SAN FRANCISCO — Bruce Bochy knows the reason his team is tied for the most one-run wins in baseball. He points to a classic foundation: pitching and defense. The manager also knows why his team is in so many of those situations to begin with: the offense, or lack thereof.
After a homestand featuring five one-run or extra-inning games, the Giants finally picked up the glaring slack they’ve left. They poured 11 runs on the Brewers, finding a new avenue to victory while still leaning on rock-solid defense. Brandon Crawford embodied both facets of the Giants’ effort, highlighted by a stunning spin-and-throw behind second base to nail a runner headed toward third base.
“I think he surprised everybody,” Bochy said of Crawford’s play. “Including them, and us.
“I didn’t see him going to third there to be honest. I don’t think anybody did.”
But Crawford did, and the heads-up play punctuated a 1-for-4 stat line that shielded his true achievements on Monday night. He flung a go-ahead, sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, followed by a two-RBI single his next at-bat to widen the margin. He padded the Giants’ 11-5 win over the Brewers, a game Matt Cain (1-5, 5.34 ERA) lasted only 11 outs in after coming off the disabled list.
But Crawford and the Giants quickly made sure the veteran right-hander’s shaky outing wouldn’t be the storyline, lacing three of Chase Anderson’s first eight pitches for a home run, triple, and run-scoring single.
“That’s the best start I think we’ve had all season,” Crawford said with a wide smile.
That staked the Giants to their first two-run lead, a margin they would again lead by in the third inning and again blow in the sixth. But that’s when Crawford shined, with Ramon Flores representing the go-ahead run at second base with no outs.
Alex Presley dribbled one through Albert Suarez’s legs, and Crawford noticed Flores paused to make sure the ball was headed his way. That was his biggest mistake, and Crawford made him pay for it by passing up the easy throw to first.
The shortstop smoothly pivoted toward third before Flores was halfway there, and the rest was routine.
“When I spun around I saw I had a lane to throw,” Crawford said, “and I went for it.”
It made the rest of the inning an easier ride for Suarez, who ended up pitching as long as Cain did before departing in the eighth inning. He nestled himself perfectly into the long relief role, and came out the winner because of Crawford’s go-ahead sac fly mere minutes after his spectacle in the field.
He added a couple RBI to his stat line in the Giants’ five-hit, four-run seventh inning that came entirely with two outs. Crawford splashed a single into center field, pushing the Giants’ lead to three and notching the team’s 10th hit.
It was the first game since May 29th the Giants tallied double-digits hits, a statement that fortifies Bochy’s claim about all the close contests.
Said Bochy: “(Crawford’s) offense, just like the defense, is just getting better and better with him.”
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