Giants win 104th game, set new SF-era record
SAN FRANCISCO » Sixty-three years after moving west from New York to San Francisco, the Giants have won three World Series titles, hosted some of the game’s all-time great hitters in Willie Mays and Barry Bonds and watched elite pitchers such as Juan Marichal and Tim Lincecum overwhelm their opponents.
In the franchise’s storied San Francisco-era, the 2021 Giants have now carved out their own place in the local history books.
After matching the record for single-season wins set in 1962 and 1993 on Tuesday, the 2021 club won its 104th game of the year Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Starter Alex Wood tossed six scoreless innings, Kris Bryant hit a tie-breaking sacrifice fly and rookie Camilo Doval picked up his second save in as many nights to lower the Giants’ magic number to clinch
the National League West to three with four games left to play.
The Giants blasted past their single-season franchise record for home runs over the weekend at Coors Field, but have won backto-back games at home against the Diamondbacks with a different approach at the plate. With leading home run hitter Brandon Belt sidelined for at least the next few weeks with a fractured thumb, the Giants’ lineup had to prove
it can still play “small ball” on Wednesday.
After Leone tossed a scoreless seventh inning, pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella led off the frame with a single into shallow right field. La Stella was out of the starting lineup due to Achilles soreness, so outfielder Steven Duggar replaced him as a pinch-runner on the bases and promptly stole second.
Right fielder LaMonte Wade Jr. has been one of the Giants’ most consistent clutch performers this season, but instead of swinging away, Wade dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance Duggar
over to third base.
That led to a sevenpitch battle between reliever Noe Ramírez and Bryant, who ended the plate appearance by lofting a 276-foot flyball to right field that was deep enough to bring Duggar home ahead of the throw from right fielder Henry Ramos.
In his third start back since returning from the COVID-19 injured list, Wood turned in one of his best outings of the season as the veteran lefty held the Diamondbacks to just three hits over six innings on Wednesday. Wood showed outstanding
command against Arizona as he threw 58 of his 74 pitches for strikes and didn’t issue a walk.
The start marked Wood’s longest scoreless appearance since he tossed seven shutout innings for the Dodgers against the Rangers on August 29, 2018.
One run proved to be enough as right-hander Dominic Leone pitched a scoreless seventh inning and earned the 15th win for a member of the Giants’ bullpen this month, which ties a major league record for bullpen wins set by the Tampa Bay Rays in May of this year.