Giants blast three home runs to beat Nationals, Strasburg.
WASHINGTON, D.C. >> The Giants have already made a number of pitchers most fans haven’t heard of look like All-Stars this season.
In Tuesday’s 7-3 win over the Washington Nationals, the Giants made a pitcher nearly everyone has heard of appear merely average.
Three-time All-Star and former No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg surrendered three home runs for just the third time in his 10-year major league career. Giants third baseman Evan Longoria, right fielder Steven Duggar and first baseman Brandon Belt all went deep for the Giants.
“He’s a top pitcher, he’s been one of the best pitchers in this game for awhile so knowing that going to the plate, we were just trying to be selective and not help him out,” Duggar said.
Only Duggar’s 387-foot opposite field shot into the visiting bullpen at Nationals Park looked like it would have had a chance to clear the fences at Oracle Park, but the Giants were thrilled to take advantage of the friendlier dimensions in Washington after concluding a 10-game homestand with a shutout loss on Sunday. San Francisco entered the game with just 10 home runs in 17 games — the second fewest in baseball — but a pair of fifth-inning homers and Belt’s solo shot in the sixth helped starter Dereck Rodríguez collect his second win of the season.
“We had some good atbats off a very tough pitcher so it’s good to see us break out,” Bochy said.
Rodríguez’s father Ivan was the Nationals catcher in Strasburg’s major league debut on June 8, 2010, when he set a major league record for strikeouts in a debut with 14. Rodríguez watched that game from the Nationals home clubhouse and on Tuesday, he watched Strasburg from a different vantage point as the opposing starter hit an RBI double off of him in the second inning.
The run was the only one Rodríguez allowed in five innings.