As Brandon Belt stood in the left-handed batters box in the top of the sixth inning on Monday night, waiting and watching for one of those fastballs whose outcome had not yet been decided, Joe Kelly stood on the mound hoping to decide it for him.
The count was clean, 0-0. The Dodgers’ starter Julio Urias, who had dominated the Giants through the first five innings had been replaced. Kelly the reliever brought in to prove his disastrous first appearance was no more than a distant memory.
Kelly wound up, kicked his leg and delivered a 97 mph fastball.