San Francisco Giants halt five-game losing streak beating Cincinnati Reds 9-6 – MLB Spring Review
The San Francisco Giants managed halt their five game losing streak by defeating the Cincinnati Reds 9-6 in their Cactus League encounter on Saturday, March 26 at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona.
National League franchise Giants shattered their losing record whipping league rivals Cincinnati Reds with three runs after dramatic sixth inning. Cincinnati, who was moving ahead until the fifth inning with a 6-3 lead, could not retain the momentum set
by Juan Francisco.
Third baseman Francisco launched one of the two homers of game to Giants’ veteran starter Tim Lincecum. Right-handed Lincecum, making his sixth start of spring, consumed six costly runs on 11 hits over five innings.
Despite having three strike-outs under his belt, the 26-year-old permitted what the Reds were hoping for to bag the game. Lincecum was hit for a second homer by Reds’ right-fielder Fred Lewis, who launched his only hit to acquire three valuable runs for
the club.
"I just started missing spots and pitches got up, and I wasn't getting ahead of many batters," Lincecum said. "My arm feels ready. It would be nice to get to some games that actually matter."
The game could have gone in the Reds’ favour if reliever Aroldis Chapman had not performed so poorly. The 23-year-old new comer gave up five runs on four hits without even completing his first inning. The strong left-hander pitched to five batters and did
not send any of them to bullpen with a strike-out.
Giants’ centre-fielder Andres Torres drove in four runs on three hits in four at-bats, and laid the foundation of Chapman’s devastation. Torres helped Miguel Tejada and Mark DeRosa to score with his line drive to centre-field in the sixth inning. Aubrey
Huff then supported Charlie Culberson to score followed by Buster Posey who helped Torres earn a run moving the lead to 8-6. Pablo Sandoval helped bring in the last run taking the score to 9-6 in the end.
Before getting into panic situation, hurler Sam LeClure opened the game for the Giants and proved economical as he allowed only one run in just over three innings, striking-out four.
LeClure made this appearance as starter due to the fact that pitchers Homer Bailey and Johnny both were out with injuries.
The Giants will be pleased with this victory as they showed signs of their greatness. Breaking the five game losing streak has released the pressure off the team and now they can focus on winning more games during the spring session. The Reds will be disappointed
as they were unable to contain the powerful Giants’ offence and it seemed Cincinnati’s pitching let them down.
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