Jake Peavy notches first win with San Francisco Giants

Jake Peavy finally got what he’s deserved all season – a win. And he did it with some good pitching, some late inning hitting by his teammates, and well, a little luck from the umpires in the MLB replay box.

It may have also had something to do with the new number he was sporting, #22, which Giants fans will know as the great Will Clark‘s number. After today, I don’t think people are going to complain much about Peavy wearing it.

In a game that appeared to be another one run loss, with little to no scoring from the San Francisco Giants, it was the game changing review of a play at the plate to tie the game that seemed to wake this team up. Perhaps they realized that not all of the baseball gods are against them right now.

That overturned play at the plate gave way to a 7 run inning for the Giants in the 7th inning, and gave Peavy his first opportunity for a win. That was more than enough to keep the Giants in the game and snap their 5-game losing streak.

First, the play at the plate.

With runners at first and third in the 7th inning, Joe Panik hit a broken bat jam shot to Jose Abreu (1B), who immediately threw home to tag out Gregor Blanco who ran on contact from third base. Blanco was called out, however, Bochy challenged the call because Tyler Flowers, catcher, was blocking a clear lane to the plate before he had the ball. He got he ball, and tagged Blanco out as he attempted to go through the lane that was made available (outside of the baseline). Upon review, it was overturned and Blanco was declared safe due to the rule violation of blocking the plate.

It’s a play that could have went either way. By the letter of Rule 7.13, if the catcher is blocking the plate, without the ball, the runner is declared safe. It doesn’t always go down like that, however, if it’s the future of MLB umpires will have to start making the call on a consistent basis. There are problems with it, of course, but on this day, the rule saved the day for the Giants – a team that is a big proponent of the rule, though Bochy acknowledged it’s not perfect.

After that, the Giants rallied for 6 more runs, taking clear control of the game. Of other notes, the seven runs scored today was more run than the Giants scored in their past three games (6). It’s also more than runs than they’ve scored in all of Peavy’s combined starts as a Giant (6).

Buster Posey was 2-for-4, including a leadoff triple where he was left stranded by Pablo Sandoval, Mike Morse, and Adam Duvall. Shameful. However, the one, two, three of Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence, and Posey, each chipped in 2-out RBIs, something that has been hard to come by lately. Morse had two more strike-outs today.

The only run given up today was by Peavy – a solo splash hit by Adam Dunn in the 4th inning. Peavy pitched 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits, and the 1 earned run. Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo combined for two scoreless innings to finish out the game and keep the win in tact for a much deserving Jake Peavy.