Snake Pit Sim Season: 4/7

Though not the quickest game of the season to date, in many ways it certainly felt like it. Neither team was able to do much and that was reflected in the final outcome. For those who recorded the game for later viewing, let me save you some time. You can turn the game off after the second inning. Though there was a slight bit of action in the six and a half following innings, there was not nearly enough to warrant the dedication of time that could be just as easily spent watching an episode of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. (If you have not yet watched this series, I highly recommend it.)

Today’s match-up pitted Madison Bumgarner, making his return to San Francisco, against Kevin Gausman. The game started off promising enough. Starling Marte led things off with a single. This was followed by a base on balls for David Peralta. But then, Gausman settled down - in a big way. He picked up two strikeouts looking and then induced a groundball to get out of the inning unscathed. Bumgarner by preventing Billy Hamilton from successfully bunting for a hit. Then, he issued a two-out walk before getting out of the frame.

If Gausman’s reversal of fortune in the first was not an indicator of where the game was going, his second inning of work was. He struck out the side and made it look easy. This brought the Giants back to the plate. Mike Yastrzemski hit the first pitch he saw into right field for a lead-off single. This was followed by Yolmer Sanchez also hitting one into right field. The Sanchez hit rolled its way into the corner, giving Sanchez a double. Yastrzemski tested his luck and managed to score on the play, sliding in safely under the tag. Heads-up running by Sanchez resulted in him beating Stephen Vogt’s throw to third. With one already home and a runner on third, Donovan Solano hit a grounder to third that should have been an easy out. However, a poor throw by Eduardo Escobar resulted in Solano reaching safely and Sanchez scoring. Bumgarner managed to do a bit of wiggling and got out of the inning without allowing any further runs, but the damage was done.

In innings three through nine, the Diamondbacks managed only five hits, two of those coming in the fifth inning when a Starling Marte double scored Madison Bumgarner from first after a poor sacrifice attempt. The Giants would get that run right back in the sixth on a hit-by-pitch, a single which put runners on the corners, and a textbook GIDP. The sixth marked the end of Bumgarner’s night. He was relieved by Yoan Lopez who recorded two strikeouts in two innings of clean ball. Gausman was finally pulled after getting two outs in the seventh. He finished the night with 113 pitches, nine strikeouts and only one walk. He was relieved by Trevor Gott, who picked up an easy four-out save.

Final Score: AZ 1 - SF 3

Kevin Gausman was the player of the game. Gausman kept the Diamondback hitters off-balance all evening. When they weren’t swinging, they were getting rung up on pitches dotting the corners. When they were swinging, they were guessing wrong or swinging late, resulting in foul balls. The two team meet again tomorrow for game three of their four-game series. Zac Gallen is slated to take the ball for Arizona against Johnny Cueto for the Giants.