The Giants put nine runs on the scoreboard on Monday night, but all Jeff Samardzija wanted to talk about what his defense.
Even though the “Shark” came into his start against the Colorado Rockies with the third-lowest run support average (3.19) in the Major Leagues this season, Samardzija was equally inspired by his team’s defensive performance as he was by the Giants’ lineup’s offensive explosion.
Specifically, Samardzija gushed about his Gold Glove shortstop, Brandon Crawford, who made a pair of dazzling plays that helped the Giants keep the Rockies scoreless through the first six innings.
In the top of the third, Colorado had runners on second and third with notorious Giants’ killer Nolan Arenado at the plate, and Arenado smashed a groundball toward the hole in between third and short. Off the bat, Samardzija said he was hoping left fielder Gorkys Hernandez would charge the ball and have a chance to make a throw to the plate. But suddenly, Samardzija saw Crawford flash in front of his eyes.
The Giants’ shortstop raced into the hole to backhand the grounder, and threw to rookie third baseman Ryder Jones, who made a heads-up play to cover the bag and secure the force out.
“Immediately I’m thinking get to it,” Crawford said. “At least get to it and save a run. I glanced up and I saw Ryder (Jones) covering third which was a pretty heads-up play. Which is funny, we just talked about it the other day, I don’t think I’ve ever made that play.”
In the top of the fourth inning, Crawford again proved why he’s considered one of the most elite defenders in baseball, as he ranged up the middle to snag a sharp groundball off the bat of Ian Desmond. After collecting the ball in shallow center field, the UCLA product spun around and fired a strike to first baseman Brandon Belt to end the inning.
With the help of Crawford, Samardzija thwarted the Rockies’ threats, and after the game, the Giants’ right-hander had plenty of praise to offer.
“Crawford is amazing, isn’t he?” Samardzija said. “He’s unbelievable. The best thing is he doesn’t even talk about it. He’s mad about the two plays that like took bad hops on him and handcuffed him. He had a heck of a game. I don’t know if it’s going to be talked about a lot but that was rather impressive what he did out there today.”