Nationals rock rookie Rodriguez to beat the Giants
Bochy bemoans 10 baserunners who are left stranded
WASHINGTON, D.C. >> The Giants began their 10-game trip Friday with an impressive display of persistence, routinely fending off Nationals rallies and fighting to add on to the early advantage they staked out against Stephen Strasburg.
On day two of their three-city venture around the country, the Nationals flipped the script, stealing lines from a scene the Giants authored Friday to down San Francisco 7-5 on Saturday.
“We had some guys out there, we just needed an- other hit,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We were missing that to finish a comeback.”
After climbing above .500 for the first time since May 15 on Friday, the Giants fell back to 32-32 as the Nationals bullpen pitched its way out of trouble in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings.
For the second straight day, the Giants offense recorded a double-digit hit total, but it left 10 runners on base, including two in the seventh and eighth innings.
“We did what you’re hoping to do and that’s create some pretty good chances to win the game,” Bochy said. “We had some good hitters up there, we just couldn’t quite get that last hit.”
Rookie starter Dereck Rodríguez was responsible for allowing five of the Nationals’ seven runs, but a late insurance run tacked on against reliever Cory Gearrin played a pivotal role in helping Washington secure a win.
Rodríguez made his major league debut on May 29 in Denver after righthander Jeff Samardzija was forced to exit his start with shoulder tightness following the first inning. The right-hander allowed four doubles, but impressed Bochy with his poise and command and received the call to replace Samardzija in the rotation after the No. 3 starter was placed on the 10-day disabled list.
In his first career start, Rodríguez turned in a dominant effort, surrendering just a single run to Philadelphia over six innings. With his first major league win in the books, Rodríguez arrived in Washington, D.C. eager to pitch in front of his Hall of Fame father, Ivan “Pudge” Rodríguez, for the first time since his call-up.
But from the outset of Saturday’s start, the rookie dealt with command issues as he struggled to locate his fastball against Nationals hitters.
“I felt the same, I just didn’t really have my best stuff,” Rodríguez said. “I couldn’t really locate pitches. I had a couple opportunities to put some guys away and it was too
good of a pitch and they got a hold of it.”
The Nationals scored only one run during a rough first inning for Rodríguez, but exploded with a four-run second inning as Trea Turner and Matt Adams delivered RBI hits.
Adams’ two-out, tworun double over the head of right fielder Andrew McCutchen broke open the game as the Nationals took a 5-0 lead and prompted Bochy to lift Rodríguez in favor of reliever Ty Blach.
“There was a lot of pitches I wanted back today, to be honest with you,” Rodríguez said. “There was a couple of times I had guys 0-2 and then 2-2, 3-2 so I just threw too many pitches and wasn’t throwing a lot of strikes.”
A day after the Giants raced out to an early 5-0 advantage before a Nationals rally forced Bochy to pull Andrew Suárez, San Francisco battled against Washington left-hander Gio Gonzalez and ushered him out of the game in the top of the fourth.
The Nationals began the weekend with three potential National League All-Star starting pitchers slated to face the Giants, but after Strasburg was removed after the second inning with a shoulder injury on Friday, Gonzalez lasted 3 1/3 innings Saturday.
The early exits offered the Giants opportunities to stress the Nationals bullpen ahead of Cy Young front-runner Max Scherzer’s start today, but San Francisco failed to take advantage of the chance Saturday.
Catcher Nick Hundley tagged Gonzalez for a three-run homer into the visiting bullpen in the third inning to cut Washington’s lead to 5-3, but Evan Longoria left two runners on in the fourth with a strikeout after McCutchen cut the deficit to one run with a sacrifice fly.
Hundley’s seventh home run was the ninth threerun blast hit by the Giants this season, a year after San Francisco hit seven all season.
“What a nice game he had to get us back in the ballgame,” Bochy said. “Four RBIs. He had a nice game.”
• Center fielder Gorkys Hernández fell to the ground after taking a pitch off the ribs during an eighth-inning bunt attempt. Hernández stayed in the game, but Bochy said his availability for today’s contest was uncertain.
Hernández said he was “still sore” after Saturday’s game but did not appear concerned with the severity of the injury.