Samardzija Pitches Gem, Breaks Bat, Leads Giants to 3-1 Win

Behind Jeff Samardzija's gem, the Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 to extend their winning streak to three games and put themselves two games over .500.

Samardzija bounced back after allowing five runs in his last start against the Padres, pitching eight quality innings while striking out nine and only allowing two hits. His two-seam fastball was the star of his pitching repertoire, hitting as high as 97 MPH while cutting in on right-handed batters and running away from lefties. The Cincinnati offense was helpless against The Shark, and with the exception of former Giant Adam Duvall's home run, the Reds were barely able to hit the ball hard.

Despite his brilliant outing, The Shark's gem was overshadowed by an action that had no effect on the game at large, channeling his inner Bo Jackson by breaking his bat after striking out in the top of the eighth. If it was hard to tell already, this guy is a competitor.

John Lamb was equally adept at neutralizing the batters he faced and limited the Giants to just the one run over his six innings of work. Lamb found himself in a couple of jams and walked three batters, but his work on the mound kept Cincinnati in the game while Samardzija was dealing.

The Cincinnati bullpen wasted Lamb's efforts by allowing two runs in the seventh inning, putting themselves on the wrong side of history by becoming the first bullpen to allow a run in 21 consecutive games.

Lost in Samardzija's greatness was the solid day at the plate by Buster Posey, who doubled three times to left, right, and left-center. With his three-double game, Posey brought his batting average up to .315 on the season.

The Recap

The white-hot Pence didn't waste too much time putting the Giants on the scoreboard, roping his fifth double a yard right of the left field line to drive home Posey, giving the Giants their run and lead of the game with the score at 1-0.

For the next four innings, Lamb and Samardzija would exchange putting up zeroes on the scoreboard. Following the shaky first, Lamb found his groove, getting stronger with each inning, and Samardzija toyed with the Cincinnati offense, striking out four the first time through the batting order and only allowing one hit through the first four innings.

The Giants put the pieces of a rally together in the top of the fifth, when with only one out, Denard Span singled and stole second, and Posey walked following a Matt Duffy flyout. Even with Pence coming to the plate, the middle of the order couldn't capitalize, as Pence struck out on a 3-2 count, then Span was picked off at second by Tucker Barnhart to end the threat.

Adam Duvall made the Giants pay in the bottom of the inning, homering off of his former team to left-center to tie the game up at one. The ball barely made it over the fence, and Bruce Bochy challenged the play when, under review, a fan appeared to touch the ball and affect the trajectory of the ball, which would have otherwise hit the top of the fence and bounced back for a double. The Giants lost the review, and the home run counted.

With the bats quiet on both sides, the Giants put up two runs to go up 3-1 in the eighth to give Samardzija some support as Kelby Tomlinson beat out a very soft grounder on the left side to drive home Pence and Gregor Blanco singled to right with a full count to drive in Crawford. With runners on second and third after Blanco stole second, Samardzija struck out swinging and went into full Bo Jackson mode by breaking his bat over his knee.

Samardzija appreciated the two runs, but he'd only need the one as he pitched a scoreless eighth, finishing the day with 115 pitches.

Javier Lopez plunked his only batter, Joey Votto, but Santigo Casilla closed out the ninth by getting Brandon Phillips to ground into a double play and getting Jay Bruce to ground out to secure San Francisco's 15th win of the season.

Tomorrow, the Giants will go for a series sweep of the Reds as Jake Peavy will go toe-to-toe against Dan Straily, who comes into the game with a 3.38 ERA and 24 strikeouts over 22 innings. Peavy will try to redeem himself after last Friday's disaster of a start, in which he allowed six of the twelve runs in the New York Mets' record setting twelve run third inning.

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