Category: San Francisco Giants

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By: Lewis Rubman

San Francisco Giants: 6 | 10 | 2

Cincinnati Reds: 5 | 11 | 0

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants sent Madison Bumgarner (2-4, 3.99) to the mound this afternoon, hoping to salvage one victory in this week end’s series against the resurgent Reds. The Redlegs, after saving their honor by beating the A’s in the series finale at the Coliseum, enjoyed a three game winning streak, started Tyler Mahle (0-5, 3.69 ERA). San Francisco went into contest sitting at the bottom of the NL West standings with a three-game losing streak, the last two losses coming against Cincinnati, and a won-lost record of 16-23. In spite of their recent success on both sides of the bay, the Redlegs woke up this morning as the NL Central’s cellar dweller at 16-22.

In the opening frame, the Giants’ defense was as shaky as 5.9 on the Richter scale. Catcher’s interference by Erik Katz allowed lead off batter Nick Senzel to reach first base. He advanced to second on Katz’s subsequent passed ball. Senzel stopped at third after Eugenio Suárez singled to left, which he followed up with an uncontested steal of second. Both men scored on José Iglesias’s single to left center, where Kevin Pillar bobbled the ball for an error that allowed the runner to advance to second. He tried to score on Kyle Farmer’s single to center, but Pillar redeemed himself by throwing the Reds’ shortstop out at home.

The Giants evened the score on Pablo Sandoval’s homer to left in the second. The Panda’s blast came with Steven Duggar on second, which he had reached on a double to right center.

Doubles were Bumgarner’s undoing in the top of the second. José Peraza and Nick Senzel hit back to back two baggers with two outs to put the Rhinelanders back in the lead, 3-2. Bumgarner limited the damage by striking out Joey Votto for the second time in as many innings. It was Bumgarner’s fourth of the game.

Yasiel Puig, relentlessly booed by the Giants’ faithful all series long, gave them another reason to voice their displeasure by leading off Cincinnati’s sixth with a first pitch homer to left, his seventh round tripper of the campaign. The Reds were up 4-2.

That inning was Bumgarner’s last. He left after throwing 107 pitches, 71 of them strikes. Two of the four runs he allowed were earned. He gave up eight hits and four walks. His strikeout total was seven. Sam Dyson replaced him.

Bumgarner got a no decision because Brandon Belt’s second career pinch hit home came in the bottom of the seventh with Brandon Crawford on base, knotting the game up at four. That was the last pitch for Mahle, who also left the game with a no decision. All four of the runs scored against him were earned, and he struck out eight Giants, while walking only one. He threw 93 pitches, 61 of them strikes. His replacement was Zach Duke.

Belt had pinch hit for Dyson, so Reyes Moronta took the mound for San Francisco in the top of the eighth. Cincinnati loaded the bases on him with a single that ended a 12 pitch at-bat by Suárez, a walk to Puig, and a single by Iglesias. Dyson rose to the occasion by striking out Kyle Farmer. When switch-hitting catcher Tucker Barnhart was announced as a pinch hitter for Curt Casali, Bochy countered by calling on lefty Tony Watson to relieve the right-handed Moronta. Watson walked Barnhart, and the Reds went ahead, 5-4. But Watson got Jesse Winker, pinch-hitting for Duke, to force Puig out at home, Watson to Vogt, who had replaced Kratz behind the plate. Crawford made a nice catch on Peraza’s hard line drive to end the troubles, but Cincinnati led 5-4.

The worm turned in the bottom of the eighth, with David Hernández now on the mound for the Reds. Evan Longoria led of with a single to left and advanced to third on Sandoval’s double to right center. Both runners stayed put when Mac Williamson grounded out to short. Then Crawford struck out, and it looked like another disappointing loss was in store of San Francisco. But Kevin Pilllar singled to center. Longoria scored easily, and the panda capped his day by sliding home with the leading run.

Wil Smith closed it out for the Giants with a 1-2-3 ninth, including two strike outs.

The win went to Watson, now 2-0. The save went to Smith, his 10th. The loss went to Hernández, now 0-2 with a blown save.

The wind played havoc with fly balls most of the afternoon, but what else is new? This is, after all, San Francisco.

Tomorrow will be a day off for the Giants. They’ll host the Blue Jays in San Francisco on Tuesday at 6:45 pm.

Photo credit: @Reds

By: Lewis Rubman

Cincinnati: 5 | 10 | 1
San Francisco: 4 | 9 | 0

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO — Taking the mound against Cincinnati this evening, Jeff Samardzija had, at 3.16, the lowest ERA of any starter on the Giants’ staff. His opponent, Anthony DeScalafani, checked in with a 3.65 ERA. The two right-handed hurlers had identical won-lost records of 2-1. They hadn’t gone up against each other before today, but each had faced the other’s team once this season. On May 5, The Shark gave up five runs in as many innings in a no-decision against the Rhinelanders. The next day, DeScalafani pitched six innings and surrendered six tallies to earn a win over San Francisco.

It didn’t take long for the Reds to get to Samardzja. Nick Senzel led off with a five pitch walk and two pitches later rode home on the slumping Joey Votto’s triple to center field. It looked as though the Giants´ hurler

Would escape further damage when he struck out Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker swinging. But then the also slumping Yasiel Puig lined a home run into the left field bleachers and the Redlegs were up 3-0.

The Giants fought back in the bottom of the first with a two out home run to center by Evan Longoria. They threatened further on a two strike single to left center by Pablo Sandoval, the bobblehead honoree of the day. Mac Willliamson moved the Panda up a base with a single to left. But Brandon Crawford grounded out, DeScalafani to Votto at first, to end the inning.

Each pitcher got a hit his first time at bat, DeScalafani, batting in the number eight slot, got a single in the second; his grounder to third killed a bases loaded, two out threat the next inning. Samardzja also got his in the second inning, a single to center that set up a two on, one out chance for the Giants to tie the game, but Panik flew out to right and Vogt grounded out to second.

The Giants did even the score in their half the fourth when, after Crawford and Pillar had singled, Puig tried to make a diving catch of Steven Duggar’s sinking liner to right. The ball rolled towards the fence, and Crawford and Pillar raced home. After Samardzja struck out, Joe Panik’s sac fly to center broke the tie and gave the Giants a 4-3 lead.

Bochy decided that 85 pitches and a one run lead was enough for his starting pitcher, and so he brought in Trevor Gott to take over mound duty at the start of the visitors’ fifth. Eugenio Suárez’s definitive line drive home run to left immediately retied the score.

In keeping with the game’s see-saw nature, manager Dave Bell lifted DeScalafani in favor of Robert Stephenson, who kept San Francisco off the boarded until Josh VanMeter pinch hit for him an inning later. By then, Mark Melançon was on the bump for the Giants.

The pitchers’ parade continued. Amir Garret for Cincy in the sixth. Reyes Moronta for San Francisco in the seventh. He surrendered a tie-breaking Texas League single to Derek Dietrich that brought Suárez home from third, which he’d reached on a double and a passed ball. David Hernández for the Reds in the seventh, when he struck out the side on 15 pitches, and the eighth, when he also retired the side in order, but fanning only two. Tony Watson for the Giants in the eighth and Wil Smith, who closed the proverbial barn door in the ninth. Raisel Iglesias closed out the contest for Cincinnati with a 1-2-3 ninth, culminating with the strike out of a pinching hitting Brandon Belt.

The evening’s work left Cincinnati with a record of 18-22 and San Francisco with a balance of 16-23. The win went to Amir Garrett (now 2-1) , while the loss was hung on Reyes Moronta (1-3). Raisel Iglesias got the save, his eighth.

The series finale is scheduled for 1:05 pm tomorrow afternoon. Right-hander Tyler Mahle (0-5, 3.69 ERA) will start for Cincinnati. He lost to the A’s on May 7 in spite of having given up only one run in 6 1/3 innings of work because Mike Fiers threw a no-hitter. Madison Bumgarner (2-4, 3.99 ERA) will take the mound for the Giants.

Photo credit: @Reds

By: Lewis Rubman

Cincinnati: 7 | 9 | 0
San Francisco: 0 | 4 | 2

SAN FRANCISCO — At game time, the Giants and Reds looked pretty evenly matched. Both teams were last in their divisions, with almost identical won-lost records of 16-22 for Cincinnati and 16-21 for San Francisco. Although the Giants took three of the four games in Cincinnati, they outscored the Reds 31-30.

On the mound for the Queen City was right-handed Luis Castillo, the NL Pitcher of the Month for April, sporting a 3-1, 1.97 ERA for the season. About the only blemish on Castillo’s performance was his loss to the Giants on May 5, when he gave up four runs (all earned) in seven innings.

Facing Castillo was the promising Dereck Rodríguez, off to a disappointing start of 3-4, 5.75 ERA. The Reds were responsible for much of that ugly statistic, having scored eight earned runs in the five innings he pitched in Cincinnati on May 4. In that short span, Rodríguez surrendered four home runs.

Rodríguez flinched first, in the top of the second when, with one out, Tyler Austin muffed Derek Dietrich’s fly ball to left and José Iglesias followed up with a single to the same field. Castillo, batting in the eighth slot, failed to advance the runners when he popped a bunt attempt that was caught by Stephen Vogt, who came so close to doubling Iglesias at first that it took a replay to declare him safe. Tucker Barnhart rose to the occasion and singled Dietrich home. Nick Senzel brought in Iglesias and Barnhard with a double to deep center that Stephen Duggar couldn’t hold on to after colliding with the fence at the 399 foot sign. Senzel, in turn, scored on Eugenio Suárez’s Mark Ellis double down the left field line. On a score card, none of the four runs was earned, but it’s hard to say.

Rodríguez held the Red Legs scoreless for the next three frames before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the fifth. He left after having thrown 85 pitches, walking four, striking out two, and surrendering five hits, as well as the four unearned runs we’ve already noted.

Zach Duke relieved Castillo to start the seventh. Cincinnati’s ace had thrown 103 pitches, of which 62 were strikes, over six scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and five bases on balls, striking out 11, almost two an inning. His replacement, Zach Duke, wasn’t as effective, giving up a two out leg double to Joe Panik, followed by a single to the red-hot Stephen Vogt. At this point, the versatile Michael Lorenzen entered the game and retired the side, getting Evan Longoria to force Vogt out at second.

Meanwhile, Nick Vincent and Sam Dyson kept the Reds off the board through the eighth. But Travis Bergen, who started the ninth inning was’t effective. After allowing a one out walk to Joey Votto, he was the victim of a Texas League single to right by Suárez. Jesse Winker moved each of them up a base on a swinging bunt to Vogt. Yasiel Puig and followed with a two RBI single.

All the Giants could muster in their half of the ninth was a walk by Panik.

Castillo got the win, Rodríguez was handed the loss.

Tomorrow evening at 6:05 pm, Cincinnati’s Anthony DiSciafani (2-1, 3.65 ERA) will duel the Giants’ Jeff Samardzija (2-1, 3.16 ERA). The game will also feature a Let Pablo Pitch bobblehead give away. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.