Category: MLB

Padres sweep Giants with 4-3 10-inning win at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin (left) and pitching coach Bryan Price (right) watch the Giants and San Diego Padres in the ninth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Sep 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

San Diego Padres 4 (85-65)

San Francisco Giants 3 (72-78)

Win: Robert Suarez (9-3)

Loss: Camilo Doval (5-3)

Save: Adrian Morejon (2)

Time: 2:42

Attendance: 33,043

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Padres completed their sweep of the Giants with a 4-3 win in 10 innings, as the Giants have dropped four straight to tie their season-low six games under .500.

Prior to the game, the Giants held a celebration of life for the late hall-of-famer, Orlando Cepeda on a gorgeous and windy partly cloudy fall day on the shores of McCovey Cove. The ceremony was emceed by Giants’ broadcasters Erwin Higueros and Mike Krukow. Numerous guests spoke, including fellow Hall-of-Famer Juan Marichal, Dusty Baker and Cepeda’s granddaughter.

Before it was over, Krukow read a statement made by Willie Mays, who passed ten days before Cepeda. Mays considered Cepeda a little brother and told the story of how Cepeda was a bat boy when Mays played winter ball in Puerto Rico in 1954.

Sunday was Roberto Clemente Day around Major League Baseball, and all uniformed personnel wore a special patch to commemorate the occasion. Players throughout the league also had the option of wearing Clemente’s number 21. Heliot Ramos wore number 21 for the Giants. Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and David Peralta wore number 21 for the Padres.

Mike Yastrzemski, who did not wear number 21 Sunday, was honored prior to the game in a short ceremony as the Giants’ nominee for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award. The award is given annually to the player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

Anyway, the Giants had been shutout in three-straight games, marking the first time they suffered through that humiliation since June 23-25, 1992. The Giants were also looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Padres.

Melvin held a team meeting following Saturday night’s loss and made clear that the way they were playing was not cutting it. Prior to the game Sunday, Melvin had his players go through infield practice, something that happens more in spring training, to try and fix some of their defensive miscues.

The ceremonies delayed the start of the game to 1:35. Once the game started, Landen Roupp took the ball for the Giants and set down the first six men he faced. Likewise, Padres’ starter Martin Perez set down the first nine men he faced,

Roupp was really supposed to be the opener, but he ended up throwing five shutout innings, and allowed just two hits. The only time he ran into trouble was in the top of the third inning, when he gave up a pair of hits and walked a guy. What helped him get out of that jam was a double play he induced off the bat of Elias Diaz.

Spencer Bivens came in for the Giants in the top of the sixth, and the Padres immediately had him on the ropes. Luis Arraez led off the inning with a base-hit to left, and Donovan Solano reached on an error by second-baseman Mark Canha.

Jurickson Profar moved the runners over to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, and Manny Machado got Arraez in with a sacrifice fly to left. Erik Miller then came in and struck out Jackson Merrill to end the inning.

Like Roupp, Perez had also thrown five shutout innings, which extended the Giants’ scoreless innings streak to 32. However, Padres Manager Mike Shildt let Perez back out for the bottom of the sixth, and Donovan Walton led off the inning with a home run to right-center to tie the game and finally snap the streak.

It was Walton’s first big league hit since July 2, 2022, and it also ended the day for Perez. Perez went five-plus innings, while allowing a run and two hits.

Jeremiah Estrada came in and survived a two-out double by Matt Chapman, and left-hander Taylor Rogers pitched a one, two, three top of the seventh for the Giants. Tanner Scott came in for San Diego in the bottom of the seventh, and while he walked Marco Luciano with one out, Luciano was caught trying to steal second to end the inning.

Submariner Tyler Rogers came in for his brother in the top of the eighth. Fernando Tatis led off, and he took the first pitch from Rogers and hit a bomb to left-center to put the Padres back ahead.

Rogers retired the side in order after the home run by Tatis, and Jason Adam came in to throw a one, two, three inning for the Padres in the bottom of the eighth. Ryan Walker then pitched through a two-out walk for a scoreless top of the ninth.

The Padres brought in their closer, Robert Suarez, for the bottom of the ninth as they tried to finish off the sweep. The first batter for the Giants was Heliot Ramos, and on a 3-2 pitch, he hit an opposite-field home run to right that went into the water for the first-ever splash hit by a right-handed hitter in the 25-year history of Oracle Park.

It was the 105th splash hit by a Giant, and the 166th home run into McCovey Cove overall. Until Sunday, not a single one had been hit by a right-handed hitter. Buster Posey nearly became the first with his two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning in Game 1 of the 2021 National League Division Series between the Giants and the Dodgers, but it ended up hitting the water cannon.

Most importantly, Ramos’ splash hit tied the game 2-2. Suarez then retired the side in order, and that sent the game into the 10th.

With extra innings came the automatic runner at second. The home team used to have the advantage in extra innings, as they had the last at-bat and the chance of a walk-off. However, with the road team having a runner at second with nobody out in a tied game, they had the real advantage now.

That advantage would pay dividends for the Padres in the top of the tenth. Melvin brought in Camilo Doval with Jake Cronenworth at second. David Peralta led off the inning with an RBI base-hit to left, which scored Cronenworth to put the Padres back ahead. (I know, “led off the inning with an RBI base-hit” makes no sense, but neither does baseball Sunday.)

Arraez doubled with one out to put runners at second and third, and Solano grounded out to third to knock in Peralta and make it 4-2.

Adrian Morejon was summoned by San Diego for the bottom of the tenth, and Yastrzemski was the runner at second for the Giants. Yastrzemski got to third on a ground out by Luciano, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Conforto.

However, having a runner at second with nobody out down by two is nothing like having a runner at second with nobody out in a tied game. Patrick Bailey grounded out to third, and the Padres won it 4-3.

Robert Suarez picked up the win despite blowing his fifth save; Camilo Doval took the loss; and Adrian Morejon got the save. The Giants fall back to their season-low six games under .500 at 72-78.

The Giants will now embark on their final road trip of the season, and if you think their 72-78 record right now is bad, just wait until they have to go through Baltimore, Kansas City and Arizona to play three teams destined for the playoffs.

The Giants will have a day off in Baltimore Monday, and then they will begin a three-game series against the mighty Orioles on Tuesday at Camden Yards.

The Giants will have a chance to play spoiler in the American League East race. The Orioles trail the New York Yankees by three games, but the Giants would be doing a major favor to the Orioles by beating them since it would make it more likely that Baltimore would be a wild card team and not have a week off.

Blake Snell (3-3, 3.52 ERA) will take the ball for the Giants on Tuesday, and he will be opposed by former Giant Albert Suarez (8-5, 3.39 ERA), who is back in the big leagues this season for the first time since 2017. First pitch will be at 6:35 p.m. in Baltimore, and 3:35 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

A’s Drop Series To White Sox In Shocker 4-3

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Oakland A’s Brent Rooker slugged a two run home run in the top of the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox in a losing cause at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Sun Sep 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

In a series that the Oakland A’s (65-85) should have won, the complete opposite took place on Sunday in game three of their series. The 4-3 loss to Chicago White Sox (35-115) was a bit of a shocker after winning game one in a shutout 2-0.

The A’s barely lost Saturday’s coming back to tie twice so a better effort was expected in Sunday’s game. The A’s hit a couple of home runs, one from Brent Rooker and a second from Shea Langeliers but it was not enough to win the game losing 4-3. JP Sears had a rough start giving up three runs in the first inning.

Game recap: Saturday the White Sox had taken a 3-0 lead after three innings. In Sunday’s game Chicago took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and this was not the way Oakland wanted to start the game. They were behind the eight ball from the get-go.

JP Sears gave up a walk, an infield single and with two runners on base a Gavin Sheets home run for the 3-0 tally. The A’s had tied the game twice in Saturday’s contest so while it was not ideal, it was early in the game.

Neither team scored in the following three innings but in the fifth inning Oakland was up on the scoreboard only trailing by a single run. Brent Rooker knocked a 407 foot bomb out of the park with Lawrence Butler on base cutting the Chicago lead to 3-2. The A’s were within striking distance.

The White Sox did not let their foot off the pedal hitting their second home run of the game in the sixth inning pushing their lead back out to 4-2. Bryan Ramos hit a solo home run making it a little more difficult for Oakland but still within reach.

The hits were not coming for either team in the seventh and eighth innings and it all came down to the ninth inning for the A’s. Tyler Nevin lined out, Max Schuemann struck out and it was up to Shea Langeliers to keep this game going. He connected for a solo home run and Oakland was within a run of another tie. It all came to an end when Nick Allen flied out and that was the ball game 4-3.

It was an awful disappointment for the A’s in more than one way. They had so many ties in this series only to lose games. Lawrence Butler’s hit streak came to an end in this game. He did have an RBI but no hits. So often loses come at the hand of teams that are struggling; they have nothing to lose and the A’s experienced this in the series.

Game notes: Sunday afternoon the A’s took on the White Sox in game three of their series and dropped a heartbreaker 4-3 after Oakland lost Saturday’s game after tying up the game twice, the second tie in the top of the ninth.

A’s pitcher Hogan Harris threw a pitch that was right in Chicago’s Andrew Benintendi’s wheelhouse. The result was a 366 foot home run and a Chicago walk-off 7-6 on Saturday. Oakland starter JP Sears went six innings, allowed seven hits, four earned runs, and struck out four strike outs. The Sox starter Sean Burke pitched five innings allowing five hits and two earned runs.

Oakland will remain in Chicago taking on the Cubs in a three game series that will begin Monday. The Cubs are coming off losing a series to the Colorado Rockies who are also really struggling. The Cubs are a good ball club, in second place in the National League Central. The probable pitcher for the Oakland A’s will be Joey Estes with a 7-7 win/loss record and a 4.36 ERA. Shota Imanaga will take the mound for the Cubs with a 13-3 win/loss record and a 3.03 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 4:40 PM.

Giants have been shutout now for 27 straight innings; SF gets blanked by San Diego 8-0

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San Francisco Giants Marco Luciano (left) and the San Diego Padres Manny Machado advanced on a two run single in the top of the sixth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Sep 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

San Diego (84-65). 100 103 030. 8. 17. 1

San Francisco (72-77). 000 000.000 0. 5. 1

Time: 2:33

Attendance: 31,243

Saturday, September 14, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Diego Padres cut the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lead for first in the National League’s Western Division to 3-1/2 games by shutting the San Francisco Giants out, 8-0, this chilly Friday evening on the banks of McCovey Cove while Los Angeles was overwhelmed, 10-1, by the Braves in Atlanta. The Giants have now been shutout in three games and for 27 straight innings.

San Diego led their hosts from the start and never looked back, but they didn’t break the game open until they posted a three spot against rookie starter Mason Black in the top of the sixth, when Donovan Solano’s double, followed by singles off the bats of the indomitable Luis Arraiz and right fielder Fernando Tatís, Jr., a walk to the versatile veteran Jurickson Profar, and Jackson Merrill’s two bagger.

That, added to single runs in the first and fourth frames, made it 5-0 in favor of the Padres, who tagged on a trio of tallies in the eighth, getting to Erik Miller on a uncursed leadoff double by Arraez, an RBI single by Tatís, a base on balls to Profar, and a two RBI double by Jackson Merrill. The Pads scored their eight runs on 17 hits off five San Francisco pitchers.

Erik Miller, who faced only two batters in the top of the seventh, was the sole unscored upon San Francisco hurler, unless you include Donovan Walton, an infielder by trade, who gave up two hits but no runs in the ninth.

Black, who fell to 0-4, 6.75 with the loss, lasted only four innings and surrendered two runs, one earned on six hits, one of them a fourth inning solo home run to Xander Bogaerts, and a walk. 55 of his 79 offerings met the criteria to be counted as strikes.

Sean Hjelle pitched two innings and surrendered three runs, all earned, on five hits and two free passes. Jordan Hicks, just back from paternity leave, was touched up for three runs, all of them earned, on four hits and a walk in his inning and a third.

Joe Musgrove earned his sixth win against five losses for his six innings of three hit ball, in which he struck out eight of the 22 Giant batters he faced. Adrián Morejón struck out the side in seventh, and Alek Jabob mopped up with two hits and a K in the final two frames.

Arraez extended his streak of consecutive plate appearances without being struck out from 129 to 135. He also stretched his hitting streak to a dozen games. Only Bobby Witt, Jr., now has more three hit games than Arraez’s 18.. Merrill’s two RBIs raised his total to 85, tops for NL rookies.

The free falling Giants will try to recover Sunday afternoon. The game, scheduled to begin at 1:05pm PT, will follow a celebration of the life of Orlando “Peruchín” Cepeda at 12:30pm. Martín Pérez (4-5, 4.46) will take the mound for the Friars; The Giants Landen Roupp (0-1, 3.44) will throw his curve balls at the Padres.

A’s Fall To White Sox After Tying Up the Game – Benintendi homers For Walk-Off 7-6

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Chicago White Sox Andrew Benintendi slugged a walk off home run against the Oakland A’s as catcher Shea Langeliers looks on in the bottom of the ninth inning at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Sat Sep 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland Athletics (65-84) fought hard in their second game with the Chicago White Sox (34-115). Twice they fought back from three run deficits, the first in the sixth inning and the second in the ninth. It all came crashing down in the bottom of the ninth inning when Andrew Benintendi homered to right and Chicago had the walk-off 7-6 on Saturday.

Game recap: Neither team would score in the opening inning but it was the White Sox who got up on the board first in the second inning. Oakland pitcher J.T. Ginn gave up three hits in the first inning but kept the White Sox off the board.

He did not get off so easy in the second inning giving up four hits and two runs for a 2-0 Chicago lead. The White Sox extended their lead in the third inning when Ginn gave up a solo home run off the bat of Gavin Sheets.

Ginn would get out of the inning but not before he allowed two more hits. Through three innings he had allowed ten hits. The White Sox have struggled with letting teams back in games but the A’s were starting to dig a bit of a hole which all started on the mound.

Ginn started to pull it together in the fourth with a one, two, three inning and the Oakland offense had some damage control to attend to. This season the A’s have come from behind on many occasions but they were struggling offensively in this game with only 5 hits through four innings.

Brent Rooker hit another milestone in the fifth inning connecting for his 24th consecutive hit. With two outs in the fifth inning, Oakland had Rooker on second and JJ Bleday at first base. Shea Langeliers struck out and the A’s had come away empty.

Oakland’s Kyle Muller relieved Ginn in the fifth inning and he would go three up and three down. The sixth inning was also solid for Muller with another three up three down inning.

Oakland threatened again in the sixth inning but as in the fifth inning there were two outs. The A’s had runners on second and third. Jacob Wilson was hit by a pitch which loaded the bases. Leadoff hitter Lawrence Butler was next up at the plate.

Chicago pitcher Chad Kuhl walked Butler and Soderstrom scored from third and the A’s were on the board 3-1. Brent Rooker singled Max Schuemann and Jacob WiIson home and this game was tied 3-3. Oakland still had runners at the corners but a JJ Bleday ground ball ended a huge sixth inning for the Athletics. Now there would be a tie to break.

In the seventh inning, it was the White Sox breaking the tie. Andrew Benintendi singled Nicky Lopez home for one run and then Gavin Sheets sacrificed driving Luis Robert Jr. home taking a 5-3 lead. Chicago would tack one more run on in the eighth inning when Zach DeLoach scored off a Nicky Lopez single and the White Sox had another three run lead 6-3.

Oakland rallied in the top of the ninth inning. With Lawrence Butler on second and Brent Rooker on first with no outs, the A’s were threatening. JJ Bleday walked and the Athletics had the bases loaded again with Shea Langeliers at the plate.

Langeliers delivered driving both Butler and Rooker home and the score was 6-5 in favor of the White Sox. With runners on first and second Seth Brown would be looking for his first hit of the game.

Brown also delivered loading the bases still with no outs. Zach Gelof singled JJ Bleday home to tie up this game at six. Shea Langeliers attempted to reach home plate but was thrown out which was reviewed and confirmed.

The White Sox would look for the walk off in the bottom of the inning. Both of these teams were fighting for the win and it would be the White Sox that would finish on top. Andrew Benintendi knocked the ball out of the park for the walk-off and the 7-6 win.

It was a terrible disappointment for Oakland after coming back twice in this game to tie up the score. The A’s will play in the rubber match looking to take the series. Lawrence Butler continued his hitting streak as well as his stolen bases. This guys does it all. Brent Rooker had three hits in this game as did Zach Gelof. The A’s finished the game with 11 hits.

Game notes: Saturday evening the A’s took on the White Sox in game two of their three game series after beating them last night in a shut out 2-0. Oakland was looking for a win in game two but the Sox broke a 6-6 deadlock in the bottom of the ninth to come away with a one run win 7-6 at Guarantee Rate Field. A’s starter JT Ginn went four innings. allowed ten hits, three runs and struck out three earned runs. The Sox starter Chris Flexen pitched five innings allowing six hits, walked two hitters and struck out eight.

JP Sears will take the mound for the Athletics Sunday. This will be his 30th start this season. He has a 11-10 win/loss record and a 4.18 ERA. Sean Burke will start for the White Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 AM.

Work Pitchers, Hit Deep In Counts, Put the Ball In Play: The Padres Make .264 An Impressive Number

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Hitting home runs, running the bases, scorching shots into the gaps for extra-bases, or drawing  walks isn’t quite what the Padres do.

What they do is see pitches, work counts, and rack up base hits. The most hits (1,335 in 148 games), singles (922), and the best team batting average in MLB belong to the Padres in 2024, and it’s a hard-earned distinction for post-season likely San Diego.

“We got some really good approaches,” manager Mike Schildt said. “And guys not only have the bat to ball skills, we have a lot of guys–and Luis (Arraez) leads the charge, but… a lot of our guys put the ball in play. They take really tough at-bats, not afraid to hit with two strikes. But have the approach A) what they’re doing and B) what they’re trying to do with it. They see the field, and they can move the baseball around.”

The .264 team batting average was a modest number. In 1976, Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine hit .280 as a team. In 1986, Cleveland hit .284 as a team and missed the playoffs. In 1997, the Fenway Sox hit. 291, the Coors Field Rockies hit .288, and the Indians won the AL pennant by hitting .286. That’s baseball’s free swinging past.

In 2024, however .264 is robust and the industry standard. As the game has skewed more and more towards power pitching, strikeouts, and modest batting averages, the Padres have responded by dissecting almost every hurler they face. The hits define their success. The team batting average may seem pedestrian, but in fact, it’s exceptional.

“The approaches are dialed in, and guys can leave the ballpark either way,” rookie Brandon Lockridge added. Lockridge made his Major League debut on Friday, but it was his breakout .414 OBP with Yankees Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre that drew GM A.J. Preller’s attention and brought Lockridge to San Diego in a mid-season swap.

San Diego has talented hitters: perennial hitman Manny Machado heads the list. Machado has logged nearly six full seasons in San Diego, and 164 of his 339 career homers have come since his arrival.

Xander Bogaerts, in his first season away from Boston, has set sail with a .309 clip since July 12. He’s also likely to join Machado as an infielder with a ninth, consecutive season with 10 or more home runs. Currently, Bogaerts has nine homers, 99 hits, and 25 walks in 376 plate appearances.

Luis Arraez’ arrival in May by trade with the Marlins has been season-altering. The three-time All-Star with the powerful, compact build has compiled 147 hits while striking out just 15 times. Currently, he’s in a stretch of 129 appearances without a strikeout, and among franchise hitters, only Tony Gwynn (170) has gone longer without being punched. Arraez has the lowest career K rate in baseball (7.0 percent), and he’s made Arraez easier to spell than (Juan) Soto, the similarly talented slugger he essentially replaced at first base.

“Good approach, good swing, elite hitter, and that’s Luis,” manager Mike Shildt said in repeating hitting coach Gene Tenace’s assessment of Arraez.

Rookie Jackson Merrill’s arrival has also been transformational. The ROY candidate has 147 hits in 143 games and enough big moments on SportsCenter to boost the highlight show’s ratings. Merrill projects to finish the regular season with 550 plate appearances, more than 30 walks, and an outside shot at just 100 strikeouts.

Veterans Jake Cronenworth and Jurickson Profar are having big seasons. The 31-year old switch-hitting Profar has 145 hits and a career-best 3.1 WAR. Cronenworth has 131 hits and a team-high 53 walks.

Franchise wonder kid Fernando Tatis Jr. has experienced absences in all five of his big league seasons, missing 293 games due to injury or suspension. But those absences have very little to do with his incredible productivity. This season–in 90 games to date–the 25-year old Tatis has a four-hit game (June 20), and his first career walk-off hit (September 5). But this week alone, and in response to his absence due to a femoral stress reaction, he’s robbed Seattle’s Randy Arozarena with a spectacular reach over the right field wall, and homered in three, consecutive games. In the Padres’ 5-0 shutout of the Giants Friday night, Tatis redirected Logan Webb’s mistake slider 433 feet in the first inning.

“Go and attack,” Tatis said of his home run at-bat. “Webb has been a pitcher that’s been giving us a little trouble to face him. Today, we went in with the mentality that we were the attacker, and we had some good results.

“I want to be that guy, and as soon as I’m on the field, I’m  going to push myself to be that guy, and I take a lot of pride in that,” he added.

The Petco Push, Padre Pride, or even the Friars’ Fresh Approach. You label it, and the NL West-contending Padres embody it.

CEASE AMAZES WITH ACCELERATED PATH TO 1,000 K’s

Dylan Cease was good in Chicago, until everyone around him disappeared. Cease is good in San Diego as well. And Cease has always wielded a nasty strikeout pitch or two, a standard he established in July 2019, when he arrived in the big leagues.

Cease’s first six appearances resulted in four losses for himself and the Sox. But the then 23-year old right-hander pitched deep into all six and racked up a healthy, strikeout total. In the ensuing five years, and below the radar, Cease has established himself as one of the games’ true aces with 56 total wins and his 1,000th strikeout on Friday.

In the third inning, Donovan Walton was caught looking at a fifth, consecutive slider. But Cease shrewdly delivered his only pitch away in the sequence, which likely caught Donovan by surprise.

“Longevity and execution and performance and all that good stuff, but just happy we won,” Cease said. “I feel like I haven’t contributed in like a month.”

“Congratulations to Dylan first of all. One thousand strikeouts in the big leagues is really impressive,” Schildt said. “It’s just two plus-plus pitches that you got to honor. You got to honor the top, with tonight sitting 98–97, 98–you got to honor that. And you got to honor a slider that looks like a strike out of the hand. You got those two plus pitches with that kind of life; it’s a recipe for a lot of strikeouts.”

Cease joined Robbie Ray, Blake Snell, and Yu Darvish to form the quartet that has reached a thousand punch outs the fastest all-time. All four contemporary hurlers, and coincidentally all present and accounted for on Friday at Oracle Park.

“That’s pretty wild,” Cease said. “I have no idea.”

Webb gives up three runs in first, and Cease and Padres blank Giants 5-0

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The San Diego Padres catcher Elias Diaz (right) waits to put the tag on the San Francisco Giants Heliot Ramos (left) in the bottom of the sixth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco Fri Sep 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

Friday, Sept. 13, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

San Diego Padres 5 (83-65)

San Francisco Giants 0 (72-76)

Win: Dylan Cease (13-11)

Loss: Logan Webb (12-10)

Time: 2:33

Attendance: 39,798

By Stephen Ruderman

The Padres came into Oracle Park Friday night, where they scored three runs off Logan Webb in the top of the first inning, and Dylan Cease blanked the Giants and handed them their second-straight shutout loss, 5-0, to open this three-game series.

The Padres were in town for the first time since the home opener. While the early-season excitement and expectations may have been gone, 39,798 fans still filed into Oracle Park to watch the Giants play spoiler against a Padres’ team in the midst of a four-team fight for the three wild card spots in the National League.

Logan Webb once again looked to be the stopper, and he would go up against Dylan Cease in a rematch from last Saturday, when the Giants beat the Padres 6-3. Despite the fact that the Padres are right in the thick of things and that the Giants are about a week away from being eliminated, the Giants came into tonight’s game 6-4 against the Padres this season.

The top of the first inning would not go well for Webb. Luis Arraez led off and singled to right on the second pitch of the game. Fernando Tatis Jr. then came up and hit a home run to center field to give the Padres an early 2-0 lead just four pitches into the game.

Webb got Jurickson Profar to ground out for the first out of the game, but Manny Machado singled and got to second on a wild pitch. Jake Cronenworth struck out looking for the second out, but Xander Bogaerts doubled to right, and Machado scored to make it 3-0.

The Giants were able to get to Cease last weekend, and it looked like they were going to get to him again in the bottom of the first, as they put runners at first and second with one out. However, Cease got out of it unscathed.

When the Giants got to Cease last Saturday, it was in large part due to the unusual heat at Petco Park. Friday night under the normal cold confines of Oracle Park would be a completely different story. Cease proceeded to retire ten straight, and 14 of the next 16.

Webb survived a leadoff double by Jackson Merrill in the top of the second, and it appeared that he had settled down when he threw a one, two, three inning in the top of the third. However, he ran into trouble again in the top of the fourth.

Merrill hit his second double of the game with one out, and then David Peralta struck out swinging. Webb seemed as if he was going to get out of it, as Machado hit a little nubber off the end of the bat in front of the mound. However, Webb just threw it over the head of LaMonte Wade at first, and Merrill scored to make it 4-0.

That would be it for Webb, who gave up seven hits and three unearned runs over just four innings. It was an usually-short outing for the Giants’ ace.

Tristan Beck came in for the top of the fifth and gave up a leadoff base-hit to Profar. However, Beck retired the side in order immediately afterwards, and he threw a one, two, three inning in the top of the sixth.

It looked like the Giants were finally going to break through against Cease in the bottom of the sixth. Heliot Ramos singled to lead off the inning, and after Cease retired the next two, Patrick Bailey came to the plate.

Bailey lined a double to right, and Giants Third Base Coach Matt Williams waved Ramos in from third. However, Padres’ right-fielder Fernando Tatis threw to second-baseman Jake Cronenworth, who made a perfect relay throw home. Ramos veered to his right to make a head-first slide around catcher Elias Diaz, but he was still tagged out, as he nearly took out Home Plate Umpire Mark Wegner.

It was a rough way to end the inning and waste another opportunity for the Giants, but it was a nice way for Cease to end his outing. Cease gave up just four hits and walked two over six shutout innings. Most importantly, he struck out ten and got his 1,000th-career strikeout when he struck Donovan Walton looking to start the bottom of the third.

Beck ended up going two and two thirds, as he was pulled with runners at first and second for the Padres and two outs in the top of the seventh. Taylor Rogers came in to get out of the inning, and he threw a scoreless top of the eighth.

Tanner Scott threw a one, two three bottom of the seventh for San Diego, and Jason Adam did the same in the bottom of the eighth.

After another rough outing for Camilo Doval last night, in which he threw three wild pitches in the top of the seventh inning, he was back in for the ninth Friday night. Doval retired the first two he faced, but the Padres were not going to do him any favors with two outs.

Profar singled to right, and Brandon Lockridge pinch-ran for Profar and stole second. Machado then doubled the other way to right, and Lockridge came in to make it 5-0.

Jeremiah Estrada came in for the Padres in the bottom of the ninth, and threw a one, two, three inning to end it.

Dylan Cease got the win, and Logan Webb took the loss.

Despite how much the Giants’ offense has struggled this season, this is the first time all year that they have been shutout in back-to-back games. However, Friday night was the 31st game this season in which the Giants have struck out 12 times, as pointed out by Sam Lubman of 95.7 The Game.

As also pointed out by Lubman, in the Giants’ first 60 seasons in San Francisco, they never struck out 12 times in 20 or more games in a single season. This is now the seventh-straight season in which the Giants have had 20 or more such games.

The Giants fall to 72-76, and their tragic number to be eliminated is now six. The Giants were eliminated from the National League West race last night.

As for the Padres, they’re the ones playing meaningful baseball, and they improve to 83-65. The Padres have eclipsed the Diamondbacks for the first wild card spot.

The Giants and Padres will be right back at it Friday night. Mason Black will make the start for the Giants, and he will be opposed by left-hander Joe Musgrove, whom the Giants got to on Sunday. First pitch will be at 6:05 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

  1. Padres 83-65 +1.5
  2. Diamondbacks 82-65 +1.0
  3. Mets 81-66 —

Braves 80-67 1.0

Giants News and Notes:

The Giants called up Donovan Walton prior to the game. Walton started and went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts.

Walton is back in the big leagues for the Giants for the first time since he gave us some excitement in a 24-game stint in 2022.

He only hit .158, but he hit seven doubles in his first 10 games, earning the nickname “Donnie Doubles,” which was based off Donovan Solano’s nickname, “Donnie Barrels.” Solano left the Giants following the 2021 Season. In his 11th game for the Giants on June 5, 2022, Walton hit a grand slam at Marlins Park in Miami.

To make room for Walton, Luis Matos was sent back down to Sacramento.

Farhan Zaidi confirmed that his contract runs through the end of next season with an option for 2026, as does Bob Melvin’s. Even though he is signed through the end of next season, Zaidi’s future with the Giants remains uncertain.

Bryce Eldrige, after just nine games with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels, has been called up to Triple-A Sacramento, where he will finish his season. Eldridge hit .270 in his nine games with Richmond with one home run, and four RBIs.

Eldridge, who was the Giants’ first-round draft pick last year, is only 19 years old. Getting to Triple-A at that age is quite an accomplishment.

Now, the question is how much of Eldridge we will see with the Giants next season.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Boras says health and safety at issue with playing in Sacramento; Agent says A’s should work out deal with AASEG to stay in Oakland

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Major League Baseball agent Scott Boras appeared on 1530 KFBK Sacramento Thu Sep 12, 2024 saying that Sutter Health Park is a minor league facility and that Oakland A’s games should continue to be played at the Oakland Coliseum. Boras said that the players are not happy about the Sutter Health upgrades which includes artificial turf that will raise the temperature surface on the field and a much smaller facility for big league players. (photo taken Mar 20, 2024 by AP News)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson:

#1 Construction at Sutter Health Park is being worked on for the clubhouses, weight rooms, family facilities, press boxes, and seats at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento to get it ready for both the Sacramento River Cats and Sacramento A’s for 2025.

#2 With the latest wrinkle last Thursday when baseball agent Scott Boras said the players are not on board with the upgrades including artificial turf being installed due to it raising the temperature on the field. Boras said that Sutter Health Park would be the only artificial turf outdoor stadium in MLB and with players being worth millions of dollars they could get burned sliding on the hot turf causing significant injuries.

#3 Another issue like the public funding in Las Vegas for the A’s Las Vegas ballpark the A’s need to get their share of the construction costs in order before the December deadline or that funding from the State of Nevada goes away . With the Sacramento ballpark if the players and MLB can’t get to a middle ground on playing the next four seasons on artificial turf and playing in a minor league stadium that also could end up being a stalemate.

#4 Boras said one of the best solutions is for the A’s to go back to the Oakland Coliseum where the players want to finish up at until the Las Vegas ballpark is built (if at all). Another scenario the new Oakland Coliseum property owners the African American Sports Entertainment Group can offer the A’s a good rental deal to come back and play at the Coliseum and offer to help build a stadium at the Coliseum.

#5 Baseball Commissioner said there is no deal in Oakland, Oakland is a dead issue, and MLB does not want to play at the Oakland Coliseum anymore. This is where the Players Association and MLB might hit a fork in the road over forcing the players to play in an outdoor minor league stadium with artificial turf and minor league facilities vs. getting back to Coliseum which the MLBPA want to play out until the Las Vegas scenario is worked out. This is a scenario that could go sideways and hold up the Sacramento relocation.

Jeremiah Salmonson does the Oakland A’s podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s rookie Basso throws five plus innings of shutout ball against White Sox in 2-0 win; Sox lose 115th game of season now 5 short of 62 Mets loss record

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Oakland A’s catcher Shea Langliers (left) congratulates closer Mason Miller (right) after defeating the Chicago White Sox at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Fri Sep 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Friday night, the Oakland A’s (65-83) took on the Chicago White Sox (33-115) in the first of a three game series winning in a shutout 2-0. This was Brady Basso’s first big league win going 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run to cross home plate.

There were no home runs in this game for the A’s but they did have nine hits. Oakland has now bettered their record from last season by 15 games which is huge and the season is not even over. Lawrence Butler continued his hit streak with at least 21 hits in his last 21 games.

Game recap: There was not a whole lot going on through the first three innings of this game. Oakland would finally get up on the board in the fourth inning when Zach Gelof doubled Daz Cameron home for the early 1-0 lead in this pitcher’s dual.

The A’s got a second run in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Brent Rooker singled driving Tyler Nevin across home plate. These two runs would be the only runs in the entire game for both team.

The A’s starter Brady Basso pitched the 2-0 shutout for his first big league career win. He went 5 1/3 innings allowing five hits and no runs. He walked one runner and had two strikeouts. He handed the White Sox their 16th consecutive home loss and their 18th shut out of the season.

He was relieved by Michel Otanez who was solid going 1 2/3 innings with no hits, no runs and three strikeouts. Tyler Ferguson relieved Otanez for one inning with the same result. No hits, runs or walks.

Closing out this game it was “Miller Time” with Mason Miller taking the mound and he did not disappoint. He allowed one hit, no runs, no walks and two strikeouts and that was the ball game with the A’s taking game one of this series 2-0. This was Mason Miller’s 25th save of the season.

Losing pitcher for the White Sox Garrett Crochet only went four innings allowing three hits, one run with four strikeouts. The White Sox sent four relief pitchers throughout the final five innings of this game.

The A’s finished this game with nine hits. Lawrence Butler continued his streak with his 21st straight game connecting for at least a hit. JJ Bleday had a couple of hits with 41 doubles this season so far. Brent Rooker had a hit in this game as well as Daz Cameron, Seth Brown, Zach Gelof (with two hits), and Tyler Nevin. The A’s offense had been so very good in the second half of the season.

Game notes: Friday evening the A’s traveled to Chicago taking on the White Sox in a three game series. The White Sox are struggling more than any other team in baseball residing in last place in major league baseball. The Sox need to lose five more games to tie the worst season loss record at 120 games held by the 1962 New York Mets. A’s starter Basso went 5.1 innings, allowed five hits, no runs and two strikeouts. The White Sox starter Garrett Crochet pitched four innings, allowed three hits, allowed an earned run and struck out four hitters.

Saturday the A’s will be looking to take game two in this series. They will be looking for some of those long balls although they got the job done Friday night without them. Probables for Oakland will be J.T. Ginn on the mound who lost his last outing. He has a 0-1 win/loss record and a 4.58 ERA. The White Sox will start Chris Flexen who has struggled and has a 2-14 win/loss record and a 5.28 ERA. The A’s could very well take advantage of Flexen and send a few balls out of the park. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 4:10 PM PT.

Oakland A’s Relocation podcast: Players Union have not agreed to upgrades in Sacramento; MLB says move to Sac a certainty

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The Major League Baseball Players Union have not agreed to the upgrades at Sutter Health Park pictured which includes playing on artificial turf in 2025. MLB players do not want to play in a minor league facility with smaller clubhouses, weight rooms and alot less benefits. (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum:

#1 KFBK 1530 Sacramento reported that the Major League Baseball Players Union, the MLB Players and super agent Scott Boras said on Thursday that the MLBPA has not agreed to the upgrades which include the artificial turf that is to be installed at Sutter Health Field. The players said that on 100 degree days the temperatures could go up another 70 degrees playing on the plastic made surface.

#2 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that the solution is simple just spray some cool water on the artificial turf and it will bring the temperature down on the plastic surface. The players are not having none of that.

#3 The plan right now is to rip out the natural grass surface and replace it with artificial turf. Scott Boras who is considered one of the top baseball agent in MLB and who is a native to the Sacramento area from Elk Grove said that baseball doesn’t not have any turf surfaces that are outdoors, Boras said that you have players who worth millions and millions of dollars and their value and their stake in their ball club and they need more room so the players can workout and have their pre game and environment ready for them.

#4 Boras who comes from Sacramento would love to see MLB come to Sacramento but now is not the right time he says because Sutter Health Park is not a Major League Baseball facility. From everything Boras and the Players Association can see in front of them it’s not going to work as a MLB facility size and turf wise.

#5 So the question was raised if not Sacramento where would the A’s play for the 2025 season? Boras said the answer was pretty easy and that is the A’s should go back to Oakland. Boras also indicated that the A’s could stay permanently in Oakland as new property owners the African American Sports Entertainment Group have taken over the property. The A’s no longer will have to deal with the City of Oakland or Mayor Sheng Thao who wanted to charge the A’s $92 million rent. AASEG would offer the A’s a deal both parties can be happy with. Besides the A’s sold their half of the property to AASEG. The A’s would get their TV rights and money back in the neighborhood of $70 million per year if the came back to the sixth largest market.

#6 A Major League Baseball statement said, “It is a certainty that the A’s will play their 2025 season in Sacramento as planned. MLB is continuing to work productively with the MLBPA on the details of the transition.”

Daniel Dullum does the Oakland A’s Relocations podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Brewers rally late to shutout Giants 3-0; Montas blanks SF for six innings; Chourio goes deep

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Milwaukee Brewers Jackson Chourio belts a two run home run in the top of the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu Sep 12, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024

Milwaukee used an unearned run and a late home run to blank San Francisco 3-0 Thursday at Oracle Park in a contest that was scoreless through six innings.

The Brewers (84-62), who lead the NL Central by nine games, broke the scoreless deadlock when Giants reliever Camilo Doval (5-2)walked Willy Adames, who advanced to second, third and home on three wild pitches by Doval.

In the Milwaukee ninth, Spencer Bivens, who replaced Doval, gave up a one-out infield single to Brice Turang, followed by a two-run home run by Jackson Chourio.

The Giants (72-75) threatened in the bottom of the ninth, facing Brewers reliever Devin Williams. After Matt Chapman struck out, Mark Canha singled and advanced to third on a double by Jerar Encarnacion. Williams struck out Grant McCray and pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey grounded out to end the game.

It was Williams’ 11th save of the season, while lowering his earned run average to 1.62. Frankie Montas (7-10) struck out eight, walked two and gave up two hits in six innings to earn the win. Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megan earned holds.

Giants starter Hayden Birdsong gave up two hits, struck out four and walked one in five innings. Eric Miller threw a scoreless inning before Doval surrendered the go-ahead run. Bivens gave up two runs on two hits while getting a strike out and a walk in two innings.

Chourio’s home run was his 20th of the season, giving him 71 RBI. Encarnacion was 2-for-4 as the San Francisco DH, and the Giants had a runner in scoring position six times and came up empty.

The Giants reported that right-hander Robbie Ray is expected to join the club for warmups prior to Friday’s game to evaluate his ongoing left hamstring issues. Also, Tyler Fitzgerald left Thursday’s game with lower back tightness.

The Giants host San Diego for a weekend series that starts Friday. Dylan Chase (12-11, 3.71 ERA) is the Padres’ Friday starter, while the Giants are waiting to name their starter.