San Francisco Giants – Page 171 – Sports Radio Service

Giants nip A’s 3-2, take Game 1 of Bay Bridge Series

Published on August 13, 2019August 13, 2019 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSAthletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO–The Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants played a very entertaining game Tuesday night in the Battle of the Bay. The Giants’ Madison Bumgarner was on the top of his game as he went seven innings and allowed just two hits. The only mistake he made was a gopher ball to Stephen Piscotty in the fifth inning. Bumgarner looked like he has regained the form that made him an All-Star. The A’s starter lefty Brett Anderson pitched well enough to win. He went six innings and allowed two runs and six hits. The Giants had to hang on in the ninth as the A’s scored a run and left the bases loaded as they fell 3-2 to the Giants at Oracle Park.

Both teams played well, and the outcome was in doubt right up to the last out in the ninth. Both teams are in the hunt for a playoff berth, and it felt like it was a playoff game. The Giants evened their record at 60-60, and the A’s fell to 67-52

The A’s drew first blood in the top of the fifth. Madison Bumgarner, who gave up a bloop single to Marcus Semien to start the game, had retired 14 in a row before Stephen Piscotty unloaded his 12th dinger of the year to give the A’s the lead 1-0 midway through the fifth. The Giants failed to score in the bottom of the fifth.

The Giants broke through in the bottom of the second to score two runs. With two out, Anderson gave up three consecutive double to Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, and Kevin Pillar. The Giants lead 2-1 heading into the seventh.

The A’s went down in order in the seventh. A’s manager Bob Melvin, brought in left Jake Diekman to pitch. Anderson’s line was six innings pitched, and he allowed six hits and two runs. The Giants scored a run without the benefit of a hit. Diekman walked Aramis Garcia and Brandon Crawford to start the frame. Bumgarner laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Garcia scored when pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett hit a sacrifice fly to center. A’s centerfielder Mark Canha made a sensational catch to rob Joey Rickard to end the inning. The Giants lead 3-1 after seven.

In the top of the ninth, the A’s loaded the bases with one out. Giants reliever Will Smith struck out Matt Olson for the second out, With the crowd on their feet and screaming, Smith walked Canha to force in a run. The A’s now trail 3-2. Smith struck out Chad Pinder to end the game.

Game Notes: The A’s Brett Anderson dropped to 10-8 for the year, and the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner improved to 8-7. Bumgarner has looked like the pitcher of old in his last ten starts. Will Smith earned is 29th save of the season. The Giants are 46-6 when Smith appears in a game.

Up Next: The A’s will conclude the two-game set with the Giants on Wednesday. Homer Bailey will go for Oakland, and Tyler Beede will be on the hill for the Giants. Game time is at 12:30 pm.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Giants to hoist Clark’s retired #22; Raiders’ Brown agrees to wearing new helmet; plus more

Published on August 13, 2019August 14, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sfgate.com: Former San Francisco Giants player Will Clark gestures to fans during a ceremony honoring the 1989 World Series team prior to a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019, in San Francisco.

On Headline Sports with Barbara:

#1 From that 1989 San Francisco Giants reunion on Sunday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco, former Giants first baseman Will Clark’s number 22 is being retired, Clark hit .303, 2,176 hits, 284 home runs, with 1,205 RBIs in his MLB career.

#2 The Oakland Raiders’ Antonio Brown said he will wear the NFL issued helmet losing the grievance wanted to continue wearing the old helmet that he wore when he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The NFL is insisting that all players wear the newly designed helmet that help prevent concussions. Brown said that if he is required to wear the new issued helmet he was going to retire. Brown has had limited play with his frostbite feet holding him back.

#3 Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said that the Raiders wide receiving depth is as good as it’s ever been with Hunter Renfrow, Tyrell Williams, JJ Nelson, and Antonio Brown. Raider quarterbacks Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman in preseason are impressed with the receiving core.

#4 The Oakland A’s keep on rolling. They are now 1.5 back of first place for the American League wild card. On Sunday, the A’s kept up their winning ways with a 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt started the game and went seven innings, four hits, two walks and seven strikeouts.

#5 While the San Francisco Giants might be out a whopping 19.5 games in the NL West race, their wild card chance improved a whole lot on Sunday with their comeback win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Oracle Park with a 9-6 win. The Giants are now 3.5 games back and had the day off on Monday night.

Join Barbara for Headline Sports each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Flawed NL Wild Card hopefuls make for an intriguing, hard-to-predict stretch run

Published on August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

The Giants can’t seem to keep up, but the foes they’re chasing can’t seem run away.

As the weeks dwindle in the 2019 season, that reality may be the flawed Giants biggest asset. Within the crowded field of NL Wild Card hopefuls, no team can seem to separate themselves from the pack.

And no team’s stretch run to postseason immortality seems more unlikely than the Giants, but in a race this unpredictable, maybe a fit exists.

Among the top seven teams–all within 3 1/2 games of each other–at least five are fooling themselves. The Giants are thinking they can overcome a losing record at home. The Phillies think they can overcome a losing record over the last two-and-a-half months. And the Nationals are attempting to overcome a 19-31 start to their season.

The Mets were 40-51 on July 12th. The Brewers can’t trust their starting rotation. The Cardinals keep seizing and fumbling momentum. And the Diamondbacks traded Zach Greinke.

Those aren’t strategies to to gain momentum. But for two of those clubs, a playoff berth is in the offing. But which two?

The Mets are the hottest in the pack, having won 15 of 16 prior to Sunday. But they have the most difficult schedule over the season’s final 44 games: nine games against the Braves, and series against the division-leading Dodgers and Indians.

The Brewers’ schedule is loaded with tough matchups: nine games with the Cardinals, seven with the Cubs and two-game sets with the first-place Astros and Twins. Their schedule eases considerably in the season’s final two weeks, but can they last that long? ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian suggested an overhaul of Milwaukee’s rotation and their bullpen might be needed to get this club to surge.

The Nationals are on the verge of getting injured Max Scherzer back into their rotation. But their schedule won’t wait for the occasion, they have seven games with the Braves, five with the Phillies and series against the Mets, Indians, Twins, Cubs and Brewers. They have the best opportunity statistically with their narrow lead on all six competitors, but Juan Soto’s ankle injury could change things in a hurry.

The Cardinals lost eight of 10 to playoff contenders, but rebounded nicely with a sweep of the Pirates over the weekend. They got Matt Carpenter and Marcel Ozuna back from injuries this week as well. But nothing about this club says extended win streak and that may be their biggest issue.

The Diamondbacks won Monday, beating the Rockies 8-6 in Denver. That means they’re likely to lose on Tuesday, bringing them back to .500 for the eighth time since July 21. No team is more closely aligned with mediocrity and their rotation is unquestionably thin without Greinke.

The Phillies have dropped six of eight, and they spent their off-day Monday pondering whether to place Jake Arrieta on the injured list. Whether they do or don’t, injuries have defined their season. Personnel issues that severe aren’t usually the precursor to a playoff worthy run.

And the Giants? Something must be resolved with their starting rotation, currently populated with rookies every three out of five days. Connor Menez, Shaun Anderson or Tyler Beede haven’t won a start since July 12.

Preview of the Bay Bridge series between the A’s and Giants

Published on August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: youtube.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s have an off-day on Monday. They finish the eight-game road trip by visiting the San Francisco Giants to play two starting on Tuesday at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Since the game will be played in a National League Park, the A’s will not be able to use a designated hitter.

Tuesday night’s game will feature a battle between two left-handed pitchers. The A’s will send Brett Anderson to the hill to face the Giants. Anderson is 10-7 and has an ERA of 3.99. Anderson earned a win over the Chicago Cubs last week when he went seven innings and allowed just two runs. The Giants will counter with their ace, Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner is 7-7, and his ERA is 3.74. Most people felt that Bumgarner would not be with the Giants at this point in the season, has pitched well lately. He has an ERA of 2.78 over his last nine starts. Bumgarner has started seven games against the A’s and own a record of 4-2.

The A’s and Giants finish the short two-game series on Wednesday. It will be a day game, and Homer Bailey will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Tyler Beede. This will be Bailey’s sixth start since coming to Oakland from the Kansas City Royals. His record is 9-8, and his ERA is 5.54. Baily had a bad outing against the Cubs last week. He went 4 2/3 innings and was tagged for seven runs. Beede’s record is 3-6, and his ERA is 5.61. Beede, in his last start, went five innings and allowed five runs. His ERA over his previous four outings is 8.38

The A’s will be seeing a lot of familiar faces in the Giants’ lineup. The Giants’ infield will be Brandon Belt at first base, Brandon Crawford at shortstop, Evan Longoria at third, and newcomer Scooter Gennett at second. Pablo Sandoval is day-to-day with inflammation in his right elbow. Donovan Solano is the backup utility man. The Giants have remade their outfield. They acquired Kevin Pillar from the Toronto Blue Jays. Pillar is an excellent defensive centerfielder. Also, Pillar can steal a base, and he has a lot of pop in his bat. He has hit 15 homers and driven in 62. Austin Slater will probably be in right field, and Mike Yastrzemski will be in left. Mike’s grandfather, Carl Yastrzemski, is in the MLB Hall of Fame.

The catching chores will be handled by Buster Posey and Stephen Vogt. Vogt, who was designated for assignment by the A’s in 2017, would love nothing better than beating his old team. It would be a reminder that they made a huge mistake cutting him loose. Vogt was a huge fan favorite when he was with the A’s.

Bruce Bochy, who is in his final year managing the Giants, has a strong bullpen. The Giants did trade away three relievers at the trade deadline, but they still have standouts such as righties Trevor, Gott, Sam Coonrod, Jandal Gustave, and Reyes Moronta. They will use lefties Williams Jerez, Andrew Suarez, Tony Watson, and Will Smith. Smith has 26 saves and represented the Giants at the All-Star Game.

Both teams have a lot to play for. The A’s are in a dogfight with the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card. The A’s trail Tampa by just 1 and 1/2 games. The A’s are also in second place in the AL West with a record of 67-51. The Giants had a beautiful month of baseball in July. Their record was 17-3, and that propelled them into the race for the second Wild Card in the National League. They have been struggling a bit in August, but they are 59-60 and are 3 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

The A’s would like to sweep the Giants. They return home to face the two best teams in the American League. They start a four-game set with the rampaging Houston Astros. The Astros have improved their starting rotation and have tormented the A’s this year. Following the Astros series, the A’s meet the New York Yankees for three starting a week from Tuesday. The Yankees, even though they have had so many injuries, sport a potent lineup. Their starting pitching has been suspect, but they have an outstanding bullpen. The A’s pitchers will have their work cut out for them as they try to shut down the Yankees offense. After the Yankee’s series, the A’s finish the homestand with two more games against the Giants. The next 11 games should be terrific baseball. It is what the players live for.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Pillar’s gamer proves it takes a good team to come back and win

Published on August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski (5) is congratulated by Scooter Gennett, right, after scoring against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019, in San Francisco.

On the Giants podcast with Morrris:

#1 San Francisco Giants Kevin Pillar got the game-winner in the eighth inning with a go-ahead triple leading the Giants to a 9-6 victory.

#2 It was a series win for the Giants. Their first series win since defeating the San Diego Padres at Petco Park back on July 26-28th.

#3 The Giants had struggled right after the trade deadline after having a great run in July. What was the difference from the month they had in July going into a slight slump in early August?

#4 The Giants got swept by Washington on this current homestand, but won this series against the Phillies, three out of four.

#5 Now the Giants have the day off on Monday and play the Oakland A’s for two games at Oracle. The A’s can be a tough customer talk about the upcoming series.

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

Pillar wins it late to give Giants the series; SF defeats Phillies 9-6

Published on August 11, 2019August 12, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Kevin Pillar swings for an RBI triple off Philadelphia Phillies’ Nick Pivetta in the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019, in San Francisco.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — When the San Francisco Giants they knew that were getting a hitter with power and potential, and this season, Kevin Pillar has done just that.

Pillar went 2-for-4, including the go-ahead triple in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6 before a crowd of 36,637 at Oracle Park.

The win by the Giants gave them the series, their first series win since winning two out of three against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Evan Longoria led off the inning with a single, and then after both Stephen Vogt and Scooter Gennett were retired by Jose Alvarez, Nick Pivetta came on to face Pillar and he put into the right-center field alley that easily scored Longoria from first base.

Brandon Crawford was then intentionally walked, so that Pivetta could face Will Smith, who was making his first ever plate appearance. With Smith at the plate, Crawford stole second and then Smith shocked everyone, as he lashed an opposite field single that scored both Pillar and Crawford; however, Bryce Harper nearly ruined it, as his throw just missed getting Smith at first base.

Joey Rickard then doubled Smith to third base, where he shared a laugh with Ron Wotus and after a Brandon Belt walk, Pivetta finally got out of the inning, as he got Mike Yastrzemski to ground out to end the inning.

This was a wild game that saw everything, as the Giants took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, as Belt led off the inning with a walk, Yastrzemski then doubled off the left field wall and then Longoria gave the Giants the lead, when he singled up the middle off of Phillies starter Jake Arrieta.

Vogt then singled off of Arrieta that sent Longoria to third base; however, Arrieta regrouped to get Gennett to strike out and then Pillar grounded into a double play that ended the inning.

That 2-0 lead by the Giants was gone by the top of the second inning, as the Phillies erupted for three runs and that was end of the night for Giants starter Conner Menez.

J.T. Realmuto and Scott Kingery each walked, and after Sean Rodriguez struck out, Cesar Hernandez singled to load the bases. Arrieta then struck out for the second out of the inning, but the Phillies got on the board, when Roman Quinn walked and then Harper hit a two-run single that gave the Phillies the lead and that was it for Menez.

Jandel Gustave ended the inning, as he got Rhys Hoskins to fly out to Austin Slater and stop any further damage.

In all, Menez lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing three runs on just two hits, walking three and striking out four.

The Phillies attacked the Giants again in the top of the third inning, as Hernandez hit a two-run single off of the Giants third pitcher of the game and second reliever, Andrew Suarez, who came on to replace Gustave, when Corey Dickerson came on to pinch hit for Rodriguez.

Unfortunately for the Phillies that was the score for just one-half inning, as the Giants came all the way back to tie up the game, as Yastrzemski hit his 12th home run of the season. Longoria then picked up his second hit in as many at-bats, and after a Vogt fly out, Gennett doubled in Longoria to cut the Phillies lead down to one. Pillar then singled in Gennett to tie up the game.

Menez, who went from being on the hook for the loss, ended up getting a no-decision and Arrieta also did not fare in the decision, as he went three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, walking just one and striking out five.

Gennett gave the Giants once again in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he hit his second home run of the season and first at home. His home run landed in McCovey Cove, the 80th Splash Hit by a Giants batter since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000.

Dickerson tied up the game in the top of the eighth inning, as his sacrifice fly that took Yastrzemski to the wall easily scored Realmuto from third base. Realmuto led off the inning with a single, then went to third on a Kingery double.

Smith, who came on to replace Tony Watson prior to the Dickerson sacrifice fly then walked Hernandez intentionally and Brad Miller flew out to Yastrzemski to end the inning.

In all, the Giants pitched the final 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking eight and striking out six.

Smith, who was unable to save the game for just the third time this season ended up with the victory, as he went the final 1.2 innings, allowing just two walks and a strikeout to improve his record to 4-0 on the season.

As a staff, the Giants walked 11 batters and this was the first time since September 20,2006 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field where they won a game like that. It was the 11th time since moving to San Francisco in 1958 that the Giants (2019 J.G. Spink Award Jayson Stark gets credit for that stat).

NOTES: Gustave, Trevor Gott and Smith each made their first ever plate appearances during the game, and this was the first time since September 21, 1934 that three pitchers made their first ever appearances at the plate in the same game. Sherman Edwards, Whitey Wistert and Lee Grissom each went to the plate for the first time for the Cincinnati Reds in a 16-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field. That is the only other time since 1913 that this occurred in a game, according to STATS, INC.

The 11 walks by the Phillies are a season high, and the first time they turned the trick since April 26, 2009 against the Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium in a 13-2 Phillies victory.

Prior to the game, the Giants honored their 1989 National League Championship team, as Will Clark, Don Robinson, Bill Bathe, Chris Speier, Ernie Camacho, Brett Butler, Terry Kennedy, Craig Lefferts, Ernest Riles, Donell Nixon, Atlee Hammaker, Dave Dravecky, Greg Litton, Kelly Downs, Robby Thompson and Mike Krukow were joined on the field by coaches Bill Fahey, Dusty Baker, Norm Sherry and manager Roger Craig.

They also memorialized Jose Uribe, Wendell Kim, Hank Greenwald and General Manager Al Rosen.

Giants President then announced the surprise of the night, The Thrill of the Night, as the Number 22, worn by Will Clark will be retired during the 2020 season.

Clark will join Bill Terry, Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Gaylord Perry and Willie McCovey in that elusive club.

Christy Mathewson and John McGraw are honored by the team with the letters NY, as they never wore numbers for the Giants.

Jackie Robinsons number 42 is retired throughout Major League Baseball and is also on the façade on the Club Level at Oracle Park.

Ford Frick Award Winners Jon Miller, Lon Simmons and Russ Hodges are honored on the Club Level.

UP NEXT: Madison Bumgarner takes on the mound on Tuesday evening, as the Oakland As make their only trip to San Francisco this season. The As return to the Bay Area after splitting six games in Chicago will send Brett Anderson to the mound in the opener.

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Rookies with three homer games; Cleveland all knotted up with Twins in Central; plus more

Published on August 11, 2019August 11, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo houstonchronicle.com: The Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez gets congratulations in the Astros dugout after a first inning home run at Camden Yards, the first of three against the Baltimore Orioles in a 21-run win 23-2 Saturday night.

This week on MLB The Show with Daniel Dullum, who is Sports Editor of the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon News at the home office in Gold Canyon:

1 Rookies making baseball history with three-homer games

2 Indians erase 11-game deficit in AL Central, tie Twins for first

3 Swingin’ A’s 1 ½ games out of AL wild card

4 Samardzija beats Phils, Giants 4 games out of NL wild card

5 Tim Tebow’s baseball season over due to injury

Catch Daniel each Sunday for the MLB podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants Avoid Series Loss; Pick Up 3-1 Win

Published on August 10, 2019August 10, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Philadelphia: 1 | 3 | 1

San Francisco: 3| 5 | 0|

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Giants opened their current homestand last Saturday hoping to rekindle their fleeting, flickering hopes for an NL wild-card berth. The Washington Nationals dimmed that prospect considerably, sweeping the Giants 4-0, 5-3, and 4-1, thereby putting themselves 2 games in front of the Phillies, who began play in San Francisco Thursday evening with 1/10 of a percentage point lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for a chance to duke it out in the play-in game against the eventual number one seed. The Cardinals and the Mets were but 1/2 a game behind Philadelphia and Milwaukee, four teams only 1/2 a game apart! The Giants, separated from St. Louis and New York by the Diamondbacks, trailed those tied-up rivals by another 2 games.

By game time today, after the Giants and Phillies had split the first two games of their series, the Nationals remained in the number one wild card spot, 1 game ahead of the Brewers. The Cardinals, Mets, and Phillies were in a three-way virtual tie, a 1/2 game behind Milwaukee. St. Louis was leading the other two by one-tenth of a percentage point. The Giants had slipped to 4 games behind Milwaukee Opening the game for the Giants was Jeff Samardzija. The Shark, whose lackluster 8-9 record and 4.70 ERA for the season was offset by his performance over his previous seven starts, in which he went 4-2, 2.11 ERA, including a six-inning, three-hit, scoreless stint against Philadelphia on July 31. Facing him for the visitors was Vince Velázquez, who brought an above-average fastball and a 4-6, 4.23 record with him to the mound. He throws the four-fingered variety of that pitch about 65% of the time.

It didn’t take the Phillies long to get to Samardzija. Corey Dickerson blasted the Giants’ pitcher’s 10th offering over the center-field fence for his seventh homer of the season, putting Philadelphia on top, 1-0. Samardzija settled down to retire the next 20 batters he faced, although Dickerson threatened to do more damage with a tremendous blast to left-center that Kevin Pillar corralled just in front of the fence in the top of the fourth. In the top of the eighth, César Hérnandez’s fly ball landed in front of Mike Yaztremski in left for Philadelphia’s second hit of the afternoon. He was wiped out Scott Kingery’s around the horn double play, capping a spectacularly dominant performance by the Giant hurler.

Meanwhile, in the Giants’ half of the second, they got back the run Saamardzija had surrendered in the first and more. Velásquez plunked Scooter Gennet with a 94 mph four seamer, brushed back Evan Longoria with another, clocked at 93 mph, and then paid for it when the Giants’ third sacker smacked the next pitch into the left-field bleachers for his 14th round-tripper of the year and a 2-1 lead for the Giants. Pillar duplicated the feat to lead off the fifth, giving him 15 home runs for the season and a career-high 60 RBI, while upping the home team’s advantage to 3-1.

Velásquez was removed in the top of the sixth when Brad Miller pinch hit for him and struck out. The Phillies’ starter’s line was three runs, all earned, on three hits, three strikeouts, a walk, and two home runs in five innings. He threw 77 pitches, of which 53 were strikes. His replacement on the mound, José Alavarez, gave up two hits in the sixth, but escaped without giving up a run when Pillar grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Following Alvarez was Blake Parker, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, helped by a beautiful play by second baseman Hernández on Brandon Belt’s broken-bat grounder up the middle for the third out. Zach Eflin pitched the bottom of the eighth for Philly. He, too, escaped unscathed thanks to the pitchers’ best friend.

Will Smith took over for Samardzija in the top of the ninth. The Shark’s line for eight innings of work was one run, earned on Dickerson’s second inning dinger, two hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. 65 of his 103 pitches were strikes. He got the win.

Velásquez was the losing pitcher, and Smith, who pitched a rocky final frame, earned safe by striking out Dickerson with two on and two out to close out the game.

When the dust had settled after this afternoon’s fray, the Giants found themselves three and a half games out of a playoff spot, looking up at Arizona, Philadelphia, New York, and St. Louis in a neck and neck race.

Tomorrow’s 4:05 game will be preceded by a reunion of the 1989 Giants, a prelude to next Tuesday and Wednesday’s San Francisco half of the interleague Bay Bridge Series. The starting pitchers are slated to be right-hander Jake Arrieta (8-8, 4.41 ERA) for the Phillies and southpaw Conner Menez (0-1, 5.73 ERA).

Harper goes deep twice in Phillies’ 9-6 win over Giants

Published on August 9, 2019August 9, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: inquirer.com

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Bryce Harper narrowed his free agent destinations down to two teams, and he picked the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Francisco Giants.

Harper hit two home runs, including a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning that gave the Phillies a 9-6 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 36,275 at Oracle Park.

It was the 18th multi-home run game of his career for Harper, and his first as a member of the Phillies. Ironically, Harper last multi-home run game came against the Phillies, while playing for the Washington Nationals on May 4, 2018.

Also, it was the first hit by Harper off of Tony Watson, as Harper was 0-for-8 versus Watson with three strikeouts prior to the home run.

This was the 39th Splash Hit by an opposing player at Oracle Park, and the second by Harper, who also hit one on October 7, 2014 in Game Four of the National League Division Series off of Hunter Strickland.

Watson took the loss for the Giants, as he did not retire a batter, facing five batters, allowing four runs on three hits and walked one.

Corey Dickerson hit a bases clearing triple to score Drew Smyly, Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins that gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning. Jean Segura then drove in Dickerson with a sacrifice fly of his own.

The Giants then mounted a comeback in the bottom of the third inning, as Joey Rickard hit a solo home run that cut the Phillies lead in half.

Kevin Pillar drove in his second run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning that cut the lead down to one, as he hit a groundout to Segura at shortstop that scored Buster Posey from third base. Posey led off the inning with a walk, and then went to third on a Stephen Vogt. The rally came to a halt, as Vogt was thrown out at third base after J.T. Realmuto to Scott Kingery to retire Vogt.

Harper led off the top of the fifth inning with his 21st home run of the season, a home run that was measured at 421 feet.

Pillar gave the Giants a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, as he hit his 14th home run of the season.

Stephen Vogt hit his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning that tied up the game. The Vogt home run landed in McCovey Cove, and was the 79th Splash Hit by a Giants player since the park opened on April 11, 2000. It was also the first Splash Hit by a Giants player since Brandon Belt hit one on May 15, 2018 against the Cincinnati Reds.

Tyler Beede went five innings, allowing five runs while scattering four hits, walking two and striking out seven.

Madison Bumgarner, who gave up one hit in seven innings of work on Thursday night came off the bench to pinch-hit for Beede and was promptly walked. Sundays starter Conner Menez came on to pinch hit for Bumgarner after he advanced to second base on a Donovan Solano single.

Smyly went 5.2 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits, walking three and striking out four. He also gave up three home runs just 10 days after going seven innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, walking one and striking out five in his first ever appearance against the Giants.

Pablo Sandoval came off the bench in the bottom of the eighth inning, and picked up a pinch-hit single off of Ranger Suarez. It was the 18th pinch hit of the season for Sandoval, passing Candy Maldonado, who picked up 17 in 1986 and now is tied with Ken Oberkfell for the most by a Giants player since 1974.

NOTES: Right-handed Pitcher Kyle Barraclough was claimed off of waivers from the Washington Nationals and was optioned to Sacramento. Tyler Austin, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week was out righted to Sacramento and elected free agency.

Reliever Travis Bergen returned from his rehab assignment, and was reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Sam Selman was optioned to Sacramento, and Steven Duggar was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Johnny Cueto threw two scoreless innings with the Arizona League Giants-Orange, as Cueto made his second appearance since Tommy John Surgery. Cueto faced seven batters, giving up two hits, not walking a batter and striking out two.

Oberkfell picked up his 18 pinch hits for the Giants during the 1989 season, where the Giants made it all the way to the World Series before swept by the Oakland As.

Since the opening of Pacific Bell, SBC, AT&T and Oracle Park on April 11, 2000, this marked the third time that both teams recorded Splash Hits in the same game.

May 28, 2001: Giants: Felipe Crespo, Arizona Diamondbacks: Mark Grace.

May 12, 2014: Giants: Tyler Colvin, Atlanta Braves: Freddie Freeman.

This according to Bill Arnold of Sports Features Group.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija will take the mound for the Giants on Saturday afternoon, as he looks for his ninth win of the season. While the Phillies will send Vince Velasquez to the hill, as he looks for his fifth win of the season.