When the Giants signed Jeff Samardzija this past offseason, the discussion centered around whether or not San Francisco overpaid for his services, or if he would be able to bounce back after a 2015 campaign where he led the league in hits and home runs allowed.
These were appropriate topics of discussion, but my first thought after the signing may have been different from the general public: we have two players nicknamed "Shark." Gregor Blanco, the "White Shark" and Jeff Samardzija, just "The Shark". Should we give Samardzija a color? Maybe different subspecies? Nicknames are weird.
So, with the Giants taking the field, trying to sweep the Milwaukee Brewers it was only appropriate that both Samardzija and Blanco were in the lineup together. Because sharks are cool.
Pitching well is also very cool, and in his first regular season start with the orange and black, Samardzija grinded out 5.1 innings in his San Francisco debut while striking out six and allowing three runs. Unfortunately, the Giants weren't able to complete the sweep and fell to the Brewers 4 to 3.
The Shark struggled to control his pitches early on in the game, leaving most of his pitches up in the zone. Samardzija limited the damage on multiple occasions, but Milwaukee still dinged him for three runs in his first three innings.
By the fourth inning, he found a groove and got his pitches down in the zone. The Brewers tried to make some noise, but Samardzija neutralized Milwaukee's hitters and didn't allow a run for the rest of his outing.
The Giants and the Brewers traded runs in the early frames, with neither team being able to jump out a secure a lead.
The Giants jumped out to an early lead in the first. Angel Pagan, batting leadoff for a flu-ridden Denard Span, ripped a double to lead-off the inning. Pagan advanced to third on a Joe Panik groundout, then scored when Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy failed to field a throw cleanly by Chris Carter on a Buster Posey grounder.
The Brew-Crew didn't waste any time getting back into the game. Milwaukee set the table as Domingo Santana drew a walk and Scooter Gennett singled, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Ryan Braun singled, driving in Santana and advancing Gennett to third, tying the game up at one. Samardzija escaped the jam, getting Lucroy to ground out, then striking out Carter and Ramon Flores.
Matt Duffy, the hottest Giant throughout the series, continued to rake, homering to lead off the second inning and giving the Giants a 2-1 lead, but the Brewers came right back in the bottom of the second, as Domingo Santana singled home Taylor Jungman, tying the game back up at two.
The Giants didn't score in the third, but the Brewers kept on hitting, this time getting production from Chris Carter, who took Samardzija deep to right-center field to give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead, its first of the game.
San Francisco tied the game at three in the top of the 6th with a Buster Posey sacrifice fly that brought home Pagan, who led off the inning with a triple to right.
Bruce Bochy called on George Kontos to replace Samardzija in the sixth with one out and runners on first. After walking a batter, Kontos was able to get Domingo Santana to ground into a double play to end the inning. Appropriately, Samardzija gave him a fist bump on the way down the steps into the dugout.
The bullpen surrendered its first run of the season in the bottom of the seventh, which happened to be the game-deciding run, as Carter brought in Gennett on a sacrifice fly.
Jeremy Jeffress closed out the game in the ninth and handed the Giants their first loss of the season.
Tomorrow, Jake Peavy and the Giants play their first game at AT&T of the 2016 season against the rival Dodgers.
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