Recap: Yusmeiro Petit Shines, Giants Win 8-2

The San Francisco Giants lineup looked a little strange before first pitch. That didn’t stop this team from beating the Diamondbacks in Arizona by a score of 8-2. Yusmeiro Petit (W, 2-0, 3.12 ERA) was absolutely brilliant in his 6+ innings of work. He struck out a career high 10 batters, and he had accomplished that by the 4th inning with his 9th strikeout.

The DBacks got on the board first. Adam Eaton hit a 1 out single up the middle and was driven in by Martin Prado‘s 2 out base hit. Petit dominated the other 3 hitters in the 1st inning and struck out the side.

The lead didn’t last long as the Giants tied it in the top of the 2nd. Hunter Pence came back from a 0-2 hole to work a leadoff walk. Pablo Sandoval singled to RF and Pence moved to third base. After a Brett Pill strikeout, Hector Sanchez grounded out to score Pence from third. The game was tied at 1.

Petit’s mastery of the DBacks continued as he once again struck out the side in the bottom of the 2nd. In fact he kept most of the big bats quiet all day. Paul Goldschmidt could only manage a weak fly ball to RF against Petit in 3 at bats. Miguel Montero also struck out twice to help Petit reach his career high 10 K’s.
Sept 1, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit (52) throws during the fourth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants cracked this one open for good in the top of the 4th inning. Buster Posey led off the inning with one of his three hits on the day. Pence followed that with a double that grazed the top of A.J. Pollock‘s glove in deep center field. Sandoval and Brett Pill became quick outs and the Giants looked like they may strand more runners.

With two outs and two strikes Hector Sanchez chaged the tone of the game with a double to the gap in left center field to score 2 runs. Gregor Blanco followed that with a single and it set the stage for Petit to shine again. On the first pitch he saw from DBacks starter Patrick Corbin (L, 13-5, 2.96 ERA), Petit stroked a single to right to drive in Sanchez and make the score 4-1 Giants. It was Petit’s second career RBI, and first since 2006 when he was with the Marlins.

It’s really worth a watch:

Hunter Pence added on with a solo home run down the right field line in the top of the 5th to extend the Giants lead to 5-1. That’s his team leading 17th HR on the season.

The DBacks got one back in the 7th inning and threatened to do more. Pollock scored on an Adam Eaton 2 out single to make it 5-2 Giants. Santiago Casilla came in to face Goldschidt with 2 on and 2 out. He got him to hit a deep fly ball to center that Gregor Blanco caught easily to end the threat.

The Giants added on in the top of the 9th to put the game out of reach. Pinch hitting Marco Scutaro led off with a single and moved to second on Joaquin Arias‘ single up the middle. Scutaro then stole third base when Montero threw behind him leading off second base. It was a veteran move by Scutaro. Sept 1, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) hits a single during the seventh inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Posey continued his good afternoon and doubled on a 2 strike pitch down the left field line. Scutaro and Arias scored and the Giants pulled farther ahead at 7-2. Pence followed that with a single to drive him in.

Mike Kickham pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the 8-2 victory for the Giants. It is their second series win in their last 3 road series. The Giants are now 3-3 on this 9 game road trip. They finish their games at Chase Field with a 7-2 record this season. Overall the Giants are 10-5 against the DBacks with 4 games still to play back at AT&T Park.

We had fun hanging out in our first live game thread during the game today. We’ll do it again. Come on by next time and join us.

The Giants head to San Diego for a 3 game set starting tomorrow afternoon. It’s a Labor Day matinee with RHP Ian Kennedy (5-9, 5.10) vs. LHP Barry Zito (4-10, 5.81) as the scheduled starters. First pitch is 1:10pt.