Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
Kevin Gausman was not at his best. Or second best.
His fastball had less oomph, averaging 93.3 mph with the pitch that registered as more than a full mile per hour slower than usual. His splitter was softer, too, and induced fewer swings and misses than usual. He said after his last start that he was not feeling great, and perhaps it extended to his next rotation turn.
It didn’t matter.
The ace maybe had his “C” stuff, and it still was filthy enough to toss six scoreless innings. The Giants’ bullpen did its job and the offense did enough, especially after some late Buster Posey magic, in a 4-0 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday, taking the series and going for a sweep Thursday afternoon.
They held off the hot Padres and remain a half-game up in the division and are 2.5 games ahead of the Dodgers, who play later Wednesday. The Giants (27-16), who have won four straight, are a season-high 11 games over .500.
In his previous outing, Gausman pitched into the ninth without Pittsburgh squeaking in a run, and he was pulled after allowing a couple singles in a game the Giants would lose in 11 innings. The bullpen was better this time.
Zack Littell — with some help from Evan Longoria, who fielded a Eugenio Suarez bouncer far behind third base and in foul territory and threw over strong — pitched a scoreless seventh. For likely matchup reasons, Jake McGee needed just eight pitches to get through a back-to-back, which has not been his forte. Everyday Tyler Rogers, who was handed a 4-0 lead, sweated out a dramatic ninth that would have included a bases-loaded, no-out jam if a review at first had not found that Rogers stepped on the bag on time. Rogers escaped the jam.
The bullpen scratched by, and Gausman sailed while far from his best. He has pitched nine times this year, and the least he has thrown in a start is six innings. He lowered his season ERA to 1.66; the mark is at 0.90 through his past six starts, in which he has allowed four runs in 40 innings. His seventh of eight strikeouts — a strange one of Kyle Farmer, the umpire perhaps forgetting the count and leading to confusion — was his 1,000th of his career.
It has been a somewhat unfulfilling career for the former No. 4-overall pick, but he has put it all together and become the ace of aces; the undisputed ace of a staff that might have three of them.
Without his fastest fastball or most dramatic splitter, he mixed in his slider more often, and that worked well against his former team. He threw it nine times and none were put in play. Cincinnati swung at five and missed each time.
He had a no-hitter going into the fifth, until Tucker Barnhart doubled and was promptly stranded. Cincinnati went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position against Gausman, which means opponents are now 1-for-29 against him this year. Whenever he needs an out, he gets one.
The Giants’ offense did virtually nothing until the ninth against Wade Miley & Co., their only run previously coming with a Mauricio Dubon double, followed by a Mike Tauchman RBI single in the fifth. But they loaded the bases with two outs for Posey, and whom would Giants fans rather see than Posey in that spot? He came through with a three-run double on a hanging breaking pitch, his third hit of the day bringing his average up to .374.
The Giants’ offense did enough, and their defense was solid, Longoria making a few nice plays and Dubon barehanding a ball that Barnhart hit off Gausman’s glove and firing to first for the out.
And their bullpen was better than it has been of late, which made Gausman’s mitigated brilliance matter.