The Los Angeles Angels had no chance in San Francisco today as the Giants won big.
The Los Angeles lost their second straigth game against the San Francisco Giants, as Rafael Devers and friends scored early and often to get a nine-run lead and turn the game into a 9-2 route.
The Angels waved the white flag early in this one, and they did it in a big way as well. Starter Ryan Johnson got hit hard, as the Giants scored five in the third, then four more in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead and turn the game into a route.
The key hit in the third was a three-run homer from Jung Hoo Lee, and Rafael Devers and Casey Schmitt also had RBI singles. The rally in the fourth featured another three-run homer, this one from Devers, and Luis Arraez also drove in a run with a base hit.
That left Johnson with an unseemly line of eight earned runs on eight hits in 3-1/3 innings, with reliever Brent Suter coming on and giving up the last run.
Giants starter Robbie Ray knows what to do with a big lead, and he proceeded to pitch six shutout innings as he scattered six hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts. The Angels finally got on the board off Tristan Beck in the seventh as a Mike Trout double-play ball brought home after Beck lost the plate for a bit.
Keaton also lost the plate in the ninth as the Angels got their second run on a walk with the bases loaded to make it 9-2.
The hitting star was Devers, who’s having a fabulous time feasting on bad Angels pitching. Today’s tally had him with three hits, four TBIs and two runs scored, as the homer was his 22nd of the year.
The big news on the pitching front was that catcher Tyler Heineman threw a scoreless eighth, so perhap he can switch roles now and then to outdo some of the other relievers. Kirby Yates also threw a scoreless inning as he preps for life elsewhere as a prominent trade target.
The win also gave the Giants the series win, and the Angels now own the worst record in baseball as the only team with a winning percentage below .400. Jose Soriano will try to do better as tomorrow’s starter, with the Giants sending Carson Whisenhunt to the mound as they go for the sweep in the final battle between struggling teams.
