Giants get the better of Gausman, 4 pitchers combine to strike out 17
TORONTO — As well-acquainted as the San Francisco Giants are with Kevin Gausman, there was zero anticipation they’d have any sort of advantage against their former starter.
“I think you feel more of an edge when you know it’s a pitcher not as good as him, to be honest,” manager Gabe Kapler said before the game while extolling Gausman’s skills. “We can know all that stuff, but I think the best way to approach Kevin Gausman is with a lot of respect.”
That they did in a 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays, trying to have at least long at-bats while striking out left and right, yet managing to eke out one run against Gausman while driving his pitch count sky high. He left after six innings and 106 pitches and the Giants added two more runs in the ninth and pocketed their 10th consecutive road win, the longest such single-season streak in San Francisco history and the most since the New York Giants won 10 straight April 20-May 5, 1952.
Led by Alex Wood’s season-high seven, four Giants pitchers combined to strike out 17 Blue Jays. Wood was pitching in an unfamiliar role — he was the second man in in a bullpen game.
Giants 3, Blue Jays 0 San Francisco Toronto ab r h bi ab r h bi Totals 32 3 6 3 Totals 34 0 8 0 Wade Jr. 1b 4 0 0 0 Springer rf 4 0 1 0 Pederson dh 3 1 0 0 Bichette ss 4 0 3 0 Davis 3b 3 1 2 0 Belt dh 4 0 1 0 Conforto rf 4 0 0 0 Clement pr-dh 0 0 0 0 Sabol lf 4 0 0 0 Guerrero Jr. 1b 4 0 0 0 Johnson cf 0 0 0 0 Chapman 3b 4 0 1 0 Estrada 2b 4 1 2 2 Varsho cf 4 0 1 0 Bailey c 4 0 1 1 Merrifield lf 4 0 1 0 Crawford ss 3 0 1 0 Jansen c 3 0 0 0 Matos cf-lf 3 0 0 0 Biggio 2b 3 0 0 0 San Francisco 000 010 002 — 3 Toronto 000 000 000 — 0 DP_San Francisco 0, Toronto 1. LOB_San Francisco 4, Toronto 7. 2B_Bailey (8), Estrada (18), Springer (10), Bichette (20), Chapman (26), Varsho (12), Belt (15). SB_Merrifield (18), Estrada (18). IP H R ER BB SO San Francisco Walker 1 2 0 0 0 3 Wood W,3-2 5 5 0 0 0 7 Ty.Rogers H,17 1 2-3 1 0 0 0 4 Doval S,23-25 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 3 Toronto Gausman L,7-4 6 3 1 1 1 12 Pearson 1 1-3 1 0 0 0 1 Swanson 1 1-3 2 2 2 1 0 White 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 Wood pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. Umpires_Home, Ryan Blakney; First, Hunter Wendelstedt; Second, John Tumpane; Third, Marvin Hudson. T_2:45. A_36,004 (49,282). See More Collapse
“That’s what they want to do this time out and I didn’t really have much of a leg to stand on after my last start,” said Wood, who’d allowed the Padres six runs last week. “I’ve been working really hard in between and it felt like I maybe figured something out.”
Wood said the fix was his posture, staying a little more upright, which helped his command. He didn’t walk a man Tuesday after issuing four last week.
So what’s next? More work out of the bullpen?
“I don’t know what they have planned on moving forward,” Wood said. “I think I’ll build off today and keep throwing really well and then it becomes more of a conversation than it was going into this one for sure.”
“We’ll kind of evaluate it every time out,” Kapler said.
Wood was as good as he’s been all year, working five-plus innings and, in a big situation, he struck out former teammate Brandon Belt with a man at third — and that after a strange balk call that wiped out a Belt grounder that had appeared to end the inning. Wood described himself as “shocked” at the balk call.
“I had one early in the year after not having balks for my whole career, and that was my hands, so it’s been something I’ve been conscious of and focused on,” Wood said. “So when they called that, I had no idea. I guess you’ve just got to be extra careful and make sure that every part of you is extremely still for at least a second before you throw the baseball.”
Gausman retired the first 11 men he faced, striking out eight of them, and carried a no-hitter into the fifth.
“You know that all strikeouts aren’t created equal, and there were some really grindy ones in there,” Kapler said. “That started to drive his pitch count up. … At some point, you’re like, 'Man, it’s going to be harder for him to be pitching in the seventh,' which is really what you want when a guy’s on like that.”
Thairo Estrada, who entered the game in a 2-for-25 funk, recorded the Giants’ first hit. He bounced a one-out single to right and stole second — significant, because the team entered the game with a .364 average and .427 on-base percentage with men in scoring position this month. Estrada advanced to third on a balk and scored on Patrick Bailey’s double on a 3-2 pitch.
Bailey also contributed in major fashion behind the plate, not only catching the shutout but also throwing out Whit Merrifield at a key juncture, with one out in the second. Merrifield, who has 18 steals, initially was called safe but it was overturned on replay. Bailey has thrown out 10 of 27 runners, 37%, which should start to make opponents seriously think twice before going. He is second in the majors among catchers with at least 25 steal attempts made against them. A savvy mound visit to discuss strategy with Wood led to an inning-ending grounder by Matt Chapman in the sixth, and the Giants are 19-8 in the rookie catcher’s starts.
The team is also now 10-3 in bullpen games. It goes overlooked sometimes when managers make the right moves — it’s so much easier to second-guess them — but Kapler did yet another good job mixing and matching when using an opener. When Daulton Varsho doubled to open the seventh, Kapler went to Tyler Rogers, who got Merrifield to ground out and then struck out Danny Jansen and Cavan Biggio, then got two strikeouts to open the eighth.
Belt then doubled off Rogers and another Kapler move panned out. With pinch-runner Ernie Clement at second, Kapler brought in Camilo Doval for a four-out save. Doval got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to fly out to center.
“Woody was great, he came in and shoved, Rogers came in and shoved, and then Doval — when we can all work together like that and be on our A-game like that, we’re unstoppable,” said rookie Ryan Walker, who started.
Walker worked in his third consecutive game — the second time as an opener, making him the first pitcher to work three in a row including two starts in a maximum-four day span (one day off) since Rollie Sheldon for the Kansas City A’s in 1966, according to OptaStats.
Kapler said that regular use as an opener might make Walker’s workload even easier to manage.
“I actually think a schedule of opening some games once in a while can be a great way to monitor work, you know more when he’s going to pitch,” Kapler said. “If Walker is going to start, we know when those days are going to be and we’re probably not going to overdo it with him leading up to those days.”
The Giants aren’t listing a starter Thursday at Toronto, either. Is Walker a possibility? “Sure,” Kapler said.
Gausman’s 139 strikeouts lead the American League and are the most ever by a Blue Jays pitcher in their first 17 games. He reached the 1,500 career K mark in the fourth inning Tuesday among his dozen strikeouts.
J.D. Davis had a walk and two of the Giants’ six hits, and Bo Bichette had a three-hit game for Toronto.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
