Tim Hudson Latest Starter To Shine; San Francisco Giants Top Reds 3-2
By Phil Watson
Tim Hudson pitched three scoreless innings on Thursday—adding to an already brilliant beginning to Cactus League play for the projected members of the San Francisco Giants rotation—and the San Francisco Giants rode a three-run fifth inning to a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Scottsdale Stadium.
Hudson allowed two hits and walked two in three innings, striking out three. The projected starters for the Giants this year—Hudson, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong—have now allowed just one run in a combined 20 innings of work so far this spring.
Cincinnati starter Tony Cingrani was just as good, allowing no hits and three walks while striking out three in three innings. He also picked off two runners, getting Brandon Belt and Ehire Adrianza.
The Giants (5-3) broke through against reliever Chien-Ming Wang in the fifth.
Pablo Sandoval led off the inning with his first home run of the spring and Roger Kieschnick followed by getting aboard on an error by Reds second baseman Argenis Diaz.
Juan Perez made Cincinnati pay for the miscue, lining a double to left to plate Kieshnick to make it 2-0. After a strikeout, Adrianza singled to right, but hit the ball so sharply that Perez had to hold at third. Angel Pagan followed with a flare into left field to drive in Perez for a 3-0 lead.
Cincinnati (3-6) got a run back in the sixth off Sergio Romo and some defensive tomfoolery by the Giants. Chris Dominguez, who had just entered the game at third base, threw away Juan Duran’s grounder to put a runner on second, and Romo walked pinch-hitter Henry Rodriguez. A force out at second left runners at the corners with one out and pinch-hitter Travis Mattair grounded a single up the middle to score Duran.
It remained 3-1 until the ninth, when the Reds tried to mount a rally against Jean Machi.
Tucker Barnhart flared a one-out double over the head of center fielder Gary Brown and came around to score when Yorman Rodriguez smacked a double of his own. The tying run moved up 90 feet to third on a ground out, but Neftali Soto lined out to Adrianza at shortstop to end it.
Jeremy Affeldt worked a perfect fourth inning for the Giants. Santiago Casilla (1-0) was awarded the win after a perfect fifth that included a strikeout. Romo allowed an unearned run on a hit and a walk with a strikeout in the sixth. Adam Reifer pitched a perfect seventh and Juan Gutierrez did the same in the eighth, striking out one. Machi earned his second save of the spring despite giving up a run on two hits with a strikeout in the ninth.
San Francisco mustered six hits, three of them for extra bases, including Sandoval’s homer and doubles by Perez and Brandon Hicks.
The Giants go to Surprise Stadium on Friday to take on the Kansas City Royals at 12:05 p.m. Pacific.