DETROIT – Sergio Romo giggled as he brushed past a congregation of reporters without talking.
He didn’t have the last laugh on the mound this time against Miguel Cabrera, though. Two years after slipping a surprise fastball past him to clinch a World Series title, Romo crossed paths with the former Triple Crown winner again Saturday.
He threw a first-pitch slider. Cabrera hit it out of the park.
It wasn’t enough to spoil the Giants’ day in a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers, even though it made for some compelling theater.
[RECAP: Posey powers Giants to victory in Detroit]
Romo, who was stripped of his closer role in June, was summoned to start the eighth with a two-run lead. Even though Cabrera was due up first in the inning, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said the matchup hadn’t really occurred to him until the wheels were moving.
“I’ll say this: I’m glad he hit the home run today and not the last game of the World Series,” Bochy said. “He’s a good hitter and (Romo) made a mistake.”
His catcher this time, Andrew Susac, couldn’t remember if he was home in Sacramento or in instructional league in Arizona when he watched that Romo-Cabrera confrontation in Game 4 of the World Series. But when Romo entered, Susac called for the right-hander’s best pitch.
“He knows what he wants to do out there,” Susac said. “I’ll give my best suggestion. His strength is his slider and if he didn’t want that, he’d shake to his fastball.”
Susac watched a replay of the pitch after the game. The slider didn’t have much lateral break but was at the bottom of the strike zone.
“It wasn’t really a bad pitch,” Susac said. “The guy is just freakish strong.”
Overall, though, Romo’s slider hasn’t been the same this season. Hitters have a .196 average against it, which would lead you to believe it’s still an effective pitch. But they hit .133 against the slider last year, according to PITCHf/x data, .150 in 2012 and .138 in ’11.
He gave up two homers on his slider in 2011, two in ’12 and just one last season. Cabrera’s homer was the seventh Romo has allowed on a slider this season.
Romo declined comment through a club official. He will be a free agent after the season.
Even if he's wearing another uniform next season, he will always be a part of Giants history for that fastball he slipped past Cabrera.
