Mike Yastrzemski hit a home run among his three hits, and the San Francisco Giants managed to win 4-3 against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday despite a rough performance by starter Blake Snell.
Snell, who is from the Seattle area, walked five batters in the second inning, including two with the bases loaded, and ended with a season-high six walks. He struck out two batters in a perfect third inning before being taken out of the game.
Snell allowed two runs without giving up a hit and threw 74 pitches, with 42 of them for strikes.
“Internally, I just got mad at myself,” Snell said. “They had no hits, so giving up two runs on no hits is pretty bad. Coming in and talking to myself, figuring out something’s got to change, that’s what I needed. I’ve got to do a better job in the moment.”
Spencer Bivens (3-1) pitched three solid innings of scoreless relief, and Ryan Walker, the fifth Giants pitcher, closed the game for his third save. Walker hasn’t given up an earned run since July 30, going through 11 appearances.
“He’s unbelievable,” Yastrzemski said. “He’s our workhorse down there. You can throw him in any role, and he’s going to say yes, he’s not going to put up a stink. He’s gonna do whatever needs to be done for the team, and do it very well. I’m really glad that I don’t have to face him right now.”
The Mariners ended the game with a season-high nine walks but only managed four hits. Seattle (65-65) fell back to a .500 record after beating San Francisco 6-5 in 10 innings the day before, in Dan Wilson’s first game as manager. Scott Servais was fired after the Mariners lost eight of their previous nine games.
The Giants (66-65) have been close to .500 for most of August.
George Kirby (9-10) struggled through 4 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits. He left the game after Yastrzemski hit a two-out double and Thairo Estrada followed with an RBI single to put the Giants ahead 3-2.
