Matt Chapman, Casey Schmitt ‘all good’ after heated exchange during Giants’ loss

SAN DIEGO — In just about every big spot Wednesday, the ball was hit to Matt Chapman. Ordinarily, that would be the dream scenario for the Giants. Chapman did twice cut runners down at the plate, but he was also involved in two misplays early that cost Adrian Houser in his debut and put the Giants in a hole they wouldn’t dig out of. The sloppy defensive day kept San Francisco from a real shot at sweeping the San Diego Padres, and also taught them a valuable lesson.There are cameras everywhere in 2026, and after the second throw that got away from first baseman Casey Schmitt, Chapman was caught angrily talking to Schmitt on the mound. During a meeting around Houser, he twice told Schmitt to “catch the f—–g ball.” “We’re all brothers here. It’s the heat of the moment,” Chapman said after the Giants’ 7-1 loss. “I’ve already talked to Casey and it’s all good. I figured that people would try to make that a big deal but it’s baseball and stuff happens. We all learn from it. We’ll move on. I already told him that it was kind of the heat of the moment. I was just wanting to get those outs. It happens.”Schmitt said all is fine with Chapman, a player he considers a mentor. “We’re trying to win games,” Schmitt said. “I’m not mad about it or anything. That’s baseball and those are things I should have done and I didn’t. At the end of the day, you wake up tomorrow and play another game and we’ll get back at it. We’re trying to win games and that’s the bottom line and sometimes things happen.“That’s my guy. He’s always been in my corner and helped me out with everything. It is what it is and I should have caught the ball. We’re good. We’re men here and we’re trying to win games.” Don’t need to be a professional lip reader to see what Chapman is telling Schmitt pic.twitter.com/Wly7NADro6 — Friar Breaks (&commat;FriarBreaks) April 1, 2026 The Giants won two of them earlier in the series, which made it a bit easier to swallow all that happened Wednesday. They came away with a series win, but you always want to get greedy, and those early mistakes proved costly against a San Diego team that will put the hammer down when it gets the lead. The first mistake came in the first when Manny Machado hit a chopper to third with two outs. Chapman’s throw veered into the runner and got away from Schmitt as he tried to squeeze his glove, allowing Jackson Merrill to score. Schmitt said he should have come off the bag. Manager Tony Vitello watched that one a few times before talking to reporters and noted that Machado’s left hand might have been in the way at the moment of truth. He also found a teaching moment for right fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who is playing a new position and wasn’t able to get over in time to keep Merrill from scoring from first. The second misplay was more straightforward. With a runner on third and two outs in the fifth, Chapman got another slow roller and his firm throw sailed a bit. It ticked off Schmitt’s glove.“I just stretched too early,” Schmitt said.Schmitt is a good defender, but first base is his fourth-best position, and it’s still somewhat new to him. The Giants started him there in their first six games because Rafael Devers’ hamstring is still tender enough that they don’t want him making the kinds of odd movements that Schmitt had to make repeatedly Wednesday. The end result was two unearned runs on Houser’s line in his Giants debut, but overall, the offseason addition pitched well, showing good velocity and repeatedly getting grounders when he needed to over 5 1/3 innings. More often than not, Chapman, Schmitt and others will turn those into outs. “I thought he looked great,” Chapman said. “We didn’t help him out on defense a couple of times and he was able to pitch through it. I thought he looked great and made pitches when he needed to. I think if we were able to make those plays he might have been able to cruise through there without giving up any runs.”While it was easy to pinpoint a few plays that cost the Giants on Wednesday, they also scored just one run. A few hours after totaling 16 hits, they had just four against Padres ace Nick Pivetta and a good bullpen. It’s too early to make sweeping statements on just about anything, but it is worth noting that the Giants have struggled against quality pitching early on. Max Fried and Cam Schlittler dominated them last week, but they came to San Diego and got to Walker Buehler and German Marquez. Pivetta at one point struck out five straight. The regular-season schedule is filled with all types, but at some point, the Giants will need to get in gear against upper-echelon pitching. That’s what they’ll see this weekend when they return home for the New York Mets, who have Nolan McLean and Kodai Senga lined up as part of the four-game series. The last game before returning home was ugly, with an interaction that required explaining. But Vitello was still happy with what he saw over three games at Petco Park.“It truly was a positive trip overall,” Vitello said. “I think the guys found themselves a little bit, getting away from home.”Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Matt Chapman, Casey Schmitt ‘all good’ after heated exchange during Giants’ loss

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