No Support: Gausman strikes out 12 in losing effort as Giants blank Blue Jays | CBC Sports

Four San Francisco pitchers combined on an eight-hit shutout as the Giants blanked the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

Opener Ryan Walker survived a nervous first inning and left-hander Alex Wood worked into the seventh for the Giants (45-34), who have won 13 of their last 15 games.

San Francisco scratched out a run in the fifth inning and added some insurance with a two-run double by Thairo Estrada in the ninth. Relievers Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval, with his 23rd save, finished things off in the opener of the three-game series.

The Blue Jays starter set the early tone by striking out the side in the first inning. Walker put runners on the corners in the bottom half before issuing three strikeouts of his own.

Gausman received a standing ovation from the Rogers Centre crowd of 36,004 after striking out LaMonte Wade Jr. in the fourth inning. It was his 1,500th career strikeout.

The 32-year-old hurler, who played for the Giants in 2020 and 2021, didn’t allow a runner until issuing a two-out walk to J.D. Davis later in the frame.

San Francisco registered its first hit in the fifth inning when Estrada hit a seeing-eye single. He stole second, moved to third base on a balk and scored on a Patrick Bailey double.

Toronto left-fielder Whit Merrifield made an over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track to deny Brandon Crawford of an RBI and extra bases. Gausman then fanned Luis Matos for his ninth strikeout of the game.

Bichette, who leads the American League in hits (109) and multi-hit games (31), led off the sixth inning with a single but was left stranded. Toronto left seven runners on base to four for San Francisco.

With his pitch count up to 106, Gausman was replaced by Nate Pearson in the seventh inning.

Wood (3-2), who allowed five hits and had seven strikeouts, was pulled in the bottom half after giving up a leadoff double to Daulton Varsho.

Merrifield moved Varsho to third with a grounder but Rogers, a soft-throwing submariner, fanned Danny Jansen and Cavan Biggio to keep the shutout intact.

Brandon Belt doubled in the eighth inning. It was his first game against his former team since signing with Toronto in the off-season. Belt won two World Series titles over his 12 seasons with San Francisco.

Toronto reliever Erik Swanson gave up both runs in the ninth. The game took two hours 45 minutes to play.