Photo by Chris Mezzavilla/KNBR
SAN FRANCISCO– After a shaky start to the season, right-hander Jeff Samardzija has built a repertoire as one of the Giants’ most durable pitchers this season.
Not only does he lead the Giants rotation in innings pitched with 167.2, he’s the team leader in wins (8) and strikeouts (170). Samardzija has crafted a reputation of consistently performing into at least the sixth inning, as he’s reached that plateau in all but two performances since May 30. So it was unusual when he took a powerful Brewers lineup six innings Tuesday night, but was pulled after throwing just 89 pitches.
“He threw well,” Bochy said after the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Brewers. “The inning before he logged some pitches, he was up there a little bit. I’ve worked him pretty hard — I was really looking after him probably as much as anything. We had (Albert) Suarez who had a couple days off, he was fresh. I was trying to give some guys a little break and it didn’t work out. Sure he could’ve gone back out, but the order was coming back up. I just felt like he had gone far enough.”
Samardzija exited the game with a slim 3-2 lead, but reliever Albert Suarez was unable to keep a grip on the edge, as he surrendered two runs, two hits and one walk in the seventh for his third loss in relief this season.
“I was ready to pitch and I felt good,” Samardzija said. “We were trying to get another run across there. I respect them for looking out for me obviously, but I feel good. I’ll carry those extra pitches into the next start for sure.”
Samardzija allowed just one earned run against Milwaukee, but he missed out on a few opportunities to help his cause to pitch later in the game. At the plate, Samardzija went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts against Brewers’ right-hander Jimmy Nelson, and both at-bats came in critical situations.
In the second and fourth innings, Samardzija came to the plate with the bases loaded and just one out, and in both plate appearances, he failed to make a productive out. Though a pitcher’s success at the plate is secondary to his work on the mound, Samardzija was frustrated with his at-bats after the game.
“Maybe if I had been able to handle the bat a little better, maybe I’d have been out there in the eighth,” Samardzija added. “I’m always ready to pitch into the eighth, I’m just happy with how I felt throughout the game and all the pitches were there throughout the game so I’m happy with that.”