SF Giants: Early offense cruises to 10-4 victory against Nationals

The SF Giants got out to an early 8-0 lead against the Washington Nationals and never looked back as they recorded a convincing 10-4 victory. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, the Giants will head into the All-Star break with the best record in baseball.

SF Giants: Early offense cruises to 10-4 victory against Nationals

Given that the Giants scored 10 runs, you would think that the offense was launching the ball over the fence. However, that was not the case on Saturday. Rather, it was a death-by-1,000-papercuts offense that benefited from a sloppy Nationals defense as well.

Before you could even sit down and take a bit of your afternoon snack, the Giants put up three runs in the first inning. Nationals starter Jon Lester allowed Wilmer Flores to reach base and his start went downhill from there. Mike Yastrzemski notched an infield single that the diving Alcides Escobar could not field cleanly. Then, Darin Ruf stepped to the plate and launched a fly ball into left field that Gerardo Parra dropped.

Donovan Solano capitalized on these mistakes, lacing a two-run single to left field to give the Giants an early 2-0 advantage. Joey Bart, who was just called up today, singled on a ball that deflected off of Lester. Thairo Estrada followed with a swinging bunt that could not have been better executed, plating a third run in the inning.

The sloppiness continued for the Nationals in the third inning. Ruf led off with a double that was followed by Solano reaching base via an error. Again, the Giants capitalized on this mistake with three consecutive, RBI singles. None of the singles registered an exit velocity above 80 MPH, meaning that the Giants had the magic wand going on Saturday. Later in the inning, Austin Slater joined the party with a bloop single to left field, giving the Giants an 8-0 lead.

San Francisco did not look back, but Brandon Crawford added a solo shot later in the game. On top of this, Estrada recorded four hits with three RBI as well. He’s definitely earning some more playing time with his clutch at-bats.

Anthony DeSclafani gave the Giants six shutout innings before giving way to the bullpen to close out the final three innings of the game. Tyler Beede made his first major league appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2020, but he allowed three runners to cross home plate. His command was shaky and that is to be expected as it is generally the last thing to return.

The good news is that Beede was healthy and back on the mound after a long road to recovery. The Giants have taken the series against the Nationals but they will look for the sweep behind their ace in Kevin Gausman tomorrow.