How do you take a series when you only actually won two of four games? Well, it feels like the Giants did just that.
After getting outscored by 15 runs the first two nights and squeezing out a one-run win Saturday, the Giants beat the Dodgers 3-1 on Sunday Night Baseball, with a varied pitching staff leading the way. They flew home with a 2-2 record, which certainly counts as a victory given how difficult this season-opening task was.
The Giants now have a day off before hosting the Padres and Rangers. After throwing the kitchen sink at the Dodgers over four games, they can get their pitching in order if they want to, and try to build off the two weekend games. Here's what you need to know from Sunday's promising win:
Surprising Secret Weapon
The Giants brought Darin Ruf back from the KBO because he mashes left-handed pitching. Ruf hasn't busted out the exit velocity yet, but he did a little bit of everything Sunday night to help the Giants grab the lead.
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Ruf singled in his first two at-bats, the latter one bringing Mauricio Dubon home for the game's first run. He moved from first to left in the sixth and crashed through the open bullpen gate while making a catch. In the next half inning, he drew a walk and then stole second on what appeared to be a busted hit-and-run.
The stolen base was just the second of Ruf's big league career, and it paid immediate dividends. He scored on Donovan Solano's single to left, adding a huge insurance run.
Nasty Stuff
The most impressive Giant through four games has been starter-turned-reliever Shaun Anderson, who struck out a pair in relief of Drew Smyly and has retired five of the eight batters he has faced this season on strikeouts. Anderson has always had a good fastball, but his slider has ticked up in velocity and it's a devastating weapon right now.
Anderson got Kiké Hernandez swinging on a 90 mph slider and froze A.J. Pollock at 89 mph.
Shaun Anderson's 90 mph slider 👀 pic.twitter.com/en0XC1jJNs
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) July 27, 2020
[RELATED: Watch Ruf crash through bullpen gate]
The New Guy
Smyly looked pretty good out of the bullpen on Thursday, and he followed that appearance by starting Sunday and holding the Dodgers to one run over 3 1/3 innings. It's clear the staff felt Smyly could be a weapon during this four-game series -- he pitched twice while Jeff Samardzija hasn't even appeared yet.
Smyly kept the Dodgers off-balance with a three-pitch mix. He threw 26 curveballs, 22 fastballs and 16 cutters. The fastball averaged 93 mph and touched 95. The Dodgers are the toughest test in the league, so if Smyly can do that against others, he could have the bounceback season the front office imagined.
Giants takeaways: What you might have missed in 3-1 win vs. Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
