San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Another Stellar Pitching Performance

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss another stellar night on the mound, and taking advantage of opportunities.

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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Friday, the Giants beat the Atlanta Braves in game one of a weekend series, 7-0. Jeff Samardzija (11-9) earned the win, while rookie Joel De La Cruz (0-7) continues to search for his first career win.

The Los Angeles Dodgers fell in extra innings to the Chicago Cubs, so the Giants are right back on their tail. LA’s lead in the NL West is down to a single game. The St. Louis Cardinals (1.5 games back of the Giants) and the Miami Marlins (three games back) both won, so the top of the wildcard standings remain unchanged.

Here’s what went on Friday.

1 – The Mound Attack Continues

Contributions to Friday’s win came from just about everyone, but it all began with the guy on the mound. Samardzija took his new toys, a changeup and a curveball, to the mound with him, and put together another solid start as he continues an effort to get back to early season form.

It was shaky at the beginning for Samardzija, as he gave up a pair of doubles in the first inning. A baserunning mistake wiped away one of the runners, and Samardzija came back with a pair of strikeouts, getting Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis to both chase changeups below the zone. The second inning saw the Braves load the bases on a walk and two singles with no one out, but Samardzija pulled off the high-wire act. A fielder’s choice at the plate, a strikeout, and a nice lunging grab by Brandon Crawford ended the threat.

The fiery right-hander worked through the next five innings without surrendering a run, and despite allowing five baserunners, only one reached scoring position. He used his new weapons to keep hitters off balance, and racked up six strikeouts between a glut of weak groundballs. All told, Samardzija threw seven shutout innings, marking the second time in four starts he didn’t allow a run.

Baseball is quite cyclical, and Samardzija’s 2016 season is a perfect example:

First 10 starts: 2.54 ERA, 1.056 WHIP, .226 opponent average, .612 opponent OPS
Next 12 starts: 6.30 ERA, 1.414 WHIP, .285 opponent average, .881 opponents OPS
Past 4 starts: 1.75 ERA, 1.052 WHIP, .204 opponent average, .579 opponent OPS

Samardzija doesn’t need to be as good as a 2.54 or 1.75 ERA, but he also can’t be as bad as a 6.30 ERA. Now slotted as the fourth starter, somewhere in the middle of those two numbers would work. Although, no one would complain if “First 10 Starts Samardzija” or “Past 4 Starts Samardzija” became a permanent thing in the rotation.

In the bigger picture, Giants’ pitching has allowed one run in the past 27 innings.

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2 – Taking Advantage

When things were going bad for the Giants, they just could not take advantage of given opportunities. But on Thursday against the Dodgers, they made the most of an error, bringing a run home immediately after. That trend continued on Friday.

In the first inning, after a two-out throwing error by Dansby Swanson gave the Giants new life, Brandon Belt made it count. He lashed a single into center field, scoring the game’s first run. Joe Panik followed with a two-run double.

In the second inning, Gorkys Hernandez reached on an error by Jace Peterson to start the second inning. Three batters later, he was trotting home when Angel Pagan hit his ninth home run of the season.

The offense kept coming, with Denard Span coming up with an RBI single in the fourth, and Belt scoring another run on a double in the fifth.

The defense was sharp. The pitching was outstanding. The offense came up with a number of big hits. Though it’s only two games in a row, this is the kind of baseball that gets a team out of a slump. And with the division race sure to go down to the wire, it’s exactly what they need to continue doing.

3 – Another Fine Triple-A Outing

We’ve talked about Triple-A pitcher Ty Blach quite a bit in the past few weeks, so why not do it again? The left-hander had another fantastic start on Friday, throwing seven shutout innings against the Fresno Grizzlies. He allowed only three hits and two walks while striking out nine. He matched the Sacramento River Cats’ franchise record with his 14th win of the season. The Creighton product lowered his ERA on the season to 3.43 and his WHIP to 1.14, both very impressive totals in the hitter friendly PCL.

Blach has already thrown a lot of innings this year, 162.2 for Sacramento, so he may not be called up by the Giants right away when roster expand in September. But come next season, he has a real chance to be first in line if the Giants need a starter.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Moore Snaps Skid

And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Braves continue their series with game two. Jake Peavy will make a spot start for the Giants, opposed by right-hander Mike Foltynewicz on the Braves’ side.