After a strikeout, Bochy pushed his chips all-in, pulling Peavy for pinch-hitter Mac Williamson, who walked.
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Williamson drew a walk to load the bases and Nuez lifted the Buick that had been parked on home plate, lining a two-run double as the crowd squealed in delight. Bochy threw out six relievers who combined for five scoreless innings.
Later on in the game, in the seventh inning, San Francisco’s offense would come to life once again, this time when they needed it the most.
Angel Pagan popped up, Conor Gillaspie struck out and Posey hit a deep out that center fielder Ben Revere dived to catch near the 421-foot marker. The little things added up to a huge win for a scuffling team.
San Francisco took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring their fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Joe Panik. The Giants are just 3-11 since the All-Star break and are trying to hold off the hard-charging Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, MASN 2 (Washington), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals LH Gio Gonzalez (6-8, 4.44 ERA) vs. Giants RH Matt Cain (2-6, 5.95)Gonzalez posted a pair of quality starts in as many outings since the All-Star break, running his string of starts allowing three or fewer runs to four straight.
“I told Jake, ‘It doesn’t matter how well you throw from this point, we’ve gotta score, ‘” Bochy said. He played shortstop Saturday because Brandon Crawford, who lined into a bases-loaded triple play during Friday’s 4-1 loss, had a sore left hand from a swing early in Friday’s game. To that point, they were 1-for-17 in bases-loaded at-bats. The Nationals saw their three game winning streak come to an end in a 5-3 defeat at San Francisco on Saturday. It was the kind of timely hit that has eluded the Giants lately: They were just 2:for-13 with men in scoring position on Saturday and are hitting. 148 in those situations since the All-Star Break.
Nuez had to be honest: He had no idea that he was joining a ballclub bordering on desperation until Friday night, when he walked into a new clubhouse and said his hellos and then found himself amid a tense team meeting.
“That’s the reason they brought me here”, Nunez boasted. Crawford hit a line drive off Sammy Solis, and “here we go again” was my only thought. The Giants beat the Nationals 5-3, snapping a three-game skid that’s part of a much larger slide. In the seventh, Panik broke the tie with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly, and pinch-hitter Trevor Brown drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run.
Nunez also singled during his first at-bat of the game, and the former American League stolen bases leader, now in the National League, swiped another stolen bag for his 28th of the season.
Starting pitching report: Peavy ended up throwing just 74 pitches.
An inning later, the Nationals added to their lead on an RBI double off the bat of Danny Espinosa.
“It’s not the way I drew up the start”, Peavy said, “But it’s the way I drew up the day”.
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Pence, returning from 48 games missed with a hamstring injury, doubled off the left-field wall in his first at-bat and walked and scored in the seventh inning. He was greeted with loud ovations during lineup introductions and walking to the plate in the second inning.
