Before the final game of a three-city trip, Bruce Bochy pointed out that his team had gone a long time without winning a series. That’s no longer the case.
The Giants blanked the Marlins 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon to clinch their first series victory since a sweep of the Diamondbacks on the final weekend of the first half. The Giants finished with a 4-5 road trip through Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Miami. While that’s not quite up to their standards, it certainly beats 1-7.
Jeff Samardzija took the shutout into the sixth and the new-look bullpen took over from there. Will Smith got two outs and Hunter Strickland got through the seventh before a full inning from Derek Law. Santiago Casilla picked up his 26th save.
The lone run came on Brandon Crawford’s solo homer, and it held up through some tense moments. Giancarlo Stanton was out of the starting lineup with a sore hip, but he hit for Phelps in the fifth with two on and two down. Stanton just missed a slider that caught too much of the plate, hitting a harmless fly ball to center.
Samardzija walked a couple in the sixth and Bochy went straight to his ‘pen despite the fact that Samardzija had thrown just 82 pitches. Smith entered and struck out Chris Johnson on a fastball that was a little off the plate. The Marlins were livid, but the inning was over.
Starting pitching report: Samardzija gave up three hits and walked three in 5 2/3 innings. This was his first scoreless start as a Giant.
Bullpen report: Strickland’s last nine appearances: three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts, zero runs.
Sports
At the plate: Crawford’s homer was his 11th, and his eighth hit of the series.
In the field: Angel Pagan made a heads-up throw to second in the second inning to nail the trail runner and keep Samardzija out of a tough spot.
Attendance: It was not a sellout.
Up next: A day off! Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto will face Baltimore’s Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman and Wade Miley this weekend at AT&T Park.
