Entering play on Wednesday, the three teams leading the major leagues in starting rotation ERA mirrored the three teams atop the National League West standings.
The Giants, Padres and Dodgers have all received outstanding performances from their starters this season, but it’s San Francisco that’s been slightly better than San Diego and Los Angeles in large part due to the efforts of ace Kevin Gausman.
With six innings of one-hit ball on Wednesday, Gausman continued his brilliant start to the year as he powered the Giants to a closer-than-it-looked 4-0 victory over the Reds to clinch a series win and keep Gabe Kapler’s club a half game ahead of the Padres atop the division.
The Giants (27-16) didn’t do much damage against Reds starter Wade Miley, but a fifth-inning double from shortstop Mauricio Dubón followed by a single from left fielder Mike Tauchman was all the offense the club needed at Great American Ball Park.
With two outs in the eighth inning, catcher Buster Posey continued his incredible season with a three-run double into the left-center-field gap to give righty Tyler Rogers a far more comfortable ninth-inning cushion.
Rogers and fellow relievers Zack Littell and Jake McGee finished the job for the Giants, who used left-hander McGee in a set-up role and saved Rogers for the ninth against the toughest bats in the Reds lineup.
With eight strikeouts on Wednesday to bring his total to 67 for the season, Gausman topped 1,000 for his career and is now among the top 10 pitchers in the National League in strikeouts (6th), ERA (4th), WHIP (4th) and innings pitched (2nd).
Gausman didn’t appear to be at his best on Wednesday as he often fell behind in counts, but he only allowed three baserunners against Cincinnati as he limited the Reds to two walks and a hit. The Giants’ top starter retired the first 10 batters he faced before issuing a fourth-inning walk to Nick Castellanos, but the Reds were unable to capitalize on their first opportunity thanks to a leaping catch at the left-field wall from Tauchman.
Reds slugger Eugenio Suárez drilled a 2-2 fastball deep to left field against Gausman, but Tauchman timed his jump perfectly to rob Suárez of extra bases and keep Castellanos from reaching scoring position.
After recording six innings in only four of his 10 starts with the Giants last season, Gausman has now completed six innings in all nine of his starts this year. The only other Giants starter to log nine consecutive starts of at least six innings in the last five years is Madison Bumgarner, who did so during the first half of the 2019 season.
