San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Pennsylvania Nightmare Ends
The San Francisco Giants’ Pennsylvania nightmare is over, but at least they came away with a win on Sunday. Here’s 3 Up, 3 Down from the series in Pittsburgh.
3 UP
1 – More Power
After long days of offensive futility, the Giants’ bats finally started to wake up toward the end of roadtrip, especially in the power department. On Saturday, the lineup erased an early 2-0 deficit with a pair of solo home runs in the second inning. Evan Longoria hit his team-leading eighth blast to lead off the inning, then Alen Hanson followed two batters later with his fourth home run in just 14 games as a Giant.
They tapped into the power again on Sunday. In the sixth inning with the game tied at zero, Gorkys Hernandez led off with a solo shot, his second home run of the season after hitting none in 348 plate appearances last season (Hernandez also missed a home run by about 10 feet to center field to lead off the game). Later in the sixth, Nick Hundley broke the game open with a three-run homer that just snuck over the left field wall.
The Giants have hit 41 home runs in 41 games this season after finishing last with 128 in 162 games last season. They’re up to 22nd in home runs across baseball this season, a major improvement.
2 – Holland the Stopper
During the six-game losing streak before Sunday, the Giants’ rotation was absolutely awful. In 27.2 innings, San Francisco starters allowed 28 runs and didn’t get through the sixth inning once. The bullpen was being heavily taxed, and they needed someone to step up and end this streak. Without Bumgarner and Cueto, that someone was Derek Holland.
Holland took the ball on Sunday and had one of his best starts as a Giant. He went 6.1 innings and didn’t allow a run, first keeping the game tied into the sixth and then holding the lead when the team scored five times in the sixth.
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He was far from perfect, allowing four hits (three doubles) and five walks (one intentional), but Holland made the pitches he needed to and kept the Pirates off the board. He struck out seven and matched his personal season-high with 11 swing-and-misses induced. It was just what the doctor ordered for the Giants’ depleted pitching staff.
3 – The Rest of the West
It was not a banner week for the Giants, but it wasn’t a good week for anyone else in the division either. The Giants went 1-6 on their tour of Pennsylvania. The Dodgers split two with Arizona, then were swept in four games by the suddenly red-hot Cincinnati Reds. Colorado split two with the Angels, then lost three of four to the Brewers. After the split with the Dodgers, the division-leading Diamondbacks lost the first three games to the Nationals (a fourth game is underway as of this writing). The Padres lost two of three to the Nationals, then split four games with the Cardinals.
Overall, the division went 8-23 during the week, with a chance at nine wins with Arizona’s Sunday night game. It was an ugly week for everyone involved.