© Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
It’s over. The 0-for-September, 11-game losing streak that’s been the only subject of discussion surrounding the Giants for the past few days has come to an end.
The 11-game streak was the worst-ever losing streak for the San Francisco Giants and the worst since 1951, when the franchise was in New York. What did it take for the Giants to snap that streak? A two-run lead and an absurdly good night from Chris Stratton.
In each of those 11 games that the Giants had lost in order, the team never had more than a one-run lead. While they led in seven of those 11 games, the one-run leads lasted for just 8.5 out of 99 innings. But tonight, the Giants took a two-run lead and held on for dear life.
A triplet of singles from Nick Hundley, Joe Panik and Austin Slater gave the team a 2-0 lead in the third. It didn’t matter that the Giants failed to score another run after the third.
It didn’t matter that it was the team’s ninth-straight game scoring three runs or less. None of that mattered because Chris Stratton threw a complete-game two-hitter to the Colorado Rockies – a team that started six players with higher batting averages than the Giants’ highest-batting hitter, Austin Slater (.271).
Stratton was absolutely clinical, walking just two batters and relinquishing a pair of singles. This was again, to a team that started six hitters with at least 15 home runs – the team-leading total for the Giants shared by Gorkys Hernandez and Evan Longoria.
He struck out seven batters, closing out the game against the top of the Rockies’ lineup in DJ LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado and David Dahl. It gives the Giants their first win of September against the first-place team in the National League West.
It was Stratton’s first career shutout.