By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (51-74) took on the Cleveland Guardians (61-65) in game two of their three-game series at Progressive Field this evening. In today’s matchup San Francisco started Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson in his MLB debut. He was just called up from Triple-A and could potentially be a part of their future rotation. Family and friends of Wilkinson were on hand to share what had to be one of the greatest moments of his young life. The Guardians had Parker Messick on the mound today. Through six innings San Francisco had 5 hits, the Guardians 4. In the fourth inning the Giants got up on the scoreboard taking a 1-0 lead that would persist into the seventh inning and beyond. Rafael Devers scored on a Victor Bericoto infield single for the only run of the game. It would come down to the relief pitching and the Giants ability to keep Cleveland off the bases protecting that lead. Going into the bottom of the ninth inning it would be up to Dylan Smith to close out the game for the win. He first pitch was wild but he settled down and finished off this game beautifully.

GAME RECAP

Cleveland pitcher Parker Messick gave up a single in the first inning but got out of it and this game was off and running. The Giants young Matt Wilkinson in his first major league debut faced the top of the Cleveland lineup undaunted going three and out.

The second inning was more of the same a pitcher’s dual. Messick had a three and out inning and the Giant’s Wilkinson started off the bottom of the inning giving up a single but finishing off the next three Cleveland at bats.

There would be a change on the mound for the Giants in the third inning. Messick struck out a couple of Giants to end the top of the inning and Adrian Houser relieved Wilkinson who had a couple of great innings.

San Francisco got the fourth inning started with a Rafael Devers double. He reached third base on a Messick wild pitch. With two outs Victor Bericoto singled Devers home and the Giants had their first lead of the series 1-0. Chung Hoo Lee doubled and the Giants had runners at second and third but left them both stranded, missing a great opportunity to score another run. In the bottom of the fourth, Houser got into a bit of bind giving up a single and a double back-to-back with two outs but avoided any damage. The Guardians also left runners stranded on second and third.

The battle on the mound continued through the fifth and sixth innings. There would be a change on the mound for the Guardians in the seventh inning. Hunter Gaddis relieved Messick getting out of the inning and in the bottom of the seventh the Giants Houser gave up a single but not much else. It had been a beautifully pitched game by both teams. The Giants’ Wilkinson and Houser had pitched 7 innings of shut-out ball.

Going into the eighth inning Willy Adames had his third hit of the game but the Giants were just not getting the timely hits to support their runners. Adrian Houser remained in the game to start the bottom of the eighth but walked the first at-bat. That would be it for Houser who had pitched five innings. Dylan Smith would relieve Houser in a tough spot with a runner on base and no outs. A wild pitch sent Steven Kwan to second base after walking but Smith closed out the inning with three strikeouts.

San Francisco went three and out in the top of the ninth inning and so Dylan Smith would take the mound looking to protect the 1-0 lead and tie up this series. With one out, Angel Genao singled, Petey Halpin struck out swinging and the Giants were one out away from winning game two. Dylan Smith got the third out, a Patrick Bailey strikeout, and San Francisco had tied up this series winning game two 1-0.

GAME NOTES

Tonight’s game show-cased some amazing work on the mound for San Francisco. The most memorable moment was the first major league appearance for Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson. He had just been called up from Triple-A but there was not a trace of the jitters seemingly in total control of the two innings he pitched. He allowed just 1 hit with no runs and walked 1. He had completed two scoreless innings in his debut. You may ask why only two innings when he was pitching so well. It is possible that San Francisco was being cautious with him evaluating him as a young pitcher who could possibly be a part of their future rotation. It looked like it was a planned workload but he was absolutely amazing and it would have been nice to see at least one more inning from him.

The Guardians Parker Messick also had a great showing on the mound only giving up the one run in the fourth inning pitching through 6 2/3 innings. He allowed 6 hits, 1 run, no walks and 10 strikeouts.

There was not a lot of offense in this game; we saw more of a good old-fashioned pitching dual and they were all excellent on both sides. In order to win a one-run game the work on the mound has to be impressive and it sure was from Wilkinson, to Houser, to Smith it could not have gone better for the Giants.

Offensively the Giants Victor Bericoto had the hit in the fourth inning that won this game. Willy Adames had three hits in the game and Jung Hoo Lee had a couple. Not a lot of timely hits but the pitching more than made up for it.

Tomorrow the Giants will be looking to win this series taking game three. Landen Roupp will take the mound for San Francisco. He has a 7-12 win/loss record and a 4.31 ERA. Cleveland will start Gavin Williams. His win/loss record is 11-7 with a 3.74 ERA. First pitch for this game is an early one scheduled for 10:10 AM.