Giants head into All-Star break on a roll after…
Giants head into All-Star break on a roll after Samardzija, Longoria key narrow win
San Francisco Giants starter Jeff Samardzija tossed seven innings of four-hit ball against the Cardinals
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 7: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) throws against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning of their game on Sunday, July 7, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 7: San Francisco Giants baserunner Evan Longoria, right, celebrates his seventh inning home run with third base coach Ron Wotus (23) during their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, July 7, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 7: San Francisco Giants second baseman Joe Panik tags out the St. Louis Cardinals Paul De Jong (12) during the first inning of their game on Sunday, July 7, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 7: San Francisco Giants shortstop Donovan Solano tosses the ball to start a double play in the ninth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, July 7, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 7: St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Jose Martinez fields a ball hit by San Francisco Giants batter Austin Slater during the third inning of their game on Sunday, July 7, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 7: St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (22) throws against the San Francisco Giants during their game on Sunday, July 7, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 7: Members of the San Francisco Giants celebrate their 1-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, July 7, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
By Kerry Crowley |
PUBLISHED: July 7, 2019 at 3:25 pm | UPDATED: July 8, 2019 at 1:33 am
SAN FRANCISCO — As the Giants prepared for their final game before the All-Star break, Bruce Bochy was asked if he was satisfied with his team's performance through its first 88 games.
The Giants were not expected to contend for a playoff berth this year, but a manager who annually sets the bar high was candid when describing his disappointment.
"I can't say I would have taken this," Bochy said. "I set the bar a little higher than that. Trust me. To have the experience that we have here, the résumé, the DNA of this club, no."
Over the last five weeks, frustration has turned to optimism for Bochy and that's the sentiment permeating around China Basin after the Giants (41-48) secured a nail-biting 1-0 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.
Since June 1, the Giants are 19-14 and will head into the All-Star break having won seven of their last nine games.
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"It's a different vibe, there's no getting around it," Bochy said. "Winning brings that, but along with that are big hits. I've said that, that brings energy. We got shut down today from a good pitcher but you still have that feeling that you're going to win the ballgame."
Frustration has been the feeling at times for both Jeff Samardzija and Evan Longoria this season, but with an impressive week, the veteran duo have helped key the Giants' best stretch of 2019.
With seven shutout innings against St. Louis, Samardzija lowered his ERA to 4.01 and picked up his team-leading sixth victory of the year.
With a solo home run to break a scoreless tie and break up Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty's no-hit bid in the seventh, Longoria moved into a team for the team lead with 12 homers this season.
Samardzija has struggled with consistency this year, often following some of his better outings with some of his worst. That was not the case this week, however, as he bounced back from throwing eight innings of two-run ball against San Diego with another strong performance against St. Louis.
"We're playing good ball and we've been playing good ball," Samardzija said. "Hopefully we can continue doing that. July and August are when all these old bodies start warming up and breaking up all those little things that are going on."
Samardzija hit Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong with a two-strike pitch in the first inning, but DeJong was caught stealing to end the frame and no St. Louis hitter reached base until third baseman Yairo Muñoz singled with two outs in the fifth.
Muñoz's single marked the first hit of the game for either team as Flaherty was perfect until he issued a walk to Giants left fielder Alex Dickerson to lead off the fifth inning.
By the end of the sixth inning, Flaherty had recorded more hits than he had given up as the right-hander slugged a double into the left center field gap against Samardzija in his second at-bat.
"That kid is going to do well, he's going to make a ton of money in this game if he keeps doing what he's doing and exactly what he did out there today," Samardzija said of Flaherty. "That was impressive to watch."
DeJong singled to open the top of the seventh, but the Giants kept the Cardinals scoreless thanks to a pair of outstanding catches from center fielder Kevin Pillar. With one on and no one out, Pillar ranged into the right center field gap and made a full-extension diving catch to rob first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of extra bases.
"It was like slo-mo from my viewpoint," Samardzija said of the play. "It seemed like it took about a minute and a half to develop. Off the bat, I thought it was probably gone in the first place."
The catch preceded another impressive grab from Pillar, who raced back to the warning track to corral a flyball off the bat of Dexter Fowler.
Pillar's defensive heroics and Samardzija's scoreless outing set the stage for Longoria to be the team's offensive hero with his seventh-inning solo shot.
"This ballpark, I think has a tendency to make you feel like you have to add a little bit and be a little bit more perfect," Longoria said. "At that point in the game, we're just trying to break up a no-hitter and get a rally going so I was more focused on trying to get on base any way I can."
Longoria's 398-foot blast into the left field bleachers marked his fifth home run since Monday as the third baseman is now four home runs shy of matching his total of 16 from his first year with the Giants.
"I haven't hit many no-doubters here," Longoria said. "But that one, I knew it was gone."
Kerry Crowley
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