Giants salvage series split with Nationals
SAN FRANCISCO -- Pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija came off the bench to tag-team on a key run Sunday, helping the San Francisco Giants salvage a four-game split with the Washington Nationals with a 3-1 victory in the series finale.
The leaders in the National League West and East will meet again for three games next weekend in Washington.
Matt Cain pitched five innings of no-hit ball for his 100th career win as a Giant.
Ahead just 1-0 and with his starter having already thrown 93 pitches, Giants manager Bruce Bochy elected to pinch hit for Cain in the fifth inning even though he had yet to allow a hit.
The strategy paid dividends when Bumgarner, a .164 hitter entering the at-bat, doubled off the right-field fence off Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez.
Samardzija took over for Bumgarner as a pinch runner and raced home two outs later when Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon threw away Hunter Pence's ground ball, extending the Giants' lead to 2-0.
Bryce Harper led off the Washington sixth with a single off Giants reliever George Kontos, ending San Francisco's no-hit bid. He scored two batters later on a double by Rendon, getting the Nationals back within 2-1.
But Kontos stranded the potential tying run in scoring position, and four Giants relievers followed with three innings of hitless, shutout relief, saving Cain's milestone win.
Closer Santiago Casilla hit the first batter he faced in the ninth, Ryan Zimmermann, but then retired the next three for his 24th save.
Casilla struck out pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy, representing the potential tying run, to end the game.
Cain (3-6), who has won his last two starts, walked four and struck out five. Barely half the pitches he threw (48 or 93) were strikes.
Gonzalez (6-9) took the loss despite allowing just one earned run in six innings. He gave up six hits and two walks, striking out one.
The Giants opened the scoring in the third thanks in large part to another Nationals error.
Conor Gillaspie led off the inning with a triple, and was still there when Eduardo Nunez drew a one-out walk.
Angel Pagan then hit a potential double play grounder right at Nationals second baseman Trea Turner, but his backhand flip pulled shortstop Danny Espinosa off the base, allowing Gillaspie to score.
The Giants gave their bullpen an insurance run in the seventh when Pagan singled in Denard Span, who had pinch-hit an inning-opening triple.
Buster Posey had two hits for the Giants, who had 10 hits in the game but stranded 11 baserunners.
Despite the win, the Giants finished July with a losing record, 11-13, their worst month of the season.
Washington (13-12) also had its worst month in July.
The Nationals, who have split the first six results of a nine-game trip, totaled only three hits.
NOTES: Each team had two regulars out of the starting lineup. The Nationals were without 2B Daniel Murphy (strained left hamstring) and LF Jayson Werth (rest), the Giants without SS Brandon Crawford (bruised left hand) and CF Denard Span (strained left quad). ... Previous Giants pitchers to win 100 games in the San Francisco era of the franchise were RHP Juan Marichal (238), RHP Gaylord Perry (134), RHP Tim Lincecum (108), LHP Kirk Rueter (105) and LHP Mike McCormick (104). ... In order to place RHP Mark Melancon -- acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday -- on the active roster, the Nationals sent RHP Reynaldo Lopez, who started Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Giants, back to Triple-A Syracuse. ... The Nationals were scheduled to fly to Arizona after the game, where RHP Stephen Strasburg (14-1) is slated open a three-game series on Monday night. ... The Giants have Monday off, then begin a nine-game trip in Philadelphia on Tuesday.