Epic comeback fuels sweep

SF 8  STL 5

The Giants jumped out to a 2-0 lead but saw it quickly evaporate. Anthony DeSclafani gave up a grand slam in the 2nd and was done after three innings (78 pitches) with the team trailing 5-2. Of his nine outs seven were whiffs. That spoiled, for a bit, the debut of rookie phenom Luis Matos who singled in his first appearance (second batter of the game) and later scored the team’s second run. Welcome to the big club, Luis! Show us what you got!

Jakob Junis provided some stability with three shutout frames. That’s two big long-relief performances in two games. Starting pitching is a little thin right now and the team needs some quality bulk-innings work so that’s a good sign. David Villar, back with the team because of J.D. Davis’ ankle sprain, doubled in the 7th and Mike Yastrzemski drove him home to make it 5-3. It was a harbinger of things to come.

Southpaw Taylor Rogers took the 7th, Ryan Walker the 8th, and righty submariner TYLER Rogers handled the 9th. The Rogers Boys threw a total of 15 pitches (14 for strikes!).

LaMonte Wade, Jr. walked to lead off the 9th. With two outs Yaz hit one of those miraculous game-tying homers that you root for every time but hardly ever get. What a great moment! That was a big, big blast. It gave the Giants a second chance at a sweep. When a team gets rolling it needs an occasional miracle to keep the positive vibes flowing.

In the 10th Thairo Estrada plated Yaz (the Manfred Man) with a single and then stole second. Wilmer Flores singled him in and took the extra bag on the throw home. Late Inning LaMonte took advantage of that and singled Wilmer home to make it 8-5. Camilo Doval struck out both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado as part of his 18th save and the Giants fourth straight win.

36 wins may not seem like much but it puts the Giants in 12th place among all 30 MLB teams. Their .529 win percentage is better (at this moment) than Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Seattle, Minnesota, and San Diego among others. This team was 6-13 on April 21st! They’ve gone 30-19 (.612) since then.

It’s a critical stretch of the schedule as the next ten games are against division foes. Tomorrow is an off-day then there is a weekend series in LA (Friday 7:10, Sat 6:10, Sun 1:10 PT). They come home the following week for three against the Padres and three against the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.

Go Giants!

–M.C.