6

GIANTS   102-54                    Gausman delivers when needed. 

LA             100-56    2 GB       Cy Young candidate Urias now 19-3.

Yesterday

Giants defeated Colorado, 6-2, to sweep the series.

LA defeated Arizona, 3-0, to keep pace as usual.

Today

Both teams are idle and return home to finish out the regular season.

Yesterday's Game

Kevin Gausman was the story for six strong innings in his best start since June 23. And his three-hit 11-K effort came at a most opportune time, following a week where the San Francisco bullpen again and again had to hold the opposition over five-plus innings. Yet it all might have gone to waste but for two Giants staples: effective pinch hitting and MVP candidate Brandon Crawford. Gausman had left the game with a 2-1 lead, but an error by Wilmer Flores and a balk by Jose Alvarez helped Colorado tie it in the seventh. Leading off the top of the ninth, Steven Duggar, batting for Curt Casali, drew a walk. Flores walked with one out, and Tommy LaStella, pinch-hitting for reliever Camilo Doval, drove in Duggar with a RBI single. Crawford followed with a three-run homer, his 23rd, and that made it a little easier for young Kervin Castro to retire the side in the bottom of the frame.

Today's day off will be focused on the condition of Brandon Belt, who took a fastball off his left hand in the seventh inning as he tried to lay down a bunt against a tough left-hander to beat the overshift. Belt, as anyone who's been following this team knows, is hot as a two-dollar pistol right now, and while the Giants have been overcoming injuries all year, losing him for more than a couple of games would be a serious blow.