Manager Gabe Kapler wore a big grin across his face during postgame interviews on Sunday night. The fact that his San Francisco Giants had won their third straight game was just a small part of the reason. Anthony DeSclafani threw 8 2/3 effective innings, Austin Slater and Darin Ruf both homered and the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2. But the most important moment of the night might have been back in the medical room, where X-rays on All-Star Buster Posey’s left thumb were negative. “You see me smiling,” Kapler said. “That’s my level of relief.”
The Giants said that Posey has a left thumb contusion after leaving the game in the sixth inning. The 34-year-old catcher took an awkward shot to his glove hand on a foul tip by Daulton Varsho and tried to stay in the game but left after just one more pitch. There was plenty of worry until the news came in the ninth inning that Posey’s thumb wasn’t broken.
DeSclafani (9-3) nearly pitched his third complete game of the season but was lifted in the ninth after Christian Walker’s RBI single with two outs made it 5-2. Tyler Rogers got the final out for his 10th save. “I’m just going to go until the ball is taken from me,” DeSclafani said. “It’s a plus to get into those later innings.”
