Game Wrap 7/26/2020: Giants 3 Dodgers 1

The Giants scratched out 3 runs and a parade of hard throwing pitchers held the Dodgers at bay to give the Giants a split in the 4-game opening series in LA. Key Lines: 

 Darin Ruf 1B/LF- 2 for 4, BB, SB(1). BA= .375.  Ruf was brought in to mash lefty pitchers, but so far he's been a singles hitter, but in key situations. He drove in a run with a single in this game then surprisingly stole 2B to set up another run. Later he made a nice running catch against the bullpen gate in LF which busted open with Ruf almost tumbling inside. 

  Donovan Solano 3B- 2 for 4. BA= .300.  So far, "Donny Barrels" has picked up where he left off last year when he hit .330. He had 2 of the Giants 9 hits, all singles, while adding a Run and RBI. 

  Mauricio Dubon CF- 2 for 4. BA= .143.  Dubon broke out of an 0 for 10 slump with a pair of hits. There was one defensive play where he appeared to get crossed up with YtY in left-CF, but otherwise looked like a CF out there. 

  Drew Smyly LHP- 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.08.  Smyly's FB/Curve combo reminds me a lot of Will Smith. He seems to be a "bulk innings" guy in Gabe Kapler's scheme but may shuttle between starting and long relief and we may not see him more than once through lineups. 

Bullpen- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  Shaun Anderson(97), Wandy Peralta(95), Rico Garcia(96), Sam Coonrod(98) and Trevor Gott(94) all threw their FB's mid-90's or above. Velocity like that is something that has been missing from the Giants bullpen in the last few Bochy years. Tyler Rogers added an inning and he's a whole different story, but you can definitely see a bullpen taking shape here. Shaun Anderson has perhaps been the biggest revelation so far with a high 90's hater and a devastating 90 MPH slider, but Rico Garcia has been equally as impressive and surprising.  Coonrod made a nice recovery from a disastrous first appearance.  Gott appears to be the Closer for now. 

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The Giants get a day off before their home opener against the Padres. Wow! What a difference 2 days makes. After getting blown out in the first two games in LA and looking like a great candidate for the worst record in MLB, the Giants now find themselves even after what might be their toughest series of the season.  They have to be feeling darn good about that! They are still going to have to find some pop in the lineup somewhere, but you can see the pitching staff and Gabe Kapler's management of it starting to come into focus. I think we all realize the Dodgers are not a great matchup for Jeff Samardzija. Apparently Gabe Kapler and the coaching staff felt the same way. Credit Kap with sticking to his guns and holding Shark out. Now Shark gets to start the Home Opener against the RH heavy Padres lineup followed by Johnny Cueto in what should be another more favorable matchup. I'm excited!