SAN DIEGO — As he stood in the dugout Monday afternoon and prepared to warm up, Jeff Samardzija smiled and started singing to himself. Perhaps he knew what was to come.
Samardzija had one of the more dominant outings of his career, throwing just 102 pitches in a 3-0 shutout of the Padres. The right-hander allowed just three hits, all singles. The only hit to leave the infield came with two outs in the eighth. Of the 27 outs, only four left the infield. He struck out five and walked none.
“I kind of owed these guys one,” Samardzija said when it was all over. “They got me the last two times out.”
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The Padres have had Samardzija’s number this season, which looks odd at first glance, but actually fits right in with his bizarre season. He has the best pure stuff of any starter on staff, and he walked out of the park on Monday with 175 strikeouts and just 26 walks. No pitcher in the National League has thrown more innings than Samardzija’s 176 2/3. And yet, even with the shutout — the second by a Giant this season — he has a 4.43 ERA.
Most of Samardzija’s numbers scream “ace.” The rest are simply baffling, but Bruce Bochy continues to believe that Samardzija is the kind of pitcher who can carry a heavy load for a postseason-worthy staff.
“It’s so encouraging to see, especially at this stage of his career, how he just worked to get better and better,” Bochy said.
Samardzija, per a FanRag Sports report, cleared waivers on Monday. But he has a firm no-trade clause and wants to stay in San Francisco, and the Giants believe he’ll benefit more than anyone from changes they plan to make in the offseason. It’s anecdotal, but no pitcher on staff has suffered more because of the poor outfield defense. Throw an improved group out there next season and perhaps Samardzija returns to the overall numbers that once made him an All-Star. The Giants certainly feel that’s a strong possibility, and Samardzija showed why that faith is there on Monday.
San Francisco Giants
He didn’t reach a three-ball count to a single Padre and needed just 72 pitches to get through six. Samardzija was at 93 after eight, and the ninth was another quick one. The second out was a comebacker to the mound, the fifth of the night. Samardzija credited his slider for all those slow rollers right up the middle. He credited a new teammate for the kick-save that led to one of the outs. Apparently Pablo Sandoval has taken to calling him Zlaten, a reference to lookalike soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“I figured I had to show him my footwork,” Samardzija said.
The offense came by way of two homers from middle infielders Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik. That was plenty on this night. This was as good as Samardzija has been in orange and black.
“He really was locked in,” Bochy said. “He had great focus out there on every pitch.”
Bochy had Mark Melancon and Sam Dyson warm up late, but Samardzija was never in any danger of leaving the game. He threw just 95 pitches the last time out and said those banked pitches helped him keep the foot on the gas. He joined Ty Blach as the only Giants to throw nine innings in a game this season.
As reporters waited for the clubhouse to open, Samardzija walked out the front door with an ice pack on his arm. He smiled.
"They let me work tonight," he yelled.