San Francisco Giants & The Week That Was: First Week of May

Pitcher of the Week: Jeff Samardzija

Offseason signing Jeff Samardzija continues to be a nice surprise for the Giants, and he turned in two dominant performances last week for the team.

In game two against the Reds, Samardzija pitched eight masterful innings in another hitter’s park, holding the Reds’ offense to just three hits and a run while setting a season-high with nine strikeouts. He earned the win to clinch the series for the Giants.

He returned to the mound on Sunday in the series finale against the Rockies and did a lot of the same. Over 7.2 innings, Samardzija allowed eight hits (many of them bloops and bleeders) that led to two runs while matching his nine-strikeout total from Tuesday. Unfortunately, the Giants’ offense was stagnant, being shut out for the second time this season, and Samardzija was hung with a tough-luck loss.

Overall, the Shark pitched 15.2 innings and gave up just three runs on 11 hits. There were a lot of questions about Samardzija’s declining strikeout rate entering the season, but he struck out 18 in the two games, good for 10.3 per strikeouts nine innings. He also allowed just three walks, good for a very tidy six strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Santiago Casilla also had an extremely good week. He faced 10 batters in four appearances, retiring every one of them, including four by strikeouts. Three of his outings resulted in saves.

Next: Hitter of the Week