Angels Baseball-Pool Photo
It didn’t happen again.
Dejected and undermanned, an under-fire unit did not start any fires.
The Giants’ bullpen was shut down rather than melt-down, allowing just one late run in five-innings for a bounce-back, 8-2 victory at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Tuesday, snapping a five-game skid.
The Giants (9-16) and a bullpen that had come apart in four straight games, raising the group’s ERA to 6.49 and costing the team three games, now will return to Oracle Park for a two-game set with these same Angels.
The Giants did not have Trevor Gott, Tony Watson or Tyler Rogers at their disposal, each having appeared in three out of four games (although Gott was not missed). Instead, after Trevor Cahill was solid, the Other Guys were nearly perfect, the Angels finishing with just five hits. The Giants totaled 10 hits, but seven for extra bases (two homers, five doubles).
College closer Shaun Anderson drew the Angels’ big bats in the ninth. He twice nearly beaned Mike Trout, who gave a what’s-going-on gesture after the second fastball that was near his head, and he was the only reliever who bent, allowing a walked Trout to come around to score. But that would be the only run the Angels got off the bullpen.
Jarlin Garcia pitched a perfect eighth. The seventh belonged to Wandy Peralta, who blew up Sunday in allowing five runs without getting an out. But this time he escaped big first-and-second, no-out trouble by inducing a chopper from Jo Adell that became a double play — despite Adell appearing safe, which the Angels did not challenge. A batter later, Peralta was out of the frame.
Sam Selman walked one in the sixth, but that would be the only runner who reached. And Caleb Baragar, the first Giants reliever gifted a five-run lead, threw 14 pitches and 11 strikes, a no-drama 1-2-3.
The Giants’ offense gave them plenty of cushion, right from the start.
Mike Yastrzemski opened the game with a home run, his first leadoff of his career, in extending a short six-game hitting streak. In the span, Yastrzemski, who also walked twice, is 9-for-24 with two homers, two triples and a double.
Pablo Sandoval followed with a second-inning home run, his first since July 31 of last year. The pitch was nearly at eye-level, Sandoval showing flashes of hacks that Giants fans fell in love with. He would add a ninth-inning RBI double, and perhaps the Panda is breaking out of his season-long funk.
Perhaps so are Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford. Belt had an RBI single in the third, while Crawford, who is now 8-for-20 in his past seven games, stroked a two-run double to deep right in the fifth.
The bats and bullpen arms made Trevor Cahill’s work stand up, the former Angel solid for four innings, his only mistake a Tommy La Stella home run in the first.
He was assisted from Yastrzemski, who saved a couple runs an inning later by diving for a David Fletcher line drive to end the inning. Yastrzemski would help with his glove and bat.
But it was the arms who saved a game they could have blown, but for a nice change of pace for the Giants, nothing stunning happened.
