San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Third Straight Series Win
The San Francisco Giants kept their momentum going in St. Louis, taking two of three from the Cardinals to win their third straight series.
The San Francisco Giants opened a seven-game road trip with three games in St. Louis, and were able to come away with their third straight series victory. Here are some positives and negatives from the set.
3 UP
1 – Another Series Win
After winning just two of their first 11 series of the season (which included two splits), the Giants have put some momentum together and won three consecutive series. After taking three of four from the Cincinnati Reds and two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants rolled into St. Louis for a matchup with the red-hot Cardinals.
The Redbirds started the year 3-9, but had won 18 out of their next 24 games to temporarily move into first place in the NL Central. They were swept in a quick, two-game set by the Boston Red Sox, but still were within a half-game of first place and on a good roll. The Giants quickly put that to rest, taking the first two games of this series to keep their own momentum going.
Both wins were hard-fought and nitty-gritty, much like it usually is when these two teams get together. That pair of wins also gave the Giants eight victories in 10 games, which is a great turning point for a team that had lost 24 of their first 36 games.
2 – The Shark
Carlos Martinez was a superstar on Saturday, throwing one of the best games of his young career. He threw nine beautiful innings, holding the Giants to just two singles and a walk while keeping them off the board. Normally that’s a recipe for a loss for any team, but the Giants had their own hurler doing work.
More from Golden Gate Sports
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
Jeff Samardzija opposed Martinez and matched zeroes for eight innings. His command was outstanding with both his fastball and offspeed pitches, and he put together one of his best outings with the Giants. He gave up only five hits, and for the fourth straight outing, Samardzija didn’t allow a walk.
Though the end results of some of Samardzija’s starts haven’t been great, he has looked as good as he has at any point with the Giants in recent weeks. He is striking out guys at an abnormally high rate, and his walks are barely existent. On the year, he ranks third in the NL in strikeouts (71), walks per nine innings (1.5), and strikeouts per walk (7.1), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.5) and innings pitched (61), and 11th in WHIP (1.131). Since issuing his last walk on April 28th, Samardzija has struck out 40 batters.
With Madison Bumgarner out, Samardzija has done his best to step up for the team and has put some great outings together.
3 – Clutch Hits
After not winning a game in which they trailed after eight innings in two years, the Giants came back in consecutive road games. After Christian Arroyo‘s heroics in New York, it was a team effort on Friday. Denard Span had two run-scoring hits while Joe Panik and Mac Williamson each drove in a run. The biggest hit came from Eduardo Nunez in the ninth inning.
With two on and the Giants down a run, Nunez abused a fastball, sending it flying off the wall in center field to score two and turn that one-run deficit into a one-run edge.
On Saturday, it was Arroyo to the rescue again. In a scoreless tie in the 13th inning and the bases loaded, Arroyo put on one of the at-bats of the season. On the 12th pitch, he took advantage of a changeup that caught too much of the plate. He smoked it into left-center field and brought home a pair with what was the game-deciding hit. Arroyo, though he’s played just 26 games and is hovering around a .220 average, is tied for the Giants’ team lead with eight RBI in the seventh inning or later (Nunez’s home run on Sunday tied him with Arroyo).