Anomalous inning from DeSclafani sinks SF Giants vs. Nationals in second straight loss
DeSclafani gives up 5 runs, 7 hits in 1st inning, settles in to complete 7, but Giants offense stays quiet.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Nationals had a clear plan, and they used it to slice and dice Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani for five runs before San Francisco even came to bat.
Leadoff hitter Lane Thomas began the game by taking ball one, and the Nationals wouldn’t leave the bats on their shoulders many more times. Thomas connected on the next pitch for a single into left field. The next batter, Luis Garcia, singled on the next pitch. Not a single National saw more than four pitches in the first inning, but seven of the at-bats ended in hits, five of whom crossed the plate by the time DeSclafani recorded three outs.
The early hole proved too large for the Giants (15-19) against Nationals rookie starter Jake Irvin, who tossed 6⅓ shutout innings in his second major-league start and sent San Francisco to its second straight loss, 5-1, in front of 20,502 fans at Oracle Park, the second-lowest announced attendance of the season.
After a five-spot in the top of the first, the teams combined to post zeros for the next 16 half-innings, until Joc Pederson got the Giants on the board with an opposite-field solo shot in the bottom of the ninth, his fourth home run of the season.
The Giants got their leadoff man on base in the first, second and fourth innings, but each rally was snuffed out by double play balls off the bats of their No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 hitters. Threatening again in the eighth, after Brett Wisely’s leadoff single, Thairo Estrada, their No. 2 hitter, grounded into their fourth double play of the evening.
The first inning was an anomaly for DeSclafani, and it became stranger with each ensuing frame he finished without issue. After the five-run first, DeSclafani tossed six shutout frames and looked like the starter who took a 2.13 ERA into Monday night.
In the first inning alone, DeSclafani matched a season-high with seven hits allowed and surrendered his most earned runs in a start since last season, when he was pitching with an ankle issue that would eventually require surgery.
The National brought nine men to the plate in the first. Upon turning their lineup over at the start of the second, DeSclafani retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced and 18 of the final 23.
But they found something to pounce on and took full advantage before DeSclafani could adjust.
One key to DeSclafani’s sparkling ERA entering Monday had been his ability to consistently locate all five of his pitches. No starter in the majors had walked fewer batters entering Monday than DeSclafani (three), while only Arizona’s Zac Gallen had a higher K:BB ratio.
In other words, DeSclafani was going to give Nationals batters pitches to hit.
They hit them. They hit them hard (six at 95-plus mph). And seemingly all found holes.