Category: San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants catcher Curt Casali (2) puts the tag on Chicago White Sox right fielder Gavin Sheets (32) as he tried to advance on a ground ball hit by the Sox AJ Pollock but is called out by plate umpire Chris Guccione (68), in the top of the fourth at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Saturday, July 2, 2022, in San Francisco.

Chicago (AL) (36-39). 5. 8. 0

San Francisco (40-36). 3. 8. 2

Saturday, July 2, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO-The Giants, in Friday night’s bitter loss to the White Sox, wasted a fine performance by the first half of their Cobb-Webb combo. In this Saturday’s encounter, they pinned their hopes on the second half of that duo, sending Logan Webb (7-2, 3.04 at game time) and his wicked slider to the mound.

But starting pitching hasn’t been San Francisco’s main problem. To stop their slump, they needed to get a jump on the opposition’s mound staff and then hold on to their lead . Saturday it was Dylan Cease, bringing a 6-3, 2.56 record with him, they needed to hit early and often.

The home team did, indeed, get its much needed jump start. LaMonte Wade, Jr. ,leaned into Cease’s second delivery of the game, a 96 mph four seamer, and sent it over the right field wall, 424 feet from home, for his second home run of the year and third career leadoff round tripper.

Joc Pederson followed that with a double to right. But the Chisox starter got them to Cease and desist by retiring Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt, and Tommy LaStella, interspersed by a walk to Mike Yastrzemski to limit San Francisco’s early advantage to just one run.

That lead didn’t hold up, and the final score was 5-3 in favor of the visitors. Webb went six innings and yielded five runs, three of them earned, on six hits, one walk, and a hitter. Two thirds of his 101 pitches were considered strikes.

He took the loss, leaving his record at 7-3, 3.13. Cease lasted five episodes, during which he threw 104 pitches, 62 of which counted as strikes. He struck out four allowed four hits and three walks and hit one batter but he didn’t let San Francisco tack any runs on to its sole, initial tally. That earned him the win, making him 7-3, 2.51).

In the top of the fourth Webb got tangled up in a mess not of his own making. Tim Anderson led off by beating out a grounder to third. Then Andrew Vaughn hit a bouncing ball to the right side that Belt couldn’t handle.

Both runners might have been safe even if he had, but the scorer ruled it an error. Luis Robert’s little nubber in front of the plate moved Anderson and Vaughn up a notch each, and a 3-2 walk to cleanup hitter Abreu loaded the bases with only one out.

That brought up Gavin, who sent a line drive to left. Pederson came in for it, and the ball sailed over his head for a two run double that put Chicago ahead 2-1 and advanced Abreu to third. He crossed the plate on Yoan Moncada’s single to right.

Webb closed the inning with a nice play of his own, tossing Sheets out at home on a soft grounder towards the mound from Pollock’s bat and getting García to ground out to Belt, unassisted. But the damage had been done, and the pale hose were ahead, 3-1, after 4-1/2 innings of play.

Two of those three runs were earned, although Logan pitched well enough to have gotten out of the frame unscathed. He threw the same number of pitches total in that unlucky inning that Cease had in the first, 29.

Things went south again for Webb and the Giants in the top of the sixth. Abreu singled to left center and advanced to third on Sheets’ down the line double to right. Webb plunked Moncada with a pitch, clogging the base paths, and then fanned Pollock.

Disaster struck when Luery García hit what might have been a double play ball to Belt, who threw to second for the force on Moncada. Walton’s throw back to first went wild as Webb stumbled on his way to the base trying to cover.

Two runs scored, one on the error charged to Walton. It now was 5-1. Webb retired Seby Zavala and did not come out to pitch the seventh. He was relieved by Yúnior Marte, who, with a little help from a pitcher´s best friend, kept Chicago off the board.

Jarlín García took over for him in the eighth and allowed just a two out single to Adam Haseley, who had pinch run for Sheets in the fatidic sixth.

Tanner Banks pitched the scoreless sixth and seventh frames for the Chisox, giving way to Joe Kelly for the eighth. He fanned the first two Giants he faced but then walked Mike Yastrzemski on a full count. Yaz stole second with Darin Ruf, who had pinch hit for La Stellla in the sixth at bat.

Ruf rifled a shot down the line in right for a run producing double and shortening Chicago’s lead to 5-2. After Vosler walked, Walton grounded out to the mound.

That’s the way it stood after eight, when Jake McGee took over pitching duties for the orange and black, trying to keep the Sox within striking distance. Wade’s pretty jumping catch of Anderson’s two out fly ball at the right field fence enabled him to do it.

Kendall Graveman entered the game to bury the Giants’ hopes. He got Casali out on a grounder to third. Austin Slater pinch hit for Wade and singled to right and was forced out a second by Pederson’s grounder to García.

With two down, Longoria singled to left center, sending Pederson to third. He scored and Longoria moved to third on Belt´s base knock to center, making it 5-3. Yastrzemski worked a full count before grounding out to second to end a very frustrating loss. Graveman was credited with the save, his fifth in nine opportunities.

The Giants will try to save some face tomorrow at 1:05, when they’ll face Chicago’s Lucas Giolito (4-4, 5,19). Who will pitch for the Giants still is unannounced.

The Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn delivers against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Fri Jul 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

Chicago (AL) (36-39). 1. 6. 0

San Francisco (40-35). 0. 3. 1

Friday, July 1, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO-In a column published in The Athletic the day before yesterday, María Guardado quoted tonight’s starting pitcher for the Giants, Alex Cobb, as saying that his team is in “a division that doesn’t allow you to go through slumps. ….You’re trying to climb up the division with two teams in front of you, your margin for error is much smaller. “It’s there, it’s just not all clicking at the same time. …. We know we’re close.

We know we’re a good team. We don’t feel like we’ve played good ball, at least since the beginning stretch when we went on that tear. But we know that we’re capable of being that team. We’re just waiting for that streak to hit.”

The 34 year old veteran of 10 big league seasons, who entered the game at 3-3, 5.48, didn’t contribute much to the streak on which he based his claim to optimism. He went 1-0, 4.82 in April; 2-2, 6.04 in May; and was 0-1, 4.82 for June when he toed the rubber at 7:16.

His best previous outing in ’22 came on May 29 in Cincinnati, where he held the Reds to a pair of runs, both earned, in six innings. He’s already been on the injured list twice this season and hadn’t gone more than six innings in any of the 10 games he’d started.

It’s not as if Cobb’s voiced confidence were unnecessary. The Giants are in sore need of some encouragement. They entered the month in third place in the NL West, their record of 40-34 (.541) putting them 6-1/2 games behind the pacesetting Dodgers and, what is more worrisome, a game behind the Cardinals in the race for the final wild card berth. It’s still early, but not that early; we’re a week away from the halfway point in this strange season.

Tonight, after being defeated 1-0 by the underperforming White Sox, Cobb’s stoic confidence seemed misplaced.

For his part, the 34 year old veteran of ten seasons in the show pitched a fine game, although he showed signs of tiring in his fifth and final frame.

He shut the Sox out in those five innings, allowing only three hits, one of which was of the infield variety, and one walk. He chalked up three Ks on his road to a no decision that lowered his ERA to 4.59.

Cobb’s opposite number, Lance Lynn, who spent eight years with the Cardinals, Twins, Yankees, and Rangers before joining the ChiSox last season, has the history to be a formidable opponent.

He was 115-77, 3.48 lifetime at the end of last season. As with Cobb, injuries got Lynn off to a slow start this year. He tore a tendon in spring training and didn’t return to active duty until June 13.

To get an idea of how serious a blow to Chicago’s chances the sidelining of Lynn was, take a look at what the team did to try to soften the blow. They signed as his replacement one time Giant ace Johnny Cueto, who received a warm ovation from the crowd of 35,266 when he stepped out of the dugout between the third and fourth innings.

Since his return from the IL, Lynn had started three times, in which he went 1-1, 6.19, pitching deeper into the game with each successive outing. It’s early in the season for the 35 year old veteran, if not for MLB as a whole.

It’s also noteworthy that he brought with him today an impressive record against current members of the Giants active roster, having held them to a .111 batting average and an OPS of a mere .372. He has a very effective four seamer, in spite of it not being eye popping fast, a heavy cutter, an excellent sinker, a 12-6 curve, and a changeup. His performance tonight

Before game time, the Giants announced that they had placed Anthony DeScalfani on the 15 day IL due to an inflamed right ankle he suffered in his catastrophic third inning against Cincinnati here on June 26. The right handed hurler was replaced on the active roster by Jason Vosler, who was recalled from Sacramento and started tonight at third base, batting in the seventh spot.

After Cobb set the Sox down in order in the top of the first, Brandon Belt’s single, sandwiched between walks to Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski, enabled San Francisco to load the bases on Lynn after he’d retired the first two batters he faced. This brought the resurgent Tommy LaStella, who was hitting .349 for his last 15 games, to the plate. Lynn fanned him on an 0-2 cutter to end the threat.

Helped by some outstanding defense, especially Donovan Walton’s brilliant play on Andrew Vaughn’s grounder to short in the fourth and Yastrzemski’s running grab of Yoan Moncada’s drive to the left center field wall in the fifth, Cobb held the visitors scoreless until John Brebbia relieved him to open the sixth episode.

The only damage Chicago could inflict on him was a one out walk to José Abreu, who has been on an offensive tear of his own for the past two weeks or so. Tyler Rogers took over in the seventh, also allowing nothing but a free pass, to AJ Pollock, who was wiped out in a 4-6-3 double play .

Meanwhile, Lynn was magnificent. He went six full innings, allowing only three hits and two walks while shutting out the home team on 104 pitches, 63 of which counted as strikes. He reduced his ERA to 4.50, but all he got for it was a no decision before Joe Kelly replaced him after the seventh inning stretch. As if to emphasize how well matched the two teams were, all Kelly allowed was a walk.

Dominic Leone was the Kapler-Bailey combine’s choice to pitch the top of the eighth. He got his first two men, but Andrew Vaiughn made it interesting with a two strike two bagger to left center, bringing up Luis Robert, who has been enjoying a hot streak in which he hit .349 in his last 15 games. Leone got him to bounce to the mound on a 92mph cut fastball.

Tanner Banks, the first southpaw to pitch tonight, took to the mound for the Giants’ eighth. Naturally, the two left handed batters he would faced were replaced by right handed pinch hitters. Austin Slater replaced LaMonte Wade, Jr., and walked on four pitches.

Then it was Darin Ruf for all-star candidate Joc Pederson. Banks got him to hit into a bespoke 6-4-3 twin killing and then issued Flores a passport to first. The inning ended with Belt looking at a called third strike.

It was Camilo Doval pitching for the Giants in the crucial top of the ninth. Abreu flew out to Slater, now playing in deep center field. Gavin Sheets sent a bouncing ball to Belt at first, but his throw to Doval covering bounced off the pitcher’s glove for an E1.

The intrepid 24 year old recovered to strike out Yoan Moncada looking before yielding a single to third by Pollock that Vosler went into such contortions to catch that his throw to Belt drew the first baseman off the bag.

Then Leury García laced a line drive single to right, scoring Adam Hansley, pinch running for Sheets, from second, which he had reached on Pollock´s single. The play at home was close, but the call was correct. The run was unearned, but it was Doval’s fault.

The Giants would have to score against ex-Athletic Kendall Graveman if they were to avoid another gut wrenching loss. Yaz flew out to left. La Stella, a fellow ex-A, popped out to short, leaving it up to the recently recalled Vosler. He grounded out to second.

The win went to Banks. He’s now 1-0, 3,45, Doval took the loss, leaving. him at 2-4, 2.88.

The three day series resumes tomorrow at 1:05 when the two bleary eyed teams will send right handers Dylan Cease (6-3,2.56) and Logan Webb (7-2,3.04) to do battle in what promises to be another pitchers’ duel. But, as Thomas “Fats” Waller once said, “one never knows, do one?”

The Chicago White Sox Andrew Vaughn rounds the bases after a hitting a home run on Wed Apr 27, 2022 at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago against the Kansas City Royals. Vaughn made his return to his native Bay Area when he faced the San Francisco Giants on Fri Jul 1, 2022 at Oracle Park. (AP News file photo)

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – There haven’t been too many bright spots in this disappointing season for the Chicago White Sox, but Andrew Vaughn is certainly one of them.

The 24-year-old outfielder, who grew up in nearby Santa Rosa and spent many weekend afternoons as a kid going to Giants games at Oracle Park, made another trip to the ballpark Friday night, this time as a player in an opposing uniform.

After winning the Golden Spikes Award – annually given to the best amateur baseball player in the United States – in 2018, he was selected by the White Sox with the third overall pick of the draft the following year, signing with the team for $7.2 million.

He was called up by the big club in 2021 and finished the year with a .235 batting average, and he has really stepped it up in his second big-league season.

He entered Friday’s game with a .307 average with seven homers and 33 RBI, and he currently leads the majors with a .369 average on the road.

He made some loud contact on Friday but did not get much out of it in the beginning. He hit a hard liner in the top of the first, but it was right to shortstop Donovan Walton, who snatched it out of the air for the putout.

In his next at-bat, he hit a chopper to short and had a chance for an infield hit, only to be denied by Walton again, as he bare-handed it and made a perfect throw to first that beat Vaughn by a step.

Vaughn, however, broke through against Giants reliever Dominic Leone in the eighth, as he lined one into the gap in left-center for an easy double. He was then pulled for a pinch runner, ending his night.

HERE TODAY, GONE, WELL, TODAY: Warriors forward Damion Lee, who was best known this postseason by getting cooked by Dallas forward Davis Bertans in the Western Conference finals, threw out the first pitch at Friday’s game.

Mere minutes later, while he was still inside the ballpark, it was confirmed that Lee had agreed to a one-year deal to join the Phoenix Suns next season.

This is part of a rather-tumultuous early free-agency period for the Warriors, as they have seen Juan Toscano-Anderson sign with the Lakers while Gary Payton II signed with the Portland Trail Blazers in recent days.

FINALLY, A HIT: To say that Brandon Belt has been scuffling would be putting it lightly. The first baseman came into Friday night hitless in his previous 15 at-bats and was hitting only .087 with 11 strikeouts in his past nine games.

However, he started a two-out rally in the bottom of the first with a sharp single to left-center, and that led to the Giants loading the bases. The surge was stopped in its tracks, when an overzealous Tommy La Stella struck out swinging while attempting to put the Giants ahead, 4-0.