The San Francisco Giants are last in the Major Leagues in home runs, and they’re okay with that.
Since Barry Bonds played his last game as the Giants’ left fielder in 2007, the franchise has largely abandoned the strategy of winning with the long ball, and for the last decade, it’s worked.
Pitching –in the form of great arms like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner– and defense –from the likes of Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik– has helped carry San Francisco to three World Series titles.
But this season, pitching and defense have proved rather elusive for San Francisco, and while the team’s offense has still made back-end of the rotation starters look like Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, the Giants returned home on Monday with the goal of regaining their identity.
At this point, the season is a lost cause, as San Francisco entered the week sitting 23 games below .500. But that didn’t stop manager Bruce Bochy from breaking out his increasingly familiar “we have to get back to who we are” shtick.
So on Tuesday night, when rookie Ty Blach turned in seven innings of one run ball, three Giants’ defenders made Web Gem-worthy plays, and San Francisco’s bullpen tossed three scoreless innings of relief, it’s hard to blame Bochy for feeling like something clicked.
“It was really nice, that’s who we are if you look at the success that we’ve had since ‘10 or I’ll go back to ‘09, it’s been our starting pitching and the job that they’ve done,” Bochy said. “Sure it takes everybody, the whole 25-man squad but you know I think every team could say the same thing.”
Blach’s seven-inning outing on Tuesday evening marked his longest start since a complete game shutout in Philadelphia on June 2, and marked just the second time in his last seven starts he’s surrendered fewer than three earned runs. Though the 26-year-old rookie entered with an earned run average of 4.60, he continued to instill confidence in the Giants’ manager by pitching late into the game.
It was a good win for us,” Blach said. “Everyone grinded it out and that’s what you got to do in games like that.”
Though Giants’ defenders have often made the grass in the AT&T Park infield and outfield look like quicksand this season, Blach and the Giants’ bullpen were the beneficiaries of a few marvelous defensive plays to lead off innings.
In the top of the seventh, right fielder Hunter Pence stole a hit from Jose Ramirez with a sliding catch along the line. In the eighth, shortstop Brandon Crawford snagged a slow bouncer up the middle with his bare hand and fired to first just in time to gun down Brandon Guyer. Then in the 10th, the speedy Bradley Zimmer dribbled a slow chopper toward second baseman Joe Panik, who gloved the ball and flipped to first baseman Brandon Belt a half step before Zimmer reached the bag.
“Craw (Crawford) was making incredible plays all night,” Blach said. “Turned a couple really nice double plays. HP (Pence) and D (Denard Span) both made really nice catches in the outfield, so it’s really nice to have that defense playing behind you.”
Perhaps the most rewarding part of Tuesday’s game for Bochy, though, was a flawless outing from his bullpen, which set the stage for Eduardo Nunez’s walkoff single in the bottom of the 10th inning.
When Blach came out, set-up man Hunter Strickland worked a 1-2-3 frame, and interim closer Sam Dyson followed with two innings of no-hit ball to earn the win.
After the contest, Bochy gushed about Dyson and what he’s meant to the Giants since closer Mark Melancon was placed on the disabled list at the beginning of the month.
“He’s done a really nice job, hasn’t he?” Bochy said. “He’s got great stuff. You look at his body of work last year really in the Major Leagues and he’s used to pitching in high-leverage situations, he’s got the stuff to do it. He’s got a good, hard, sinking fastball. Great movement on his pitches. Breaking ball, changeup, he’s got poise that you like from a closer.”
When the Los Angeles Dodgers concluded their contest in Chicago against the White Sox earlier this evening, San Francisco fell 30 games back of their first-place rivals for the first time this season. There’s no question that wins have been hard to come by for Bochy’s squad, and walkoff or not, they’ll take a ‘W’ any way they an earn one.
So for the Giants to secure a victory just how they draw it up, with timely hitting, impressive pitching and strong defense, Tuesday’s win was just a bit more rewarding than usual.