After losing three straight games to the Marlins, the San Francisco Giants turned to Dereck Rodriguez for help and a much-needed win.
After a stellar outing from Rodrigue,z and some big help from Ty Blach out of the bullpen, the San Francisco Giants pulled away with a 6-3 win.
Time and time again, the San Francisco Giants starting rotation has struggled. Multiple injuries and the inability to go deep in ballgames has hurt them immensely — enter Dereck Rodriguez.
Using his combination of consistently throwing first-pitch strikes and strong command of the fastball, Rodriguez dazzled. Though he only struck out four and surrendered 7 hits, stats don’t tell the whole story.
Dereck Rodriguez stayed around the strike zone, throwing 61 strikes out of his 94 pitches and never walked a batter.
He also showed he has a keen baseball mind in how he adjusted the way he pitched throughout the game. Entering his third time through the lineup, Rodriguez mixed in his curveball more often early in the count. Pitching backwards essentially, he kept batters from getting the same look from at-bat to at-bat.
Although the Giants were unable to get Dereck the win, not enough can be said about the shot in the arm he was to the bullpen.
Working almost seven innings, he allowed for Bruce Bochy to not use as much of the heavily worked bullpen.
A little help from Ty Blach cannot go unnoticed as he completely shutdown the Marlins out of the pen, working just as much to save some tired arms.
As the second half of the season inches closer, Dereck Rodriguez will be a key guy to watch. With so much instability surrounding the San Francisco Giants starting rotation, everyone is pitching for a role.
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If Dereck Rodriguez can provide a string of strong outings, he may become a staple of the Giants rotation for the future to come.