PHOENIX, Arizona–Chris Stratton didn’t join the San Francisco Giants’ rotation until the beginning of August.
And as the month comes to a close, no Giants’ starter was better in the month of August than Stratton.
Though Stratton took the loss for the Giants on Sunday in a horrendous 11-0 defeat against the Arizona Diamondbacks, his six innings of work yielded just two runs and produced 10 strikeouts. While San Francisco was obviously disappointed by a series sweep that dropped the Giants a season-high 28 games under .500, Stratton’s 10 punchouts tied his career-high set two starts ago against the Nationals and punctuated a third consecutive strong outing.
As the scores indicates, the game spun out of control for San Francisco after Stratton exited, as reliever Matt Cain allowed eight eighth inning runs that turned a narrow loss into a blowout. Cain couldn’t command the ball and it showed, as he allowed two walks, a hit by pitch, and a pair of home runs, including a three-run shot to Paul Goldschmidt that aid his MVP candidacy.
It was an utterly miserable afternoon for a Giants team that played a dreadful series, but still, if there was one takeaway from the Giants’ 80th loss of the season, it was the continued excellence from Stratton.
The 27-year-old rookie made his first career start back on July 6 in place of Johnny Cueto, who was scratched 30 minutes prior to first pitch in Detroit with an inner ear infection. After that outing, Stratton was optioned back to AAA Sacramento, where he remained until the final week of the month.
When Stratton did return to the Giants, he made one appearance in relief before manager Bruce Bochy inserted him into the rotation in place of Cain, who had taken the spot of Cueto when Cueto was placed on the disabled list with blisters.
It was a roundabout way to earn an opportunity, but to whom much is given, much is expected. And so far, Stratton has lived up to expectations. In fact, he’s probably surpassed them.
“If you look at the teams he’s (Stratton) faced, good hitting teams, you’d hate so say surprised, but he’s exceeded what we thought or expected from him,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said.
Over his last 18.2 innings, the Giants’ 2012 first round draft choice has allowed just two runs while racking up 21 strikeouts. Against Washington and against Arizona, he showcased a curveball that has the highest spin rate of any in the Major Leagues, and despite putting leadoff runners on base against Stratton in five of the six innings he pitched, the Diamdondbacks were unable to make him pay for some of his frustrating mistakes.
“I think overall I need to command the ball a little better, especially these walks,” Stratton said. “If I can eliminate those I’ll get a little deeper into games and open up some more doors for us.”
On Sunday, Stratton even figured out how to contain left-handed hitters, which had become a lingering issue even in his starts against Washington and Milwaukee. Stratton entered Sunday having allowed opposing lefties to hit for a .340 average against him this year, but Diamondbacks’ left-handers combined to record just two hits in 13 at-bats against the rookie, one of which was a bunt single by Arizona starting pitcher Patrick Corbin.
“I don’t know if you would say a plateau,” Stratton said, when asked if he’s completely comfortable now. “You’re always anxious to get out there and compete and definitely not nervous. I like to stay even-keeled all the time anyways and maybe I looked a little nervous earlier, but I try to focus.”
If not for Corbin’s brilliance and Cain’s meltdown, Stratton would have had a chance of earning his third consecutive victory, but instead, the Giants barely touched the Diamondbacks’ lefty. For as hot as Stratton has been on the mound, Corbin has been even better, as his 7.0 innings of shutout ball extended a stretch over which he’s allowed just one earned run to 30.1 innings.
“I’d have to look back at other at-bats but I don’t feel like he missed a lot,” Giants’ catcher Buster Posey said. “He stayed on the corners and mixed on the breaking ball well. It just didn’t seem like he was in the middle of the plate very much.”
Corbin received the benefit of an early lead thanks to a fluky play in the bottom of the third inning when Stratton struck out Arizona center fielder Ray Fuentes with two outs. The curveball Stratton threw to Fuentes landed in the dirt, and skipped off the glove of catcher Nick Hundley to the backstop. The wild pitch allowed catcher Chris Hermann to race home from third base as Fuentes reached on the dropped third strike.
The wild pitch yielded the only run of the game until the bottom of the sixth inning when Diamondbacks’ slugger J.D. Martinez stepped to the plate and launched an opposite field blast that landed above the pool beyond the right center field fence at Chase Field. Arizona acquired Martinez from Detroit back in July, and over 34 games with the Diamondbacks, Martinez has already slugged 13 home runs. If Martinez was on the Giants, his total would put him one ahead of Buster Posey for the second most on the team, and behind Brandon Belt, who’s been out since early August with a concussion, for the team lead.
The Martinez stat adds perspective to what’s already obvious: The Giants don’t have much power. But this weekend, they didn’t have much of anything at the plate, as San Francisco mustered just four runs in a weekend sweep in which all of its starting pitchers threw the ball effectively. It’s the type of series that in past years, the Giants would find a way to win at least one, and probably two games. And it’s the type of series that this year, they’d lose all three.