The Giants did exactly what they needed to against a bad Colorado Rockies team on Saturday at Oracle Park.
After a disappointing 5-2 loss in the series opener on Friday, San Francisco bounced back with an important and necessary win with one game remaining before the All-Star break.
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Ryan Walker was the opener and surrendered two runs in two innings pitched before giving way to veteran lefty Alex Wood (W, 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K), who pitched very well as the bulk-innings arm out of the bullpen.
Great pitching, impressive defense and timely hitting were the recipe against righty Connor Seabold and the Rockies. Here are three observations from the Giants' 5-3 win over Colorado.
Signs of life
Outside of Brandon Crawford's game-tying two-run home run in Friday's loss, the Giants offense was ice-cold yet again. It wasn't exactly an offensive onslaught on Saturday, but there were signs of life and plenty of timely hits.
San Francisco Giants
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning, Michael Conforto (3-4, HR, 2 RBI) blasted an opposite-field go-ahead two-run home run that just snuck out over the left field wall and gave the Giants an early 2-1 lead.
Fast forward to the bottom of the fourth where Patrick Bailey's (1-4, 2B) booming double into right-center field gave the Giants a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Blake Sabol (2-2, RBI) followed with a base hit to left that scored Bailey from second, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead after Colorado had tied the game in the top of the second. The RBI was Sabol's eighth in his last four games.
The Giants wasted no time adding on, either. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Wilmer Flores stretched a base hit to left into a double. Two batters later, Austin Slater (1-2, HR, 2 RBI) blasted a two-run home run, extending the Giants' lead to 5-2.
Pre-break rotation audition
The Giants will not hesitate to use a bullpen game or two -- or three -- per week if they need to, but are hoping to deploy more of a traditional starting rotation in the second half of the season, as president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi mentioned in an interview with reporters before Friday's game.
San Francisco came into the season with plenty of starting depth, but injuries and underwhelming performances from Wood, Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea and, recently, Anthony DeSclafani, have left the back-end of the rotation after Logan Webb and first-time All-Star Alex Cobb a giant question mark.
Stripling has looked much better since his return from the injured list on June 25 and is primed for a spot in the rotation after the break. One of the other spots could be given to Wood, who pitched very well on Saturday.
After his last start, DeSclafani admitted he was running out of gas at the midway point of the season and was placed on the injured list Monday with right shoulder fatigue. It remains to be seen just how long he will be sidelined, but if the Giants choose to slowplay his return, Wood certainly could slide into DeSclafani's spot in the rotation once the team returns from break.
It's a rookie catcher thing
Two of the Giants' best hitters at the moment just so happen to be rookie catchers. Bailey and Sabol each had multi-hit games on Saturday and continue to provide a consistent spark in an otherwise inconsistent offense.
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This season Bailey and Sabol have combined to go 94-for-340 (.276 AVG) at the plate with 15 HR and 60 RBI. That sort of offensive production from the catcher position, let alone from rookie backstops, is quite impressive.