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1 hour ago
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The San Francisco Giants didn't tap their heads once on Opening Night against the New York Yankees.
It feels like a blatant mistake coming out of a 7-0 beatdown at the hands of the Yanks on Wednesday.
The head-tap, for the uninitiated, is how teams challenge pitch calls in this new age of the ABS system.
A hitter, catcher or pitcher can tap their head immediately after every pitch, and the computer reviews whether the umpire got the ball or strike call correct or not.
And for whatever reason, the Giants didn't challenge a single pitch on Wednesday.
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Each team gets two challenges. If you get a challenge right, you keep it. So you can have infinite challenges if you keep getting them right.
If you get one wrong, you lose it. So 0-for-2 and you're done.
Both teams were relative conservative on Wednesday night. The Yankees just used one challenge and lost it and didn't use their other.
It's still a curious outcome, though. It probably didn't decide this game, but it'll be a trend worth watching.
In general, there's no reason to hang onto them and bring them home with you. It's not like the challenges carry over into the following game.
Maybe the Giants really didn't have anything they felt like they could challenge. But there's a chance they overcorrect in the games ahead. They'd rather use them early than not at all, you would think.
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