Game Wrap 6/5/2021: Giants 4 Cubs 3

The Giants pitching and offense overcame a near-meltdown of the other leg of their their game, defense,  to win their third game in a row and guarantee a series win over the formerly red hot and NL Central leading Cubs.  Game Notes:

Coming in, Kevin Gausman RHP had not allowed a run of any kind in his last 3 starts covering 17 IP.  The HR he gave up to Patrick Wisdom 3B in the second inning produced 2 unearned runs because the lead runner reached base on an error with 2 outs.  After opposing pitcher, Kohl Stewart RHP led off the third with a single, Gausman settled in and struck out the next 15 batters he faced, 8 by K including the first 4 batters of the run.  It was another dominating performance driven by a FB that reached 98 MPH and a diving, fading split-change which is as devastating a secondary pitch as exists in baseball right now.  In the process, he showed no ill-effects from the hip tightness that caused him to leave his previous start after just 72 pitches.

Alex Dickerson LF has scuffled at the plate all season but is now 4 for 9 over his last 3 games including HR's in his last two.  His HR with 2-outs in the 3'rd inning gave the Giants their first run.  We've seen Dick carry the team for an extended period when he's hot at the plate.

Chadwick Tromp who is filling in as backup C for Curt Casali seemed to put down the right fingers and added 2 hits with an RBI.

The 9'th inning should have been uneventful as Tyler Rogers RHP got the weak groundballs he is becoming famous for.  It's just that Mauricio Dubon PF/2B/3B bobbled on for an error, bobbled another on a force at 2B that should have been a GIDP.  Then, with runners at first and third with one out, Anthony Rizzo 1B hit a soft grounder toward SS.  It was a bit of a tweener with both Evan Longoria 3B and Brandon Crawford SS having a legitimate shot at it but it was going to be a bang-bang play for either one so neither could afford to back off.  The run would have scored anyway but the collision resulted in no additional outs and runners at first and second.  On top of all that, Longoria left the game in apparent pain.  Kap reports that it seems to be his shoulder or clavicle.  There is no additional word at this time.

Rogers calmly struck out Willson Contreras C and got Jason Heyward RF to ground out to Donovan Solano 2B while everyone in the stadium and watching on TV held their breath.  No worries.  Solano fielded is cleanly and easily threw out Heyward to seal the win.

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The Win extended the Giants lead in the NL West to 2 games over the Padres and 3 games over the Dodgers.  The Giants continue to sport the best record in MLB at 37-21.  

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Johnny Cueto RHP goes for the 4-game series sweeeep today facing Kyle Hendricks RHP who has a career 2.13 ERA against the Giants.

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The Giants DFA's Scott Kazmir LHP in a move I did not see coming despite Kazmir's shaky appearances.  It's just that by DFA'ing Nick Tropeano RHP the previous day, it appeared they made a commitment to Kazmir at least in the short term future.  That Camilo Doval RHP was Kazmir's replacement on the 26-man Active Roster makes it all the more head-scratching.  The only thing I can think of is FZ and Kap must be in full pedal-to-the-metal mode and wanted an extra bullpen arm and Kazmir could not be that for a couple of games due to working two innings the previous game.  The pedal-to-the-metal theory does not fit with how FZ and Kap have managed injuries where they appear to be willing to sacrifice current wins for long term health.  There could be opt-outs at work here too.  We'll see how this plays out and whether Tropeano and/or Kazmir stay in the organization, but it appears the Giants have lost significant SP depth with departures of 3 veteran SP's, Shun Yamaguchi RHP, Tropeano and Kazmir.  The fact the Giants maintain an open spot on the 40-man roster makes all this all the more intriguing.

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:

Bryce Johnson RF- 1 for 6, HR(3).  BA= .321.

Joe McCarthy LF- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .310.

Braden Bishop CF- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .333.

Justin Bour 1B- 1 for 5, HR(5).  BA= .215.

AA:

Sandro Fabian LF- 3 for 4.  BA= .258.

Andy Sugilio RF- 2 for 4.  BA= .279.

High A:

Will Wilson SS- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(4).  BA= .292.

Tyler Fitzgerald 3B- 1 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .217.

Seth Corry LHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.00.

RJ Dabovich RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(3).  ERA= 1.69.

Low A:

Luis Matos CF- 1 for 4, BB, SB(6).  BA= .286.

Ricardo Genoves C- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .333.

Marco Luciano SS- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .275.

Casey Schmitt 3B- 1 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .148.

Wil Jensen RHP- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.28.

Ivan Armstrong RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.28.