© Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
What does it feel like to snap a San Francisco record 11-game losing streak? Ask Gregor Blanco, winner of two World Series rings with the Giants.
“It seemed like we just won a World Series, something like that,” Blanco said. “It was a huge win for us. You can see how excited everybody was. I don’t think we’re a losing team. It was just amazing how we can turn things around with only one win. We have to show our fans that we are there for them every single night.”
Bruce Bochy said he before the game that he wasn’t a fan of using a negative thing, like the losing streak, as motivation. But he didn’t deny how good it felt to snap it.
“It’s great to get off the snide,” Bochy said. “It wears on you. It does. It’s one of those streaks, it’s hard to believe we were in the streak, to be honest, because we were in so many games, we had the lead in four or five games, couldn’t quite hold on.”
The overwhelming cause of the win that broke the camel’s back was a dominant outing from Chris Stratton, who threw his first-ever complete game shutout while striking out seven and allowing just a pair of hits against the first-place Colorado Rockies. It was the first complete game by a Giants pitcher this season and just the third in the National League West.
After the eighth inning, Stratton had thrown 105 pitches. His teammates were high-fiving him to congratulate what seemed to be the end of his night.
But after Bruce Bochy conversed with pitching coach Curt Young and honorary pitching coach Madison Bumgarner, Bochy made up his mind. Stratton would get the ninth. He retired the Rockies’ 2-3-4 hitters in order and secured a 2-0 Giants win for the team’s first win of Septemeber.
“He was gonna start that inning,” Bochy said. “My worry was all the guys high-fiving him after the eighth. I didn’t want him to think he was done. I didn’t think he was done. His stuff was still there, so he was going to start it.”
Stratton said he wasn’t expecting to start the ninth.
“The same thing happened with Arizona when I did the eight innings that game,” Stratton said. “Everybody came up and gave me high-fives after the seventh. You just have to be ready at all times. I thought I was done, but I’m glad he gave me the chance to go back out there and do it.”
It’s hard to define what a milestone win means to a player. Some, like Stratton are reserved and credit their teammates’ play, distancing themselves from their achievement. But for a player who was sent down to Triple-A twice this season, Stratton made it clear that he appreciated the win.
See, Stratton remembers exactly which team it was that got him sent back down to the minors. On June 28 and July 3, the Rockies tagged Stratton for five and eight earned runs, respectively. He was promptly sent to work with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, where Ryan Vogelsong helped Stratton turn around his season.
“The last two times, they’ve really gotten to me,” Stratton said. “That was kind of the reason for one of my demotions, was this team. So I faced them back-to-back right before I got demoted. They’re a great lineup and they hit some balls hard tonight and just so happened to go right to some people. It kind of has to be the perfect storm sometimes for it to be a game like that.”
Following a six earned run outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 3, Stratton has had a 3.39 ERA and thrown an eight-inning and complete-game shutout. He says he never doubted himself.
“Yeah, if you don’t believe in yourself, then who can believe in you?” Stratton said. “I appreciate them sending me down, giving me some guidance there and letting me work through some things. Hopefully, I continue to build on this going into next year.”
When Stratton was with the River Cats, he and Blanco spent time together as players who’d known time in the majors, but had found themselves working their way back. As soon as the game was over, Blanco was there to embrace Stratton.
“I gave him a big hug because I saw Stratton in Triple-A,” Blanco said. “When we were there, we talked a lot. Now it’s over here and he pitched an unbelievable game.”
