San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals – 8/14/15 Major League Baseball Pick, Odds, and

The San Francisco Giants simply took care of what they needed to do on Thursday getting the win over the Nationals.

“I’m always looking for a pitch to hit”, Duffy said.

Matt Duffy and Buster Posey hit RBI singles in the bottom of the first against Stephen Strasburg (6-6) for the defending champions to kick off a key four-game series in a rematch of last fall’s NL division series won in four games by the Giants. “He hit a couple of doubles, got a bunt down to move a runner and beat it out, stole a couple of bases and made a couple of nice catches”.

The right-hander made his first start since July 11 on Friday and gave up three runs over four innings in a 7-3 loss at the Chicago Cubs. But the Giants kept applying pressure after an early throttling of Max Scherzer, and their bullpen dazzled for the second consecutive night while protecting an 8-5 victory over the Washington Nationals at AT&T Park on Friday night. “If I need to be ready in 2-3 minutes, we’ll see if these old bones can handle it”. He allowed two home runs and has given up five over his past two starts after giving up 13 through his first 22 starts. TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1, MASN (Washington), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals LH Gio Gonzalez (9-4, 3.50 ERA) vs. Giants RH Jake Peavy (2-5, 3.75)Gonzalez has been outstanding over his last eight starts while going 5-0 with a 1.48 ERA. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. San Francisco’s bullpen has allowed three hits over 8 1/3 scoreless innings in the first two games of the series and might have an emerging star in rookie Josh Osich, who has yielded one earned run in his first 12 appearances.

HERO: Strasburg pitched well enough to win.

Harper’s 30th home run, a three-run shot in the fifth, pulled the Nationals to 6-5. His home run to Escobar was a 92 mile-per-hour fastball served right over the middle of the plate, nothing more than an exaggerated BP pitch. Sergio Romo struck out two in the eighth and Santiago Casilla finished for his 28th save. The Nationals received a scare Tuesday when star right fielder Bryce Harper sat out with a swollen left knee, but he was back in the lineup for Wednesday?s 3-0 loss. “You figure this is going to be a close game, facing Strasburg”. He’s expected to play for Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday.

Escobar sent Vogelsong’s first pitch of the night over the wall in left-center for his eighth homer. With RHP Mike Leake (strained left hamstring) set to be reinstated from the disabled list next week, and RHP Tim Hudson (strained right shoulder) healthy enough to begin an injury-rehab stint Friday, all current Giants starters not named LHP Madison Bumgarner have been put on alert. The Nationals have lost 10 of 14 and are 4 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets in the East, but won’t panic.