Author: jeremy2878

Cueto’s injury-marred season is finally over

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Photo credit: @BR_MLB

By Jeremy Harness

Johnny Cueto’s season could not have gotten off to a better start.

He started the year by winning his first three decisions with an earned-run average of under 1.00. Then he started feeling tightness in his pitching elbow, and it never really went away.

It has come to a point where Cueto had to make a decision to scrap this season in order to save the rest of his career. He has elected to have season-ending Tommy John surgery, which he is scheduled to have Thursday in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, according to multiple reports.

Tommy John surgery has a recovery time of a full year, and due to that, Cueto is expected to be out until late in the 2019 season.

This is obviously a big blow to a Giants pitching staff that has been struggling to get back on track after injuries to Madison Bumgarner as well as Cueto, and it certainly limits their ability to make up much ground against a Los Angeles Dodgers team that is surging and made a couple of big moves before the trading deadline.

While Cueto is getting operated on, the Giants will be kicking off a four-game series in Arizona that night against the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner will take the hill on Thursday opposite D-Backs righty Zack Greinke.

Bumgarner (3-4) has won two of his last three decisions, but he dropped his latest outing last Friday, a 3-1 home loss against the Milwaukee Brewers, a game that saw him go eight innings and give up three runs on six hits.

Greinke, meanwhile, has been rolling. He has amassed an eye-popping mark of 12-5 and has won eight of his last nine decisions, including each of his last seven. His latest appearance came in a 6-2 win at san Diego, during which he surrendered only a run on six hits over seven solid innings.

Giants’ bullpen gets pounded in 7-5 loss to Brewers

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants’ bullpen will want to get rid of the memories of the last two days as quickly as they can.

After coughing up Wednesday’s game in Seattle, the Giants’ relievers had an even rougher outing on Thursday, completely overshadowing Dereck Rodriguez’s solid outing in a 7-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at AT&T Park on Thursday night.

Rodriguez did his part, going six strong innings and giving up only a pair of runs and giving the Giants a solid chance to win. However, things imploded upon his exit.

The Brewers put together a one-out rally in the eighth against Mark Melancon, when Travis Shaw singled against the shift to put runners on the corners, which brought Ryan Braun off the bench to pinch hit. Braun responded with a single into left field to bring in Christian Yelich, who had led off the inning with a single of his own, to give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead.

Erik Kratz immediately followed that with a single up the middle to bring in another run and send a great deal of Giants fans to the exits.

However, the Giants fought back almost immediately after that. They put together a rally of their own in the bottom of the eighth, scoring a run before Brandon Crawford’s single down the right-field line put runners on the corners with two out.

However, Hunter Pence struck out to end the inning, with the Giants still down a run. Milwaukee then pushed the lead back up to two in the ninth when Jesus Aguilar’s single brought in Yelich, before Travis Shaw’s two-run homer gave the Brewers a 7-3 lead and gave even more fans a solid reason to beat traffic.

The Giants found themselves down early, but their bats sprung to life in the second. The Giants loaded the bases with nobody out, and after Pence’s double-play ball brought home the tying run, Steven Duggar lined one into center to give the Giants the lead.

After giving up the first-inning run, Rodriguez settled down very nicely and was moving right along until the very first pitch of the sixth inning, when Yelich ripped one just beyond the center-field wall – just over the 399-foot sign – to tie the game right back up at 2-2.

NOTES: As to be expected, there was more than a handful of boos waiting for reliever Josh Hader when he entered the game with two out in the sixth in a 2-2 tie.

He then got the third out and then pitched a scoreless seventh before giving way to Jeremy Jeffress. Hader ended up getting the win on Thursday, running his season record to 3-0.

Hader has been quite the lightning rod for controversy lately, as racist and homophobic tweets that he had made as a 17-year-old – seven years ago – surfaced during last Tuesday’s All-Star Game, a game that saw him give up a three-run, game-losing home run.

Following Tuesday’s game, the Giants optioned both left-hander Ty Blach and infielder Kelby Tomlinson to Triple-A Sacramento, upon the return of both Evan Longoria, who returned to the starting lineup Wednesday after completing a rehab assignment, and righty Chris Stratton, who was recalled from Triple-A.

However, Brandon Belt was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a hyperextended right knee, which prompted the team to recall Blach.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Brewers will face off again Friday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

Giants go down late in 3-2 loss to Mariners

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The night before, the San Francisco Giants’ bullpen showed its teeth in a huge win over the Seattle Mariners in Seattle, but it was the exact opposite Wednesday afternoon.

After they ties things up in the seventh inning with a dramatic rally, the Giants’ bullpen gave it right back to the Mariners in the eighth, and the Giants ended up with a two-game split after a 3-2 loss to the M’s inside Safeco Field.

Derek Holland pitched six innings and gave up only a pair of runs (one earned) on three hits and gave way to Ray Black, who pitched a perfect seventh inning. However, Tony Watson took over in the eighth and immediately fell into trouble.

The end result was an RBI single by Jean Segura, who brought in Guillermo Heredia to give Seattle a one-run lead. That took the wind out of the Giants’ sails, particularly after they scored two runs in their half of the seventh to erase an early two-run deficit.

In that inning, Brandon Crawford doubled in a run, and a resurgent Hunter Pence immediately followed that one up with a double of his own to bring Crawford in and tie the game.

For the Mariners, Mike Leake, who spent the 2015 season with the Giants, went 6.1 innings and gave up a pair of runs himself and only four hits, striking out two and not walking anyone. However, Seattle’s bullpen then took over for Leake and gave up only two hits the rest of the way.

The Giants will now head home for a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers, a series that starts Thursday night at 7:15 pm PDT. Giants’ Dereck Rodriguez will be taking the ball against the Brewers’ Wade Miley.

Bay Bridge series continues as the Giants visit the A’s this weekend

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Photo credit: @KPODFM

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants are in the thick of things in the National league playoff race, and that they have a good chance to make it back to the postseason for the first time in two years.

But they have two things immediately standing in their way.

The Oakland A’s will be waiting for them on Friday when the regular season resumes, and that just like the Giants, they are making a huge resurgence, and they also have a chance to make the playoffs, for the first time in four years.

Dereck Rodriguez will take the hill in Friday’s opener at the Oakland Coliseum, and the rookie has made a huge impression on the Giants’ brass and stands a great chance to be a fixture in the starting rotation for years to come.

Madison Bumgarner, who is still making his way back to his form after missing the first two months of the season with a fracture in his pitching hand.

Johnny Cueto, who has missed significant time with an injury to his pitching elbow, will take the ball Sunday afternoon. The A’s, on the other hand, have not announced their starters for this weekend’s series.

The Giants are four games back of the division lead at this point, while the A’s are eight games back of the American League West-leading Houston Astros and are three games behind the second-place Seattle Mariners.

Back in race, Giants face big decisions in 2nd half

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The San Francisco Giants have an uphill battle on their hands as they attempt to make their way to the playoffs after missing out last season. Their quest to win the National League West, however, just got a little tougher.

The Giants enter the second half the season only four games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and sporting a record of 50-48.

However, they have two immediate obstacles to overcome as play resumes Friday night. The Giants will head to the other side of the bay to face the A’s, who took two of three from them when the two teams saw each other at AT&T Park this past weekend, for a three-game set at the Coliseum.

Also, the Dodgers made a big move on Wednesday, trading for All-Star third baseman Manny Machado.

Now the question remains, will the Giants make a big splash before the trading deadline, or will they stand pat?

The last time the Giants made a big trade before the deadline was in 2012, when they made a move to get outfielder Hunter Pence, which helped ignite the Giants on their way to a World Series title. Ironically, Pence has been the talk of some trade rumors lately.

There are two factors that will likely prevent pence from being traded this year: Even though he is entering the final year of his contract, he has a full no-trade clause, and he also remains a fan favorite although his playing time has diminished significantly.

After their series with the A’s concludes, the Giants will head to Seattle to face the Mariners for a two-game series before going back home for a four-game set versus the Brew

Giants and A’s prep for Battle of the Bay

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants and the A’s will see a lot of each other in this next week.

Both teams are enjoying seasons that have exceeded preseason expectations and both sport winning records heading into this weekend. This will be on a crash course right for each other for the next six regular-season games, with the annual All-Star Game sprinkled in between.

The Giants head into the Battle of the Bay with a bit of momentum on their side, which was especially needed after the thumping they took in Colorado a week ago, being swept in three games by the Rockies.

They have since turned it around, splitting a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals and then taking two of the three-game series with the Chicago Cubs, who disposed of them in the 2016 playoffs before going on to win the World Series.

The A’s, meanwhile, are riding a huge wave. They currently have a 53-41 mark after taking three out of a four-game series from the defending World Series champ Houston Astros and have won 19 of their past 24 games overall.

Madison Bumgarner (2-3) will take the hill for Friday’s opener against Oakland righty Edwin Jackson (1-0). Bumgarner has won two of his last three decisions and came out with a victory despite giving up four runs to the Cardinals in only 5 1/3 innings on Sunday.

Jackson won his only decision this year on June 30, when he surrendered only a pair of runs over 6 2/3 innings to the Cleveland Indians. He faced the Indians again on Saturday and surrendered three runs on five runs but ended up with a no-decision.

Jeff Samardzija (1-5) will try to turn his season around on Saturday when he takes the ball opposite Oakland’s Brett Anderson. Andrew Suarez (3-5) will look to continue his positive momentum on Sunday against A’s righty Sean Manaea (8-6), who has a no-hitter to his name this season.

Giants’ Johnny Cueto gets rude awakening from Cardinals, who won 11-2 in a laugher

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Johnny Cueto had such a fantastic start to the 2018 season. The St. Louis Cardinals, however, made it look like it never happened.

Thursday marked starter Cueto’s return to the rotation after missing the previous two months with inflammation in his pitching elbow, and the Cardinals did not welcome him very kindly in a 11-2 drubbing of the Giants at AT&T Park on Thursday night.

It was clear from the outset that Cueto did not have his usual command, and the Cardinals capitalized. They loaded the bases off him in the first inning before they recorded an out. An RBI groundout later, Jedd Gyorko skied one the opposite way into the arcade in right field to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Although he got out of that inning with no further damage, the Cardinals weren’t done with him. That’s because in the second, Matt Carpenter drilled one into the stands in right-center – the deepest part of the ballpark – to extend the St. Louis lead to five.

“He got himself in trouble there, but after that, it just got better, and that’s encouraging,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “His stuff picked up, his command picked up.

“It got to a point where I thought he was comfortable out there, but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” he added. “You have to be encouraged that he got better as he went. He should feel pretty good about this start. Sure, you’d like to take that first inning away, but that counts, too.”

Cueto lasted three more innings and ended up surrendering 10 hits and those five runs. It was a far cry from his performance earlier in the season, as he was 3-0 with an 0.84 ERA – the fourth-lowest ERA through five starts in Giants history – prior to going on the disabled list.

Ty Blach didn’t fare any better. He relieved Cueto in the sixth and was promptly hit with a four-spot. He recorded only two outs before being yanked in favor of Derek Holland, who was moved to the bullpen to make room for Cueto in the rotation.

Meanwhile, the Giants could not get anything going against Cardinals starter Luke Weaver at all. In fact, the Giants didn’t get a single baserunner on. The closest they came was with two out in the fifth inning, when Pablo Sandoval was initially issued a walk before the umpiring crew realized that it was still a full count.

The momentum was short-lived, as three pitches later, Weaver got Sandoval to chase a slider out of the strike zone to end the inning.

Gorkys Hernandez, who is making a serious case for being a National League All-Star, broke up Weaver’s no-hit bid in the sixth, when he legged out an infield single. Two batters later, Weaver made a rare mistake out over the plate, and Alen Hanson sent into the right-field arcade to give the Giants a little bit of life, 9-2.

Those would be the only two hits that the Giants would get from Weaver, who went eight innings and improved his record to 5-7 with a 4.92 ERA, in the best performance of his young career.

The Giants look to bounce back against the Cardinals on Friday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

San Francisco Giants’ Wednesday game wrap: Iannetta’s HR sinks Giants 1-0

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

There were fireworks going off all around the country on the 4th of July, to celebrate this nation’s independence.

However, none of the fireworks came from the Giants’ bats, and they sure weren’t free Wednesday night, as Tyler Anderson stifled the Giants in a 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, completing a three-game sweep at the hands of their National League West rivals.

Anderson (6-3) went eight innings and surrendered only two hits while allowing only two walks against nine strikeouts.

Andrew Suarez (3-5) was not that bad, either. In fact, he surrendered five hits and struck out six batters while not walking anyone while going seven strong innings. It was his best outing of the season.

However, one mistake in the seventh inning proved to be his undoing. Chris Iannetta laid into a wayward pitch from Suarez and sent it over the left-field wall, hugging the foul pole in the process.

The umpiring crew reviewed the home run, but the visual evidence was too great, and the home run was upheld. The Giants could not recover from the blow and could not solve Anderson, and although they got a hot off him, could not break through against closer Wade Davis, who collected his 25th save of the year.

The Giants will not lick their wounds and come home to face the St. Louis Cardinals for a four-game series at AT&T Park.

MadBum, Giants shut down the Padres 3-0

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By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – It appears that the dominant Madison Bumgarner has returned, and that the hand injury that wrecked the first half of his season is in the rearview mirror.

The big lefty got his first win of the year Thursday night, as he threw zeroes at the San Diego Padres for eight innings as the Giants ran away with a 3-0 win at AT&T Park. In the process, Bumgarner also broke out of a major drought against San Diego. Prior to Thursday night, he was 0-4 with a 4.73 ERA in his previous six starts against the Padres.

He surrendered only three hits to the Padres while throwing exactly 100 pitches and walked two and struck out eight. Thursday marked the first time a starting pitcher has gone at least eight innings this season.

“He never stops trying to get better,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s critical for your bullpen to have a guy or two who can get you deep into games. Those guys (in the bullpen) needed a break, especially the guys we’ve been using in the setup-closing role.” San Diego threatened to take the first lead, putting together a bit of a rally in the fifth inning, after Jose Pirela led off with a single and Manuel Margot followed that up with a double two at-bats later.

As Margot’s hit bounced off the right-field wall, Pirela got a little greedy, and the gamble did not pay off. Andrew McCutchen played the carom perfectly in right field and immediately hit his cut-off man, second baseman Joe Panik, as Pirela motored around third.

Panik then fired home, and catcher Buster Posey had plenty of time to tag out Pirela, who didn’t even bother to slide home. Bumgarner then retired the next batter, A.J Ellis, to kill the rally.

The Giants then led off their half of the inning with a single and a double to put runners in scoring position with nobody out. With one out, Bumgarner sent a fly ball deep enough into left field to allow Pablo Sandoval to tag up from third and give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The Giants added another pair of runs in the eighth when Buster Posey singled in Alen Hanson, who led off the inning by legging out a triple. Four batters later, Posey motored home when Pirela could not haul in a soft fly ball by Sandoval in shallow right field, extending the Giants’ lead to three.

That lifted the pressure off the Giants, with the extra cushion allowing for the opportunity for Mark Melancon to pitch the ninth. The one-time closer has primarily worked the sixth and seventh innings this year while making his way back from a flexor strain in his right elbow, an injury that kept him out of the first 56 games.

Melancon hit a slight bump early on, allowing a single to Hunter Renfroe but retired the next three hitters in order to nail down his first save of the year.

“It’s good to get him out there and get him a save. I’m sure he felt good to be out there in a save situation, where he’s been so many times,” Bochy said. “We lost Hunter (Strickland), but to have three or four guys who are comfortable pitching the eighth and ninth innings is invaluable.”

Giants win marathon game over Marlins 6-3, but lose Longoria

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By Jeremy Harness

Thursday afternoon’s game at Marlins Park looked eerily similar to the one played the day before.

The San Francisco Giants jumped out to an early lead, only to watch the Miami Marlins rally in the late innings and tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. This time, however, the Giants did not succumb , and as a result, they were able to salvage the final contest of a four-game series, outlasting the Marlins, 6-3, in 16 innings.

After the Marlins tied it up off closer Hunter Strickland, the Giants called on usual starter Ty Blach to come in and save the bullpen, and he more than held up his end of the bargain. He went 6 2/3 innings and kept Miami off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.

He got the well-earned win when Pablo Sandoval singled in a pair of runs in the top of the 16th inning while Gorkys Hernandez threw in some insurance with a sac fly to give the Giants a 6-3 lead.

Sam Dyson was able to nail down the final out to earn his first save of the season.

For the second straight game, Andrew McCutchen launched a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Giants an early 2-0 lead, this time off Marlins starter Dan Straily.

Mac Williamson added a solo homer in the second, but the Marlins, as was the case on Wednesday, were able to make their way back into the game and make things mighty interesting.

The Marlins chipped away at the lead, starting with a solo homer by J.T Riddle in the fifth. Bryan Holaday’s run scoring single in the seventh made it a one-run game, and lewis Brinson’s sac fly in the ninth tied it.

McCutchen had three hits for the Giants and boosted his batting average to .267 in the process, while Alen Hanson also had three hits. Henson took over at third for Even Longoria, who was hit on the left hand with a pitch in the fourth inning.

Longoria is reported to have fractured the fifth metacarpal of his left hand, the same injury that Madison Bumgarner suffered in spring training. A decision regarding possible surgery is expected within the next few days, but he is expected to miss considerable time, likely the same amount of time that Bumgarner did, in the neighborhood of six to eight weeks.

The Giants take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles for a three-game set that starts on Friday night at 7:10 pm PDT.