Fill-Ins Casali, Ruf Hit Homers as Giants Top Nationals 5-3
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Curt Casali hit a two-run homer while filling in for injured All-Star catcher Buster Posey, late lineup addition Darin Ruf added a go-ahead drive and the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals 5-3 on Friday night.
Wilmer Flores also homered as the Giants debuted their all-white City Connect home uniforms with images of the Golden Gate Bridge along each sleeve.
Posey is sidelined with a bruised thumb that will keep him out of the All-Star Game next week. Subbing in, Casali hit his third homer of the season for the NL West leaders.
Washington has lost seven of nine.
Ruf had an RBI single in the first inning against Paolo Espino before connecting for his ninth homer off Sam Clay (0-3) in the fifth to make it 4-3.
Logan Webb allowed one hit over three innings in his first start for San Francisco since May 29 after missing time with a strained right shoulder. He struck out four.
Giants reliever José Álvarez, who came in for Webb in the fourth, was ejected by plate umpire David Rackley for arguing after being removed from the game.
Washington's Tres Barrera hit a two-run triple in the fourth for his first career extra-base hit and RBIs.
Gerardo Parra hit a double later in the inning that made it 3-all. Center fielder Steven Duggar preserved the tie when he fielded Espino's single and fired home to Casali, who tagged out Parra.
Slick-fielding Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford made a lunging stop on Barrera's grounder in the sixth and used his glove make a flip to second baseman Donovan Solano, who completed a double play.
Jarlin García (1-0) pitched the fifth for the win. Jake McGee, the seventh Giants reliever of the night,— escaped trouble in the ninth to finish for his 18th save.
Starlin Castro had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 12 games for Washington.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg, sidelined since June 2 by a strained neck, pitched a simulated game Thursday and manager Dave Martinez said: "It went well. We'll see what's next for him. He's going to go through his routine today and tomorrow and we'll come up with a plan for him." ... CF Victor Robles had a day off. ... OF Andrew Stevenson (strained right oblique) homered in the first inning of a rehab game for Triple-A Rochester before the game was later suspended by rain.
Giants: C Posey was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to July 6) with an injured left thumb. "Honestly I couldn't catch right now anyway," he said. "I couldn't catch or swing a bat right now. All in all I'm pretty lucky, it doesn't seem like I'll miss too much time." ... 1B Brandon Belt took about 50 swings against the coaches in the batting cage and fielded groundballs for the first time as he recovers from an inflamed right knee, which is protected by a brace as he does his workouts. He has twice had surgery on that knee. "It's been going really well," said Belt, who doesn't expect he will need a cortisone injection. "Probably faster than I anticipated. I don't know what that means for the overall timeline but everything's been going really well." ... LaMonte Wade Jr. was a late scratch at first base and Ruf replaced him. Wade tested his tender hand by hitting with increased intensity and the Giants opted to play it safe with him.
UP NEXT
LHP Jon Lester (2-3, 5.34 ERA) pitches Saturday for the Nationals looking to win consecutive decisions for the first time his year. RHP Anthony DeSclafani (9-3, 2.84) seeks double-digit wins for the first time in his career.
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