SAN FRANCISCO — From their first at-bat on Sunday afternoon, it seemed as though things would go the Giants’ way.
When the red-hot Denard Span led off the bottom of the first with a flyball to the gap in right-center field, Reds right fielder Scott Schebler tracked the ball down but had it pop right out of his glove. Span wound up on second base, and the Giants never looked back, scoring four runs in the 1st and adding three more in the 2nd to build a lead they would never relinquish.
Reds starter Tim Adleman was removed due to neck tightness after allowing four runs on three hits in just one inning, and Cincinnati was forced to turn to its bullpen for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Giants starter Jeff Samardzija settled in quickly didn’t allow a run until the fifth, when San Francisco already comfortably led by seven runs. He threw 6.2 innings while striking out eight to allow three earned runs and picked up his first victory of the season in the 8-3 win, the third in a row for the Giants.
For the fourth game in a row, the Giants scored in the first inning. Joe Panik doubled in Span to get the scoring started, and Buster Posey and Eduardo Nunez added run-scoring hits. In the 2nd inning, Span started the rally again with a leadoff triple. Panik’s sacrifice fly scored him, and Brandon Crawford knocked a two-run double later in the inning to go up 7-0. Before Sunday’s game, San Francisco had scored just 13 runs in six games against Cincinnati this season.
Brandon Belt added a solo home run, his third of the series, in the bottom of the 6th inning. Samardzija was chased in the seventh inning after allowing a triple to Jose Peraza, who was sacrificed home to score. Samardzija’s start was the shortest for any Giants pitcher in the series, but he still allowed the bullpen to only have to work 2.1 innings. Steven Okert, George Kontos, and Cory Gearrin came in to close the door on Cincinnati.
Three different Giants delivered multi-hit performances, as Panik, Posey and Nunez all had a pair of hits. Posey’s 2-for-2 day at the plate raised his average to .370 for the season. Belt’s solo knock in the sixth gave him a team-high seven home runs on the season.
With a series win and a three-game winning streak under their belt, the Giants will welcome the rival Dodgers to town on Monday for a three-game set. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. and Matt Cain (2-1, 4.54 ERA) will take the mound for the Giants.
