Giants’ roster churn delivers 2–1 win over Cardinals
San Francisco’s reshaped squad is finding momentum as rookies and newly acquired players take on larger roles.
The San Francisco Giants defeated the St Louis Cardinals 2–1 at Oracle Park on Tuesday, with a heavily reshaped roster again providing the decisive contributions.
Rookie Bryce Eldridge hit a solo home run in the first inning, his 16th of the season. Reliever Joel Kuhnel then escaped a bases-loaded situation in the eighth before recording the save in the ninth.
Kuhnel became the Giants’ 11th player to record a save this season, matching a franchise record set in 1964, according to the Yahoo Sports report published by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The scale of the turnover was also evident in the club’s player usage. San Francisco had used 64 players, with Brett Harris and Philip Abner recently called up and the franchise record of 66 players used in a season approaching.
The report said the Giants were playing .500 baseball in September. Rafael Devers was the only player in Tuesday’s starting line-up who had also been with the team in April.
The turnover has followed a more active approach by president of baseball operations Buster Posey. The Giants acquired rookie reliever Dylan Smith from Detroit for cash on 30 March, while waiver claims have included Kuhnel, Harris and Shay Whitcomb.
