San Francisco Giants pitcher Blake Snell delivers against the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the third inning at Nationals Park in DC on Wed Aug 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024

Nationals Park

Washington, D.C.

San Francisco Giants 7 (58-58)

Washington Nationals 4 (52-63)

Win: Blake Snell (2-3)

Loss: Jake Irvin (8-10)

Save: Camilo Doval (22)

Time: 2:36

Attendance: 13,310

By Stephen Ruderman

It came with a little bit of drama, but the Giants clicked on all cylinders Wednesday night, as the offense was able to combine power with some timely RBI hits, and Blake Snell delivered another strong quality outing for his second win to get the Giants back to .500 with a much-needed 7-4 win over the Nationals in D.C.

The Giants were unable to get back over .500 Tuesday night, as they lost a tough one 11-5. The Giants’ offense, which has been home run happy since their three-game set in Cincinnati over the weekend, jumped out to a 4-0 lead Tuesday night, but was unable to catch up after the Nationals pounded Hayden Birdsong for seven runs.

Wednesday night would be another overcast and humid night in our nation’s capital, as the Giants looked to get back to .500 again. The Giants scored in the top of the first inning in each of the first two games of this series. However they were unable to do so tonight against Nationals’ starter Jake Irvin, who pitched a scoreless top of the first.

Blake Snell took the ball for the Giants Wednesday night, as he was coming off his long-awaited first win as a Giant in his last start, in which all he really did was throw a no-hitter.

Snell made history in his last two starts. In his previous start prior to his no-hitter on Friday, he struck out 15 over the first six innings of the first game of the Giants’ doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies on July 27, becoming the first pitcher in Modern National League/American League History to do so.

Perhaps expecting him to accomplish another sort of historic achievement would be a tall order, but the Giants had every reason to feel confident with him on the mound. Spoiler Alert: He did not pitch another no-hitter tonight. Juan Yepez singled and stole second with two outs in the bottom of the first, but Snell ended up pitching a scoreless inning regardless.

Matt Chapman doubled to lead off the top of the second, but of course the Giants wasted it, as Irvin retired the side. Snell then threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second.

Irvin retired the first two men he faced in the top of the third, but the Giants avoided the 1-2-3 inning when LaMonte Wade reached on a bloop single. Heliot Ramos singled back to the mound, and a pair of hits that did not go very far suddenly put runners at first and second with two outs.

Michael Conforto has been swinging the bat better as of late, and he came up with a chance to get a key RBI hit with a runner in scoring position. Conforto fisted a ball out into shallow center field, which Nationals’ center-fielder Jacob Young was unable with, and Wade scored to put the Giants on the board.

Next up was Matt Chapman. Chapman hit a chopper to third that Trey Lipscomb charged and threw to first. Chapman was called out by First Base Umpire Stu Scheurwater, which meant that the inning was over. However, after the Giants challenged the play, Chapman was safe, and Ramos scored to make it 2-0.

The Giants may have struck first, but just like last night, the Nationals struck back with a crooked number. Snell walked Jacob Young to start the bottom of the third and allowed him to get to second when he tried to pick Young off at first, but threw the ball away.

Young got to third on a ground out by CJ Abrams, and that brought up Alex Call, who got Young in with a base-hit to left. The Nationals were on the board, and then Juan Yepez gave them the lead with a home run just fair down the left field line.

Mike Yastrzemski tied the game with a home run to right-center in the top of the fourth, and Snell settled back down in a scoreless bottom of the fourth. With one out in the top of the fifth, Heliot Ramos flipped a home run to the Giants’ bullpen in left-center to put them back ahead.

Two batters later, Chapman hit a home run of his own to almost the exact same spot in the Giants’ bullpen in left-center. The Giants manufactured a pair of runs, so of course they had to hit three home runs. Anyway, Snell followed it up with a 1-2-3 shutdown inning in the bottom of the fifth.

In the top of the sixth, the Giants were at it again. Jose Ferrer came in for Irvin to start the inning, and he immediately hit Tyler Fitzgerald. Yastrzemski then pulled a bullet down the right field line for a triple that scored Fitzgerald and extended the Giants’ lead to 6-3.

Jerar Encarnacion was next up, and he joined the hit parade with a base-hit up the middle to center, which scored Yastrzemski to make it 7-3. See, there’s a couple of manufactured runs for you. They can still do it.

Snell threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth, and his night was over. He may not have struck out 15 or thrown a no-hitter, but he still pitched a quality outing, and other than the three-run bottom of the third, quite a strong inning. Snell gave up just four hits and struck out eight. Simply put, the Giants are getting the real Blake Snell now.

Eduardo Salazar replaced Ferrer to finish the top of the sixth, and Salazar came back out to throw a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.

Erik Miller was the new pitcher for San Francisco in the bottom of the seventh, and he ran into trouble after a one-out triple by Riley Adams. Miller was able to get a brief reprieve when Young flew out to shallow center and was unable to get Adams in.

Though maybe it would have been for the best if Adams scored, because it would have been a rally killer, and it would still be a three-run game. With the rally still going, Miller walked Lipscomb on four pitches, and Abrams poked one off the end of the bat for a base-hit to left, which knocked in Adams to make it 7-4.

Now the tying run was at the plate, and Bob Melvin went out to bring in Ryan Walker. Alex Call lined a base-hit to left, and things were now starting to get a little scary. Juan Yepez was up and worked the count full. On the payoff pitch, Walker got Yepez to strike out swinging at a beautiful filthy slider right on the outside corner, and the crisis was averted.

Everyone could take a deep breath, and the game moved to the eighth. Tanner Rainey threw a 1-2-3 inning for Washington in the top of the eighth, and submariner Tyler Rogers did the exact same for the Giants in the bottom of the inning.

After Joan Adon then threw a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth for the Nationals, it was time for Camilo Doval in the bottom of the ninth. Doval pitched his first 1-2-3 inning in over a month on Monday, so he had to make it dramatic Wednesday night.

Doval hit Keibert Ruiz to start the inning, and Young singled to right to put runners at first and second and bring the tying run up to the plate with nobody out. Here we go again.

Luis Robert Jr. pinch-hit and moved the runners over to second and third, and Abrams walked to load the bases with one out. It was now time to be scared again.

After Giants Pitching Coach Bryan Price came out for a chat, Alex Call stepped up to the plate as the potential winning run. With the year that Doval has had, it was time to fear the worst. However, on the very first pitch, Call chopped into a 6-4-3 double play, and just like that, the game was over. Disaster was averted, and the Giants were back to .500.

Blake Snell got his second win; Jake Irvin took the loss; and Camilo Doval picked up his 22nd save, though he did not make it easy.

Wednesday night’s game was a healthy mix of power and timely situational hitting for the Giants, and as I’ve said many times, they will have to consistently keep getting the timely RBI hits the rest of the way if they want to go to the Playoffs.

Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski both hit two-hit nights, and Matt Chapman had three hits. As for Tyler Fitzgerald, since he’s been on a tear, and everyone wants to know how he did, he went 0-for-3. It happens.

The Giants are indeed back to .500, as they improve to 58-58. With the Braves’ 10-0 shellacking at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Giants are now three and a half games back of Atlanta for the third wild card spot.

Thursday is getaway day, and the Giants can take the series and cap off a 5-2 road trip with a win. Kyle Harrison (6-5, 4.09 ERA) will take the mound for the Giants, and DJ Herz (2-4, 4.27 ERA) will start for the Nationals.

Remember, with the outskirts of Tropical Storm Debby coming into D.C. later Thursday, the game has been moved up to 12:05 p.m. in Washington, and a very-early 9:05 a.m. in San Francisco.

National League Wild Card Standings:

*1. Diamondbacks 63-52 +2.0

*2. Padres 63-52 +2.0

3. Braves 60-53 —

Mets 60-54 0.5

Cardinals 59-56 2.0

GIANTS 58-58 3.5

Pirates 56-57 4.0

Cubs 57-60 5.0

Reds 55-59 5.5

*Tiebreaking procedures taken into effect.