SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Moore wasn’t around for the end of a 17-inning marathon Friday night, but as he walked around Saturday morning, he surely understood how important his start would be.
Players shuffled around the home clubhouse in a daze, weary from a game that ended well after midnight. That meant the Giants needed some serious length out of Moore, who is off to an inconsistent start. The left-hander delivered.
Moore thew 120 pitches and got a lead into the eighth. The worn-down bullpen closed it out, giving the Giants a 3-1 win and Moore his first victory in over a month. The two-game winning streak is just the second of the season for the Giants.
The ball flies on day games at the yard, and with the wind blowing slightly out to right, the Giants took advantage in the early innings. Brandon Belt splashed down in the first for his sixth homer of the year and Justin Ruggiano went to straightaway center an inning later for his first as a Giant.
Moore fought through some early traffic, leaving the bases loaded in the second and stranding a pair in the third. Scott Schebler got the Reds on the board in the sixth when he blasted a high cutter into deep right-center.
The Reds got the tying run to third in that inning, but Moore recorded a strikeout and flyout to keep it going. He retired the side in the seventh and got the first out of the eighth before Schebler doubled to left.
Starting pitching report: Moore reached 120 pitches for the fourth time in his career. He previously did it once for Tampa Bay, as well as in his near no-hitter last August and Game 4 of the NLDS.
Sports
Bullpen report: Pitching for the third straight day, Hunter Strickland stranded a runner in scoring position while finishing out the eighth.
At the plate: The Splash Hit was the sixth of Belt’s career. He’s just one away from tying Pablo Sandoval for second on the all-time splash list, and he needs just 29 more to match Barry Bonds’ record.
In the field: Joey Votto yelled an expletive after striking out in the fifth. His next at-bat was tougher to swallow. Votto smoked a ball back to the mound but it caught Moore’s glove.
Attendance: The Giants announced a crowd of 41,269 human beings. Nice.
Up next: Jeff Samardzija faces Tim Adleman, a right-hander not to be confused with Tim Alderson.
