San Francisco Giants Three Standouts: Game Eight, 3-2

The San Francisco Giants lost to the Reds, 3-2, on Friday, but there are plenty of positive notes to take away from the game.

The San Francisco Giants dropped their contest on Friday to the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2. It was a rare low-scoring bout in the desert, with the Reds just sneaking the game-winning run across in the ninth inning.

The Giants’ offense was quiet, scoring only two runs on three hits, although all three hits went for extra-bases. Steven Duggar and Kyle Jensen both hit home runs. The pitching staff, especially players who will be on the opening day roster, was very solid.

Here are three players (or things) that stood out in Friday’s game, all positively:

1 – Miguel Gomez

The switch-hitting rookie Gomez has gotten off to a great start this spring, and he continued to hit on Friday. In the fifth inning, he drove a double into right field for his third extra-base hit of the spring. He has two doubles and a home run, and after going 1-2 in his most recent game, he’s hitting .400 (6-15) this spring.

Everything that’s been said about Gomez’s bat since camp opened is positive. He’s not going to work counts or take many walks, but Gomez continues to prove that he is excellent at making solid contact and driving the ball all over the field. He’s a great bat-to-ball guy, which would prove very useful in a late-inning, pinch-hit role.

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Gomez will have a difficult time making the opening day roster, no matter how well he plays this spring, but putting together a solid Cactus League campaign will certainly help his standing with the coaching staff. If a spot opens up on the 25-man roster, they can feel comfortable bringing up Gomez.

2 – Madison Bumgarner

Giants’ starting pitching has been very strong in the early goings of the spring, and Bumgarner continued that trend in his second Cactus League start. He threw three perfect innings, retiring all nine batters he faced while striking out four.

There were some hard-hit balls in the first inning off Bumgarner, but center fielder Steven Duggar was able to corral them all. He settled in for the second inning, striking out a pair and getting a soft groundball. Bumgarner struck out two more in his final inning of work.

Bumgarner’s command still isn’t where it normally is, unsurprising for how early it is in the year, but his put-away pitches are certainly working. He’s struck out nine batters in just 4.2 innings of work through two starts. He looks to be well on track to putting the 2017 season behind him.

3 – The defense

The Giants have committed a boatload of errors this spring, but Friday saw some excellent defensive plays behind the strong pitching efforts. In the first inning, Steven Duggar got a good jump on a ball hit to deep center field, and was able to camp under it in front of the warning track to make the play. Kelby Tomlinson, who has already committed two errors, made a great barehanded play at shortstop, charging in for a softly-hit groundball in the second inning and making a perfect throw.

Gorkys Hernandez also made a spectacular play in right field in the fifth inning. On a blooper hit by Phil Gosselin, Hernandez covered a ridiculous amount of ground to get to the ball in very shallow right-center field before going into a slide and snaring the ball just above the ground.

Next: Three Standouts from Game Seven

This is a promising development, especially with all three of these players figuring to get a fairly substantial amount of playing time this season.

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