Gausman, Casali lead Giants’ sweep of Diamondbacks
Led by a starting pitcher who’s well on his way to his first career All-star appearance and a catcher who enjoyed one of the best offensive days of his career, the Giants’ battery keyed a sweep of an Arizona Diamondbacks team that couldn’t catch a break if it was hit right at them.
Ace Kevin Gausman tossed
8.0 innings of two-run ball and Buster Posey’s backup, Curt Casali, launched his first home run of the season and added a RBI triple in a 10-3 victory on Thursday that helped the 44-25 Giants improve to 19 games over .500.
Casali’s first inning home run marked the team’s 100th of the season in its 69th game, making the 2021 Giants the third-fastest team in franchise history to reach the century mark behind only the 1947 club (67 games) and the 2000 squad (68 games).
Casali added two more hits and became the first Giants catcher to hit a home run and a triple in the same game since the lightning-quick Bengie Molina accomplished the feat on April 29, 2009.
The D’backs rushed ace Zac Gallen back from the injured list in an effort to break their road losing skid, but after throwing just 45 pitches in a simulated outing in extended spring training last weekend, Gallen clearly wasn’t at his best against the Giants.
The right-hander needed more than 30 pitches to complete the second inning as he surrendered Casali’s first home run of the season, gave up a triple to Steven
Duggar and allowed a hard-hit RBI single to Mauricio Dubón. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Gallen’s inning marked the 23rd time this season an opposing pitcher has needed at least 30 pitches to complete an inning against the Giants, which is the fourth-most such innings in the majors behind the White Sox, Dodgers and Astros.
Arizona had its bullpen in action in the second inning, but allowed Gallen to return to the mound for the third. The decision didn’t help the D’backs as Mike Yastrzemski led off the
inning with an oppositefield double before reaching third on a wild pitch and scoring on a Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly.
Gausman held the D’backs to one hit in his first six innings of work and the lone single came
courtesy of Gallen, who hit a line drive to right field that nearly resulted in a 9-3 putout when Yastrzemski fired to Belt covering first base.
The D’backs tagged Gausman for a pair of runs in the seventh, meaning the right-hander’s ERA actually increased from 1.43 to 1.51.
Gausman, a native of Colorado, has never made an All-star appearance in his nine-year major league career, but he’s been one of the best pitchers in the majors this season and has put him in position to potentially start the Midsummer Classic at Coors Field, where he grew up attending games.