WASHINGTON D.C. -- There was no carryover from Friday night's late-innings drama when the Giants and Washington Nationals took the field just a few hours later. The Giants didn't come away with any bruises or close calls -- just another win.
The balanced lineup scored five runs in the first five innings off former teammate Aaron Sanchez, getting hits from seven different players and RBI from five, and Alex Wood and the league's hottest bullpen easily made that hold up. With a 5-2 win, the Giants improved to 10-5 on the year and 5-4 on the season's longest road trip.
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Wood handed the lead over to a bullpen that entered the day with an MLB-leading 1.91 ERA, and it was another impressive game for the group. The standout on this day was Tyler Rogers, who struck out two and got Juan Soto to hit a 22-mph grounder to the mound while facing the heart of Washington's order.
Do You Respect Wood?
Carlos Rodón's sizzling start has gotten most of the attention, but the other lefty in the Giants' rotation has been pretty dominant, too. Wood cruised into the fifth with a one-hitter going, but a solo homer and a couple more hits put two runs on his line and got his pitch count high enough that he gave way to the bullpen.
Still, Wood is fully living up to his two-year deal thus far. Through three starts, the veteran has a 2.51 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings. The Giants are still being careful with his workload, but Wood looks every bit as good as he did last season.
San Francisco Giants
The biggest out of his day was the last one. The Nationals had cut the deficit to three and had a runner on for Juan Soto, but Wood froze the superstar outfielder with a nasty slider at the bottom of the zone.
Wood's 2.76 ERA at Nationals Park is the lowest for any active pitcher who has thrown at least 40 innings here.
The New Guy
Luis Gonzalez made his first start for the Giants, and the first thing that was apparent is that he has an absolute cannon attached to his left arm. With a runner on and no outs in the second, Maikel Franco dumped a single down the right field line. Gonzalez scooped it up pretty far down the line and threw a strike to Wilmer Flores, who was standing on third base. That's the kind of throw that will get the attention of opposing coaches and scouts.
Gonzalez was 1-for-3 at the plate. He picked up his first career RBI in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly to left field. In the sixth, he put down a bunt single for his first hit in orange and black.
Old Friends
The Nationals started Sanchez, the veteran right-hander who made nine appearances for the Giants last season -- and posted a 3.06 ERA -- before getting DFA'd. Sanchez didn't pitch again last season, but he signed a $2 million minor league deal with the Nationals in mid-March.
This was Sanchez's debut in Washington, and it didn't go particularly well. His old teammates put six hits and four earned on his line before forcing him out of the game with one out in the fifth.
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When Josh Bell exited with an apparent injury early on, Lucius Fox entered for the Nationals. You might remember him from the time the Giants gave him more than $6 million and put themselves out of the running for international free agents for a couple of years. Or from the time they traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays in a deal headlined by Matt Moore and Matt Duffy.
Anyway, that part didn't work out at all for the Rays. Fox ended up in Kansas City's system last year, but earlier this month he finally made his MLB debut with the Nationals. The bat hasn't really developed as scouts thought it would, but Fox is still just 24 years old.