Stratton leads the way in shutout of Milwaukee
Chris Stratton is learning about pitching in a postseason race, albeit it has nothing to do with the Giants and everything to do with the Giants’ opponents. A day after getting mathematically eliminated from the National League West race, the Giants began a string of games against contenders Monday night that could help determine the postseason alignment.
Stratton pitched six shutout innings, his second straight scoreless start against a contender, and the Giants beat the Brewers 2-0. His previous outing, he tossed 62⁄3 scoreless innings against the Nationals, who comfortably lead the NL East.
The 122⁄3-inning shutout streak is the longest for a Giants rookie starter since Chris Heston’s 161⁄3 in 2015, and the Giants became the last team in the majors with a shutout at home.
After striking out 10 Nationals, Stratton struck out just one Brewer. That ignited a postgame scene unusual to the Giants, nearly the entire pitching staff gathering at a clubhouse roundtable with beverages and laughs to celebrate Stratton’s one K.
Catcher Nick Hundley sneaked into the media throng surrounding Stratton, held up a TV remote as if it were a microphone and asked, “What was your thought on the punchout?” To which Stratton said, “I was glad he swung — it was a ball.”
The Giants don’t usually roll like this, but they have nothing more to lose, so why not? Perhaps with some more wellorchestrated performances, the ritual will turn into a trend in the season’s final few weeks.
The Giants have 35 games to go, 26 against contenders.
Nothing they do will detour the streaking Dodgers’ pursuit of home-field advantage through the postseason, but the wildcard race is another story. The Giants play 14 games against wild-card leaders Arizona (nine) and Colorado (five).
The Brewers and Cardinals have stakes in both the wild-card and NL Central pictures, and the Giants play them a combined six more times, including Tuesday and Wednesday against Milwaukee.
“We have a job to do, and that’s to go out and try to beat these teams we’re playing that are in the race,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I don’t like being in this role. I’d rather be on the other side.”
This is not a Giants-Dodgers thing in which either team can knock out the other. History is full of such examples, including the classic 1982 season in which Joe Morgan’s home run eliminated the Dodgers a day after the Dodgers eliminated the Giants, which handed the division flag to Atlanta .
With the Dodgers historically good and the Giants historically bad, playing the spoiler’s role isn’t quite the same.
“It doesn’t matter where we’re at in the standings,” said Brandon Crawford, whose fourthinning double drove in the Giants’ first run. “You try to win baseball games. That’s our goal, whether it’s against a team with playoff hopes or the Phillies.”
Two batters later, Hundley drove in Hunter Pence with a groundout. Pence had two hits and drew a walk and continues to do his best hitting in August.
He has 11 hits in his past 26 at-bats and is hitting .348 (23for-66) for the month. Pence doesn’t seem to include the word “spoiler” in his vocabulary.
“To me, ‘growth’ is the word. And ‘momentum,’ ” Pence said. “We’re making adjustments and taking advantage of an opportunity to create a new energy, to get back to where we want to be, ultimately a team going after world championships.”
Stratton figures to get more chances even when Johnny Cueto returns from the disabled list. Bochy suggested possibly using six starters and said of Stratton, “We’d like to pitch him as much as we can.”
Matt Cain, Mark Melancon and Sam Dyson each pitched a scoreless inning, Melancon appearing in back-to-back games for the first time since coming off the disabled list.
Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval exited after getting plunked on the left forearm. It turned out to be a bruise, and Bochy said the third baseman is fine to play Tuesday.