Madison Bumgarner and Chris Stratton learned all about the danger of giving up runs in Arizona this weekend.
On Saturday evening, Bumgarner threw seven innings of two-run ball, and on Sunday afternoon, Stratton followed up the Giants’ ace by working six innings while allowing a pair of runs. Both pitchers took the loss.
Entering Monday night’s matchup with the Padres, right-hander Jeff Samardzija knew all about the dangers of allowing runs. That’s why he didn’t tempt fate and threw a complete game, three-hit shutout in a 3-0 Giants’ win.
Bumgarner and Stratton both pitched well this weekend, and despite giving up four runs on Friday night, so too did rookie Ty Blach, who made one critical mistake to Diamondbacks’ slugger Paul Goldschmidt that resulted in a three-run home run. It didn’t matter, though, as a listless Giants’ offense mustered just four runs all weekend, and capped off a brutal series sweep against Arizona by being shut out at Chase Field for the first time since 2008.
On Monday night, the Giants’ offense wasn’t much better than it was in Phoenix. The difference? Samardzija rose above his peers. Over nine innings, Samardzija surrendered just three hits and didn’t issue a walk, while logging five strikeouts on 102 pitches.
Samardzija locked down the Giants’ second nine-inning shutout by a starting pitcher this season, following Blach, who threw his back on June 2 in Philadelphia. Monday’s outing helped Samardzija to his first shutout since he tossed a one-hitter against the Detroit Tigers on behalf of the Chicago White Sox back on September 21, 2015.
The 32-year-old right-hander entered his 27th start of the season coming off back-to-back outings in which he was removed after throwing fewer than 100 pitches. For a durable starter who ranks among the Major League leaders in innings pitched, Samardzija had slowed down his pace of late, throwing no more than 6.1 innings in each of his last four starts.
Though manager Bruce Bochy has insisted on limiting Samardzija’s innings of late after a stretch in which he threw at least 105 pitches in four straight outings, Samardzija found a way to work deep into Monday’s contest thanks to a remarkably economical pitch count. The Notre Dame product needed just 82 pitches to navigate through his first seven scoreless innings, and finished with a single digit pitch count in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Samardzija was effective mixing and matching his offerings to a light-hitting Padres’ lineup that had tagged him for 15 runs in three previous starts against San Diego this season, and took control of the game by dominating with first pitch strikes. At one point, Samardzija registered a first pitch strike to 18 of 19 Padres’ hitters who faced him, and he didn’t have a single three-ball count all night.
What made Samardzija’s effort even more impressive was the fact he spent much of the night battling to keep San Francisco a tick ahead of its opponent.
The Giants didn’t jump on the scoreboard until the top of the fourth inning, when shortstop Brandon Crawford scalded a 411-foot home run off of Jhoulys Chacin to deep right center field to push San Francisco ahead 1-0. Crawford’s home run marked his 12th of the season, which tied him with catcher Buster Posey for the second most home runs on the team.
San Francisco’s offense didn’t strike again until the top of the eighth inning, when second baseman Joe Panik hooked a first pitch fastball off of reliever Phil Maton off the right field foul poul. Panik’s home run came after a Crawford single, so it gave the Giants a commanding 3-0 lead that Samardzija was in no position to surrender.
The pair of home runs hit by Giants’ middle infielders allowed Samardzija to collect his fourth victory of the month, and just his ninth win on the season. It was a welcome sight for the Giants, who received strong pitching in Arizona, but couldn’t capitalize at all at the beginning of their road trip.