HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 02: Anthony DeSclafani #26 of the San Francisco Giants pitches in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on May 02, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
HOUSTON — Anthony DeSclafani’s 103rd pitch Tuesday night rocketed right back at him, hitting off his right foot and prompting manager Gabe Kapler to pay him a visit to make sure everything was OK. What Kapler got was more than just reassurance.
“It was the best I’ve seen his eyes,” Kapler said. “It was just like, ready. He’s definitely taking that hitter. … Basically telling us, ‘I’ve got this.’ Pretty impressive.”
“I just knew I really wanted to finish that inning,” DeSclafani said. “I didn’t want to end the game on that play. … There was no issue with my foot, so I for sure wanted to finish.”
It took DeSclafani six more pitches to get the next batter, Jake Meyers, to roll over on a ground ball to second base, which Brett Wisely ranged to his left and snagged for the final out of the eighth inning — and the final out of one of DeSclafani’s most dominant starts in a Giants uniform, blanking the defending World Series champion Houston Astros and snapping the Giants’ losing streak at four games.
DeSclafani retired 19 of the first 20 batters he faced, and the Giants got all the offense they needed behind his masterful pitching performance with a pair of RBI knocks from Joc Pederson and Blake Sabol, defeating the Astros, 2-0, to even the three-game series and earn their first win of this taxing road trip.
San Francisco (12-17) has its ace, Logan Webb, on the mound Wednesday looking to deliver only its third series win of the season.
DeSclafani blanked the Astros for eight innings, striking out only three and relying mostly on soft contact, before handing off to Camilo Doval to close out the ninth inning. In his longest start since July 4, 2021, DeSclafani combined with Doval hold the powerful Astros lineup scoreless for the first time this season. It was the Giants’ third shutout effort of the season, and the first with Joey Bart behind the plate for all nine innings.
Drawing five walks, the Giants chased Astros starter Hunter Brown after 4⅓ innings. They loaded the bases in three innings and managed to muster only one run, but it didn’t matter behind DeSclafani’s dominant effort.
After Brown issued consecutive free passes to Joc Pederson and Michael Conforto in the fourth, Sabol cashed in with a double off left-field scoreboard that pushed Pederson across. Brown put two more men on base with walks in the fifth, eventually loading the bases, but reliever Matt Gage was able to clean up his mess by coaxing a soft fly ball from Pederson and getting Wilmer Flores to ground out.
Pederson got the Giants on the board in first inning, blooping a single into shallow left field. Thairo Estrada, who legged out an infield single and stole second, scurried home to open a 1-0 lead, which was all the support DeSclafani would need.
After an injury-plagued 2022, DeSclafani has returned to the strong form he showed in his first season in San Francisco, in 2021, when he threw two complete-game shutouts and finished 13-7 with a career-best 3.17 ERA. It’s possible, at age 33, he’s even exceeding it.
He surrendered only three hits and walked none over eight shutout innings Tuesday, lowering his ERA to 2.13, lowest in the Giants’ rotation and the sixth-best mark among qualified starters in the National League. With 30 strikeouts to just three walks in 38 innings through his first six starts, DeSclafani owns the fourth-best K:BB ratio in MLB, trailing only Seattle’s George Kirby, Arizona’s Zac Gallen (currently on a 28-inning scoreless streak) and Texas’ Jacob deGrom.
DeSclafani filled up the zone again Tuesday night, throwing 70 of his 109 pitches for strikes.
Like Ross Stripling on Monday, he succeeded by serving the Astros’ right-handed-heavy lineup a steady diet of sliders, breaking away from batters. Of his 109 pitches, 53 were sliders (49%), a pitch the Astros have performed fourth-worst in the majors against this season, according to FanGraphs.
The Giants needed a deep and dominant outing more than usual following their two-game series against the Padres in Mexico City. All three of their leverage middle-inning arms pitched in both games, leading to Sean Hjelle and Tristan Beck being asked to handle a tied game in the seventh inning of Monday’s 7-3 loss. In addition to the heavy workload, multiple players’ status have been up in the air the past two days as a stomach virus has spread around the clubhouse.
Originally published at Evan Webeck