Author: jeremy2878

By Jeremy Harness

The question for the Giants is this: will they stand pat, or will they make moves in order to bolster their roster for a playoff push that has suddenly become possible.

The Giants do not seem to need any pitching help at this point, but they can use some more depth in their infield. The real question, as of a few weeks ago, was at third base, but Matt Duffy has solidified that position after taking over for the since-departed Casey McGehee.

As the trade deadline draws near, the Giants are now right in the thick of the National League West race, as they sit only 2 ½ games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and have effectively made it a two-team race at this point.

The A’s, on the other hand, are not in any race right now. It was though that they would wait to see if they can make a serious run in the first couple of weeks following the All-Star break before making a decision as to stick with the current team.

Well, apparently, general manager Billy Beane has already decided to pull the plug on the season and start yet another rebuilding process. On Thursday, the A’s sent starter Scott Kazmir to the Houston Astros for a pair of minor leaguers.

Kazmir was a hot commodity, as he sported an 0.45 ERA in the month of July, and the A’s sent him to not only an intra-division opponent, but also to one that has serious postseason aspirations this season.

The two cross-bay teams will square off in a three-game series that starts Friday at AT&T Park, and the Giants are coming off a very successful trip through the southwest that saw then sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks and take two in a three-gamer with the San Diego Padres to distance themselves from those two teams.

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants are looking more like a World Series team now.

The Giants finished off an outstanding road trip to the southwestern part of the United States in grand fashion Wednesday afternoon with a dominant 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres at a half-empty Petco Park.

By virtue of their victory Wednesday, the Giants took two of the three-game series with the Padres, who entered this series having won five consecutive games. At the same time, they made the National League West a two-team race by distancing themselves from the Padres as well as the Arizona Diamondbacks, who the Giants swept prior to rolling into San Diego.

Matt Cain gave the Giants a solid outing, as he threw six solid innings and gave up only a run – courtesy of a solo homer in the second inning by Jedd Gyorko that gave San Diego a 1-0 lead – on five hits, walking only one and striking out six.

It was arguably the best outing that he has had since returning from elbow surgery, and that was not lost on manager Bruce Bochy.

“He was hitting the spots much better than he did in (his) last outing, where before, he had trouble getting the ball where he wanted,” Bochy said. “He gave us some length, got his pitch count up, which should help him.

“Just a great job by Matty.”

The performance came with a negative, however. Even though he kept the Giants in the game, he did not end up getting the win. He left the game with the game tied 1-1, but the Giants got loose for a four-run seventh inning, which was highlighted by a double to right that skipped past right fielder Matt Kemp and scored two runs.

They added three more runs in the eighth, and the Giants ended the 5-1 road trip and have inched closer to the top of the division. The Giants are now 2 ½ games behind the front-running Los Angeles Dodgers and have a chance to draw a little closer, as they head home Friday to face the A’s, who are sitting in last place in the American league West at press time.

By Jeremy Harness

In baseball, the best thing that you can have is an opportunity. The Giants have that as the season’s second half gets under way.

The Giants will kick off the second half of their season Friday night in Arizona against the third-place Diamondbacks, a team that they have had significant success against this year.

However, there is one obstacle in that series that stands in the Giants’ way. They have yet to figure out how to get National League MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt out on a regular basis, and that will need to be addressed if they are to distance themselves from the Diamondbacks and get closer to the top of the NL West.

Following that series, they will head a little bit west to pay a three-game visit to the San Diego Padres, another squad that the Giants have feasted upon this year to keep themselves afloat in the division.

If the Giants are going to narrow the 4 ½ -game gap between themselves and the first-place Dodgers, the best foreseeable opportunity would be this coming weekend. The Dodgers open their second half on the road against the potent Washington Nationals, who at 48-39, lead the NL East by a pair of games.

Upon leaving the nation’s capital, they will head down to Atlanta to face the Braves, which currently have a losing record but have shown a real knack for surging in the second half of the season to turn themselves into playoff contenders.

But then again, the Giants have been used to trailing the Dodgers in the division race in recent years, and that has worked out fairly well for them, to say the very least. While the Dodgers have won the division each of the past two seasons, they failed to reach the World Series each time.

Meanwhile, the Giants picked up yet another World Series ring.

By Jeremy Harness

Sure, things can be better at this stage of the season. But also, given everything the Giants have been through thus far, they can be a whole lot worse.

The Giants are currently 4 ½ games behind the front-running Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, for they should feel very fortunate at this point due to the fact the they have struggled in different areas for much of the first half.

For one, the Giants have yet to establish their winning ways at AT&T Park. The Giants have yet to show a real dominance in their friendly confines, but they showed signs of getting that back on track with a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies just before the All-Star break.

They had also struggled to find a replacement for Pablo Sandoval at third base. They thought they had found that in Casey McGehee, whom the Giants picked up as a free agent from the Miami Marlins. However, the move proved to be a disappointment, and the Giants designated him for assignment for a second time a few weeks ago, and the third baseman eventually returned to the Marlins.

The Giants have now gone with Matt Duffy, who has taken advantage of the opportunity to play every day while McGehee fizzled, and he has not looked back.

The team now has most of their key pieces back in the mix as well. Matt Cain, for instance, has returned to the rotation after missing almost a year while recovering from elbow surgery.

Meanwhile, Hunter Pence missed much of the first half after suffering a forearm fracture in spring training, but he has returned to the lineup. His presence was certainly felt when he unleashed a grand slam into the right-field seats.

At this point, there is reason to be carefully optimistic, but for the Giants, there is plenty of work to do. However, they have been in this position many times before.

By Jeremy Harness

Not too long ago, the Giants sat atop the National League West standings.

Boy, have things changed in a hurry.

As of Thursday night, they have lost eight of their past nine games, as they have seen themselves further away from the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. The capper of this major slump was their dropping two of their three-game series with the New York Mets at AT&T Park.

The Giants have had their struggles at home all season long, and the recent series with the Mets was a microcosm of that. If they do not get it together in their friendly confines, it will be just about impossible for them to defend their World Series title.

The Giants are now hovering around with a .500 record and are now tied for the second spot with the surging Arizona Diamondbacks, who have won 7 of their past 10 games while the Giants have fizzled.

Surprisingly, they are only 5 ½ games out of the top spot at this point. What’s saving them is the fact that, even though the Dodgers have won six of their past 10 games, they have not exactly been lighting it up themselves. They are coming off a series that saw them win three of four over the hapless Philadelphia Phillies, but they themselves had dropped two of three from the Mets in their own home series prior to that.

The Dodgers have a three-gamer against the Brewers before heading to Washington for a three-game set against the powerful Nationals.

Meanwhile, the Giants have a chance to get back on track at home against the Phillies in a three-game series that starts Friday night before heading down to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks and get a chance to distance themselves from them as well as hopefully draw closer to the Dodgers.

By Jeremy Harness

If the Giants were going to get a morale boost, it stood to reason that Matt Cain’s return to action would do the trick and carry the team through.

Unfortunately for the Giants, that did not happen Thursday afternoon.

Cain took the hill for the first time this season, but that was not enough as the Miami Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Giants, 5-4, at Marlins Park.

It was looking good at first for Cain, who was making his first start in almost a year after recovering from ankle and elbow surgeries. He held a 3-1 lead into the fifth inning after Gregor Blanco’s solo home run gave the Giants that lead.

However, the tide changed dramatically in the bottom half of that inning. The Marlins started that rally as Cain’s pitching counterpart, Jose Fernandez, teed off on Cain for a solo homer to cut the lead to one run.

Then, a familiar nemesis struck again. Justin Bour, who victimized Santiago Casilla the night before with a walk-off three-run homer, took Cain deep for yet another three-run shot to give Miami a 5-3 lead.

The Giants attempted to make a comeback, as Buster Posey hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth, but the Giants would get no closer, and they headed to Washington on an extreme downer, having been swept by one of the worst teams in baseball.

Cain went five innings and gave up those five runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out two.

Posey drove in a pair of runs for the Giants, while Blanco had a pair of hits – including that solo homer – and scored twice.

By Jeremy Harness

Through much of the past five years that has seen them win three World Series titles, the Giants’ bullpen has been known as a strength.

That was not the case Wednesday.

Handed a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, closer Santiago Casilla failed to get one batter out. He surrendered two straight singles to start the inning before Justin Bour took a Casilla fastball into the right-field for a walk-off three-run homer to send the Giants to a 6-5 loss to the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on Wednesday.

After dropping the first two games of the series, the Giants hope to salvage at least one game Thursday before they head to Washington to face the Nationals for another three-game series.

Despite suffering through a three-run third inning, starter Chris Heston regrouped and was steady the rest of the way. He went six innings and gave up just those three runs on five hits. He walked three batters and struck out one and was in line to get the victory.

That’s because the Giants rallied for a pair of runs to take the lead in the sixth. Following a sac fly by Brandon Belt that scored a run, Brandon Crawford continued his hot streak by touching up starter Dan Haren for a solo homer that gave the Giants the one-run lead.

In the seventh, the Giants took advantage of a pair of errors by reliever Sam Dyson to get another run and bolster their lead to two.

Notes: Buster Posey took a foul tip off of his mask in the second inning, and the catcher eventually left the game four innings later. However, at press time, it was not immediately known whether or not Posey had suffered a concussion on the play.

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Ian Kennedy came into Wednesday’s game with some serious ownage on the Giants. He had amassed a 10-4 career mark against the Giants to go along with a 2.42 earned-run average, with most of that coming from his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Not to mention that the Giants had lost 10 of their previous 11 home games, including a recent three-game sweep at the hands of an Arizona team that currently sports a losing record.

At least for one night, Posey put all of that to rest with one swing of the bat.

In the third inning, Posey took advantage of a mistake in location by Kennedy, and he made the San Diego starter pay dearly for his transgression, sending the knee-high pitch that caught too much of the plate into the left-field seats for a grand slam to help the Giants sail past the Padres, 6-0, before 41,744 fans at AT&T Park.

It was the fourth-career grand slam for Posey, who currently leads all National league catchers in the most recent All-Star voting, and it also broke him out of his own 0-for-9 skid.

“I love three-run homers, but grand slams are even better,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “(They are) always big for a staff, too. (After that), they (approached) the hitters a little different, I think.

“It was a huge hit; it just got us over the hump.”

That quickly took the pressure off of starter Ryan Vogelsong, who proceeded to glide his way to a stellar outing that saw him surrender only five hits through six shutout innings, striking out four hitters against only a pair of walks.

It was Vogelsong’s second straight scoreless start and has not given up a run in the last 12 2/3 innings, after he had dropped three decisions in a row prior to his shutout win over Seattle last Thursday to start the current roll that he’s on now.

The only time that he faced any real trouble was in the fourth, when a Justin Upton double put runners on second and third with nobody out.

He started his climb out of the hole by striking out Derek Norris, and then after fielding Will Venable’s grounder, he caught Yonder Alonso wandering too far off third base and initiated a rundown that eliminated Alonso from the bases.

He then finished the job by getting Will Middlebrooks to ground out, keeping intact the shutout that the bullpen would maintain.

“He was pitching real efficiently,” Bochy said. “He made some great pitches, and he kept his poise.”

The Giants added to their lead in the fourth. Susac hit one into the gap in right-center, and when Matt Kemp fumbled it on the warning track, that allowed the slow-footed catcher to make it to third standing up. The next batter, Gregor Blanco, singled up the middle to bring him in and extend the Giants’ lead to six.

A continuing development for the Giants involves lefty specialist Javier Lopez. He has clearly not lost his deft touch against lefties – they are 2-for-38 against him this season, and he has not surrendered a hit to the last 28 left-handers he has faced – but he has shown much more of an ability to get righties out as well.

That was on display in the top of the seventh, as he faced three straight right-handers and retired them in order. If that trend continues, that is expected to save the Giants’ bullpen a considerable amount of wear and tear down the stretch while also forcing opposing managers to think longer about pinch-hitting scenarios in the later innings.

NOTES: With a double to go along with his triple on Wednesday, Susac extended his hitting streak to a career-high six games. On the other hand, Matt Duffy saw his eight-game hit streak – another career-high – come to an end, as he went 0-for-3 with a walk.

By Jeremy Harness

Ryan Vogelsong had his best outing of the year on Thursday night, as he shut down the bats of the Seattle Mariners in a 7-0 victory at Safeco Field, a win that assured themselves an even split of the four-game home-and-home series.

Vogelsong was never in any serious trouble all night, as he went 6 2/3 innings and gave up only three hits and struck out six guys against only a pair of walks. It was especially timely for Vogelsong, since he was having a rather-futile June that saw him lose his first three outings of the month and give up more than five runs per game.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ bats had a major resurgence, and the hit parade started rather early. In the second, the Giants scored three runs, but it really started on a miscue on the Seattle side.

With one out, Joaquin Arias grounded to second on what looked like a custom-made double play ball. However, shortstop Brad Miller muffed the exchange, and the Mariners could only get the one out to keep the inning while Brandon Belt scored.

That seemed to catapult the Giants, as Nori Aoki and Joe Panik quickly followed with run-scoring hits to bolster their lead and give Vogelsong all the run support he would need.

The Giants added to their led in a four-run eighth inning that was highlighted by Matt Duffy’s two-run triple that scored Angel Pagan and Buster Posey. Duffy would later score on a single by Andrew Susac two batters later.

They will have a chance to narrow the gap between themselves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, starting Friday night, as they will head south to Dodger Stadium to face the National League West leaders.

Chris Heston (6-5, 3.76 ERA), who threw a no-hitter at the New York Mets earlier this month but took a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in his most recent outing will start things off in the Friday opener, as he faces Mike Bolsinger (4-1, 2.25 ERA).