Two more Flores HRs, two more Doval saves, 2 wins
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CINCINNATI — Wilmer Flores is turning into such a force for the San Francisco Giants lately, he’s starting against right-handers, too. Closer Camilo Doval is even more in demand: the All-Star pocketed two saves Tuesday.
Doval threw 13 pitches in the Giants’ early 4-2 win, a completion of Monday’s suspended game, then finished off the regularly scheduled game to earn his major-league high 30th save, getting a double-play to end it. Flores, put at first for defense in the late going, made a slick scoop to end it, and he also mashed two homers — he has three in the series — and drove in five runs in San Francisco’s 11-10 victory.
The Giants have won seven in a row and are a season-high 13 games over .500. They moved within 1 ½ games of the Dodgers in the NL West.
Doval technically won’t be credited with two saves in one day. Since the first one was part of a completed game, it officially gets registered as a July 17 save, which defies logic. The last Giants reliever with two saves on the same day was Robb Nen, on July 4, 2000, at Colorado.
Giants 11, Reds 10 San Francisco Cincinnati ab r h bi ab r h bi Totals 37 11 11 11 Totals 39 10 14 9 Wade Jr. 1b 2 0 0 0 De La Cruz ss 5 1 1 0 Matos cf 4 1 2 2 Friedl cf 4 1 1 0 Pederson lf-1b 4 0 0 0 Stephenson ph-c 1 0 1 0 Junis p 0 0 0 0 McLain 2b 4 3 2 0 Ta.Rogers p 0 0 0 0 Fraley rf 1 1 1 2 Doval p 0 0 0 0 Encrncn-St ph-3b 3 1 2 3 Flores dh-1b 3 3 2 5 India dh 5 0 1 0 Conforto rf 4 1 2 1 Votto 1b 3 1 1 2 Ystrzemski cf-lf 4 1 1 2 Steer 3b-lf 5 1 2 0 Davis 3b 4 0 1 0 Benson lf-rf 4 1 1 2 Sabol c 4 1 1 0 Casali c 3 0 1 0 Bailey c 1 0 0 0 Senzel ph-cf 1 0 0 0 Wisely 2b 3 3 1 0 Schmitt ss 4 1 1 1 San Francisco 103 031 300 — 11 Cincinnati 221 030 200 — 10 E_Manaea (1), McLain (2). DP_San Francisco 2, Cincinnati 1. LOB_San Francisco 8, Cincinnati 6. 2B_Yastrzemski (14), Stephenson (14). HR_Flores 2 (11), Fraley (13), Benson (5), Encarnacion-Strand (1), Votto (8). SF_Flores (3). IP H R ER BB SO San Francisco DeSclafani 2 4 4 4 0 5 Manaea 2 1-3 2 3 2 1 3 Llovera BS,0-1 2-3 1 1 1 1 0 Alexander W,6-0 1 1 0 0 0 3 Junis H,2 1 4 2 2 0 1 Ta.Rogers H,5 1 1 0 0 0 1 Doval S,30-32 1 1 0 0 1 0 Cincinnati Weaver 2 2-3 4 4 4 1 6 Young 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 3 Law BS,1-3 2-3 3 3 3 1 0 Duarte 2-3 1 1 0 1 2 Farmer L,2-4 BS,2-7 1 1-3 1 2 2 2 1 Santillan 1 1-3 2 1 1 3 1 Cruz 1 0 0 0 0 1 HBP_Manaea (Fraley). WP_Llovera, Duarte. Umpires_Home, Gabe Morales; First, Adam Beck; Second, Dan Iassogna; Third, Tom Hanahan. T_3:30. A_26,569 (43,891). See More Collapse
Earlier in the day, Doval had smiled and, in English, said, “Maybe!” when asked if he might work in both games. After the second game, he said via interpreter Erwin Higueros that he’d asked the coaching staff how many pitches he’d thrown the first game. Told 12, he said, “Let’s go! I’m ready.”
“I’ve never done that before,” Doval added. “I wanted a record for myself.”
“We generally wouldn’t do that if a player wasn’t keen on the idea,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “But Camilo was in on it. More than in on it.”
In a game that yo-yo’d back and forth, it wasn’t the easiest of saves. Jonathan India reached on a one-out infield single and Joey Votto walked before Spencer Steer hit a bouncer to second baseman Brett Wisely, who slipped as he stepped on second and threw low to first, bouncing it on a short hop.
“That was a big deal,” Kapler said of Flores' scoop. “A huge play, and not an easy dig.”
Flores also homered Monday and, according to MLB’s Sarah Langs, is the first Giants player with eight or more total bases in back-to-back games since Barry Bonds on April 2-3, 2002.
The Reds got their share of homers, too, including including Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s first big-league hit; Encarnacion-Strand, a College Park-Pleasant Hill alum, crushed a three-run, pinch-hit drive in the fifth that put Cincinnati up 8-7. Anthony DeSclafani gave up two homers. Votto hit a two-run shot in the seventh to cut it to one.
The Giants’ rookies got involved in the late going, with some big hits and a big walk from Casey Schmitt with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh. Schmitt actually drew five balls, but the first ball four — high out of the zone — was called a strike. When he finally walked in Mike Yastrzemski, Schmitt flipped his bat.
“Casey had some good at-bats, and I like when a player celebrates walks, because it means they’re caring about the right things,” Kapler said. “He’s intense, and you can see some of that intensity come out in a moment like that.”
Luis Matos, another rookie, atoned for an earlier baserunning mistake by following with a two-run single to center. Catcher Patrick Bailey nearly joined the rookie run crew the next inning, with a high drive to center with two outs and two on in the eighth, but Reds center fielder T.J. Friedl made a sensational racing, backhanded grab with a leap, slamming into the wall as he made the catch. He came out of the game after that inning.
The Giants were playing short on the bench much of the way: First baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. looked uncomfortable on the final swing of a strikeout in the third and left the game two innings later with left hamstring cramping; he will be re-evaluated Wednesday but the team is unlikely to take any chances with him. Before the game, shortstop Brandon Crawford told The Chronicle he hasn’t played the past two games because the left knee issue he had during the spring has returned.
One man came off the IL on Tuesday: DeSclafani started against his former team after missing more than two weeks with right shoulder fatigue. He lasted just two innings and gave up the two-run shots by Jake Fraley and Will Benson, both on sliders.
Flores helped the Giants bounce back from those drives with a three-run homer off right-hander Luke Weaver with two outs in the third, after also clocking a solo shot in the first.
The Reds regained the lead in the bottom of the inning against Sean Manaea. Friedl bunted for a leadoff single, moved up on a groundout and Manaea hit Fraley. With Friedl breaking for third, Manaea spun with a great chance to nail him at third, but he threw wildly past the base and the Reds regained the lead.
And the back-and-forth was on.
San Francisco went back up in the fifth when Michael Conforto delivered a two-out, two-strike single that sent in one run and Yastrzemski added a two-out, two-strike, two-run double. Conforto is batting .316 with 19 RBIs with two outs and runners in scoring position this year.
The lead was brief. Elly De La Cruz led off the fifth with a single off Manaea, who walked Matt McLain with one out. Encarnacion-Strand, a right-handed hitter, pinch hit, so Kapler went to Mauricio Llovera, a right-hander, who gave up the homer on an 0-2 slider.
The Giants tied it back up again immediately — it was that kind of game. Wisely’s single started things, then Matos hit what looked like a certain double-play ball but McClain muffed the flip from De La Cruz, and Joc Pederson walked to load the bases. Flores’ sacrifice fly sent Wisely in, but Matos was cut down at third also trying to advance, the dreaded don’t-make-the-third-out-at-third, especially with the middle of the order coming up.
Reds starter Weaver had to leave in the third after taking a liner by Conforto off his left elbow; X-rays were negative.
When Wade left, Pederson wound up at first base much of the way; he’d played one inning there for San Francisco before Tuesday and 20 games at first for the Dodgers in 2019. He exited in the seventh, with Flores moving to first base, losing the Giants their DH spot.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
