Category: San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon throws to the New York Mets in the first inning of action at Citi Field in New York on Wed Apr 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 One thing that San Francisco Giants (8-4) first baseman Brandon Belt didn’t have to count on on his 34th birthday on Wednesday was former New York Met (9-4) manager Casey Stengel popping out of Belt’s birthday cake after hitting a second inning home run up in the second deck.

#2 Giants starter Carlos Rodon threw for five innings not giving up a run, three hits, two walks and eight strikeouts and kept the Mets line up off balance all night line.

#3 Met’s manager Bucky Showalter was out for an disclosed medical procedure after sweeping the Giants on Tuesday and Showalter how much of a difference did that make for the Mets not having him on the bench on Wednesday night?

#4 For Rodon he’s struck out 29 hitters over a 17 inning period in three starts the most since New York Giant Cliff Melton had 26 strikeouts back in 1937.

#5 The Giants and Mets conclude the four game series at Citi Field this afternoon the Giants will be sending starter right hander Anthony DeSclafani (0-0 ERA 4.32) and starting for the Mets Carlos Carrasco (0-0 ERA 0.84) at Citi Field first pitch 10:10 AM PDT

Join Michael for the Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giant shortstop Brandon Crawford singles in the top of the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field in Flushing on Wed Apr 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK — The San Francisco Giants (8-4) bounced back after falling in both games of a doubleheader, with a 5-2 win over the New York Mets (9-4) at Citi Field Wednesday night – on Brandon Belt’s birthday.

The Giants had three runs in the first inning and in the second, Belt hit a homer to put them up 4-0 over the Mets. It was Belt’s team-high fourth home run of the season. Belt, who turned 34 the same day, is tied for fourth in homers in the MLB.

“Better than my first year – I got sent down on my birthday,” said Belt.

Giants starter Carlos Rodón overwhelmed the Mets, striking out eight. Rodón’s slider was not working well, so he threw mostly fastballs: 77 of them, making up 81% of his pitches for the night.

“My breaking stuff wasn’t very good, so we just decided to go with the fastball attack and luckily it worked in my favor,” Rodón said.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler said it was a unique fastball, one the team had not seen many of over the past couple of years.

“The quality of that fastball is exactly what we should be talking about because these are really good hitters who are set up to handle that style of pitching and still are swinging and missing at balls in the zone, sometimes in the middle of the plate,” Kapler said.

New York, without their manager Buck Showalter who was out for a medical procedure, tried to rally in the seventh inning. But Starling Marte ran for second base with Francisco Lindor at the plate and runners on the corners. The Giants’ Joey Bart threw to second base, ending the inning.

In the eighth inning, the Mets hit three straight singles off Giants pitcher Tyler Rogers. However, Wilmer Flores caught Dominic Smith’s two-out liner to third base that would have made it a one-run game.

The Giants (8-4) avoided their first three-game losing streak of this season. Meanwhile, the Mets (9-4) had their three-game winning streak snapped.

First pitch for the finale of the four-game series is at 10:10 a.m. PT.

New York Mets starter Max Scherzer pitched for seven innings giving up a hit and one run against the San Francisco Giants in the second game of a doubleheader at Citi Field in New York on Tue Apr 19, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK — The San Francisco Giants (7-3) fell to the New York Mets (8-3) in both games of a doubleheader at a frigid (44 degrees) Citi Field on Tuesday.

The Giants lost 5-4 in an extra inning in Game 1, and could not get in a swing and lost 3-1 in Game 2 of the doubleheader owed to Monday’s game postponement due to rain.

San Francisco started Game 1 strong with two runs in the second inning and two runs in the third inning. In the fifth inning, the Mets scored back-to-back doubles to cut the Giants’ lead to 4-3. In the second of those, Giants starting pitcher Alex Cobb injured his right groin. He has been placed on the 10-day injured list, but hopes for a quick return.

“That was a brutal game for us,” Cobb said. “Having two nine-inning doubleheaders and then the starter coming out as early as I did, is putting the team in a bad position, so, you know, whatever they need to do.”

The Mets’ Pete Alonso made a key defensive play in the tenth inning and Francisco Lindor hit a walk-off RBI single to secure a 5-4 victory over the Giants. Initially, it appeared that San Francisco hit a go-ahead run on an error at the top of the tenth inning. After review, however, the close call was overturned and the top half of the inning ended.

New York fans were very vocal in Game 2, cheering on their team as they scored three runs in the third inning, despite cold temperatures in Queens.

Mets starter Max Scherzer nearly finished the night with a no-hitter. He had two outs in the sixth inning and gave up one hit. Scherzer struck out ten in seven innings, leading the Mets to a 3-1 victory over the Giants.

Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb said he did not have a good feel for the ball, with the cold likely playing a role.

“It was cold out there. I was trying to rub up the ball as much as I could,” said Webb, but added he did not want to use it as an excuse.

Webb suffered his first loss since May 5, putting an end to his franchise record of consecutive undefeated outings at 24, including a pair in the postseason.

“I wish I could’ve kept it going. It’s cool, definitely, to be able to say I was able to do that,” Webb said. “I think I’ll be alright. It was just a bad day. Unfortunately I needed to give the guys some innings and I wasn’t able to do that.”

Giants manager Gabe Kapler said the Mets beat one of the best pitchers in the league, and that the loss hardly damages Webb’s impressive record thus far.

“When you reflect back on who this young pitcher has been since May of last year, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball,” Kapler said. “But now this is not just a run, it’s who he is. And we expect that performance from him going forward.”

The Giants (7-4) lost consecutive games for the first time this season. The Mets (9-3) swept a doubleheader from the Giants for the first time since July 13, 1079 at Shea Stadium.

First pitch for Game 3 of the four-game series is at 4:10 p.m. PT.

File photo of rain out at Citi Park in New York between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. The San Francisco Giants and New York Mets were rained out for Mon Apr 16, 2022 (WLUK Fox 11 file photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK–The San Francisco Giants-New York Mets series opener has been postponed due to rain, and will be made up in a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Mets announced the changes a few hours before first pitch was scheduled at Citi Field on Monday.

First pitch for the makeup game will be 12:10 p.m. PT on Tuesday, and the second game will begin about 30 to 40 minutes after the first game concludes. The MLB has reverted to its traditional nine-inning format for doubleheaders.

The Mets canceled the game before the rain started. Heavy rainfall was in the forecast for New York City beginning around 6 p.m. ET through 5 a.m. The rest of the week appears to be dry.

San Francisco will start right-handed pitcher Alex Cobb for Game 1 and Logan Webb for Game 2. New York will use their starter planned for Monday, Tylor Megill, for the doubleheader. Megill has yet to allow a run in 10 1/3 innings.

The series will see two of the top teams in the National League facing each other. The Giants (7-2) are a half-game better than the Mets (7-3). The Giants are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the top of the NL West. San Francisco is ranked first in total ERA while the Mets are ranked third.

Fans with tickets to Monday night’s game will not be able to use them to get into Tuesday’s doubleheader. Instead, they will get a digital voucher in their My Mets Tickets account accessible starting Tuesday, that can be exchanged for a ticket of comparable price and location to another Mets 2022 regular season game at Citi Field.

That includes the makeup doubleheader. However, it excludes the July 9 game with former Mets player Keith Hernandez’s number retirement, the July 26 to 27 Subway Series and the August 27 Old Times Day game.

More information can be found at Mets.com/Rain.