San Francisco Giants hitter Joc Pederson slugs a first inning home run a solo shot against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in DC on Sun Apr 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

Joc Pederson Slugs His Way To SF Win 12-3

By Barbara Mason

In the past the Giants have had problems with the Washington Nationals. That was then and this is now and the San Francisco Giants (11-5) were playing today for a sweep of the Nationals (6-12). They beat Washington in the first two games of the series the first game a 7-1 beatdown Friday night.

The Giants have had a lot of success in the early innings of games this season and they went right to work in the first two innings of this game leading after two 4-1. Joc Pederson hit a home run to lead off in the first inning and he did not look back.

As this game progressed it became obvious that he was just getting warmed up. Wilmer Flores singled in the first innings driving Brandon Crawford home to lead 2-0.

The Giants continued to extend their lead in the second inning when Joc Pederson hit a sacrifice and Thairo Estrada scored from 3rd base. Brandon Belt came to bat and tripled in the second driving Joey Bart home to extend the lead 4-1

Yadiel Hernandez had a single for the Nationals in the 1st inning and hit a homer in the third inning pulling to within a single run of San Francisco 4-3. The Nationals would fail to score for the rest of the game.

San Francisco had a single in the fifth inning from Wilmer Flores driving Joc Pederson home. Joc Pederson had his second home run of the game in the seventh inning for a 6-3 lead.

The ninth inning of the game was a monster inning for the Giants scoring 6 runs. Brandon Belt scored on a single from Flores who had an incredible game. Luis Gonzalez would single and drive in Crawford and Mauricio Dubon.

Estrada hit a sacrifice and Flores would score. Next up at bat was Austin Slater who hit a single and Gonzalez and Jason Vosler scored for a final score of 12-3. This was one of the most productive innings from the Giants all season.

San Francisco had a great start in this game and an equally strong finish in the ninth inning. The Giants had swept the Nationals not an easy feat in today’s game. Joc Pederson was the heavy hitter in this game and kudos to Wilmer Flores who also contributed so much to this win.

Monday the Giants will take on the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Rodon will be on the mound to start tomorrows game for San Francisco and Corbin Burnes will start for the Brewers. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 PM PT.