San Francisco 7, Atlanta 0
When: 10:15 PM ET, Thursday, May 28, 2015
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Temperature:
59°
Umpires:
Home -
Dan Iassogna, 1B -
CB Bucknor, 2B -
Lance Barrett, 3B -
Dale Scott
Attendance:
41040
By The Sports Xchange
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Giants right-hander Chris Heston had a streak in mind Thursday night. Just not the one seemingly everyone else was talking about.
The rookie recorded his first win at AT&T Park since April 18 and contributed to the Giants' fourth consecutive home shutout, pitching into the eighth inning of a 7-0 win over the Atlanta Braves in the opener of a four-game series.
Heston combined with relievers Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez on a four-hitter as Giants pitchers ran their streak of consecutive scoreless innings at home to 37 to kick off a seven-game homestand.
The Giants haven't allowed a run at AT&T Park since the eighth inning of a 3-2 win over Miami on May 10. San Francisco shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers in three straight games May 19-21.
The 37-inning scoreless streak matches the club's best since moving west in 1962.
"I didn't even know we had a streak going," the 27-year-old admitted. "I just wanted to pitch as long as possible and give the offense a chance to score some runs."
Heston's last home outing was a rare clunker for Giants starters in the month of May. He was bombed for 11 hits and five runs in five innings in a 9-1 loss to the San Diego Padres on May 6.
He rebounded with two road wins, but realized he still had something to prove to the home fans.
"Really, I didn't do anything different," he said of his approach to the home game. "Just attack the zone and try to give us a chance to win."
Heston (5-3) allowed four hits over 7 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked one.
The Giants led only 1-0, the product of a solo home run by first baseman Brandon Belt in the seventh inning, before Heston turned the ball over to the San Francisco bullpen with the potential tying run aboard and one out in the eighth.
Affeldt struck out pinch-hitter Jonny Gomes for the second out, and Romo, after watching Pedro Ciriaco steal second, preserved the lead by getting center fielder Cameron Maybin to ground to shortstop.
The first of two pinch-hitters in the inning removed Braves starting pitcher Shelby Miller from the game, a decision Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez later regretted.
"It's a tough decision," he admitted. "Do you want to go for the win? Go for the tie? Keep Shelby in there to pitch a complete game?
"There were so many things happening there. Obviously, we didn't make the right decision."
The Giants, who have won 12 of their last 14 games and five straight at home, made it a rout in the last of the eighth against Gonzalez's choice out of the bullpen, right-hander Brandon Cunniff.
San Francisco loaded the bases on a walk to third baseman Matt Duffy and consecutive singles by pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco and left fielder Nori Aoki.
Second baseman Joe Panik made it 3-0 with a two-RBI double, and right fielder Hunter Pence hit the next pitch for a two-run triple for a five-run lead.
Pence's hit was the first given up by Cunniff to a right-handed hitter this season, a hitless string that had reached 30 batters.
Pence scored on a wild pitch by left-hander Donnie Veal to make it 6-0, and successive doubles by Belt and shortstop Brandon Crawford produced the inning's sixth run.
"We've got a nice thing going," Belt said of the Giants' offense. "This is what we thought we would have."
Belt's home run, his sixth of the season, was the only run surrendered by Miller (5-2) in seven innings.
The right-hander allowed five hits in his seven innings. He struck out one and did not walk a batter in his 10th consecutive start this season in which he allowed two or fewer runs.
"Shelby did his part. Tremendous outing," Gonzalez assured. "You figure anytime you give up one run, you've got a chance to win a ballgame. And we did."
Belt, Aoki, Crawford and center fie
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Atlanta
|
4 |
0 |
4 |
.129 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| San Francisco
|
12 |
1 |
21 |
.343 |
10 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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