The Nationals have the Giants’ number.
Washington (41-58) got their first sweep in over two seasons on Sunday in a 6-1 victory over San Francisco (54-46) at Nationals Park. It’s Washington’s fifth win in six games this season vs. San Francisco, and the Giants’ fifth loss in a row.
The Nationals dominated the Giants in the series, outscoring them 21-5 in the three victories.
Joc Pederson provided the lone run on Sunday, with a solo blast in garbage time to avoid the shutout. San Francisco again couldn’t do anything with runners in scoring position, a troubling trend for the better part of a week. SF has just eight runs in their five losses and is 1-for-23 with RISP in that stretch.
The Giants were also largely shutdown by Washington starter Mackenzie Gore on Sunday, who gave up four hits in five innings but struck out eight and got big outs with runners on-base.
The game started with a role reversal of sorts for two Giants pitchers. Reliever Scott Alexander started the game as an opener, but didn’t make it through the first after putting two of the four batters he faced on base. Traditional starter Anthony DeSclafani replaced him, entering a game mid-inning for the first time in his Giants career.
DeSclafani couldn’t get out of the jam. He walked Stone Garrett on five pitches to load the bases, then left a an 0-1 changeup over the plate to Dominic Smith, who punched a two-run single through the right side of the infield. Both runs were credited to Alexander.
DeSclafani didn’t help himself in the third inning, allowing Lane Thomas to steal second and third base after an inning-opening first-pitch single. The running game allowed Thomas to score easily from third, when DeSclafani hung a two-out, two-strike sinker that Garrett blasted for a double to center to give WAS a 3-0 lead. Thomas had four steals on Sunday, three off DeSclafani. It’s the first time since 2012 that a player has stolen four bases in a game vs. the Giants.
DeSclafani was poor, but the Giants offense didn’t help him as they continued to scuffle. A two-on, no-out situation was spoiled in the fourth inning when Mike Yastrzemski and David Villar struck out and Casey Schmitt lined out to right. Both Yaz and Schmitt were unable to do anything with hittable pitches, while Villar didn’t swing the bat on a close pitch that resulted in a third strike.
The three outs marked 21 straight hitless at-bats with runners in scoring position. You have to go back to the second inning of Wednesday’s game vs. Cincinnati, 43 innings ago, for the last time SF knocked in a runner from at least second base.
Disco exited in the fifth after giving up four earned runs on eight hits while striking out just two. That’s three appearances in a row that DeSclafani, whose ERA is now up to 4.88, hasn’t gotten through the fifth inning.
The Giants head to Detroit for a one-off game vs. the Tigers in which Ross Stripling will start, before heading back home. The good news is that a win vs. the Tigers will give San Francisco a 6-5 record on the road trip.