*Photo from Sportsnaut*
Yeah, the San Francisco Giants aren't quite going away yet. Brandon Belt homered, Thairo Estrada drove in 4 runs, and the Giants defeated the Cleveland Guardians with an 8-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland.
The first pitch temperature was 35 degrees, but the Giants bats weren't freezing, coming out and dropping 8 runs in the coldest game they've played since 1990. The Giants got their first series sweep of the season, aided by a strong pitching effort all weekend.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler said of the pitching that "We’re aware that our starters are pitching well. We expected it to be a strength of our club. They just come out and fill up the strike zone, that’s exactly what we’re asking them to do. All of them have left the games giving our bullpen a chance to hold it down and win games for us."
In the second inning, Estrada started the scoring for the Giants, putting them ahead 2-0 with a two run home run to center field. In the 4th, Brandon Crawford and Joc Pederson scored on a fielders choice plus error, coming off the bat of Estrada, making it a 4-0 lead for the Giants.
In the 6th inning, Pederson came around to score on an RBI double by Estrada, putting the Giants up by a 5-0 margin. Estrada then scored on an RBI single off the bat of Steven Duggar, making it 6-0 in favor of the Giants. In the top of the 7th inning, Belt cranked a two run home run to right field, making it an 8-0 game. An RBI single by Austin Hedges in the bottom of the 7th got the Guardians on the board, but that was all they could get.
Lefty Alex Wood got the start for the Giants, picking up the win while throwing 5 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and walking two hitters, striking out 5 hitters to improve to 1-0 on the season. Zack Littell pitched a scoreless 6th inning. Tyler Beede allowed one run in two innings of relief, followed by Sam Long closing the game out in the 9th inning.
Wood said of the Giants hot start that they "Just gotta keep rolling. It’s not how you start, but how you finish. Everybody is really happy with this start we’ve had as a staff, and I think we’ve got some competitive juices flowing and guys want to back up what the guy does the day before."
Getting the start for Cleveland was Aaron Civale, who got the loss. Civale allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and one walk, striking out 5 hitters over 4 innings. Anthony Gose had a shutout 5th inning, before Eli Morgan and Anthony Castro each allowed two runs in their one inning of work each. Konnor Pikington then had two scoreless relief innings.
Civale said of the loss that "Once you’re out there, the weather becomes irrelevant. You can’t use that as an excuse for anything. It’s part of the game. Temperature is all a part of it. It’s something that you’ve done it before and you know how to handle it."
Up next, the Giants continue their east coast road trip with a series against the New York Mets, with Alex Cobb starting the series opener on Monday night. The Guardians originally scheduled Monday night game against the Chicago White Sox was postponed, so the series will now begin on Tuesday night. Shane Bieber is the scheduled starter.
Comments
Post a Comment