After a wild, heartbreaking loss on Saturday that saw the Giants blow a 4-0 lead, San Francisco was able to hold onto the same lead in Sunday’s bounce back 5-1 win over the Marlins in Miami.
Given a buffer by Donovan Walton’s grand slam in the fourth, the Marlins had no chance at another comeback thanks to Giants starter Jakob Junis, who was again excellent.
Junis struck out a season-high eight and limited the Marlins to just two hits, his only blemish a solo shot to Garrett Cooper in the sixth. As is customary, the right hander showed excellent command with his sinker/slider combination to dominate the Miami lineup. Junis’ 96 pitches were the most he’s thrown this season.
Junis’ 2.51 ERA and 0.93 WHIP are both second best on the Giants (among qualified pitchers) behind Jarlin Garcia and the best among Giants pitchers who have tossed more than 30 innings. The under-the-radar decision to sign Junis this offseason is looking like another Farhan find.
Miami starter Braxton Garrett also got off to a strong start, striking out five in the first three innings and getting out of a couple jams. A pitcher’s duel would not be in the cards, however, when Walton broke the stalemate in the fourth inning, launching the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall for his first career grand slam and his first home run as a Giant.
The blast traveled 421 feet and knocked Garrett — a rookie with excellent breaking stuff — out of the game.
Walton hasn’t exactly been a machine at the plate, but has gotten good bang for his buck when making contact. In addition to his grand slam on Sunday, eight of his other nine hits have been doubles.
Interestingly, the player Walton replaced in the lineup on Sunday, Brandon Crawford, also hit a grand slam in game one of this series.
Less impressive was what the Giants did with the bases loaded and no outs in the next inning, stranding all three runners. Walton was the final batter of the frame, but squandered the rare opportunity for a two grand slam game with a ground out to second.
It was another instance of the Giants leaving runners on, something that has plagued them at times this season. SF also did it in each of the first two innings, unable to knock in runners at third in each frame.
Ultimately, however, the Giants did enough, even if there was another scare in the eighth. Tyler Rodgers, who gave up the walkoff on Saturday, played with his food again, giving up back-to-back two out singles. Crisis was averted thanks to an excellent stab by Thairo Estrada at second after a rocket off Jorge Soler’s bat.
Sunday’s win secured a 5-5 record on the Giants’ 10-game road trip. They head back to San Francisco for a series with the Rockies starting on Tuesday, followed by the Dodgers’ first trip to the Bay this season.