With the Giants on the verge of falling under .500 for the first time all season, Carlos Rodón fought back.
The left-hander dealt one of the most impressive outings in recent Giants history, whiffing 12 batters and allowing one run over nine innings in San Francisco’s 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
It was the Giants' first complete game of the season.
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At 99 pitches entering the ninth inning, manager Gabe Kapler opted to let Rodón finish off the game. Rodón began the ninth by striking out Jake Cronenworth and got Manny Machado to ground out before walking Luke Voit on four pitches.
Not rattled a bit, Rodón dialed up three fastballs to send Jorge Alfaro down on strikes, the final effort a 99.1 heater that missed Alfaro's bat.
Game over.
Per ESPN, Rodón is the first San Francisco pitcher to log a complete game with at least 10 strikeouts since Madison Bumgarner in 2016. He also managed to produce 27 swings-and-misses from Padres hitters -- 20 on his fastball alone. It's the most since Tim Lincecum racked up 29 during his no-hitter July 13, 2013 against the Padres.
On a 3-12 slide over its last 15 games, San Francisco started the scoring in the second inning when Brandon Crawford brought in Brandon Belt on a sacrifice fly. The Padres tied it up in the bottom half of the second when Jorge Alfaro scored on a fielder's choice.
San Francisco Giants
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The 1-1 tie held until Wilmer Flores, who was met with criticism on the national broadcast for batting third in the Giants' lineup, silenced his critics by blasting a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
And, of course Rodón finished it off from there.
The series between the Giants and San Diego caps off with Sunday's clash at 1:10 p.m. PT. Tune in to NBC Sports Bay Area at 12:30 p.m. for "Summer Sunday before the game.