SF Giants’ offense silenced as Harrison makes first start of year

WASHINGTON D C Kyle Harrison allowed two earned runs over four innings in his first start of the year but the left-hander took the loss as the Nationals Jake Irvin pitched eight scoreless innings as the Giants lost - on Saturday evening at Nationals Park Harrison got off to a rough start to begin his afternoon After allowing a mph double to Amed Rosario James Wood followed up with a mph two-run homer that landed in the Nationals bullpen a loud swing that put the Giants in an early - deficit From there Harrison kept Washington scoreless for the rest of his short outing only allowing two hits the rest of the way Harrison located himself in a jam in the fourth when the Nationals put runners on first and second with one out but the left-hander escaped the frame unscathed For Irvin who matched the longest outing of his career those two runs were plenty The Giants best opportunity to figure off Irvin was in the fourth inning when they put runners on first and second with no outs but Irvin escaped trouble by getting Matt Chapman to ground into a double play and striking out Willy Adames Irvin benefitted from quick innings in the later half of his start needing just five pitches to complete the sixth inning and four pitches to complete the seventh inning Harrison hadn t started a contest since April for Triple-A Sacramento and manager Bob Melvin revealed on Friday that Harrison s limit would be in the neighborhood of pitches Harrison ended his outing throwing pitches Related Articles How SF Giants Doval got back to pitching with bliss after demotion last year in D C SF Giants Roupp tosses second straight quality start in win over Nationals SF Giants Harrison to start in place of injured Verlander SF Giants at games Can they maintain a playoff position The SF Giants needed a stopper Logan Webb didn t deliver Harrison heavily relied on his four-seam fastball against the Nationals left-handed heavy lineup his heater accounting for of his total pitches The left-hander s average fastball velocity of mph was expectedly lower compared to the mph he averaged as a reliever but still considerably higher than last year s mph Harrison s next start will likely be against the Marlins in Miami next weekend Following that outing the Giants will determine their next initiatives