San Francisco Giants Three Standouts: Game 12, 3-5
The San Francisco Giants fell to the Texas Rangers on Monday, so let’s take away as much from a rather uneventful game as we can.
The San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers played a pretty quiet game on Monday. The two teams combined for three runs in the first six innings, but traded the lead a couple times in the later innings, with Texas coming out on top by a final score of 5-4. The Giants made the most of their hits, scoring four runs on just three hits, including another home run from Kyle Jensen.
Here are three players who stood out on Monday:
1 – Austin Jackson
Jackson has been slow-played more than many other veterans this spring, but when he’s been on the field, he’s been effective. Monday was only his third game during the Cactus League, but he’s come up with three hits in six at-bats, and driven in a pair of runs.
On Monday, he collected the Giants’ first hit of the day, slashing a line drive single to right field to score the team’s first run of the day in the third inning. It was the first hit allowed by former Giant pitcher Matt Moore, who had given up just two walks in 2.2 innings to that point. He added a walk in the fifth inning, and was lifted for a pinch-runner immediately after.
2 – Roberto Gomez
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Gomez entered a tight spot on Monday, coming in during the fourth inning with a runner on third base and only one out. In relief of Blach, Gomez struck out both hitters he faced, using his hard fastball and slider to retire Trevor Plouffe and Scott Heineman to keep the game tied at one.
That wasn’t the end of Gomez’s day, as he stayed on to start the fifth inning. He retired opposing catcher Juan Centeno with his third consecutive strikeout, this time painting a fastball at the knees. He allowed a single before being pulled to end his day.
Gomez had struggled through his first three outings, giving up seven runs (only two earned) on five hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. This was a great effort, showing that he has the ability to strike batters out and get out of a jam.
3 – Andrew Suarez
Suarez was back at it on Monday, following the familiar pattern of pitching on Blach’s day (although there were two pitchers that took the mound between the two). Suarez couldn’t replicate the success he saw in his first two outings.
His first inning, the sixth, was good enough, working around a leadoff single by retiring three straight batters, including one strikeout. He went out for a second inning and gave up a walk and two doubles, erasing the two-run lead the Giants had. In his third inning, another walk and another double led to two more runs, again letting the lead the Giants had just taken slip away.
Next: Three Standouts from Game 11
Suarez’s command wasn’t as good as it usually is, evidenced by the two walks he allowed. He also fell behind hitters a number of times, forcing him to come in and leading to some mistakes. With Blach putting together another strong start and tightening his grip on the rotation spot, Suarez’s already slim chances of make the opening day roster are getting slimmer.