San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Everything Finally Clicks Together

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss a full team win, where everything finally clicked together.

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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Saturday, the Giants knocked off the Washington Nationals, 7-1, to even the series. Matt Cain (4-6) won his third straight decision, while Stephen Strasburg (15-2) suffered through probably his worst start of the season to lose for just the second time.

The Los Angeles Dodgers also won on Saturday, keeping the Giants’ lead in the National League West at two games. The Colorado Rockies got a win of their own, getting back to .500 and staying within eight games of the Giants.

Here’s what went on Saturday.

1 – Everything Comes Together

The Giants’ second-half has included a bit of everything. There’s been bad baseball, poor decision-making, heartbreaking losses, extra-inning wins, and enough bad luck to make a person question if voodoo is actually real. The one thing that hadn’t been seen was one of those wins where everything seemed to click, but that changed on Saturday.

Everything worked in unison for the Giants in game two against Washington. The pitching was sturdy from starter to bullpen. The offense made solid contact time and time again, and even got a few of those good luck hits that they just couldn’t seem to pick up. The defense was as steady as it’s been in weeks.

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After being given a vote of confidence by being kept in the rotation, Cain hurled his second straight scoreless start, weaving in and out of traffic to hold the Nationals off the board in five innings for the second time in less than a week. His pitch repertoire continues to improve, and his offspeed pitches look more and more like the Cain that was once one of the NL’s best.

From there, it was up to the bullpen, and they responded beautifully. Hunter Strickland, Sergio Romo, Will Smith, Derek Law, and George Kontos combined for four perfect innings, but sandwiched between those innings was Jake Peavy‘s outing. He gave up hits to each of the three batters he faced, which led to Washington’s lone run.

The offensive engine was ignited by Eduardo Nunez, who had struggled as much as anyone since coming over from the Minnesota Twins. After starting his Giants’ career with two hits in seven games, Nunez lofted a ball into left field in the first inning and hustled his way into second base. Though he didn’t score in the inning, that double was the beginning of an offensive outburst, both personally and for the team.

In the fourth inning, Nunez crushed a ball to center field, and missed a home run by mere inches when the ball clanked off the top of the wall. Nunez sped into third to start a two-run inning, as Buster Posey drove him in with a single, and a run was added on a bases-loaded walk to Joe Panik. In the fifth inning, Nunez followed up with a shot into the right-center field gap, and turned on the jets to beat a throw into third base for his second triple of the day. Brandon Belt‘s bloop double brought Nunez home, and another run came home later on Brandon Crawford‘s sac fly. Nunez’s fourth hit was a single in the eighth, and he scored again on a sac fly by Posey.

Contributions came from up and down the lineup. Denard Span extended his hitting streak to a season-high-tying six games with a double in the eighth. Belt picked up two doubles, and launched his 13th home run in the ninth. Posey had two hits, two RBI, and a walk, while Crawford matched that line. Hunter Pence, despite a mean black eye from a foul ball that bounced back up and caught him in the face, had a hit during the fourth-inning rally and drew a walk. Panik went 0-4 as he continues to struggle after his return, but had a nice at-bat in the fourth to draw his run-scoring walk. Even Ehire Adrianza came through with an RBI single in the eighth as a pinch-hitter.

Seeing a complete team victory like this is a nice change of pace after the Giants’ struggles in recent weeks. This is really the first all-around win the Giants have had in the second half, and is exactly the kind of win that could spark a team. Building on the momentum from this game would be a fine way to turn this slump around as the end of the regular season creeps closer and closer.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Moore Solid In Debut

And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Nationals finish this series, and their season series, with some early day baseball. Madison Bumgarner looks to bounce back from his rough outing in Philadelphia, paired up against Tanner Roark.

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