Anthony DeSclafani pitched a brisk five scoreless frames, allowing only one hit and one walk with five strikeouts. He was out of the game after throwing a mere 76 pitches to 17 batters as Gabe Kapler pinch-hit for him in the 6th. It was a bold move, but it was a good matchup with Darin Ruf against a lefty with two on. The Giants were up 3-0 and had a shot to break it open but Ruf grounded out. It didn't matter as Caleb Baragar and Zack Littell each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. In the 8th Camilo Doval gave up a solo shot for Pittsburgh's only run, and Tyler Rogers took the 9th and got an easy save.
The bullpen has had its ups and downs and it is interesting that Kap trusted his relievers in a close contest for four innings. They stepped up and sealed the win. The Giants grind out another close contest! They scored all of their runs in the 5th on a Steven Duggar homer and a two-run triple from Mike Yastrzemski. Buster Posey scored one of those runs and was on base three times (a hit and two walks).
Kevin Gausman goes tomorrow at 3:35 Pacific.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
3 comments:
They scored a run on a wild throw, or really an uncaught throw to third. Costing an RBI for Yaz. But I am sure the giants will take the run on the error. It was not really a bad throw but it hit Tauchman as the third baseman was a little slow getting to the bag. It was a bold move to remove the starter, and if it did not work, there would have been a lot of criticism. But on this long road trip, the giants manager may have been thinking about Descalfani's next start. After he threw his 9 inning complete game, he was not as sharp his next time out. Giants still seem overly dinged up.
The bullpen has been a sore spot so I'm glad they got it done. If those guys can't be counted on then the team is in trouble! The only way to see what you have and who can deliver is to put them out there. I think Kap deserves a lot of credit for (1) putting his faith in his guys and (2) trying to manage their workloads while at the same time "going for broke" and trying to nail down wins. It's a tough balancing act.
Makes you realize how lucky the Giants were to have Casilla-Lopez-Romo-Affeldt all in the same 'pen at the same time for so many seasons. That kind of stability with a relief corps is a rare thing.
If you like low-scoring, pitching-dominated baseball then 2021 is for you.
A key to the giants 3 world series in 5 years was the bullpen. Especially in the post season. It has to make one realize the importance of a consistent solid bullpen. Smith came in yesterday for the Braves. After a slow start this season, he seemed to have corrected himself. But yesterday Toronta got to him. His slider seemed quite effective, but every time he went with his fastball they clobbered it. Perhaps he was tipping off his pitches. Perhaps they were just sitting on the eventual fastball. Maybe his fastball just did not have life yesterday. It was hard to watch. He kept getting ahead of batters only to have them clobber his fastball several times after batters had 2 strikes and had either taken or swung and missed badly at his slider. It was tough to watch, but I was glad to see the American league team take down one of our national league rivals.
Post a Comment