DENVER — A day before Kevin Gausman’s start in the final away game of San Francisco’s regular season, manager Gabe Kapler said he felt like Gausman was “one great outing away” from returning to his first-half self.
After weeks of struggling to find his split-fingered fastball, Gausman didn’t have a great outing Sunday against the Rockies, rather a dominant one.
Gausman forced more swing-and-misses than any Giant in a season this year (25). In six innings, he struck out 11 Rockies while allowing three hits and one run in Coors Field. His fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season — first since the All-Star break — couldn’t have come at a better time for the Giants (102-54).
Gausman put the Giants in position for the series sweep. Tommy La Stella’s RBI single put the Giants ahead in the ninth, and Brandon Crawford’s three-run homer two batters later put the game away in the 6-2 victory. It was the final game of SF’s final road trip of the season — before the playoffs, of course.
Considering the hitter-friendly ballpark and the state of San Francisco’s bullpen, Sunday was Gausman’s most impressive start of the season’s second half.
“I thought it was the best he’s looked in some time,” manager Gabe Kapler said postgame.
The command on Gausman’s splitter — his most dangerous weapon — had left him recently. Since the All-Star break, his ERA ballooned to 5.09 in 13 starts (it was 1.73 in the first half). He and Kapler had both said he’s been struggling to rediscover his feel for the pitch that made him a Cy Young candidate before the All-Star break.
Sunday though, Gausman had the splitter on point from the start. In his first four innings, he delivered 16 splitters, 14 for strikes including nine swing-and-misses. Five of his first six strikeouts came on the pitch.
Perhaps Coors Field feels like home for him. The Colorado native also pitched seven innings of three-run ball — arguably his best second-half start — on Sept. 6 at Coors. That was the first time he pitched in his home town in front of fans.
C.J. Cron tagged Gausman’s low and inside fastball for a solo home run in the fifth inning — Colorado’s first homer of the series. But Gausman was unrattled, striking out the next batter Sam Hilliard on a full-count fastball and catcher Dom Nuñez on a splitter after him.
Gausman continued to pound the zone and continued to miss bats, Cron representing his only run allowed. Even in the sixth, when Colorado put runners on the corners with a fielding error and two-out single, Gausman struck out Trevor Story on a full count splitter in the dirt as his pitch count rose over 85. He yelled and pumped his fists as he walked back to the dugout.
Story’s whiff, the 25 Gausman induced, put the starter in the company of Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner on the statcast-era pantheon of nasty stuff.
The Giants desperately needed a quality start from Gausman. Each pitcher in the past turn of the rotation, including Gausman, only lasted four innings. The Giants went 4-1 in those games — all on the road — but they taxed a bullpen already without closer Jake McGee (oblique). Leverage relievers Dominic Leone, Tony Watson and Tyler Rogers each pitched four of those five games.
So when Gausman fist-pumped his way off the field after the sixth inning, it signaled the jolt of energy he provided the rest of the staff.
“Another short start would’ve been a real challenge,” Kapler said.
When Gausman left, the Giants held a 2-1 lead. They threatened in the seventh, but left two runners in scoring position. Stranding runners was the least of San Francisco’s concern, though, as Brandon Belt, one of the hottest hitters alive, was drilled in the left hand by a 93 mph fastball while squaring up to bunt. He knelt on the grass in serious pain for about a minute, then got his hand and wrist wrapped with black tape by team trainer Dave Groeschner. Belt stayed in the game to run, but was replaced in the field by Wilmer Flores.
Belt’s absence instantly stung. Flores committed a crucial error at first which — combined with Zack Littell’s balk — led to Cron sliding in for the game-tying run.
But Camilo Doval struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth with his lethal fastball-slider combination. That set the table for the ninth.
SF started the inning with two walks against closer Daniel Bard. La Stella smacked an 0-2 slider into right field, and Ron Wotus waved Duggar home from second. Charlie Blackmon delivered his throw too far up the third base line, and Duggar slid in easily.
A Kris Bryant strikeout and Rockies pitching change later, Crawford socked a three-run homer over the left field fence to provide rookie reliever Kervin Castro with a cushion. Crawford’s 23rd long ball added to his MVP campaign and brought out the brooms.
Now the Giants head back to San Francisco for the remainder of the regular season. They’ll be there for a tie-breaking Game 163, if applicable, for a possible Wild Card game, and for the first game of a Divisional Series. And they head home from their final road trip with a clean sweep.