by
Greek Giant
Yes, you read that right. The Giants had two hits and scored the only run of the game thanks to a solo homer by LaMonte Wade Jr. in the bottom of the fourth inning. Suddenly Wade Jr. has found his power stroke!
Lunch Time LaMonte 🥗 pic.twitter.com/JB1lhVXEm5
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 3, 2023
This was another game started and pitched entirely by Giant relievers and it’s time to accept that the strategy of bullpen starters is working. In fact it is working so well that the Giants now have record of 15-5 when the starters are Scott Alexander, Ryan Walker or John Brebbia. The games started by traditional starting pitchers have given the Giants a record of 46-44, which does not tell the whole story. The bottom line is that the Giants are winning with a two-man rotation and a mix-use bullpen strategy that has shown how good the Giants relief corps is this season.
Yesterday’s 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks gave the Giants a 7-2 homestand and a three games to one series win over Arizona. This was a big series win and the fact that it came with the Giants a bit short-handed and in the middle of a team-wide scoring slump that has rendered the stats the worst in offense in MLB since July 1, is remarkable.
This Giants team has some character, the mad squabbles kind.
A. J. Pollock made a fine play on a line drive off the wall and kept Christian Walker at first with a long single. That play saved a run and possibly the game as the Diamondbacks made noise in the ninth before Doval would nail the win down.
Yesterday the Giant pitchers were Alexander, Beck, Manaea, Jackson, Taylor Rogers, and Doval. Doval got the save, his 33rd. Tristan Beck did the heavy lifting going four shutout innings and allowing only two hits.
Giants Manager Gabe Kapler paid tribute to Beck’s work:
“(Beck has) been pretty consistently as tough a competitor as they come, with a quality sweeper, a couple of different shapes on his slider, and a guy who’s been attacking the strike zone.”
The win gave the Giants a record of 61-49 and helped them keep pace with the Dodgers who also won. The boys from San Francisco are now 2.5 games behind the Los Angelenos for the division lead.
The National League has become more competitive or more mediocre, depending on your point of view. At press times only six teams have positive run differentials. The Giants are among them.
The Giants are off today.