Game Wrap 6/21/2019: Giants 11 D'Backs 5

An historic night by newcomer Alex Dickerson led the Giants offense to an easy win despite a rough start by Jeff Samardzija.  Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval 3B- 1 for 1, 2B, HBP.  BA= .291.  Evan Longoria pinch hit for Pabs when the D'Backs brought in a lefty reliever.  Kruk and Kuip commented that Pabs apparently can't bat RH with the injured pinky finger.

Brandon Belt 1B- 0 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .230.  Belt just keeps piling up the walks and sports a .362 OBP despite the anemic BA.  That approach is great if you have hitters lower in the lineup to drive you in which was the case tonight.

Stephen Vogt C- 2 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .259.  Vogt is hitting .333 over his last 7 games but has had just 1 PA in 3 of those games.

Kevin Pillar CF- 2 for 4, HR(9), BB.  BA= .238.  Pillar is on a tear hitting.357 over his last 7 games, .315 over his last 15.  He drove in the first 2 Giants runs in this game with a blast to LF in the second inning. He also drew a walk to load the bases ahead of Alex Dickerson's grand slam in the 3'rd.  He drove in 2 more runs in the 7'th with a single.

Alex Dickerson LF- 3 for 5, 3B, HR(1).  BA= .250.  The roster churning may finally be starting to pay off.  Dickerson set a record for most RBI's by a Giants player making their debut with the team, including a mammoth grand slam HR in the 3'rd inning.  That should not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed Dickerson's career.  I've loved his bat since he mashed for 3 years in college at Indiana.  IMO, he just hasn't gotten an extended chance at the MLB level for a variety of reasons.  He is more athletic than his reputation with 5 SB in just under a half season's worth of career PA's and is an average to slightly above average defender in LF.  His batting stance and swing is similar to Anthony Rizzo, which is not a bad comp at all.  His contract is controlled although he may be arbitration eligible after this season.

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.23.  The wheels came off for Shark in the 4'th inning after Christian Walker started the frame with a bloop single to CF.  Nick Ahmed homered then double, Sac, GO, single, single, single.  Adam Jones ran the D'Backs out of the inning at 2B just when it appeared Shark was done.  He retired the next 6 batters he faced to complete 6 innings, but with too many runs allowed for a QS.

Dereck Rodriguez RHP- 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 4.96.  Boch tried to use DRod as the mop up guy, but he loaded the bases on a single, walk, error(Crawford) which brought Will Smith into the game in a non-save situation.  Smith was Superman again striking out 2 with the bases loaded.

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Tyler Beede tries to enlarge his foothold in the major leagues tonight facing Zack Godley.