11

 

GIANTS       98-53                      More ninth-inning hijinks.

LA                 97-54   1   GB         Pujols delivers the game-winning RBI.

Yesterday

Giants defeated San Diego, 6-5.

LA defeated Colorado, 5-4, in ten innings.

Today

Giants continue at San Diego; 7:10 PDT, 10:10 EDT. Scott Kazmir, the Giants' latest fifth starter, will get another chance. Righthander Vince Velasquez opposes. The Giants have not faced him this year.     

LA is at Colorado, with Walker Buehler going against German Marquez. 

Last Night's Game

It's become clear that Kevin Gausman is not the Giants' ace any more; at this point in the season he's just another pitcher, and you don't know what you're going to get from day to day. The simplest explanation is fatigue; he's fifth in the league in innings pitched and seventh in total pitches, following a short season. The devastating splitter that set him apart in the first half of the season has, by his own admission, not been working nearly as well of late. That's reflected in Game Scores: he averaged 67 before the All-Star break, and has averaged 47 since. Last night's start was his shortest of the season: four innings, in which he allowed nine hits and four earned runs.  But once again the Giants picked him up, and while it's thrilling to see this team rise to the occasion again and again, we can't help but wonder how long it can continue.

Tommy LaStella led off the game with a home run, but Manny Machado answered back moments later. Machado belted a second homer off Gausman in the third, as did Tommy Pham, and it was 4-1 Padres after four. The Giants' uncanny success with pinch-hitters continued as Wilmer Flores, batting for Gausman in the fifth, began the comeback against Joe Musgrove with a pinch-hit RBI single. Buster Posey, who had two hits on the night, brought in a second run with a sacrifice fly. And the Giants chased Musgrave in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Kris Bryant and  Brandon Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski's sac fly. That 5-4 lead lasted about a minute as Austin Nola soon tied it up with a homer off Zack Littell.    

And thanks to stout relief from Jose Alvarez, Dominic Leone, and Tony Watson, all the drama was saved for the ninth. Three straight singles by Brandon Belt, Posey, and "Late Night LaMonte" Wade, who's made the ultimate inning his personal fiefdom (he's 12-for-19 with a 1.597 OPS and 11 RBIs in the ninth this year), regained the lead. Out came Tyler Rogers to close it out and immediately trouble struck as Crawford mishandled a ground ball. With one out, Jake Cronenworth singled to put the winning run aboard for mighty Machado, he of the two home runs. The big guy promptly hit into the coolest 4-6-1 double play you'll ever see. Taking the flip from LaStella, Crawford, of course, executed a flawless turn-and-throw, but it was Rogers, racing full speed to the bag and taking the throw just in time, who made it a highlight-reel bang-bang game-ender. Were any Giants fans yelling "Dee-fense! Dee-fense!" at the end? Well, they shoulda been.