Miller, an NL All-Star last month and among the league leaders in ERA, wound up with his 16th straight winless start. Taylor and Harper accounted for half of Bumgarner’s strikeouts.
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Take Kelby Tomlinson, who hit a two-run double in the fifth for San Francisco after Brandon Crawford was intentionally walked ahead of him.
The Nationals series signaled the beginning of crunch time for the Giants. He is 3-2 at home against Washington with a pair of complete games. Due up to lead off the bottom of third was Justin Maxwell, who was limited to pinch hit duties in Saturday’s game. With RHP Mike Leake (strained left hamstring) set to be reinstated from the disabled list next week, and RHP Tim Hudson (strained right shoulder) healthy enough to begin an injury-rehab stint Friday, all current Giants starters not named LHP Madison Bumgarner have been put on alert. This time, though, Bumgarner came back with a fastball slightly elevated but still in the strike zone. He lasted just three innings while giving up a season high six earned runs. He walked one and struck out three. Escobar followed the K’s with a groundout to Crawford.
Brandon Belt hit an RBI double in the fourth and scored on Pence’s homer. But that won’t even be a thought unless the veterans start swinging their bats. After Buster Posey grounded out, Pence hit a hanging slider halfway up the left field bleachers for his ninth homer of the season.
Peavy (3-5) allowed five runs on nine hits while outpitching Gonzalez (9-5) as both teams played in a smoky haze from the Northern California wildfires. A foul out that Zimmerman had to reach over the fence on the first base side ended the inning. Starting pitcher Jake Peavy allowed five hits and five runs while striking out two over 5.2 innings to get the win and raise his record to 3-5 for the season.
First, center fielder Gregor Blanco lined an RBI single and two pitches later third baseman Matt Duffy laced a bases-clearing double, making Gonzalez pay dearly for the two walks. They were outscored, 28-12 over the past four days. He has 35 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings during that span.
It goes without saying the Nats need Harper’s bat in the lineup.
For a minute, it seemed that the Giants had no answer this time around. At this point Janssen must have felt the inning was practically over as the Giants ace approached the plate.
Cain had put together some impressive pitch sequences, held the Nationals to one hit in the first four innings and entered the fifth with a 6-1 lead.
Duffy missed the cycle – falling a triple short – while settling for a sacrifice fly in his final at bat.
The Giants have their issues, but a lack of fight isn’t among them.
But they responded with some of the same resilience they’ve become well-respected for. It meant little in another discouraging defeat for the Washington Nationals.
Williams said their current position in the standings is something everyone with the Nationals is keenly aware of with just 47 games left. For two straight games he’s pitched the complete game and looked completely dominate throughout. In three August starts, he is 3-0 and has allowed two runs in 252/3 innings.
That hasn’t come close to playing out as Rendon is 1-for-14 over his last four games, and hitting just. With MadBum on track, the rest of the rotation needs to get hot down the stretch.
The season hasn’t gone as planned for the Washington Nationals.
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“It will be good to give the guys a day off, get away from the game”, Williams said. It also marked his first shutout of the year, and his fourth in the pro career.
