South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Giants rain down HRs on Hernández
Brandon Crawford hit his fifth career grand slam, Mike Yastrzemski homered and doubled, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Miami Marlins 15-6 on Friday night.
Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson, Thairo Estrada and Jason Vosler homered off Miami reliever Elieser Hernández, who was originally scheduled to start but allowed eight runs in a long relief role.
The five home runs were a season high for the Giants.
“I think we were just kind of relaxed. We had pressed a little bit the last two games, after being behind,” Yastrzemski said. “Today we just had fun. We felt we were in a good rhythm.”
Zack Littell (1-1) struck out four in two scoreless innings of relief.
Wilmer Flores’ RBI double and Yastrzemski’s three-run shot in the second put San Francisco ahead 5-0.
A night after being shut out by Miami’s Sandy Alcantara and two relievers, the Giants had their fifth double-digit scoring output of the season.
“No disrespect to the pitcher, but [Thursday] we faced a Cy Young-caliber pitcher that makes hitting a little bit harder,” Pederson said. “We got a lot more pitches to hit that weren’t 100 miles per hour. It makes the game a little bit easier.”
Pederson extended the Giants’ lead with a solo blast in the third. He drove Hernández’s pitch into the upper deck seats in right for his 13th homer.
The Marlins narrowed the deficit on Jon Berti’s two-run double in the fourth before Estrada connected with a two-run blast in the fifth to give San Francisco another six-run lead.
“It’s encouraging. Any time you score a bunch of runs and have several big innings is another thing we believe leads to winning,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “It’s a confidence boost for this club but again, but you’re not going to get super high over this and super low over [Thursday’s] loss.”
Hernández’s outing lasted 4 ⅓ innings. The right-hander has now surrendered a major league-high 18 home runs this season. The Marlins had also lost his six previous starts.
“Nothing I can say, just terrible,” Hernández said.
Crawford’s blast against reliever Louis Head capped a six-run seventh and increased the Giants’ lead to 15-2.
“It’s nice to have him back in the lineup, obviously,” Kapler said of Crawford, who missed the series opener because of coldlike symptoms. “It’s a powerful left-handed bat and when he’s not in there, we notice his absence.”
San Francisco’s Alex Cobb was scratched from his start because of back tightness and reliever John Brebbia worked a scoreless first around a single. Brebbia struck out one.
Marlins reliever Richard Bleier (0-1) started and allowed Crawford’s RBI groundout. The left-hander gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one in his only inning of work.
Giants outfielder Luis González left in the second because of a right lower leg contusion after being getting hit by a pitch. Earlier Friday, González was named NL Rookie of the Month.
Not your typical relievers: The Giants’ lopsided advantage resulted in ninth-inning relief appearances by position players Willians Astudillo of Miami and San Francisco’s Donovan Walton. Astudillo worked a scoreless top half while Walton allowed three runs.
Trainer’s room: Giants: 3B Evan Longoria (shoulder) originally was scheduled to start in the field but after some pregame throwing he had not healed sufficiently to play the position. Longoria remained in the lineup as designated hitter.
Marlins: RHP Anthony Bender (back stiffness) played catch Thursday.