Category: San Francisco Giants

Rosario goes cycling in Braves victory 3-0

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Eddie Rosario who hit for the cycle for the Atlanta Braves is jubilant after hitting a triple against the San Francisco Giants in the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Sep 19, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Wouldnt you know that it would be a former member of the San Francisco Giants that cost them a big weekend sweep.

Adam Duvall hit a two-run home run off of Anthony DeSclafani in the top of the seventh inning, helping the Atlanta Braves to salvage the finale of the three-game series with a 3-0 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 32,210 at Oracle Park.

Max Fried was absolutely fantastic for the Braves, as he went seven innings, allowing zero runs on three hits, walking just one and striking out five on his way to raising his record to 12-7 on the record and with the win, the Braves will remain in first place over the Philadelphia Phillies.

On the other side of things, the Giants lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers was reduced to one game in the National League with the loss and the Dodgers 8-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark.

It was a huge day for Rosario, who hit for the cycle, as he went 4 for-4 on the afternoon against Giants pitching. Rosario came up in the top of the ninth inning with a chance at the getting the cycle, and got it when he singled off of Kervin Castro. Rosario doubled in the second, tripled in the fifth, homered in the seventh and singled in the ninth to complete only the second cycle since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000.

This was the fourth cycle of the season in Major League Baseball this season, as Trea Turner, then of the Washington Nationals, Jake Cronenworth of the San Diego Padres and Rosarios teammate Freddie Freeman also hit one and it was the 10th cycle in Braves history.

DeSclafani went the first six innings and was looking fantastic until he gave a double to Austin Riley that Austin Slater brought back into the ballpark like Steven Duggar did with a ball hit by Jorge Soler. In all, DeSclafani went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, did not walk a batter and struck out six and his record fell to 12-7 on the season.

Immediately following the Duvall home run off of DeSclafani, Zack Littell came on and was greeted rather unceremoniously, as Rosario made it back-to-back home runs to lengthen the Braves lead.

Unfortunately for the Giants, they were unable to get anything going against Fried, who baffled them on all afternoon.

Former Dodgers outfielder and Bay Area Joc Pederson, who went to Palo Alto High School went 2-for-4 with a single and a double.

With a chance to break the game wide open in the top of the eighth inning, after Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman each singled off of Jose Alvarez with one out in the inning, Camilio Doval came on and was able to get out of the jam, as he got Riley to fly out to Darin Ruf in left field for the second out of the inning and then Doval struck out Duvall to end the inning.

Former Giants closer Will Smith came on in the bottom of the ninth inning and retired the Giants in order to get his 33rd save.

NOTES: Eric Byrnes came up with the only other cycle in the history of the 21-year old ballpark, when completed the cycle on June 29, 2003 as a member of the Oakland Athletics, when the ballpark was then known as Pacific Bell Park.

Byrnes went 5-for-5 on the afternoon, with a single, two doubles, a triple and a home run in a 5-2 win over the Giants.

Felix Rodriguez gave up the triple that Byrnes needed in the top of the ninth inning to complete the cycle.

UP NEXT: After an off-day on Monday, the Giants will open their final road trip of the regular season, as they head off on a two-city, six-game road trip to San Diego to face the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, and then head to Colorado to face the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field beginning on Friday night.

Casali drives in both runs in Giants win 2-0

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San Francisco Giants hitter Curt Casali swings for a two RBI single as Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d’Arnau looks on in the fourth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco Sat Sep 18, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Alex Wood made his return to the starting rotation, but his return was a short one.

Wood, who was reinstated from the injured list prior to the game went only three innings, allowing zero runs on zero hits, walking no one, striking out four and hit by a batter and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves 2-0 before a crowd of 32,058 at Oracle Park.

With the victory, the Giants maintained their two-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 earlier on Saturday at Great American Ballpark.

On the other side of things, this was the fourth loss in a row for the Braves and their lead in the National League East now stands at one game over the Philadelphia Phillies, who have won four in a row.

The Giants finally got to Charlie Morton in the bottom of the fourth inning, Curt Casali hit a two-run single to right field that scored both LaMonte Wade, Jr., and Brandon Crawford with what proved to be the only runs of the game.

Wade, Jr., walked to lead off the inning, then Crawford singled to right field to send Wade, Jr., down to second base. The duo then advanced an additional 90 feet, when Mike Yastrzemski dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt that he nearly beat out and then Casali hit the two-run single.

Once again, the Giants bullpen was dazzling in relief of Wood, as the combination of Zach Littell, Jay Jackson, Jarlin Garcia, Jose Alvarez, Tyler Rogers and Dominic Leone combined to go the final five innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, walking three and striking out five.

Morton went the first five for the Braves, as he allowed two runs on four hits, three walks and struck out three.

It looked like the Braves took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning, as Jorge Soler it looked like he hit his 24th home run of the season; however, Steven Duggar robbed him of the home run, when he brought the ball back into play and it was called a double off of Littell, who then gave up a single to Freddie Freeman.

Littell was able to get out of the inning unscathed, as he struck out Austin Riley on a foul tip that was reviewed and confirmed after 67 seconds to be the third strike, then Littell struck out both Adam Duvall and Travis dArnaud to get out of the jam.

With the Giants scoring the two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, it gave the win to Littell and he raised his record to 4-0 on the season and Leone, who came on to close the game picked up his second save of the season.

NOTES: Wood was reinstated, as he started the game for the Giants, to make room for Wood, Sammy Long was optioned to Sacramento and Chadwick Tromp was designated for assignment.

The Giants home run streak came to a halt at 12 consecutive games (26 home runs overall) and this was the longest streak by the team since they hit home runs in 13 straight games from June 25-July 12 of 2019 and hit 25 home runs during the streak.

When Donovan Solano hit his pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night, it was the 16th pinch-hit home run of the season for the team and are one shy of the Major-League record set by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017, when they hit 17.

The Giants record of 97-52 thru 149 games is the best by the team since they moved to California in 1958, passing both the 1962 and 1993 team that was 93-56 thru 149 games.

This was the 1,250th win by the Giants over the Braves all-time and have lost 1,097 times and tied 26 times.

UP NEXT: Anthony DeSclafani goes to the mound for the Giants, as they look for the sweep and DeSclafani goes for his 13th win of the season, while the Braves will send Max Fried to the hill, as he looks for his 12th win of the season.

Gausman wins it in extras with a sacrifice fly edge Braves 6-5 in 11

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By Jeremy Kahn

San Francisco Giant pitcher Kevin Gausman in front of Brandon Belt (9) and Brandon Crawford (35) celebrate Gausman’s pinch hit sacrifice RBI that scored Crawford in the 11th inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco to edge the Atlanta Braves on Fri Sep 17, 2021 (AP News photo)

SAN FRANCISCO-If you had Kevin Gausman to get the game-winning run batted in for the San Francisco Giants, you should be a gambler.

Gausman came off the bench to pinch hit for Camilo Doval and hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Giants came back to defeat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 before a crowd of 26,644 at Oracle Park.

Coupled with the Cincinnati Reds win by the final of 3-1 at Great American Ballpark over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants lead over the Dodgers is up to two games in the National League West with 14 games to play.

The Giants, who ran out of position players after Curt Casali came off the bench to pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth inning, were forced to send a pitcher to the plate to bat and the call went to Gausman, who walked in his only previous pinch-hit at bat.

Last walk-off RBI by a Giants pitcher prior to tonight was September 25, 2018 versus the San Diego Padres when Madison Bumgarner singled home Gorkys Hernandez in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Brandon Crawford was the runner on second in the bottom of the 11th inning, and after eventual losing pitcher Justin Webb threw his pickoff attempt into centerfield, Crawford got up and moved to third base. Webb then intentionally walked Evan Longoria, but then Webb was able to get Steven Duggar to fly out to Adam Duvall for the first out of the inning; however, Crawford was unable to score.

Webb then walked Donovan Solano intentionally for the second intentional walk of the inning and the fourth between the 10th and 11th innings alone that brought up Gausman, who ran the count to 3-2 and then on sixth pitch of the at-bat, launched the ball into right field and Crawford beat the throw from Joc Pederson to give the Giants one of the most dramatic wins of the season.

In each of the last 10 losses by the Braves, they have been by one or two runs. During the streak, they have seven one-run losses and three two-run losses and this was the 29th one-run loss by them this season, only the New York Mets with 32 have more.

Solano, who was walked intentionally in the bottom of the 11th inning sent the game into extra innings, as hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning with two strikes and two outs off of former Giants closer Will Smith.

This was the 16th pinch-hit home run of the season for the Giants, the most in the National League.

Solano, who was out for 21 games and in quarantine for a period of 14 days after tested positive for Covid-19.

Dominic Leone pitched a perfect eighth inning after replacing Logan Webb, who pitched a fantastic first seven innings for the Giants.

Tyler Rogers came on to close it out for the Giants, but got into immediate trouble in the top of the ninth inning, as he allowed back-to-back hits to Riley and Duvall and nearly gave up a third straight hit; however, Tommy La Stella made a great catch off a ball hit by Eddie Rosario for the first out of the inning. Then dArnaud launched what looked like a game-winning three-run home run into the left field bleachers just out of the reach of Kris Bryant that gave the Braves a short-lived 5-4 lead.

Brandon Belt, Crawford and Lamont Wade, Jr., joined Solano as they each hit home runs for the Giants.

Go figure, on the night that the Giants would hit three home runs, bringing their total to 227, passing the 2000 team for the second-most in team history and trailing the 2001 team for the most in team history, when they hit 235, the man who hit 122 of those home runs, would be at the game and his name is Barry Bonds.

Logan Webb pitched fantastic, as he went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking not a single batter and striking out nine, but did not fare in the decision.

Webb fell into a jam in the top of the first inning, as after he struck out the first two batters of the game, he then gave up three straight hits to Freddie Freeman, Austin Riley and Duvall, who drove in both runs in the inning, when he doubled off of Webb. Both Freeman and Riley singled prior to the Duvall double.

That lead would not last long, as Ian Anderson walked Darin Ruf to lead off the bottom of the first inning and then on a 2-0 pitch, Belt hit his team-leading 26th home run of the season.

Crawford gave the Giants the lead for the time being in the bottom of the second inning, as he led off the inning with his 21st home run of the season on a 3-1 pitch.

Wade, Jr., hit the third home run of the night for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit a solo home run into McCovey Cove. It was the second Splash Hit of the season for Wade, and the 91st since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000.

Crawford not only came up big at the plate, he also came up with a dazzling play in the field off of the bat of Riley in the top of the sixth inning. In what looked like was going to go into left field, Crawford dove into the hole, snared the ball with his glove, got up to throw across the infield to get Riley by a few steps at first base.

Anderson pitched the first 5.2 innings for the Braves, as he allowed four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out and like Webb did not fare in the decision.

Leone came on to replace Webb and promptly got out of the inning, as he retired the Braves in order, including Freeman, the 2020 NL MVP on a ground ball to end the inning. Freeman went 2-for-4 on the night.

Bryant doubled in the bottom of the sixth inning, it was the 16th straight game that Bryant would reach, his longest streak since July 4-26, 2019, when he also reached in 16 games, while with the Chicago Cubs.

NOTES: Solano returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the IL, while Jay Jackson was recalled from Sacramento, Jake McGee was placed on the 10-day IL (retro to September 14) with a right oblique strain and Thairo Estrada was optioned to Sacramento.

The Giants tied for the third most hits in a game, that were all extra base hits (since 1901): 5/5/1901 Reds: 10 8/18/1998 Braves (vs SF): 9 Tonight Giants: 8 6/3/2017 Yankees: 8 7/10/2010 Tigers: 8 9/18/2002 Cardinals: 8, this according to Sarah Langs.

The only other time that the Giants received a game-winning pinch hit RBI from a pitcher was Don Robinson on July 31, 1990 at Candlestick Park against Juan Agosto of the Houston Astros, when Robinson singled to score Brett Butler from third base.

This was the 16th four-home run or more game of the season, passing the Toronto Blue Jays for the most in the Major Leagues.

Also, the Solano home run was the 74th by the team this season, ranking third in the majors, behind the Tampa Bay Rays and the Blue Jays.

UP NEXT: Alex Wood takes the mound on Saturday night for the Giants, as he looks for his 11th win of the season, while Charlie Morton will take the mound for the Braves, as he looks for his 14th win of the season for the visitors from Atlanta.

Tight Squeeze: Giants’ NL West lead just one game after 7-4 loss to the Padres

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Well, this divisional race won’t be blurting out magic numbers anytime soon… if at all.

The Giants fell to the Padres 7-4 on Thursday afternoon, a second consecutive loss after nine straight wins that has the upstarts clinging to a one game lead over the establishment with 15 games remaining for both.

San Francisco’s season for the ages could also include a regular season finish for the ages. With the two best teams in baseball battling in one division–along with being long time bitter rivals–it doesn’t get any better than this. The Padres–with six games remaining with San Francisco, and three with Los Angeles–will have a say along with trying to further their own playoff hopes.

“The Padres are fighting to get in, too, and we’re fighting to win a division. They’re certainly not going to roll over and just hand it to us. They have some guys who are having some really good years. I know they’ve had some injuries over there, but they’re a good team, and we’ll see them a bunch over these next two weeks,” Kris Bryant said.

On Thursday, the Padres were very good. Losers of 21 of 30 coming in, they roughed up Kevin Gausman with eight hits and four runs through five innings. Gausman was looking for his 15th win, but he left early, trailing 4-0. After putting up a paltry two runs in two lopsided losses to start the series, the Padres bounced back with 30 hits on Wednesday and Thursday, many of them of heavy contact variety.

“I think we can chalk it up to kind of running into the best version of them,” manager Gabe Kapler said.

The Giants streak of scoring at least six runs ended at 10 games, and again, like Wednesday night, the offense came in pieces not chunks. After Pierce Johnson and Nabil Crismatt shut the Giants offense down through five innings, they scored single runs in innings six through nine. Not only was the output lacking, the hosts failed to put the pressure on the previous faltering guests by climbing within a couple of runs. The Padres’ three-run seventh keyed by pinch hitter Wil Myers and Manny Machado ended all the suspense.

Evan Longoria homered in the eighth inning and contributed two hits. And all eight position players in the starting lineup had at least one hit for the Giants, but with runners on base the whole lineup couldn’t produce. The Giants finished 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

On Friday, the Giants open a series with the Braves, leaders of the NL East. Red hot Logan Webb will face Ian Anderson in the opener at 6:45pm. The Dodgers were off on Thursday, and they travel to Cincinnati for a meeting with the Reds to start their final, 9-game road trip of the season.

Bullpen Bopped: Giants upended by the Padres in 9-6 loss, NL West lead drops to 1 1/2 games

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–When you’re as good as the Giants have been in 2021, circumstances often don’t matter. This guy back in, that guy out with COVID, formidable opponent, less than ideal scheduling and travel, for the best in baseball Giants it hasn’t mattered.

On Wednesday night, with their bullpen showing strain, and the visiting Padres as desperate as desperate comes, the Giants’ circumstances did matter.

The Padres saddled all seven Giants’ relievers that pitched with at least two hits, in a 16-hit attack that overwhelmed the home team from the first inning on. San Diego broke a 5-game losing streak, and kept their dissipating playoff hopes alive with a 9-6 win.

It’s not ideal,” manager Gabe Kapler said of attempting to beat the Padres twice in three games by utilizing a row of relievers. “We have to make the best of it, and I think thus far we’ve been able to do that. Tonight was definitely not that. We just got beat.”

Minus Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto, the Giants have soldiered on with just three starters… for the first half of September. That’s a long stretch for a major league baseball to be out of its routine, and even more challenging at this stage of a long season.

The answer: the Giants won 11 of 14 despite all the upheaval.

“I think it’s pretty tough to ask them to go out there like this multiple times a week, but they’ve done it,” Brandon Belt said of the bullpen’s heroism. “They haven’t said a word, and they’ve gotten the job done, for the most part. Tonight we just couldn’t pick them up.”

Dominic Leone got the start for the second time in this series as the opener, and finally the bullpen ace with the ridiculously low ERA faltered. Two of three batters Leone faced drew walks, and big swinging Fernando Tatis Jr. singled to shortstop. Three batters into the game, Leone was done, after pitching five scoreless inning in three previous starts this month.

That start triggered the Padres, who have been in an incredible slide in which they’ve gone from wild card probables to barely breathing by losing 21 of 29. Adam Walker’s RBI double gave the Padres a 2-0 first inning lead, and they stretched it to 5-0 in the second when Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer came up with big hits off Jarlin Garcia.

Still the Giants battled, extending their streak of scoring at least six runs in a game to 10, the longest such streak in their San Francisco history. The biggest issues blunting the Giants’ comeback: Brandon Crawford’s second inning error triggered San Diego’s three-run rally, and Jose Quintana–the former Angel picked up off waivers two weeks ago–got taken advantage of. The 51st of his 52 pitches thrown in the fifth and sixth innings was hammered by Jurickson Profar, a home run that increased the Padres’ dwindling lead to 7-3.

Oh, and one other issue: the Giants’ offense wasn’t particularly efficient. They hit four home runs–from Belt, Thairo Estrada, Kris Bryant and Steven Duggar–but none came with runners on base. The club’s scoring in five of the nine innings included just one crooked number, a two-run seventh in which Belt and Duggar went deep, while pinch hitter and late lineup scratch Mike Yastrzemski, Buster Posey and Tommy La Stella recorded routine outs.

For the Giants a long night, a unique night, but one in which their nine-game win streak (their longest since a 10-game run in 2004) ended, and the Dodgers won, decreasing their division lead to 1 1/2 games. The Giants had 40 at-bats, none of which involved a pitcher. They employed four pinch hitters, they had nine hits–six of those for extra bases–and drew five walks, and one hit batter (Crawford) but couldn’t overcome the Padres’ hit parade.

But they came close.

The Giants conclude their series with San Diego on Thursday afternoon as Kevin Gausman gets the start in search of his 15th win. Pierce Johnson, the San Diego reliever will oppose Gausman, as the Padres might show vulnerability with a bullpen game of their own just hours after the long Wednesday night game.

Tatis, Pads end Giants 9 game win streak with 9-6 win

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San Diego Padre Fernando Tatis Jr beats out a throw that has San Francisco Giant first baseman Brandon Belt stretching on Wed Sep 15, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–All good things come to an end which was the case for the San Francisco Giants (95-51) as their 51st loss of the season ended their nine game win streak at Oracle Park in San Francisco to the San Diego Padres 9-6.

The Padres managed to stay ahead of the Giants all game long and they can thank Pads hitters Fernando Tatis Jr who had four hits and Jurickson Profar who hit a home run to help the Padres end a five game losing skid. The Padres Adam Frazier also had four hits and third baseman Manny Machado doubled twice, scored a run and an RBI.

The Padre victory breathed some life into their NL Wild card hopes as they now trail the St Louis Cardinals by just one game for the second wild card position. The Giants who are battling to maintain first place in the NL West had their lead cut to 1.5 games as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night 5-3.

Had the Giants won on Wednesday night they would have tied the 2004 Giants for the best winning streak at ten games. The Giants did get their share of home run help in the bottom of the third inning from pinch hitter Thairo Estrada, in the bottom of the sixth from Kris Bryant and later in the bottom of the seventh from Steven Duggar and red hot hitter Brandon Belt all hit solo shots but it wasn’t enough to catch the Padres on this Wednesday night.

The Padres scored on Giants pitching starting with Giants starter Dominic Leone just couldn’t get out of the top of the first lasting only one out before being lifted and a pitching line of two hits, two earned runs, and one strike out, Giant reliever Zack Littell the third Giant reliever came in in the top of the second with one out and gave up two hits and a run and was lifted after getting one hitter out, the Giants sixth reliever Jose Quintana didn’t fare so well giving up three hits and two earned runs in the seventh and the final Giants pitcher Jose Alvarez came in the top of the eighth and in the ninth inning gave up three hits and two earned runs.

Thursday’s starters for the Padres to be announced and the Giants Kevin Gausman (14-5) Gausman has won five of his last starts. The Giants can take this series three games to one if they can pull off a win today at Oracle Park a 12:45 pm first pitch PDT

DeSclafani wins 13th Giants make it nine in a row defeat Pads 6-1

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani delivers against the San Diego Padres in the second inning of Tue Sep 14, 2021 game at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Even though they have clinched a berth in the playoffs, the San Francisco Giants are still playing for seeding in the upcoming playoffs.

Buster Posey hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, helping the Giants to a 6-1 victory over the San Diego Padres before a crowd of 22,192 at Oracle Park. With the victory, the Giants have won nine games in a row.

Once again, the Giants put up six or more runs in a game for the ninth game in a row, matching the longest streak since moving to California in 1958 and the team record in 15 that was set in 1929.

The Posey home run would have been a two-run home run; however, Tommy La Stella, who led off the inning with a single was thrown out on a double play after Jurickson Profar made a great catch and throw to Manny Machado, who in turn, threw to Eric Hosmer on the fly ball hit by Brandon Belt.

Anthony DeSclafani pitched a fantastic game, as he went the first 6.2 innings for the Giants, as he allowed just one run on three hits, walking one and striking out and he raised his record to 12-6 on the record.

The Padres tied the game up in the top of the third inning, when Profar doubled, went to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Jake Arrieta and then scored when Trent Grisham grounded out to La Stella, who in turn, threw to Posey and after he was unable to get Profar, Posey threw to Belt to get Grisham.

Posey scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the third inning, as he scored on a throwing error by Arrieta on a pickoff attempt to get LaMonte Wade, Jr., at first base with Brandon Crawford at the plate. After Belt made the first out of the inning, Posey singled for his second hit in as many at-bats, then Wade, Jr., followed him by singling Posey to third.

La Stella got some redemption for his base running snafu in the bottom of the first, as he singled in the bottom of the fourth inning that scored Steven Duggar.

Kris Bryant doubled off of Arrieta with one out in the bottom of the second inning with one out, it was the 200th double of his major-league career.

The Giants bullpen trio of Tony Watson, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval was outstanding, as they closed the game for the Giants without allowing a baserunner to reach base.

Darin Ruf hit a pinch-hit double in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Crawford, who doubled with one out in the inning.

Belt doubled in the bottom of the eighth inning that La Stella, who walked with one out in the inning and was then pinch ran for by Thairo Estrada, who scored in on the Belt double.

Posey then hit a ground ball to Manny Machado, who threw wildly to Hosmer at first for an error and Belt stopped at third; however, after a lengthy review, the review showed that the ball went on the netting and Belt was awarded home plate and Posey went to second.

NOTES: By clinching the playoff berth on Monday night, it was the earliest that the Giants have clinched a playoff berth in franchise history by one game over the 1912 New York Giants, this according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The 94 wins by the Giants are the third most by a team thru 144 games since 1969, trailing the 1975 Cincinnati Reds (won the World Series), who won 96 and the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals (lost the World Series, who won 95 (STATS, LLC). Both the Reds and Cardinals opponents in the World Series was the Boston Red Sox.

This is the first nine-game winning streak by the Giants since they won 10 in a row from May 20-31, 2004.

The nine-game winning streak by the Giants is the longest in the month of September since they won 14 in a row from September 4 thru September 16.

The streak began with a victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and ended on September 17 with a loss to the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium.

When La Stella hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning, it was the fifth home run of the season for La Stella and he is the 17th player on the Giants to have at least five home runs, breaking the record of 16 different players set by the 2019 Seattle Mariners.

Also, in their City Connect uniforms, the Giants are now 7-1.

UP NEXT: Joe Musgrove will take the mound for the Padres on Wednesday night, as he searches for his 11th win of the season, while the Giants will send Dominic Leone to the mound.

No Time to Let Up: Giants open homestand with a 9-1 thrashing of the Padres

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The best record in San Francisco Giants history through 144 games. At least six runs scored in each of the last eight games, all wins. Four more homers on Monday night.

And one more: a playoff berth–considered highly unlikely when the season began–clinched earlier on the calendar than the club has done previously in franchise history.

The Giants are once-in-a-generationally hot, and they’re not showing any signs of letting up.

“We’re definitely happy that we’re going to the playoffs, there’s no doubt about that,” Brandon Belt said. “But we want to win the division. This is the first step, but we didn’t come here just to make it in.”

“You have quite a few World Series champions in that room and people who understand that this is one step in the direction that we want to go, but not the ultimate goal,” manager Gabe Kapler added.

An 9-1 thrashing of the helpless Padres on Monday happened so fast, the final five innings held no intrigue–and almost no additional scoring. The Giants put up five in the first, and three more in the fourth to lead 8-1.

And this was bullpen night, which is usually problematic given the Giants currently have two empty slots in their rotation, but on this occasion was supreme. Dominic Leone started (for the third time, the first was September 5) and he remained perfect. Leone threw a pair of scoreless innings, and has five scoreless in total in his three starts.

Jose Alvarez followed, allowing the Padres’ only run on Fernando Tatis’ RBI double, and the relievers rolled out from there. Six in all saw action with rookie Kervin Castro pitching the eighth and ninth. The Giants are expected to again turn to their relievers on Wednesday as Johnny Cueto and Alex Wood remain on the shelf.

Tommy La Stella opened the scoring with a 414-foot shot to straight away center field. Evan Longoria capped the five-run frame with three-run shot. Those home runs sandwiched Lamonte Wade Jr.’s triple that scored Darin Ruf.

Yu Darvish took the loss, allowing all four home runs, which included bombs by Belt and Mike Yastrzemski, both of which traveled further than La Stella’s in the first. Darvish–at least in Giants’ broadcaster Dave Fleming’s opinion–maybe the poster child for the hastily-adopted rules aimed at eliminating pitchers using sticky substances to grip the baseball, and maximize the ball’s rotation. Darvish has won just twice since the new rules took effect, he was 6-1 in prior to that.

The Giants were in their fine-tuned, power swinging mode with just eight hits to score nine runs. Six of the eight went for extra bases, all previously mentioned with the exception of Brandon Crawford’s double that contributed to the team’s eighth inning rally that capped their scoring.

The Giants won’t see much change in the NL West standings–the Dodgers were winning 4-1 in the seventh at the time this article published–but the pressure is on the defending champions, as their equally hot play hasn’t earned them in any traction in the race for the division title. Only 18 games remain, and the Giants have the friendlier schedule with 12 remaining home games.

One last reminder of how hot the Giants are: if they capture 14 of their last 18 games, that would give them 108 wins on the season. While that would require an insanely torrid pace, one the team can’t be doggedly pursuing with the playoff preparation their biggest priority, it would mean incredible history. Only the 1975 Reds and 1986 Mets have won that many games in the divisional era which dates back to 1969.

On Tuesday, the Giants battle the Padres again with Anthony DeSclafani and Jake Arrieta the listed starters for the 6:45pm start.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Giants nothing but success in Chicago; Host Padres Magic number is 1 can clinch tonight

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San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt sports a taped C for Captain on his jersey which he talked about on the NBC Bay Area post game show Sat Sep 11, 2021 at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs (photo from nbcsports.com)

On Giants podcast with Marko:

#1 For the Giants (93-50) Kris Bryant it was a memorable and emotional return to Chicago (65-79) for him seeing his old teammates, friends, and yes a few Wrigley Field neighbors as the Cubs ran a video tribute in his honor before the game last Friday.

#2 Brandon Belt has certainly earned the C on his Giants road jersey he’s led by example hitting the home run ball with much frequency and has 23 for the season so far hitting .258. He had black electrical tape to his jersey as a C he certainly has earned the honor.

#3 Wilmer Flores returned on Sunday to the Giants after suffering a left hamstring injury. Flores had been used as a pinch hitter and was in the line up against left handed pitching. Giants manager Gabe Kapler is looking forward to getting productive help from Flores.

#4 Giants pitcher Jay Jackson who pitched an opener for the Giants and got rocked in the first inning on Sep 4th for four runs and a hit against the Los Angeles Dodgers was sent down to the Giants triple A Sacramento. Jackson was 2-1 with an ERA of 4.34.

#5 Giants lead in the NL West by 2.5 games over the Dodgers and open a three game series at Oracle Park in San Francisco against the San Diego Padres (74-67) the Padres have been .500 ball while the Giants have won nine of their last 11 games. The Giants still have to be cautious playing a club like the Padres they’ve got some talent.

Marko Ukalovic is filling for Morris Phillips for the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Flores returns in Giants win over Cubs 6-5

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The return of San Francisco Giant Wilmer Flores who made just one appearance against the Chicago Cubs in the three game series paid off as he rounds second after connecting for a two run fifth inning home run at Wrigley Field in Chicago (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

Wilmer Flores made his return to the San Francisco Giants lineup and he did not disappoint them at all.

Flores hit a home run and drove in three runs, helping the Giants to a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs to complete the three-game sweep of the Cubs and ended the road trip with a perfect 6-0 record. Prior to the sweeping the Cubs, the Giants opened the road trip by sweeping the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

With the victory, the Giants have now won a season-high games in a row, their longest winning streak since they won seven in a row in August of 2020.

Kris Bryant, who made his return to Wrigley Field for the first time as a visitor and scored two runs in the finale.

The Giants led 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Cubs scored two runs to get within one run and chased Giants starter Logan Webb. Tyler Rogers came on to replace, and got out of the jam, as he struck out Willson Contreras looking and then got Alfonso Rivas to end the inning.

Closer Jake McGee came on to close it out in the bottom of the ninth inning, but gave up a double to Patrick Wisdom, who eventually got to third base; however, McGee ended the game on back-to-back ground ball outs by Frank Schwindel and Ian Happ to Brandon Belt at first base to end the game and McGee picked up his 31st save of the season.

Flores picked a run batted in for the Giants in the top of the second inning and the Giants stretched the lead to 3-0 in the top of the third inning that scored Flores.

The Giants and Flores put two on the board in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit a two-run home run to stretch the lead up to 5-2 and it was the career-high 18th home run for Flores.

Webb went the first six innings plus, allowing five runs (four of them earned), six hits, walking two and striking out five and picked up his 10th win of the season.

Happ hit his 22nd home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning that cut the Giants lead down to 3-2.

Justin Steele pitched the first five innings for the Cubs, as he allowed five runs to the Giants on 11 hits, walking two and striking out four and saw his record fall to 4-4 on the season.

NOTES: Flores was activated from the injured list with a strained left hamstring and so was Austin Slater, who was out with a concussion. To make room for Flores and Slater, Caleb Baragar and John Brebbia were optioned to Sacramento.

This was the first time that the Giants swept a three-game series from the Cubs since September 8-10, 1995, when Sergio Valdez, Terry Mulholland and William VanLandingham were the winning pitchers in that three-game series.

Overall, this was the 11th sweep of the season for the Giants, as this was their sixth series sweep on the road and have five at Oracle Park.

UP NEXT: Dominic Leone will take the mound in the opener of the four-game series against the San Diego Padres on Monday night at Oracle Park. The Padres will send Yu Darvish to the mound, as he looks for his ninth win of the season.