Category: MLB

Michael Conforto (8) and Mike Yastrzemski (5) of the San Francisco Giants celebrate after scoring on Casey Schmitt’s two RBI base hit in the top of the fourth inning at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Wed Sep 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Baltimore, Maryland

San Francisco Giants 5 (74-78)

Baltimore Orioles 3 (84-68)

Win: Hayden Birdsong (4-5)

Loss: Dean Kremer (7-10)

Save: Ryan Walker (8)

Time: 2:36

Attendance: 23,856

By Stephen Ruderman

The San Francisco Giants once again played a clean and efficient game, as they beat the Baltimore Orioles again Wednesday night, 5-3, thanks to a strong start by Hayden Birdsong, and three-run fourth inning.

It was another musty night in Baltimore, as the Giants looked to build off an impressive 10-0 win against the mighty Orioles Tuesday night. Though, perhaps I shouldn’t say the Orioles are so mighty.

Since losing the finale of their three-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 4, the Orioles have gone 3-8, which is the worst record in Baseball in that stretch. The Orioles have hit .182 in that stretch with a .261 on-base percentage, a .316 slugging percentage and 21 runs scored. Those are all last in Baseball.

As the Giants try to finish this season on a good note and not too far under .500, facing a struggling Orioles’ team could prove to be a big help in what was originally expected to be a brutal final road trip.

Mike Yastrzemski had his big breakout series at Camden Yards in 2019, and his magic in that ballpark continued last night when he led off the game with a home run and got a pair of hits. Yastrzemski stepped in against Orioles’ starter Dean Kremer, and he took the first pitch of the game and hit a home run to right-center field.

This was the first time a Giants’ hitter led off back-to-back games with a home run since Dan Gladden in 1985. Whitey Lockman and Bobby Bonds are the only other two Giants in franchise history to lead off back-to-back games with a home run.

Hayden Birdsong has had an up-and-down first season in the big leagues. After a great July, he struggled in August. He has also struggled with his control as of late, and his wildness has ballooned his pitch count in his recent starts, which has cut a few of them short.

After a five-inning shutout performance against the Milwaukee Brewers last Thursday, Birdsong retired the first six men he faced Wednesday night. However, the Orioles would make things difficult for the young right-hander in the bottom of the thief inning.

A walk to Emmanuel Rivera and a base-hit by Jackson Holliday put runners on first and second for the Orioles with nobody out. James McCann then hit an opposite-field double to right that went off the top of the glove of Yastrzemski, and Rivera scored to tie the game.

Gunnar Henderson struck out on a foul tip, and Holliday scored on a ground out to second by Cedric Mullins to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead. The Orioles had Birdsong on the ropes, and the Giants were getting their bullpen ready, but Baltimore’s recent struggles offensively allowed Birdsong to limit the damage to two runs.

The Giants would have a response in the top of the fourth. Heliot Ramos and Michael Conforto singled to start the inning. The Giants would then play some small ball, as Tyler Fitzgerald reached on a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out.

Grant McCray hit a nubber off the end of the bat along the third base line. Kremer went off the mound to get it and flip it to the plate, but the throw pulled catcher James McCann off the plate, and Ramos scored the tying run. Casey Schmitt, who was officially called up to replace Matt Chapman Wednesday, singled on a ground ball to left to knock in a pair, and the Giants took a 4-2 lead.

Limiting the damage in the bottom of the third and getting a three-run boost in the top of the fourth fueled Birdsong, who pitched a pair of scoreless innings in the bottom of the fourth and fifth.

Conforto led off the sixth with a line-drive home run to right to make it 5-2, and Birdsong retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the sixth. However, a two-out base-hit by Colton Cowser ended the night for Birdsong.

Erik Miller came in, and Ryan O’Hearn greeted him with an opposite-field double into the corner in left, which scored Cowser to make it 5-3. Rivera then singled O’Hearn over to third, and Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde sent former Giant Austin Slater up to pinch-hit. Miller struck Slater out, and the Giants kept their lead.

For Birdsong, he went five and two thirds innings and gave up three runs. He only walked two, as he has had better control over his last two starts.

Sean Hjelle escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh, and after that, the rest of the game sailed by without any drama. Tyler Rogers and Ryan Walker pitched one, two, three innings in the eighth and ninth to close it out, and the Giants won it 5-3.

Hayden Birdsong got his first win since the second game of the Giants’ doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies on July 27. Dean Kremer took the loss, and Ryan Walker picked up the save.

The Giants improve to 74-78, and they can complete the sweep of the Orioles with a win on getaway day Wednesday. Logan Webb (12-10, 3.53 ERA) will make a rare start following a Giants’ win, and he will be opposed by the veteran, Zach Eflin (10-9, 3.55 ERA). First pitch will be at 1:05 p.m. in Baltimore, and 10:05 a.m.—morning baseball—back home in San Francisco.

Major League Baseball News and Notes:

The Milwaukee Brewers became the first team to punch their ticket to the Postseason. With the Cubs’ 5-3 loss to the Oakland A’s Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, the Brewers won the National League Central for the second year in a row, and the third time in the last four years. This is also the Brewers’ sixth trip to the playoffs in the last seven years.

San Francisco Giants Grant McCray scores on a Donavon Walton RBI single in the top of the fourth inning at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Tue Sep 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Baltimore, Maryland

San Francisco Giants 10 (73-78)

Baltimore Orioles 0 (84-67)

Win: Blake Snell (4-3)

Loss: Albert Suarez (8-6)

Time: 2:49

Attendance: 23,967

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants’ offense came to life and showed what they were capable of Tuesday night and executed in big RBI situations, as they clobbered one of the best teams in Baseball in the Baltimore Orioles 10-0 on a misty night at Camden Yards.

With the Giants in chaos and just mere days away from elimination, they embarked on their final road trip of the season to play three teams most likely going to the playoffs. With the way they have been playing as of late, it is a road trip that could be a brutal one, especially with leaks and stories coming out about the fate of President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi.

On Sunday, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported that the Giants’ ownership had been frustrated with Zaidi, who despite his contract running through next season—a contradiction to Bob Melvin’s introductory press conference when they said Zaidi was signed through 2026—could be out of a job at year’s end.

According to Baggarly, ownership was frustrated with the pace of the negotiations with Matt Chapman, and part owner Buster Posey had to intervene to get the deal done. Baggarly reported that Zaidi was not too keen on Chapman getting a no-trade clause, and that Posey is the one who had to get the no-trade clause.

However, a joint article published today by Susan Slusser and John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle painted a different picture. According to Slusser and Shea, while Posey was involved in the negotiations, they went at a more brisk pace than originally reported by Baggarly. Slusser and Shea also reported that Zaidi has been dealing with a recent health issue that required him to be hospitalized.

Another interesting part of Slusser and Shea’s story was that they reached out to Chapman’s agent, the notorious Scott Boras, whom Baggarly did not reach out to, and who expressed his frustration at that fact.

Slusser and Shea acknowledged that Zaidi’s fate is up in the air, and that his job is not entirely safe despite being signed through next year.

Whatever we want to make of it, these two stories, especially with the fact that there are significant contradictions between the two of them, point to a front office in chaos, especially after four scouts were let go by the organization. It sounds like anything could happen, and this will likely hang over the team over the final two weeks of the season.

Interestingly, the Giants began their final road trip in Baltimore as the outskirts of a powerful east coast storm brushed against the city. The last time the Giants were in the Beltway, they were up against the clock as they looked to get out of Washington D.C. before Tropical Storm Debby hit.

The Giants beat the Washington Nationals in a wild ten-inning thriller on Aug. 8 that featured two rain delays and the ejection of Bob Melvin in the top of the first inning. The home plate umpire in that game who gave Melvin the boot was Stu Scheurwater, who would stick Tuesday night’s game as well.

The Giants would once again play spoiler against the Orioles, who are closing in on their second-straight trip to the playoffs, as they came into Tuesday night in possession of the first wild card spot in the American League, and six and a half games up on a playoff spot.

However, Baltimore also came in three games back of the New York Yankees in the American League East. Though considering that winning the AL East would earn the Orioles that dreaded week off, the Giants would be doing the Orioles a major favor by beating them.

Anyway, the Giants would be up against their old friend, Albert Suarez. Suarez pitched for the Giants in 2016 and 2017, going 3-8 with a 4.51 ERA over 40 games in 12 starts.

However, Suarez has since been on a long journey in his fight to get back to the big leagues. After pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, the Reno Aces, in 2018, Suarez went to Japan to pitch for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball from 2019 to 2021.

Suarez won a ring in Tokyo in 2021, and then he went to the Samsung Lions of the KBO League. Suarez pitched for Samsung in 2022 and 2023.

Suarez returned to the United States and signed a minor league deal with the Orioles on Sept. 15, 2023. Suarez did not make the big club out of Spring Training this year and was assigned to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.

However, Suarez was called up by the Orioles and made his long-awaited return to the big leagues on April 17. Suarez made the start that afternoon for the Orioles at Camden Yards against the Minnesota Twins, and gave up just three hits over five and two thirds shutout innings in a 4-2 Orioles’ win.

Suarez has gone on to have quite the return to the major leagues, as he came into Tuesday night 8-5 with a 3.39 ERA. It seemed that he would have a favorable matchup Tuesday night against a struggling Giants’ offense.

However, as Mike Yastrzemski stepped up to lead off the game, it was clear that Tuesday night would not go as expected. Yastrzemski was returning to where it all started for him in 2019. Just six days after Yastrzemski made his major league debut on May 25, 2019, Yastrzemski started his breakout series at Camden Yards against the organization that traded him that spring.

In the opener of that series on May 31, 2019, Yastrzemski hit second and tripled in the first inning, and he led off the second with a home run. Yastrzemski went 4-for-11 in that series, which spring boarded him to his breakout 2019 Season, and well, the rest was history.

Yastrzemski led off the game Tuesday night, and on the second pitch, he hit an absolute bomb to the back of the ballpark in right field, and out onto Eutaw Street. It was Yastrzemski’s 16th home run of the year.

After Brett Wisely knocked in Patrick Bailey with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 2-0 in the top of the second, Yastrzemski golfed out a low changeup and lined a base-hit to right, which scored Grant McCray to make it 3-0. Yastrzemski’s future with the Giants was bleak at the start of the season, but with another solid season, he will most likely be back and in the mix next season.

On the pitching side, Blake Snell took the ball and was once again incredible. Snell gave up just one hit and two walks, and struck out 12 over six shutout innings. Just think of what the Giants can get if they are able to extend him and give him normal springs.

Another man who would have a big night was Grant McCray. After a big two games in San Diego against the Padres on Sept. 6 and 7, McCray went 2-for-26 in his next seven games. He was looking to reverse his first big league slump, and he did so in a big way tonight.

McCray went 2-for-3 tonight with a pair of walks, and a pair of stolen bags. He singled, stole second and scored on a base-hit by Donovan Walton in the top of the fourth. He also singled, stole second and scored as part of a six-run top of the ninth for the Giants.

The fact that the Giants manufactured nine runs and went 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position against a strong Orioles’ team tonight made this season all the more frustrating and disappointing. They showed that they had it in them to have a consistent strong offense and make a run at the playoffs.

This was the kind of baseball the Giants played when they won 10 of 12 at the end of May, and when they got hot again at the end of June and the beginning of July. If only they could have stuck by this kind of baseball throughout the season, I can’t help but think that things would be quite different right now.

With a healthy Jung-hoo Lee returning next season, a decent young core in place, and Bryce Eldridge possibly coming up next season, all this team needs is some off-season additions and a different philosophy, and next season could be something special.

Blake Snell got the win, and Albert Suarez took the loss after giving up four runs and just three and a third innings. The Giants improve to 73-78, which means they will not lose 90 games.

Hayden Birdsong (3-5, 4.74 ERA) will make the start against the Birds Wednesday night. He will be opposed by Dean Kremer (7-9, 4.10 ERA). First pitch will once again be at 6:35 p.m. in Baltimore, and 3:35 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

Giants News and Notes:

Matt Chapman made the trip to Baltimore with the Giants, but he had to leave for Arizona to tend to his wife, who is about to go into labor for the birth of their child. The Chapmans were hoping it could have happened next week when the Giants are in Arizona, but nature had its own plans.

Casey Schmitt is on his way to Baltimore, but he has yet to be added to the roster.