SAN FRANCISCO — After Sunday’s game, Bruce Bochy mentioned how important Evan Longoria’s first-inning blast was on a day when both teams were tired. That fatigue was also part of the equation for the manager, who had to get through 36 innings in 48 hours and try to keep his relievers and regulars fresh all while dealing with a fresh batch of injuries.
There was one thing Bochy didn’t have to worry about, though, and it’s part of the game that has most kept him up the last two seasons. The Giants took three of four from the Dodgers and Hunter Strickland took them to the finish line every time. Named closer in the hours before the season started, Strickland has taken the lead in a bullpen that’s all of a sudden, well, pretty good.
That was the norm around here for three title runs, but the bullpen helped sink the 2016 and 2017 teams. This season, it’s once again something Bochy doesn’t have to worry about.
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“Sure, there’s a sense of confidence, I think with everybody,” he said. “We have a bullpen where they all know their roles. It’s a routine and it makes life easier.”
Bochy is still trying to sort out the early innings a bit. But give him a lead in the seventh and he has no hesitation. Sam Dyson pitched in all three wins this weekend, including Sunday’s 4-2 victory, and he hasn’t allowed a run in his last seven appearances. Tony Watson, a Dodger last season and a player they could desperately use right now, pitched the eighth on Sunday and lowered his ERA to 0.71.
Strickland took over in the ninth and got two fly balls to center and a strikeout. He has appeared in 14 of the Giants’ 28 games, posting a 1.32 ERA and 0.80 WHIP. His seven saves tie him for fourth in the NL. For so long, Strickland was the bull in the china shop, coming after hitters with a firm fastball and trying to force his way through innings. Now, he’s finessing it a bit. He is throwing his four-seam fastball 12 percent less than in any previous season and his changeup 10 percent of the time, a career-high. A slider he revamped while working with John Smoltz has become a real weapon.
“He’s got a really good slider going along with command of his fastball,” Bochy said. “He’s using his changeup. He’s just doing a much better job of pitching. He was pretty predictable with his pitches the last couple of years and he had the stuff to get away with it, but still, it’s important to have these secondary pitches.”
San Francisco Giants
Strickland’s emergence has made up for the loss of Mark Melancon, but the Giants soon will get another injured reliever back in the mix. Will Smith made his final rehab appearance for the Sacramento River Cats on Sunday and he’ll make his return from Tommy John surgery on Wednesday. All indications are that he has been sharp while rehabbing. If the current back-end guys can keep it up, Bochy could have his best bullpen mix since the days when Affeldt, Casilla, Lopez and Romo locked up wins.
“We’ve got a great group right now,” Strickland said. “Everybody is definitely holding their own and doing their part.”
That allows the Giants to actually pull out wins when they do other things well, hardly a guarantee the previous two years. Longoria’s three-run homer paced the offense and Ty Blach once again flummoxed the Dodgers. He improved to 4-2 against them in his career with a 2.03 ERA. Brandon Crawford made a spectacular diving play at short to help the cause.
The win had the Giants back at .500 for the first time since April 12. At 14-14, they are not where they hoped to be. But they haven’t played that well overall, yet they’re not buried at the end of April as they were a year ago.
“If you consider the things that have happened, it’s okay,” Bochy said. “Considering where we were, to battle back to .500, that’s always a good sign.”