DeSclafani's budding ace star stays rising

Right-hander K's 9 over 7 scoreless as Giants claim MLB-high 10th shutout

June 23rd, 2021

ANAHEIM -- The Giants have received some strong pitching from their starters in 2021 and Anthony DeSclafani continued that trend Tuesday night.

DeSclafani threw seven shutout innings and struck out nine batters en route to keeping the Halos scoreless in the Giants’ 5-0 win at Angel Stadium.

Despite limiting the Angels to three hits and two walks, the righty had to work himself out of some early jams after San Francisco’s bats put up five runs in the first two innings.

With Anthony Rendon up to bat with runners on second and third base with two outs, the Giants' hurler got Rendon to fly out to right field to end the first inning and went on to replicate the same success in the next inning.

A pair of second-inning hits from Max Stassi and José Iglesias set up runners on second and third base with no outs. DeSclafani got flyouts from Luis Rengifo and David Fletcher to hold both runners in scoring position before he capped off the inning with a swinging strikeout of Justin Upton.

“I feel like I settled in there after the second inning,” DeSclafani said. “Even though I kind of had trouble with a walk and a deep hit. … I was glad I got out of that throwing up a zero and not letting them gain any sort of momentum.”

DeSclafani struck out the side in order in the sixth inning and, in the process, collected his ninth strikeout of the night, tying his season high, which he set on April 26 against the Rockies. After walking Taylor Ward in the third inning with one out, DeSclafani retired the final 14 hitters that he faced.

Angels manager Joe Maddon said DeSclafani's success at working out of the early-inning jams set the tone for the game, leading to a shutout against his ballclub. 

“That's one of those where I hate to say tip your hat, but he had everything going on. We had some opportunities early. … We didn't get him early, and if we had, it obviously would have been a different ballgame,” Maddon said. “But he keeps getting better. You saw the slider, the fastball, the movement on the fastball, a couple changeups when he wanted it. He just really pitched well. So did their bullpen.”

In the Giants’ Major League-leading 10th shutout of the season, DeSclafani improved to an 8-2 record and dropped his ERA to 2.77. He has continued to baffle opposing hitters in June following a rough May 23 outing against the Dodgers where he gave up 10 runs in 2 2/3 innings. 

DeSclafani has a 1.00 ERA across four starts in June. He has thrown 27 innings and allowed just 14 hits in that span, including a 0.67 WHIP since wrapping up May with a 3.56 ERA on the season.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler said DeSclafani’s rough start against the Dodgers has been nothing but a minor blemish for the right-hander. 

“He's been kind of the same pitcher all year long,” Kapler said. “Very consistent with his velocities. Very consistent with the sharpness of his breaking balls. But one outing against the Dodgers that didn't go well for him, and outside of that, I think he's been as steady as they come.”