SAN FRANCISCO — Playoff tickets aren’t punched in July and World Series trophies aren’t hoisted until the fall, but with the first half in the books, the Giants and their fans can start thinking about October baseball.
A playoff berth that once seemed like a far-fetched dream for a club playing in a stacked National League West is now well within reach as Gabe Kapler’s club wrapped up the first half of the season with a 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals to notch their major-league best 57th win and 30th at Oracle Park.
After dropping the first two games of a six-game homestand, the Giants reeled off four consecutive wins and added to their lead over the Dodgers and Padres with dominant pitching performances and clutch contributions from several different hitters.
The Giants credit much of their success leading into the All-Star break to a starter in Kevin Gausman who departed after another brilliant start on Sunday to participate in Midsummer Classic festivities in Denver. The Colorado native has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year and earned his ninth win of the season with help from catcher Curt Casali, who blasted a three-run home run in the second inning against Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde.
Gausman finished a sensational first half by tossing six innings of one-run ball against a Nationals team that knocked him out after four innings in their matchup in June. The right-hander held Washington to four hits, including three that didn’t leave the infield, and struck out nine batters by mixing a mid-to-high 90s fastball with his devastating splitter.
Gausman’s splitter has been one of the best pitches in baseball this season and it remained that way on Sunday as the Nationals whiffed at 10 of the 19 splitters they swung at.
The only run Gausman allowed came in the seventh as he issued back-to-back walks and gave up a bloop single before Kapler pulled him in favor of right-hander Dominic Leone. Leone limited the damage, but the Nationals scored on a groundout before stranding a pair of runners by inducing a shallow flyout and striking out Victor Robles to end the frame.
After beginning the day with a 1.74 ERA that ranked second in the majors behind Mets ace Jacob deGrom’s historic 1.08 mark, Gausman ends the first half with a 1.65 ERA that’s the lowest by a Giants pitcher through his first 18 starts since Hal Schumacher had a 1.39 ERA in 1933.
It was fitting for a club that finished the first half atop the NL West that Casali, the team’s backup catcher, crushed the early three-run home run to give Gausman a lead on Sunday. One of the Giants’ greatest strengths through the first half of the season has been their incredible depth and Casali’s production in place of injured starter Buster Posey has been critical of late.
Since returning from the injured list on June 12, Casali has hit four home runs and is batting over .400 with an OPS above 1.200.
The Giants missed opportunities to capitalize on a few other scoring chances against the Nationals as they left eight runners on base Sunday, but with Gausman on the mound and the back end of their bullpen fresh, three runs were all San Francisco needed to cap off a three-game sweep.
