WASHINGTON _ The Giants have already made a number of pitchers most fans haven't heard of look like All-Stars this season.
In Tuesday's 7-3 win over the Washington Nationals, the Giants made a pitcher nearly everyone has heard of appear merely average.
Three-time All-Star and former No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg surrendered three home runs for just the third time in his 10-year major league career as third baseman Evan Longoria, right fielder Steven Duggar and first baseman Brandon Belt all went deep for the Giants.
Only Duggar's 387-foot opposite-field shot into the visiting bullpen at Nationals Park looked like it would have had a chance to clear the fences at Oracle Park, but the Giants were thrilled to take advantage of the friendlier dimensions in Washington, D.C. after concluding a 10-game homestand with a shutout loss on Sunday.
San Francisco entered the game with just 10 home runs in 17 games _ the second fewest in all of baseball _ but a pair of fifth-inning homers and Belt's solo shot in the sixth helped starter Dereck Rodriguez collect his second win of the season.
Rodriguez's father Ivan was the Nationals catcher in Strasburg's major league debut on June 8, 2010, and on Tuesday, Strasburg hit an RBI double off his former backstop's son. The second-inning run was the only one Rodriguez allowed in five innings of work as the Nationals ran up the right-hander's pitch count early in the game.
Rodriguez's worst start of his rookie season came against Washington as he allowed a career-high five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings at Nationals Park last June, but he overcame early command issues on Tuesday to lower his season ERA to 3.63.
After the Giants expanded their lead to 6-1 in the top of the seventh against the worst bullpen in baseball, right-hander Sam Dyson allowed two seventh inning runs to give the Nationals a glimmer of hope.
Dyson was one of six Giants relievers who began the day with a sub-2.00 ERA, but he allowed three hits including a mammoth Matt Adams pinch-hit home run in his worst outing of the season. Adams' home run also broke a 21-inning scoreless streak for the Giants' bullpen which began with 13 shutout frames in Friday's 18-inning victory over the Rockies.
A series-opening win was the ideal way for Bruce Bochy to cap off his 64th birthday in the nation's capital. The Giants manager spent much of his youth in northern Virginia and recalled attending his first major league game at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. with his dad before Tuesday's game.
The victory marked the fourth in the last five games for the Giants and will give them two days to clinch their second consecutive series victory after dropping their first four series for the first time since 1983.
