Giants’ Gausman suffers first loss of season as Nationals shut out S.F.
The Giants have leaned on pitching and defense to win games throughout the season, somewhat eliminating the need for high-scoring performance to capture a victory.
But in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader in Washington D.C against the Nationals, Gabe Kapler’s team was simply on the wrong side of its own typically well-executed strategy. With just three hits, including a leadoff home run from Nationals’ left fielder Kyle Schwarber off, against them, the Giants fell 2-0 to the Nationals, suffering a shutout loss two months to the day from their last defeat of that nature.
San Francisco fell to 39-24 on the season with the loss and their lead in the NL West shrunk to just a half-game over the surging Los Angeles Dodgers. Giants’ ace Kevin Gausman was charged with his first loss of the season dropping his record to 7-1.
The Nationals were able to do their offensive damage relatively early in the abbreviated contest. Schwarber blasted his solo shot off Gausman’s second pitch of the game, launching the ball more than halfway up the second deck in right field.
Washington scored again in the fourth inning when second baseman Josh Harrison crushed a double to the base of the wall in right field to bring phenom outfielder Juan Soto home from first. While it should be noted that it came in a seven-inning contest, Gausman’s four innings of work marked his shortest outing of the season.
Gausman was the main attraction entering play on Saturday. His 1.27 ERA was the second-best in the National League and he ranked among the top 10 pitchers in baseball in strikeouts. However, it was Nationals’ 28-year-old righty Erick Fedde who stole the show.
Fedde delivered five shutout innings with seven strikeouts while allowing just four hits, one of which was a Gausman single to left in the third inning. The Giants’ only other hit of the game came from catcher Buster Posey, who singled in the sixth.
The Giants have scored just one on nine hits in their last 16 innings.
A seven-inning shutout loss is far from ideal for the first-place Giants. However, they’ll have a chance to make up for it in just a few hours in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader which is scheduled to get started at 4:15 p.m. PT. Neither team has announced a starter.