Category: San Francisco Giants

Monster Third Inning Pushes Minnesota Past San Francisco 9-0

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Joc Pederson struck out in the top of the third inning as the San Francisco Giants drop the first of three games to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis on Fri Aug 26, 2022 (AP News photo)

Monster Third Inning Pushes Minnesota Past San Francisco 9-0

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the San Francisco Giants (61-63) took on the Minnesota Twins (63-61) in a three game series at Target Field. The Giants are just coming off a disappointing split in their two game series with the Tigers earlier this week. The disappointment continued as the Giants dropped the first of the three game series to Twins 9-0.

The Twins got off to a great start in the first inning with a Carlos Correa home run scoring Kyle Garlick jumping off to a 2-0 lead.

The third inning was a disaster for the Giants. San Francisco loaded the bases twice in the inning. Giant pitcher Alex Wood hit two Twins at the plate and Minnesota went on a scoring frenzy. They scored six runs in the inning taking an 8-0 lead.

The Twins had their second home run of the evening off the bat of Gary Sanchez. Jose Miranda got the barrage underway with a sacrifice that brought Sandy Leon home. Gilberto Celestino doubled so deep to right center field that the Twins brought in three runners Garlick, Jorge Polanaco and Correa. Minnesota finished off the third with the Sanchez homer for a whopper of an inning.

Through five innings the Giants only had two hits but couldn’t get much else going. It would be an uphill battle for the remainder of the game. Wood left the game after the third with Zack Little pitching the fourth inning. Bay Area native Joe Ryan had a great showing in this game. He pitched six innings allowing only two hits, no runs and eight strikeouts.

The Twins would add insult to injury in the eighth inning when Garlick, who was having a banner game, hit a homer extending the Minnesota lead to 9-0 This was the Twins third home run of the game.

The Giants only had four hits but managed to hit into two double plays so not much went right for San Francisco in this one.

The Giants will try to regroup for tomorrow’s game with first pitch at 4:15 PM PT. They will send Alex Cobb 4-6 to the mound with a 3.99 ERA. Minnesota will start Sonny Gray with a 7-4 win/loss record and a 3.10 ERA.

You Be The Judge: Should the Giants pursue the Yankees slugger in free agency?

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By Morris Phillips

The Giants have been down this road before. In need of a focal point offensively, and wanting to get younger and usher in a new era, they signed 28-year old Barry Bonds as a free agent in 1993.

That move worked out tremendously.

The initial outlay was $43.75 million over six years, then the highest priced contract in total, and average value per year in the game. The Giants enjoyed a decade of success, and moved into their new downtown ballpark during that run. Bonds went on to be the biggest name in baseball with the records and accomplishments to match.

The 2022 Giants, coming off a 107-win season in 2021, have faltered and are on the verge of turning the page, and likely moving on from their most established stars and several pricey contracts.

The Yankees and slugger Aaron Judge have failed to consummate a contract extension, and the 30-year old is poised to hit the free agent market in the off-season as the game’s biggest prize.

Should the Giants be interested? Would the $200 million cost be a shrewd investment or a boondoggle? Let’s look.

In seven Major League seasons, Judge has showcased his trademark power, hitting 206 home runs to date. His high strikeout numbers and injury history have tempered the buzz surrounding his 6’7″ frame with his 2018 through 2020 seasons truncated due to injury.

But in the last two seasons, Judge has put it all together with 48 home runs and a .297 batting average to date, and attempting to register one of the biggest offensive seasons in the last 25 years. Judge is slugging at .663 clip with 1.056 OPS that leads all of MLB along with his home runs and RBI (105).

What players have put up a full season of comparable numbers? The list is short: Bonds, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.

Adding to the Judge aura: He’s cut down on his strikeouts, lifted his batting average to a career-best, and he’s a credible base stealer, successful on 14 of 15 attempts.

So why would the Giants be in play? Here’s where it gets interesting. Barring a triumphant run to the World Series, the Yankees and Judge may consider parting ways. Their contract negotiations have been contentious and eventually stalled prior to this season’s start exacerbated by the labor strife that pitted the player’s union against the 30 team owners.

The quiet and private Judge may have grown tired of New York City, and might be amenable to a change of scenery. His childhood home of Linden, California outside of Stockton would be nearby if he chose San Francisco.

And here’s the biggest reason the Giants and Judge might be a fit. The limited market for Judge’s services point toward the Giants as several other teams have made free agent moves in recent seasons while the Giants have swung and missed on Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto.

And this time a superior trade package won’t Trump the Giants. Money and a belief that Judge can maintain is superstar status throughout a five or six-year deal will be all that’s needed.

Would you pull the trigger on such a move? You and the Giants are on the clock.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Daniel Dullum: Longoria’s hot bat keeping Giants in ball games; Longoria hitting .340 over last 16 games

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Evan Longoria gets congratulated by teammates in the San Francisco Giants dugout after hitting a top of the sixth two run homer off the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Thu Aug 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Daniel:

#1 On Wednesday the San Francisco Giants Evan Longoria continued his hitting ways with a home run in the top of the sixth inning in Detroit to help the Giants in a 3-1 win at Comerica Park in Detroit.

#2 Longoria is hitting .340 over his last 16 games and has scored ten runs, with seven extra base hits which includes a grand slam home run. Longoria also has nine RBIs during that period.

#3 Giants starter Carlos Rodon threw for seven innings, five hits, one run, one earned and ten strikeouts for his 12th win against Detroit.

#4 Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is suffering a knee injury that is said to threaten Belt’s career. Belt himself is not sure if he can bounce back from the chronic knee saying it’s upsetting when he thinks about it.

#5 The Giants make their very first trip to Minnesota to face the Twins at Target Field. The Giants will be starting left hander Alex Wood (8-10, 5.45) he’ll be opposed by the Twins right hander Joe Ryan (9-6, 3.86) a 5:10 pm PDT first pitch.

Join Daniel Thursdays for the Giants podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Untangling A Webb: Tigers chase Giants’ ace in decisive fifth inning, and win 6-1

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By Morris Phillips

On the day of MLB’s 2023 interleague-heavy schedule release, the Giants ironically found themselves in a strange ballpark. Like a scary movie, things seemed normal at first, then veered wildly toward strange.

Logan Webb cruised into the fifth inning with a no-hitter, and retired 13 of the first 15 batters he faced, with the exception of two walks he issued. Then the downtown Detroit skyline became eerie, and figuratively, the roof caved in.

Jeimer Candelario broke up the no-no with a one out single, and Tucker Barnhart, hitting .208, followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. Akil Baddoo, hitting ninth with a .190 batting average, drew a walk to load the bases. Then Brandon Crawford misjudged Riley Greene’s hard-hit ground ball up the middle against a shift. Crawford was in position, but watched the ball kick up and over his glove on its way to center field. That gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead, and we segue for some analysis from manager Gabe Kapler.

I think when Logan is ahead in the count he’s getting more swings and misses,” Kapler said. “So there was some contact in that inning. Some of it was unfortunate, some of it was hard. I think if Logan could have that inning back, he’d probably get ahead of the bottom of the lineup.”

Webb started the next two batters–Kody Clemens (Roger Clemens’ son) and Harold Castro–with strikes, but it mattered little. Both produced RBI singles. Down 4-0 with a pair of runners aboard, Webb’s afternoon was finished.

 “I can’t really explain it,” Webb said. It just wasn’t very good.”

Thomas Szapucki was Kapler’s choice to end the Tigers’ rally, but Willi Castro sent his fifth pitch into the left field gap, scoring two more runs. Szapucki, acquired from the Mets in the Darin Ruf-J.D. Davis swap, tried to retire Castro with a low-80’s curve ball, but he had seen it three times in the four previous pitches, and he was ready for it.

Down 6-0, the Giants’ attempts to rally didn’t amount to much. Mike Yastrzemski, Joey Bart and Tommy LaStella strung together two out hits in the seventh to get the Giants on the board, but Lamonte Wade Jr. struck out to end that inning. The Giants realized baserunners in the eighth and ninth, but couldn’t bring them around in either frame.

The Giants finished 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Along with Webb, Wade’s afternoon was especially rocky. He finished 0 for 4 with a strikeout, and saw his smash to centerfield go 415 feet only to be caught by Greene, who provided an impressive jump to settle underneath the fly out in front of the 420 foot sign. Wade won’t cherish this August; he’s hitting .175 with just seven hits, none of them singles (two doubles, five home runs). He’s 0 for his last 13 across the most recent five games.

The other piece of adversity for the Giants surrounds Brandon Belt, who was put on the 10-day list with chronic knee issues. Speculation is that this injury could short circuit the remainder of Belt’s career, but the 35-year old said he chooses not to ponder that conclusion at this juncture.

The Giants won’t have a winning record to take to Minneapolis, falling to 61-62, but they will encounter a struggling Twins team without the injured Byron Buxton. The Twins have lost nine of 14 and are losing tonight in Houston at press time, 5-1.

The Giants will have Alex Wood on the mound Friday night in their first visit to Target Field. The Twins have not announced a starter.

More irony: the schedule reveal for next season has the Giants revisiting Detroit and Minnesota and opening the season in the Bronx against the Yankees, as all major league teams will see their interleague schedule go from 20 to 46 games, and see them play one three-game series against all 15 American League clubs with the only home-and-home against the A’s (two games at home, two games in Oakland).

Longoria, Rodon lead Giants past Detroit 3-1

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San Francisco Giants center fielder Mike Yastrzemski (5) catches a Detroit Tigers’ Eric Haase fly ball in the bottom of the fifth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Tue Aug 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Carlos Rodon tossed seven innings of one-hit baseball, Evan Longoria went deep, and the San Francisco Giants took the first of a two-game set with a 3-1 win over the Tigers in Detroit.

Detroit had a chance to win, loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning, but came up empty. In the Tigers’ ninth, Victor Reyes doubled off Giants closer Camilo Doval with one out, and took third on a passed ball. Doval then committed an error trying to field a grounder back to the mound by Javier Baez.

With runners at the corners, Eric Haase drew a walk to load the bases. Doval struck out Miguel Cabrera looking, and Harold Castro grounded out to end the game, giving Doval his 18th save.

In the Giants’ sixth, after a two out walk issued to Joc Pederson by Detroit reliever Daniel Norris, Longoria drove a slider for a two-run home run.

Rodon (12-6) lowered his earned run average to 2.81, and, after giving up a leadoff single by Riley Greene in the first inning, did not allow another baserunner until Castro reached with a two-out single in the fifth. He allowed one run on five hits and struck out 10, giving him eight double-digit strikeout games this season.

San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Tommy La Stella singled, and LaMonte Wade Jr. walked before a double play moved La Stella to third. Pederson followed with a run-scoring single.

Drew Hutchinson (1-7) took the loss for the Tigers. He struck out three and walked two, giving up one run on four hits over five innings.

Longoria and Pederson each had two of San Francisco’s five hits.

The teams wrap up the brief series with 10 a.m. getaway start on Wednesday. Logan Webb (11-6, 3.08) starts for the Giants, facing Detroit’s Matt Manning (0-1, 2.81).

Giant Wish: Can SF get hot, catch the Brewers and either the Phillies or Padres?

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By Morris Phillips

What the Giants need to happen, didn’t happen tonight.

At Citizen’s Bank, Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott hit majestic home runs and Noah Syndergaard improved to 3-0 following his trade to Philadelphia as the Phillies beat the Reds, 4-1.

That means the Giants will take the field in Detroit on Tuesday needing to make up 6 1/2 games on either the Phillies or the Padres, and 5 games on the Brewers in their final 41 games to qualify for the post-season.

After winning on Sunday against the Rockies, 9-8 in 11 innings, they seem up for the challenge.

“There are still signs of life in here,” said Evan Longoria, after his grand slam and game-ending catch and tag play highlighted his best performance of the season.

“We’ve been really streaky. We win five, we lose five, you know what I mean?” Jakob Junis said. “Anyway to shorten those losing streaks and get back on track… I think going into the off day, especially, losing this game would’ve been really tough. Thankfully we pulled it out.”

The Giants (60-61) were headed in the right direction with five straight wins, but followed them with four, consecutive losses. Rollercoaster rhythm won’t close the gap.

The biggest positive for the Giants is the three clubs they’re chasing haven’t run and hid, and they only have to catch two of them. There aren’t any other moving parts. For a wild card chase, the small number of contending clubs is rare.

With the NL playoffs incorporating six teams for the first time, we’ll say 87 wins is the mininum the Giants need to have a realistic chance. But it’s never just that, it’s posting a dominant record in the head-to-head match-ups, and there are 11 of those.

That points us to the home stand beginning a week from tonight: three against the Padres (68-56), followed by the three against the Phillies (67-55). The Giants also visit Milwaukee for two on September 8, an oddly-placed doubleheader that is preceded by a series in Los Angeles and followed by a trip to Chicago with no travel days.

Survive all that and just maybe the Giants remain mathematically alive for the season’s final series: three with the Padres at Oracle Park.

Daunting? You bet. This theoretical challenge requires a 27-14 finish, and it’s got to be the right 27 wins against the critical opponents.

Baseball-reference numbers don’t usually favor unlikelihoods. That’s the case here, the baseball historical and statistical website says the Giants have just a 3.2 percent chance of running this gauntlet.

What aspects provide hope for the Giants? The Phillies lost seven of 10 before beating the Reds on Monday. The Padres have nine games remaining with the Dodgers, who have their foot on the gas despite an insurmountable 18 game lead in the NL West. And the Brewers (65-56) have a weird spirit enveloping them in the wake of the unpopular trade of closer Josh Hader to San Diego.

Carlos Rodon is nearing career bests in starts (24 so far, 28 his personal best), wins (11,13), innings pitched (140.1, 165) and of course, strikeouts (179, 185). The strikeout mark could be eclipsed Tuesday night at Comerica Park in Rodon’s matchup with the Tigers’ Drew Hutchison.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Flores’ go ahead sac fly puts Giants in drivers seat for 9-8 win over Rockies in 11 innings

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San Francisco Giants Evan Longoria who hit a grand slam home run is greeted in the Giants dugout at Coors Field in Denver on Sun Aug 21, 2022 (NBC Bay Area photo grab)

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris, nothing like getting the key hit which turned out to be a sac fly by the San Francisco Giants Wilmer Flores in the top of the 11th inning that gave the Giants an eventual win over the Colorado Rockies 9-8.

#2 The Giants Evan Longoria is swinging a hot bat with a grand slam and three hits against the Rockies on Sunday.

#3 Elehuris Montero is swinging a hot bat for the Rockies hitting a home run in each of his last three games. Randal Grichuk and Brian Serven contributed with a homer a piece but all for not as the Rockies fell short by a run in the loss.

#4 The San Francisco Giants starter Jakob Junis was the first of eight pitchers, Junis went 6.2 innings, five innings, three earned runs, and six strikeouts. The Rockies scored a lot of runs but Junis went long enough to help in the starting role.

#5 The Giants snapped a four game losing streak they got grand slam help from Evan Longoria it seems that everything had to go just right for the Giants go come away with this win on Sunday.

Join Morris for the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Breaks Four-Game Losing Streak Beats Colorado In 11th Inning 9-8

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San Francisco Giants third baseman Evan Longoria (10) gets congratulated as the Giants defeat the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Sun Aug 21, 2022 (@SFGiants photo)

San Francisco Breaks Four-Game Losing Streak Beats Colorado In 11th Inning 9-8

By Barbara Mason

Sunday afternoon the Colorado Rockies (53-70) and Coors Field hosted the San Francisco Giants (60-61) in the final game of their three game series. The Rockies took the first two games of the series and the Giants were hoping to avoid the sweep.

Unlike the first two games, San Francisco got on the scoreboard early. Brandon Crawford singled in the second inning driving in Evan Longoria for an early 1-0 lead. The Giants extended their lead in the same inning when Austin Wynns also singled driving in Thairo Estrada, the score now 2-0.

Just when it looked like the Giants had something going in this game, Colorado tied it all up in the fifth inning. Brian Serven sent a bullet out of the park and Sam Hilliard scored. The Rockies had evened the score at 2-2.

In the seventh inning, the Giants after four quiet innings, erupted with an Evan Longoria homer with the bases loaded. Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater and J.D. Davis all scored giving San Francisco a 6-2 lead. The Rockies added another run in the seventh inning off a Elehuris Montero solo home run.

The Giants were leading after eight innings 6-3 and Colorado was running out of time if a sweep was in their future. Although the Giants only had seven hits in the game the turning point was the grand slam from Longoria.

The Rockies continued to hang around and scored a run in the eighth inning. Charlie Blackmon singled driving in Ryan McMahon, the Rockies now trailing 6-4. Colorado tied up this game when Randal Grichuk homered and Blackmon scored. San Francisco found themselves in the same position as they did yesterday; tied up going into the ninth inning.

Neither team could finish this game off in the ninth inning and again the teams went into extra innings, a repeat of yesterday’s game. Unlike yesterday, the Giants took the lead in the tenth inning Thairo Estrada singled driving in Joc Pederson for a 7-6 lead.

The Giants would add to that lead off a Wynns double that scored Estrada. Leading 8-6 San Francisco was three outs away from breaking their four-game losing streak.

The Giants were not off the hook by a long shot. In the bottom of the tenth inning Colorado’s McMahon hit a single and Bernard on second scored, now only trailing by a single run. Blackmon would remedy that.

He singled driving in McMahon and we had a tie game 8-8. With the bases loaded and two outs, Colorado was looking for the sweep. San Francisco held on and this game was on to 11th inning.

Wilmer Flores hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning giving the Giants back the lead 9-8. Yastrzemski scored the run that would prove to be the winner. The San Francisco Giants were able to grind this one out the final 9-8.

They had to pull out all the stops to win this game and put an end their losing streak. It was long and at times ugly but the Giants refused to give this game away.

Tuesday night the Giants begin a two-game series with the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit. San Francisco will be sending ace Carlos Rodon to the mound with a 2.89 ERA and an outstanding win/loss record of 11-6. The Giants offense will be facing Tiger pitcher Drew Hutchison (1-6, 4.23). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM PT.

Rocks Beat Giants in tenth 4-3; SF suffers fourth loss in a row

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San Francisco Giants third baseman J.D. Davis, right, puts the tag on Colorado Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon who got hung up between third and home trying to score on a grounder hit by Randal Grichuk in the bottom of the third inning at Coors Field on Sat Aug 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

Rockies Beat Giants In Tenth Inning 4-3.

By Barbara Mason

Saturday evening the San Francisco Giants (59-60) were back at Coors Field taking on the Colorado Rockies (53-69) in game two of their three game series and just couldn’t hold on and lost in ten innings 4-3. Friday night the Giants lost game one 7-4 despite a valiant effort in the seventh inning scoring three runs.

Saturday game recap: The Rockies were first up on the scoreboard in the third inning scoring twice for the 2-0 lead. Brendan Rogers doubled driving in Jose Iglesias for the first run. Ryan McMahon would follow that up with a single that drove in Rogers.

San Francisco would tie up this game 2-2. Both runs came off solo homers; the first in the sixth inning off the bat of Joey Bart. In the seventh inning Brandon Crawford homered to right center field and we had a tie ball game.

The Rockies wasted no time regaining the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Wynton Bernard singled driving in Sam Hiliard going back on top 3-2. Colorado would take the 3-2 lead into the ninth inning. The Giants were three outs away from losing game two of this series.

Tommy LaStella hit a single in the top of the ninth inning and San Francisco was still alive with two outs. Austin Slater came in to run for LaStella. Brandon Crawford doubled driving in Slater and the Giants had tied up the game 3-3. San Francisco held the Rockies in the bottom of the ninth with a six pitch inning and this game was going into extra innings.

The Rockies won this game in the tenth inning, a walk off for the 4-3 win. Brandon Rodgers singled to center and Wynton Bernard crossed home plate for their second win in this series. San Francisco had lost their fourth game in a row. San Francisco only had five hits in the game while Colorado had 12. The Giants offense continues to struggle. They got some monster hits from Brandon Crawford in this game but it was just not enough.

San Francisco will play a day game Sunday to finish off this series. They will try to avoid the sweep sending Jakob Junis to the mound with a 3.53 ERA and a 4-3 win loss record. Colorado will send Kyle Freeland 7-8 with a 4.82 ERA, the best pitcher that the Giants have faced in this series. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PM PT.

Giants Lose Series Opener To Colorado 7-4; Giants drop third game in a row

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San Francisco Giant Joc Pederson celebrates after hitting a top of the sixth inning home run for a solo shot at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies (AP News photo)

Giants Lose Series Opener To Colorado 7-4

By Barbara Mason

After splitting a series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants (59-60) traveled to Colorado to take on the Rockies (52-69) in a three game series. The Giants had really gotten back on track but hit a slight bump in the Arizona series. There was no bump on Friday night at Coors Field with a 7-4 loss as the Giants dropped their third game in a row.

The Rockies got off to a quick start int the first inning. Elehuris Montero homered with Randle Grichuk on base and Colorado had taken an early 2-0 lead. Connor Joe would add another run for the Rockies with a solo homer to left giving the Rockies a 3-0 lead.

The fifth inning extended the Colorado lead and it was not looking promising for the Giants through five innings. Jose Iglesias doubled driving Wynton Bernard home extending their lead to 4-0. Montero would hit his second home run of the game in the fifth with Iglesias and Grichuk on base and the Rockies had built a 7-0 lead.

San Francisco finally got up on the board in the sixth inning when Joc Pederson hit a solo home run. They still had a lot of work left to do trailing 7-1.

It was an encouraging seventh inning for San Francisco. They came away with three runs cutting the Colorado lead to 7-4. With the bases loaded Lucas Gilbreath hit Joey Bart and Mike Yastrzemski came home from third base. With the bases still loaded, Austin Slater singled and both Brandon Crawford and J.D. Davis scored.

Going into the ninth inning, the Giants were three outs away from losing the series opener. San Francisco had dug too deep a hole to recover. Colorado pitcher Jose Urena had an exceptional game going 6.2 innings and giving up 3 hits and 3 runs. The final was 7-4 in favor of the Rockies. San Francisco only had five hits to Colorado’s ten.

Tomorrow the Giants will be looking to tie up the series. Alex Cobb (4-6, 3.00) will take the mound for San Francisco. The Rockies will send Ryan Feltner (2-4, 6.39) who is a bit shaky with a 10.38 ERA in the last seven days. First pitch at Coors Field is scheduled for 5:10 PM PT.