San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Winning Back at Home
The San Francisco Giants got back to winning, beating the Cincinnati Reds twice in three tries to win their fourth consecutive series at AT&T Park.
3 UP
1 – Brandons Bash
Brandon Belt just loves facing the Cincinnati Reds. He torched Cincinnati pitching again, going 6-13 in the three-game series while hitting a home run in each game. In 39 career games against Cincinnati, Belt owns a .343/.416/.715 with 12 home runs. He’s gone deep in each of his last five games against them, dating back to last season.
Belt continues to be one of the most dangerous hitters in the National League. He ranks in the top-10 in the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, home runs, and wRC+. His 165 wRC+ is second-best among National League first baseman, trailing only Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman (166). His nine home runs are halfway to a career-high, and we’re only halfway through the second month of the season.
Brandon Crawford’s bat is also alive and well after an abysmal month of April. He entered the second month hitting just .189, but has raised his average more than 100 points to .295. He picked up two hits, both doubles, on Monday, then added four hits, including another double, on Tuesday. He didn’t start on Wednesday, with a heavy workload leading to a tight back that the team decided to rest, but came off the bench to pick up another hit in the ninth inning.
2 – Aggressive Management
The Giants were in a tight spot on Tuesday. Trailing 3-0 in the fourth inning, the Giants had the bases loaded and one out. Pitcher Ty Blach was due to hit, but manager Bruce Bochy made the decision to pull his starter after only four innings. The move paid off, with pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval shooting a single to left field to score a pair and tie the game. Andrew McCutchen would put the Giants in front on a fielder’s choice later in the inning.
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That move put the burden on the bullpen, a bullpen that has had to endure a heavy workload on this long stretch of 17 games in 17 days. Five relievers were called upon, and every single one answered the call. Pierce Johnson and Will Smith threw perfect innings in the fifth and sixth. Sam Dyson and Tony Watson both worked around one-out doubles in the seventh and eighth while striking out a pair. Hunter Strickland made life easy in the ninth, going 1-2-3 for his ninth save.
It was a risky move by Bochy, but it worked out every way imaginable. The Giants tied and took the lead, and the bullpen threw five shutout innings and struck out eight to make it stand up.
3 – Back to Winning
After a short two-series losing streak, which included six consecutive games lost, the Giants bounced back against a Reds team that had come to San Francisco which six straight victories under their belts. They took two out of three from Cincinnati, earning another series win and getting back to .500 in the process. They had the potential to sweep the Reds, but after the way the last roadtrip ended, winning a series is definitely not a bad thing.