Category: San Francisco Giants

Giants-Mets rained out reschedule for doubleheader Tuesday afternoon

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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.

Blame The Rain: Hot Giants cooled by Metropolitans’ slightly warmer temps and rain, rescheduled DH for Tuesday

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By Morris Phillips

The lockout and the protracted negotiations that delayed the baseball season put the Giants in a worrisome spot: just one day off through April 27, and 19 games in 20 days to start the season.

But in stepped mother nature, and the Giants have a treasured day off today, after their opener at Citi Field in New York against the Mets was canceled due to rain and the timing of the storm.

The team will hole up in a cozy Manhattan hotel and prepare for a rare, doubleheader on Tuesday with a nice caveat: staff ace Logan Webb will pitch Tuesday’s second game. The Mets made the announcement at 4:00pm in New York as the expectation of two inches of rain came into focus. Tuesday’s doubleheader will start at 3:10pm in New York with the second game 30 minutes after the first.

Alex Cobb will face the Mets’ Taylor Megill in the opener. Although the other scheduled starter, Max Scherzer could move up and pitch the opener with no confirmation from the Mets at press time.

The Giants-Mets four-game set looms as one of the early season’s best matchups with the Giants 7-2 and the Mets 7-3.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants face evenly matched Mets tonight to open three game series

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San Francisco Giants second basemen Thairo Estrada, right, is congratulated by shortstop Brandon Crawford after sweeping the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Sun Apr 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Morris, the Giants wind up getting a sweep on their first leg of this road trip against the Cleveland Guardians. Giants pitcher Alex Wood threw for over five innings giving up just four hits in the 8-1 win.

#2 Wood gave up just one run and had real good command of his pitches. In the third inning the Guardians had two runners on but Wood would get out of the inning and the Giants continued with the lead.

#3 Thairo Estrada supplied the offense in the second inning with a homer to left and with Wilmer Flores on second after hitting a double it was a 2-0 lead for San Francisco.

#4 Brandon Belt would homer in the seventh inning to extend San Francisco’s lead to 8-0. Belt would bring Austin Slater home from first.

#5 For tonight’s game opening up in New York, the Giants will start Alex Cobb (1-0 ERA 3.60) and for the New York Mets (7-2)Tyler Megill (2-0 ERA 0.00). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM PDT at Citi Park in Flushing.

San Francisco Sweeps Cleveland 8-1; Wood gives up only four hits and Estrada homers gets four RBIs

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San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Alex Wood pitches in the first inning to the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Sun Apr 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

San Francisco Sweeps Cleveland 8-1; Wood gives up only four hits and Estrada homers and gets four RBIs

By Barbara Mason

After taking the first two games in their series against the Cleveland Guardians (4-5) the San Francisco Giants (7-2) went for the sweep Sunday afternoon defeating the Guardians by seven runs 8-1.

It was a quiet first inning for San Francisco but the second inning was anything but quiet for the Giants. Thairo Estrada homered to left and with Wilmer Flores on second after hitting a double it was a 2-0 lead for San Francisco.

The Guardians would threaten in the third inning but Alex Wood would get out of a two runners on jam and the Giants held on to their two run lead.

San Francisco would strike again in the fourth inning. Thairo Estrada grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop and Joc Pederson would score. Brandon Crawford was just behind him off a throwing error by Owen Miller. The Giants now had a 4-0 lead.

In the sixth inning the Giants would add a couple more for a 6-0 lead. Peterson would score from second off a double by Estrada. Estrada would go on to score when Duggar hit an infield single.

Brandon Belt would homer in the seventh inning to extend San Francisco’s lead to 8-0. Belt would bring Austin Slater home from first.

The Guardians got up on the scoreboard in the bottom seventh inning when Amed Rosario scored off a single from Austin Hedges. Cleveland trailed by a heap of runs and everything pointed to a San Francisco sweep. The Guardians were not able to get much going in this game.

Monday the Giants will start a four-game series with the mighty New York Mets (7-3). Starting pitcher for the Giants will be Alex Cobb (1-0 ERA 3.60) and for New York Tyler Megill (2-0 ERA 0.00). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM PDT at Citi Park in Flushing.

Giants win game two against Guardians 4-2 at Progressive

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The San Francisco Giants Brandon Belt connects for a fifth inning two RBI single against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Sat Apr 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

Giants Win Game Two Against Guardians 4-2

By Barbara Mason

After winning the first game against the Cleveland Guardians (4-3) Friday night the San Francisco Giants (5-2) continued their three game series Saturday. The Giants won Friday’s series opener handily 4-1 thanks to pitcher Carlos Rodon who allowed a single run through seven innings striking out nine and only giving up two hits.

That was the home opener for Cleveland at Progressive Field and not the debut as the Guardians that they were hoping for. The Giants won their second straight game in Cleveland with a 4-2 win on Saturday.

Cleveland was first on the scoreboard Saturday in the first inning. Jose Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly to allow Myles Straw to score for the early 1-0 lead.

The Giants would fight through four innings when in the fifth inning Brandon Belt singled to center and base runners Thairo Estrada and Mike Yastrzemski would both score giving San Francisco a 2-1 lead. Cleveland would score in the same inning to tie up this game. Myles Straw doubled to deep left and base runner Owen Miller scored for a 2-2 game.

Going into the eighth inning the game remained tied. With one out the Giants would load the bases and Wilmer Flores would ground into a fielders choice to second. Brandon Belt scored to break the tie and give the Giants a 3-2 lead.

San Francisco was not finished and with two outs Austin Slater would score on a wild pitch extending the Giants lead. The Giants would take the 4-2 lead into the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth Cleveland was looking at their last chance to salvage this game. Cleveland’s Josh Naylor would single and Owen Miller walked but they could not cash in and San Francisco held on for the win

Sunday the Giants will be going for the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 10:40 AM PDT. Alex Wood (0-0 ERA 4.15) will take the mound for San Francisco and for Cleveland it will be Aaron Civale (0-0 ERA 5.40).

Rodón strikes out nine, Giants use power to beat Guardians 4-1

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon threw heat against the Cleveland Guardians seen here in the first inning at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Fri Apr 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, April 15, 2022

One year after throwing a no-hitter against Cleveland (4-3), Carlos Rodón turned in his second strong start of the season for San Francisco (5-2) on Friday, going seven innings in the Giants’ 4-1 victory over the Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Rodón (1-0) – who no-hit Cleveland as a member of the Chicago White Sox on April 14, 2021 – needed only 47 pitches in the first five innings and threw 68 pitches through six. After working out of a seventh-inning jam, Rodón wound up surrendering one run on two hits with nine strikeouts and two walks.

Camilo Doval picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth. Tyler Rogers was credited with his third hold, throwing a scoreless eighth.

The Gants provided Rodón with plenty of offensive support, as Brandon Crawford, Joc Peterson and Joey Bart all hit home runs. Crawford, playing his first career game in Cleveland, hit a blast to right for his first homer of the season. He’s homered in 24 different ballparks.

Peterson’s second home run as a Giant – No. 150 for his career – traveled 410 feet to right-center off Guardians starter Zach Plesac ()-1). Bart added a two-run shot in the eighth.

Rodón’s fastball reached a high speed of 99.3 mph, hitting 99 on the gun in his final two innings. His 21 punchouts lead the Majors, and Rodón is second on the franchise list for most strikeouts in his first two starts of a season. Cliff Melton holds the team record with 22 K’s in first two starts in 1937 for the New York Giants.

This was Cleveland’s first home game as the Guardians after being known as the Indians for over 100 years. It occurred on Jackie Robinson Day, marking the 75th anniversary of Robinson breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier.

In Saturday’s game, the Giants will go with Anthony Desclafani (0-1, 4.91), while the Guardians have Cal Quantrill (1-0, 3.60) on the hill. First pitch is at 2:10 PDT.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Daniel Dullum: An interesting newsworthy homestand this week for the Giants

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San Francisco Giants first base coach Antoan Richardson (left) and San Diego Padres third base coach Mike Schildt (right) address what Richardson said were racial overtones said to him by Schildt on Tue Apr 12th’s game. Schildt said that racial overtones was not his intent. (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Daniel:

Daniel, on Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres the Giants were running away with the game 10-1 when all of a sudden it was announced that Giants first base coach Antoan Richardson was ejected from the game for instigation.

After the Giants had stole a base and bunted with the nine run lead things got hot as the Padres felt the Giants were piling on. Padres third base coach Mike Schildt too exception to the Giants extra handiwork and started trading words with the Giants dugout more specifically with Richardson when Schildt barked to Giants manager Gabe Kapler to “control this motherf—-er.”

Richardson then came out of the dugout and then was told by third base umpire Greg Gibson to back in the dugout when Richardson didn’t get back to the dugout he was thrown out of the game. Richardson said the words of Schildt had the undertones of racism.

The next day Wednesday Schildt wanted to clear up the misunderstanding with Richardson and the two spoke behind the batting cage and later both addressed the media. Schildt said it was not his intention to make Richardson feel what he said was racial in anyway.

Richardson said the impact of those words had racial undertones because how the words are perceived in the black community and that words can have an impact on a person of color and their community.

After the ejection of Richardson, Giants coach Alyssa Nakken took over coaching over first base for Richardson making Nakken the first woman first base coach in Major League history. Nakken was in the batting cage which is located downstairs behind the Giants dugout was asked to come coach first base.

Nakken said looking past the historical significance of being the first woman to coach in a big league game at first base saying, “Right now in this moment as I reflect back, I reflect back to somebody needed to go out, we needed a coach to coach first base, our first-base coach got thrown out. I’ve been in training as a first-base coach for the last few years and work alongside Antoan, so I stepped in to what I’ve been hired to do, is support this staff and this team,” 

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

Giants Are Good, But What About Their Competitors?

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–When your ballclub’s won 111 of their last 168 regular season contests, you don’t lose sleep at night. But just how comfortably do you sleep?

Starting with the hated, rival Dodgers, the Giants clearly have company at the top. The Padres are in the mix as well making the NL West arguably the toughest division in baseball. Both teams dipped into their wallets to beef up their lineups with San Diego adding slugger Luke Voit, and the Dodgers acquiring Freddie Freeman.

The Giants prioritize bringing back their division-winning lineup from 2021, and they did so with the exception of letting Kevin Gausman walk in free agency and seeing iconic catcher Buster Posey abruptly retire.

The result? The Giants aren’t widely considered to be the club to repeat atop the NL West putting them squarely in the position to prove themselves once again.

Internally, the Giants aren’t necessarily at odds with how prognosticators see them. President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi would likely admit his 2021 club arrived a year or two ahead of schedule. In keeping with that mentality, the off-season was not as eventful as eager fans would have preferred. The team’s big acquisition was both below the radar and measured. White Sox starter Carlos Rodon was given a two-year deal likely as safety measure acknowledging the hurler’s recent injury history.

Instead of splashy, the Giants appear content to roll out their youthful talents like LaMonte Wade Jr., Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos. From a pitching perspective, the Giants are prepared to weather growing pains from closer Camilo Doval in an attempt to see what top-end talents they can unearth from within. It’s a wise approach, and one Zaidi and his staff have doubled down on after their early successes.

Consequently, 107 more wins isn’t the goal, but consistent play in part featuring the younger Giants led by starter Logan Webb is. That won’t scare the Dodgers, Padres, Mets or the World Champion Braves. But the Giants hope it’s enough to command their attention.

If the Giants perform, the trade deadline could be interesting. They have the wherewithal to make additions to boost their program in August and September.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: SF’s Rondon matches up against Cleveland’s Plesac in Giants first road game Friday

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The San Francisco Giants Luke Williams belts a second inning two run double against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park on Wed Apr 13, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 San Francisco Giants (4-2) pitcher Logan Webb held the San Diego Padres (4-3) for eight innings surrendering only four hits.

#2 The Giants Luke Williams hit a two run RBI double in the bottom of the second inning it was just enough for San Francisco to edge the visiting Padres 2-1 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

#3 Webb who had an 11-3 record last season pitched like a 20 game winner Wednesday afternoon picking up his first win against no loses. Webb threw for eight, surrendered four hits and one earned run, didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven batters.

#4 Don’t blink if you were watching this matinee as this one took only 2:11 so far the fastest game the Giants have played this season.

#5 The Giants will be part of history. It will be the first time the Guardians will be playing under their new name in Cleveland. Starting pitchers for the Giants left hander Carlos Rodon and for the Guardians Zach Plesac.

Join Michael Duca Thursdays and Morris Phillips Mondays for the San Francisco Giants podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Caught In A Webb: Padres no match for Giants’ consistent ace, fall 2-1 in series finale

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–How good is Logan Webb?

Really good, consistently good, Tim Lincecum good, and since his truncated Major League debut that saw him pitch intermittently in 2019 and 2020, noticeably good.

And how good was he on this blustery Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park? Good.

“Logan definitely held up his end of the bargain,” according to manager Gabe Kapler.

“I think at this point he’s ready for a full workload. I thought his sinker was particularly sharp today. And then the last inning of work in the eighth, he was really working fast. You could tell their was a full head of steam and a lot of confidence, and I thought that was his best inning.”

Webb became the first pitcher in either league this season to pitch eight innings, in what was the lengthiest stint in his career thus far, while befuddling the Padres in a 2-1 Giants’ win. The 25-year old threw 96 pitches, allowing four hits, a first-inning run and no walks. Kapler admitted he briefly thought about bringing Webb back out for the ninth.

“We haven’t hit our stride offensively yet,” Padres’ manager Bob Melvin said. “But Webb was really good today. Enough breaking balls too, to just keep you off the kind of the moving away fastballs, sinker/changeup. Yeah, he’s a pretty good pitcher.”

If anything, Melvin knows what it supposed to look like as a big league manager for nearly two decades following a lengthy career a big league catcher. And no doubt, his ringing endorsement confirms that Webb has what it takes. Keeping hitters off-balance, rarely allowing solid contact, and doing so by interchanging pitches that initially look the same but send big league batters into guess mode.

Jake Cronenworth’s RBI triple, and Manny Machado’s double that preceded Cronenworth were San Diego’s only highlights. After that Webb worked fast, and Padres’ batters sat down. The ninth inning offered an amazing opportunity as closer Camilo Doval had issues, allowing a hit, a walk then hitting Jurickson Profar to load the bases. But Doval dialed it back, getting three, successive strikes on sliders against pinch-hitter Matt Beatty to end the game.

The Giants didn’t do much against Sean Manaea, but what they did was enough. In the second, Heliot Ramos drew a walk, Mauricio Dubon–the subject of Tuesday’s flashpoint–singled, and Luke Williams doubled home two runs. After the third inning, the Giants got one hit: Wilmer Flores’ single that preceded Ramos hitting into a double play.

The crisply played ballgame also helped diffuse the bad feelings running through both clubhouses surrounding Dubon’s bunt single in Tuesday’s game with the Giants holding a big lead that frustrated the Padres, and led to a brief exchange between bench coaches Mike Shildt and Antoan Richardson. Richardson was ejected after Shildt’s choice of words infuriated Richardson, and led him to claim that Shildt’s words were racist in tone. In a mature gesture from both men, they met prior to the game, and spoke in conciliatory terms before discussing the incident with the media.

Almost overshadowed by the dustup and the ejection, was Alyssa Nakken’s debut as a first base coach, making her the first woman to be an on field participant in a Major League game.

The Giants’ rare opening week at home produced a pair of 2-1 series victories, and a 4-2 record that has them ahead of the Padres and Dodgers, but behind the 4-1 Rockies in the early, early snapshot of the NL West standings.

The Giants experience their only day off in the season’s first three weeks on Thursday before opening a three-game set in Cleveland against the newly-rebranded Guardians.