How Sweep It Is: Rodón, Giants Shutout Dodgers
Jun 13, 2022, 10:58 AM | Updated: 10:58 am
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Entering play on Friday afternoon, the San Francisco Giants were staring at a 6.5-game deficit in the National League West standings.
Luckily for the Giants, the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers were coming into town for a three-game set as the black and orange hoped to start digging themselves out of their early-season hole.
Mission accomplished.
Thanks to strong pitching from San Francisco’s staff, the Giants were able to hold a powerful Dodgers offense to just four runs over 27 innings during a much-needed three-game sweep at Oracle Park.
Carlos Rodón rediscovered his early-season form during Sunday’s 2-0 win as the lefty hurled six shutout innings while striking out eight batters.
“I thought as a team we played really well today defensively,” Rodón said postgame. “We scored the runs we needed. The bullpen did a great job. It’s big. That turns it around for us a little bit. We’ll try to build off this whole weekend and carry it through.”
After ending the month of May on a three-game skid, Rodón has looked sharp in June. Following Sunday’s win, the 29-year-old holds a 1-0 record, 1.80 ERA, and has struck out 19 batters over 15 innings during three starts.
Mike Yastrzemski drilled his sixth home run of the season during the first inning on Sunday, a solo shot off of Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías.
The 31-year-old outfielder is batting .275 with six home runs, 30 runs scored and 22 RBI over just 50 games this season while acting as a reliable bat in the heart of San Francisco’s batting order.
The sweep of the Dodgers came at a perfect time for a Giants team that has been inconsistent to begin the 2022 season.
On the heels of a magical 2021 campaign, the start of this new year has not been a repeat by any means. The injury bug has bitten San Francisco with players like Brandon Belt, LaMonte Wade Jr., Alex Cobb, and Anthony DeSclafani all currently sidelined due to injury.
Even though injuries and an inconsistent offense have acted as thorns in the Giants’ sides over the first 50 games of the season, that 6.5-game deficit in the NL West has been trimmed to just 3.5 games with plenty of baseball to be played this season.
The schedule opens up for San Francisco over the next week as the last-place Kansas City Royals will come into town on Tuesday before the Giants travel to Pennsylvania for a three-game set against the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
