© Orlando Ramirez | USA Today
Dereck Rodriguez continues to be a revelation for the Giants. He was dominant in a 3-2 win against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday afternoon, striking out seven batters in seven innings of three-hit, one-run ball.
But the Giants wasted a perfect opportunity in the eighth inning to secure run support and it nearly cost them the game. Three straight batters reached base to open the inning before Brandon Crawford, who stepped in with no outs, went down looking on three straight strikes. Joe Panik, batting for Hunter Pence, grounded out to Freddy Galvis who threw home for a force out, and Gorkys Hernandez ended the inning by flying out to right field.
Crawford redeemed himself in the 10th after what looked to be a deja vu occurrence of wasted baserunners. After Evan Longoria hit a leadoff triple, Nick Hundley struck out and Austin Slater flied to shallow right. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Crawford turned on a fastball and ripped it into right field, scoring Longoria to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. The Giants loaded the bases later in the inning, but nothing came of it. In total, the Giants stranded 11 baserunners in the game and seven runners in scoring position.
Crawford’s redemption came after the normally reliable Reyes Moronta allowed the tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Moronta gave up a leadoff walk and a single through the right side to open the inning, leaving runners at the corner with no outs. Manuel Margot stepped up next, hitting into a force at second and scoring the run from third to tie the game at 2-2.
Rodriguez threw a career-high 112 pitches, but even after walking a batter with his 108th pitch of the day, manager Bruce Bochy remained seated, allowing him to finish out the seventh inning. And he finished it in style, throwing a pair of curveballs for strikes to Carlos Asuaje before coming inside with a hard four-seam fastball to strike him out. Rodriguez walked off the mound fired up and was greeted warmly in the dugout with a 2-1 lead.
That lead came after the Giants fell behind in the first inning. The Padres got on the board early, but then failed to get back on the board until the eighth. After Rodriguez secured a groundout and strikeout to open the first inning, Wil Myers singled and Eric Hosmer doubled to make it 1-0. From there, Rodriguez was dominant, allowing just one more hit in the game.
The Giants responded in the fourth and fifth innings with a pair. Three straight singles from Austin Slater, Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence saw Gorkys Hernandez come up in a bases-loaded, one-out situation. Hernandez hit a deep ball to right field to tie the game and allow every runner to advance. Rodriguez grounded out to end the inning, stranding two runners in scoring position.
Andrew McCutchen added another run in the fifth, ripping a first-pitch fastball over the right-field fence to hand the Giants a 2-1 lead. It was McCutchen’s second home run in the month of July and his 11th of the year.
With the win, the Giants (55-54) jump back above .500 and sit 4.5 games back in the National League Wild Card race.
