What we learned as Rodón, Longoria fuel win over Tigers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Giants are a .500 team overall. They are under that mark in the second half, and have not played winning baseball on the road. But ... if you can get them into an American League park, well, that's been the sweet spot.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
The Giants beat the Tigers 3-1 on Tuesday to even their road trip at 2-2 and win their eighth consecutive interleague road game. After sweeping the Guardians in Cleveland in April and the A's in Oakland earlier this month, they're off to a strong start in their first trip to Detroit in five years.
Naturally, it was two former American League players who led the charge. Carlos Rodón, the longtime Chicago White Sox starter, struck out 10 in seven dominant innings. Former Tampa Bay Rays star Evan Longoria took care of most of the offense with a two-run homer.
A drama-free night turned into a nailbiter in the ninth. Closer Camilo Doval loaded the bases with one out before freezing Miguel Cabrera. Harold Cabrera grounded out to end the night.
Sports
Still Climbing
Rodón reached double-digits for the eighth time this year. That's tied with Corbin Burnes for the second-most in the Majors, behind only Shohei Ohtani, who has done it nine times. It's also one shy of the franchise record, shared by Tim Lincecum and Jason Schmidt.
With 189 strikeouts on the year, Rodón has set a career-high, passing the mark he set last year with the White Sox. He continues to get closer to the franchise record for strikeouts in a first season with the Giants. Rodón currently ranks third, behind only Sam Jones (209 in 1959) and Johnny Cueto (198 in 2016).
Rodón looked to be headed for his second career shutout, but the Tigers went bloop, stolen base, bloop to get on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Rodón responded by getting a double play from Cabrera and then blowing a fastball past Castro for his final strikeout.
More On Those Ks
Rodón has been piling up the strikeouts since April, but for most of the year, he has trailed several players on the leaderboard. Not anymore. He left Tuesday's outing tied with Gerrit Cole for the MLB lead, which gives him a shot at being in some rare company for a Giant.
Lincecum (2008) was the last Giant to lead the Majors in strikeouts. He led the National League three years in a row, including in 2010. Rodón currently leads Burnes by a pair for the NL lead. Lincecum is the only Giants pitcher who has led the league in strikeouts, but Rodón certainly looks capable of doing it given how well he's pitched in recent weeks. This was his fourth double-digit strikeout performance in his last six starts.
Age Is Just A Number
Two days after having one of his best all-around games as a Giant, Longoria hit a two-run homer, his 12th of the year and third in his last seven games. At the age of 36, he's on pace to have one of his best seasons at the plate.
RELATED: Why Giants 'fell in love' with prospect Crawford's two-way talent
Longoria's OPS is up to .848, which is his highest since the 2012 season when he was in his fifth year with the Tampa Bay Rays. With a slugging percentage of .505, Longoria has joined Albert Pujols and Matt Carpenter as the only players older than 35 who are slugging at least .500 (Pujols slugging .530 as a 42-year-old is positively absurd).
Just as Brandon Belt did last August, Longoria appears to be turning back the clock down the stretch. He has hinted that this might be his last season, but it appears there's plenty left in the tank.
