SF Giants Press Clips Saturday, June 30, 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Giants beat first-place D’backs behind rookies Suarez, Slater Henry Schulman PHOENIX — Will Smith’s first major-league save in 2014 was memorable because he had no idea he earned one. He faced one hitter, Pittsburgh’s Pedro Alvarez, and struck him out after Milwaukee starter Kyle Lohse dominated for 82/3 innings. “Everyone was congratulating me, and I’m going, for what?” Smith said Friday night after his second career save. He threw a perfect ninth in an important 2-1 victory against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Beating the first-place team in the division to gain a game in the standings, on the road, is big enough. Friday’s circumstances made it feel bigger. The Giants earned a one-run win behind rookies Andrew Suarez and Austin Slater, and got three perfect innings from the bullpen a night after Sam Dyson blew a one-run lead against the Rockies at home and manager Bruce Bochy declared he would open the closing job to others. Reyes Moronta, a third rookie who made an impact, got three groundballs in the seventh, the last of them Paul Goldschmidt’s to get him out of the way. Tony Watson pitched the eighth because he had warmed up in case Moronta needed help in the seventh. Smith then struck out two of his three hitters to save the win, the Giants’ ninth in 12 games. 1 “We were able to bring some energy and help win a ballgame,” Slater said. “It’s great to see the young guys get in and make an impact.” Slater drove in both Giants runs with opposite-field doubles, in the second against Patrick Corbin and in the seventh against equally tough left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin. That one broke a 1-1 tie. Slater added a broken-bat single in the eighth for his third hit, against a third lefty, T.J. McFarland. Slater’s doubles made a winner of Suarez, who beat the team that beat him in his April 11 major-league debut. He allowed four runs and two homers that night, one by Goldschmidt, whom he held to a walk, an infield hit and a deep fly to right in his six innings Friday. Five of the seven hits against Suarez did not leave the infield. Giving up so bleeders could make even a 10-year veteran cuckoo, but it did not faze the 25-year-old left-hander. “The kid is not in awe of anything,” Bochy said. “He pitched his heart out.” Bochy then danced like Fred Astaire when asked to assess Suarez’s bid to be the one young’ un who is expected to keep his place in the rotation when Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto return in the next couple of weeks. Bochy is not ready to rank Suarez, Chris Stratton and Dereck Rodriguez, who will start Tuesday night, but Suarez has to be the clubhouse leader after the run of starts he is cobbling. He has a 2.35 ERA over his past four games, which do not include his seven shutout innings against the Phillies to start the month. Suarez has the stuff and command to stick. The Slater issue is equally complicated. He is the pup on a roster that includes fellow outfielders Hunter Pence and Austin Jackson, the former earning $18.5 million this year, the latter just signed for two years, $6 million. Bochy will have to be Astaire and Ginger Rogers in that dance. For now, Alen Hanson will be the left fielder against right-handed starters. Slater can buy more starts against lefties with games like Friday’s. “You’ve got to go with who’s swinging the bat well,” Bochy said, “and hope the other guys understand.” 2 Jackson went 0-for-3 in a rare start, his first since June 15 and sixth in the club’s past 35 games. Bochy said Gorkys Hernandez got a planned day off and Jackson “has been held hostage long enough.” San Francisco Chronicle Would Giants’ Samardzija make a good closer? Henry Schulman PHOENIX — Anytime the Giants fall into a ninth-inning “crisis,” JeffSamardzija ’s name arises as a potential closer. The idea has its appeal. He throws hard, and when healthy last year he threw strikes. Looking deeper, the issue that persuaded the Giants to have Samardzija make a fourth rehab start Monday makes him less suited to short relief: Samardzija is not a good first-inning pitcher. A closer has to charge out of the chute. “He knows that’s an area where he’s got to come out letting it go because that’s something that can determine the game,” manager Bruce Bochy said Friday. In 2017, Samardzija’s first-inning ERA was 6.47, the worst of any inning. Opponents had a first- inning OPS of .883. His third rehab game for Sacramento on Tuesday night was a lot like his first. He walked one and allowed two homers in a five-run first inning, although Bochy said he was told the homers were altitude-aided and would have been flyballs outside of Albuquerque. Still, Samardzija surrenders a lot of homers, which a closer also cannot do. Samardzija, recovering from a shoulder injury, retired 12 of his final 14 hitters in Albuquerque and struck out six in four innings. Bochy expects Samardzija to rejoin the Giants’ rotation next weekend at home against the Cardinals. Johnny Cueto (elbow sprain) threw four shutout innings in his second rehab start in Sacramento on Friday night, throwing 69 pitches. In two games he has thrown 72/3 innings without allowing a run, walking one and striking out 10. Cueto wanted two rehab games, while the club has pushed for three and essentially said, “We’ll see.” “We’ll evaluate his work and see how he comes out of it,” Bochy said. “This is a bigger test because he’s throwing 70 pitches. Forty, 45 pitches, you can get through that. With seventy pitches, you better be in shape.” 3 More bullpen: The bullpen could look different soon with Samardzija and Cueto returning because one or two of the young starters who have held down rotation spots could be moved to long relief. Also, the Giants increasingly are looking at a big power option from Triple-A. Ray Black , who routinely hits 100 mph despite a smorgasbord of arm injuries that have held him back, has struck out 50 in 282/3 combined innings for Sacramento and Double-A Richmond, Va., this year. “No question he’s on the radar,” Bochy said. “The way he’s throwing the ball, sure, he’s going to be talked about because he’s done a good job of getting his career back on track. He’s got good stuff, he’s healthy, and he’s pitched back-to-back games.” However, Bochy said the club is not looking to add a one-inning reliever now. San Francisco Chronicle Giants must take advantage of their shot against first-place D’backs Henry Schulman PHOENIX - Lookee here. The National League West is not so bad after all. The division-leading Diamondbacks carry a .580 winning percentage into Friday night's game against the Giants, not much different than the Central-leading Brewers (.588) and East-leading Braves (.570). All three divisions have three winning teams. Also, look at the league's June win-percentage leaderboard: 1. Arizona, 19-7, .731 2. Los Angeles, 17-7, .708 3. San Francisco, 16-10, .615 Since June featured a lot of inter-division competition, one can argue the West is best and cleaned up against inferior teams in the other divisions. 4 All of which underscores why this weekend's series at Chase Field is important to the Giants. If they are going to make up serious ground in the division, they have to beat their divisional foes, especially the two above them. The Giants have a tall task, starting Friday, when they face Patrick Corbin, who is coming off seven shutout innings at Pittsburgh and pitched a one-hitter against the Giants here April 10. Andrew Suarez faces Arizona for the first time since they got him for four runs over 5 1/3 innings in his April 11 big-league debut. The four possible weekend outcomes for the Giants create quite a range. Giants sweep = 2½ games behind Arizona in the West, very unlikely given how poorly they have played at Chase Field the past two seasons and on the road in general. Giants take two of three = 4½ games back, a bit more conceivable. The Giants have taken just three road series this year, but two have come against tough teams (Atlanta, Washington). Giants lose two of three = 6½ games back. That seems to be their road M.O. Giants get swept = 8½ games back. Now, they have a serious problem. If this series were ending on, say, July 25 instead of July 1, the outcome might have carried more serious implications for the team's direction right before the trade deadline. A .500 trip would be a huge victory for the Giants. They have not had a break-even trip yet, aside from the four-gamer in Los Angeles to open the season. As always, the numbers will look better if they can play their best ball, which is true anywhere. Who closes? Amid the big debate of the day, some fans have suggested Jeff Samardzija close when he returns. He has been a reliever and has the stuff.