner on in the fifth inning and recorded six outs over two innings to get his first MLB win. The five batters he faced: Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Corey Seager. It doesn't get any more difficult for an MLB pitcher. 

"I really just tried not to focus on who it was in the box," Baragar said after a 5-4 win. "I really just tried to focus on the catcher and just try to throw my game."

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This was the Baragar the Giants saw in camp, the one who was a surprise addition to the 30-man roster earlier this week. The Giants love Baragar's competitiveness and poise, and love his fastball even more, and the Dodgers didn't know what to do with it Saturday. Baragar threw 19 pitches and 16 of them were fastballs. 

The Giants had played in blowouts the previous two days, normally a great spot to let a rookie get his feet wet. But manager Gabe Kapler held Baragar back, knowing the Dodgers hadn't seen him before, likely didn't have much film, and might be thrown off their first time. It worked to perfection. 

There's something else that's normal for rookies who get a win, and many Giants have experienced it at Dodger Stadium. It's tradition to put a rookie in a laundry cart and douse him with shampoo, body wash, ranch dressing and whatever else is available. So how did the other pitchers celebrate Baragar in a year with strict safety protocols?

"They told me not to talk about it," Baragar said, smiling. "No comment."

[RELATED: Gabe Kapler gets first Giants win]

Baragar said the moment had not hit him yet, although perhaps it did later Saturday as he went through his cell phone. He said he had 150 texts after the game, along with plenty of messages and mentions on Twitter and Instagram. There were family members to call, too, including his brother. 

"He texted me and I haven't heard back from him, so I'm sure it died," he said of his brother's tweet.

The phone did indeed, but there was a happy ending to this story.

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