San Francisco Giants: The Biggest Moments From Departed Giants
Sep 30, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Mike Leake (13) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants acquired Mike Leake at the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31st last season with the hopes of filling a hole behind ace Madison Bumgarner to propel them to another playoff run. Things didn’t work out that way, as injuries and inconsistencies caused Leake to become just another question mark in a rotation packed with question marks. But on September 30th, one day after the Giants were officially eliminated from postseason contention, Leake spun his best outing in what turned out to be his last as a Giant.
Against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Leake baffled his opponents, forcing one weak groundball after another on the way to his first career big league shutout. Leake struck out just one batter over the course of his nine innings (Adrian Gonzalez in the fifth inning with a runner on third and two outs), but pitched to contact beautifully, as he’s done numerous times in his career. He recorded 16 groundball outs, nine of which went to second baseman Kelby Tomlinson and two of which were worth two outs, and added eight flyball outs. The only hit he allowed came in the fourth inning, a single off the bat of Jimmy Rollins.
Things didn’t pan out according to plan for Leake in San Francisco, and he couldn’t become the pitcher who could boost a weak rotation to semi-stable. But he did shut out the Dodgers, which is always a good thing for a Giants’ pitcher, even in a meaningless game. Leake is on his way to the St. Louis Cardinals, but the Giants probably won’t miss him that much, as they’ve added Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija this offseason.
Next: Alejandro De Aza