Final Score: San Francisco 3 – Cincinnati 1

W: Samardzija (4-1)

L: Cotham (0-1)

S: Casilla (6)

Jeff Samardzija continues to prove his worth to the San Francisco Giants. The 90 million dollar man they call “The Shark” threw grade A heat last night, putting up eight innings of one run ball for the Giants in Cincinnati. Samardzija looked simply dominant against a weak Red’s lineup in a sparingly attended Tuesday night game at Great America Ball Park. He was able to reach back and hit 97 on the gun with regularity, and made studs like Joey Votto look silly at times. While many pundits wrote off Samardzija after a rough 2015 and claimed that the Giants overpaid for the former Notre Dame two sport star, the move is looking more and more like a great decision by San Francisco’s front office.

The big right hander was scary in two regards: scary good against Reds hitters and scary angry to the Giants coaching staff. After striking out in the eighth he snapped his bat like a twig over his thigh. As entertaining as it was, there’s no way the Giants coaches approve of one of the biggest threats in their rotation risking injury like that. But, no harm no foul, and now we just get to laugh at the inevitable video highlights. Even manager Bruce Bochy couldn’t help but laugh:

“I think we all were stunned,” Bochy said. “You don’t see a pitcher do that often. That’s how competitive he is.

“It was like a twig when it broke. That was impressive. I’m not thrilled with the chance of doing something to his knee there, but the way that thing broke off, he looked like Herman Munster.”

Another highlight in San Francisco’s victory was Buster Posey‘s night. The All Star catcher proved that Dreymond Green isn’t the only Bay Area athlete that can put up Triple Doubles by getting to second on one swing not once, not twice, but three times. Posey is finally heating up from a slow start, going 9 for his last 16 at bats. The Giants obviously need Posey to keep this up if they want to continue their streak of even year magic.

The Reds bullpen is clearly its weakness. Starter John Lamb looked strong but was forced out of the game in the sixth inning. Kelby Tomlinson drove in the go ahead run with a swinging bunt, which signaled the 21st straight game the Reds bullpen has allowed a run.

The Giants go for the sweep in the Queen City today at 9:35 am PST.