Category: San Francisco Giants

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Luke Voit turned Oracle Park into his own batting cage this weekend for the New York Yankees.

Thru his at-bats in the three-game series, Voit went 6-for-12, including going 3-for-4 in the finale and the Yankees completed the three-game series with a 11-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 34,540 at Oracle Park.

This was the first time this season that the Giants have been on the other end of a series sweep, and have lost their last four home games.

Domingo German pitched six strong innings, as he allowed four runs on five hits, walking one and striking out five on his way to his fifth win of the season.

The Yankees got the scoreboard rolling in the first inning, as Gary Sanchez reached on a fielders choice that scored DJ LeMahieu and Brandon Crawford committed a fielding error.

After the Crawford fielding error, Gleyber Torres grounded into a double play that scored Voit from third base.

Once again, it was that man Voit again, as he hit a two-run single in the top of the second inning that scored Gio Urshela and Tyler Wade.

Torres got in on the act in the top of the third, as he launched a two-run home run over the left-center wall.

After giving back-to-back singles to start the top of the fourth inning, that was the end of the afternoon for Dereck Rodriguez, who went just three innings, allowing six runs (four earned), on seven hits, walking four and striking out three, as he saw his record fall to 3-3 on the season.

The three-innings pitched by Rodriguez matched his second-shortest start of his major league career. Rodriguez allowed tied his career high in hit allowed with seven (fifth time) and walks with four, also the six runs allowed were a career high.

Nick Vincent came on to replace Rodriguez, and was cruising until Sanchez launched a two-run home run that landed deep into the left field bleachers. It was the second home run in as many days for Sanchez, who hit his first career grand slam in Saturdays 6-4 victory.

The Giants literally cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth inning, as they scored four runs off of German.

Joe Panik drove in the first run of the game for the Giants, as he drove in Tyler Austin, who walked while pinch-hitting for Vincent.

Pablo Sandoval doubled to center field that scored Yangervis Solarte, who reached on a fielders choice, then after a Brandon Belt single, Pablo Sandoval doubled in Solarte, Crawford lined out to Torres for the second out, but then Kevin Pillar, singled in Belt and Sandoval.

The Yankees tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth inning, as Cameron Maybin singled in Torres and then Tyler Wade drove in Mike Tauchman and Maybin, who advanced on the throw home.

Pillar led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run, his fifth of the season and it was his 18th run batted in of the season, tying his career for most RBIs in one month. He previously drove in 18 runs in June of 2015.

NOTES: Voit extended his on-base streak up to 39 games when he walked in the first inning, as it is the second longest streak by a Yankees player, trailing Mark Teixeiras 42-game streak in 2005. Also, it is the longest current on-base streak in the major leagues.

LeMahieu was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the third inning with inflammation in his right knee, and x-rays were negative.

Urshela left the game in the fourth inning after he was hit by a pitch on his left hand, and x-rays were negative.

The 11 runs scored by the Yankees were the most given by the Giants in any game this season, and as a team, the Yankees outscored the Giants 24-12 in the three-game sweep.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija takes the mound on Monday, as the two-time defending National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers head to the Bay Area for a three-game series. Kenta Maeda will take the mound for the Dodgers, who are coming off a three-game series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium.

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — It seems that a trip to the West Coast did not cool off the New York Yankees, despite the fact that they have a major league-high 13 players on the injured list.

Gary Sanchez hit a grand slam into the left-center bleachers, as part of a five run fifth inning and the Yankees would go on to defeat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 in front of 33,971 at Oracle Park.

It was the first career grand slam for Sanchez, his seventh home run of the season and his first since being activated from the injured list on April 24.

J.A. Happ pitched seven strong innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, walking no one and striking out two, as he won for the first time in 2019.

D.J. LeMahieu got the ball rolling for the Yankees in the top of the third inning, as he singled to left field off the glove of Evan Longoria that allowed Cameron Maybin to score from second base.

The Yankees blew the game wide open in the fifth inning, as Derek Holland got roughed up for a five-run inning, as Luke Voit was hit by a pitch that scored LeMahieu and then Sanchez launched his seventh home run of the season.

Cameron Maybin beat out an infield single to Yangervis Solarte, then after a Thairo Estrada single, Happ bunted into a fiedlers choice that retired Maybin at third base, then LeMahieu walked to load the bases, after a Voit hit by a pitch that saw LeMahieu score from third base, Sanchez hit a grand slam that lit up Oracle Park with the throngs of Yankees fans like the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Plaza.

The Giants as a team could not figure out Happ all day, as they got two hits off the left-hander and lost for the second time in a row against the Bronx Bombers.

Solarte finally got the Giants on the board, as he hit his first home run of the season off of Luis Sessa in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he hit a three-run home run.

It was Solartes first home run as a member of the Giants, and his first home run since July 22, 2018, while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Baltimore Orioles.

Eric Kratz cut the Yankees down to 6-4, as he hit his first home run of the season, and it was the fifth career pinch hit home run for Kratz.

The last time Kratz hit a pinch-hit home run came on August 18, 2014 for the Kansas City Royals against the Minnesota Twins (Anthony Swarzak) at Target Field.

Buster Posey stayed hot, as he went 2-for-4 at the plate, and is hitting .345 (10-for-29) over his last nine games with four doubles and a home run and seven runs batted in.

NOTES: Brandon Belt moved to right field in the eighth inning, as it was the first time that he played in right field since April 23, 2017 and the fourth time in his career.

When Tyler Austin threw out Gleyber Torres at third base, it was the 10th outfield assist of the season for the Giants, breaking the tie for the most in the major leagues. Prior to the Austin assist, the Giants were tied with the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox and the Miami Marlins for the most in the majors with nine.

The Sanchez grand slam was the third that was allowed by Holland, and the first since July 2,2011, while pitching for the Texas Rangers. Hanley Ramirez, then playing for the Florida Marlins launched the grand slam against Holland.

Voits streak of reaching base was extended in that fifth inning when he drove in a run, as he reached on a hit by a pitch by Holland. It was the 37th consecutive game that Voit reached base, and is the second longest streak by a Yankees player since the start of 2005, when Mark Teixeira reached in 42 straight games from June 6-July 26, 2010.

Steven Duggar injured his right wrist when he went for that D.J. LeMahieu foul ball when he ran over the bullpen mound in the top of the first inning of Fridays game.

Tried to balance myself, said Duggar.

UP NEXT: Dereck Rodriguez looks to stop from sweeping the series, as he looks to improve to 4-2 on the season, while Domingo German looks to move to 5-1 on the season for the Yankees.

This will be the first career starts for each starter against their opponents.

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — In their first appearance at Oracle Park in nearly 12 years, the New York Yankees showed why they are on a roll lately.

Gleyber Torres got it going in the first inning, as he doubled in DJ LeMahieu, who led off the game with a double of his own and the Yankees defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-3 before a crowd of 34,950 at Oracle Park.

With the victory, the Yankees have won seven out of their last eight and improve to 4-1 on their three-city, nine-game road trip thru Anaheim, San Francisco and Arizona.

The top three Yankees hitters in the lineup of Torres, LeMahieu and Luke Voit went a combined 8-for-13 with six runs scored and four runs batted in.

Cameron Maybin drove in the second run of the inning, as he singled in Torres, while Gio Urshela went to second. Urshela singled just before Maybin. Madison Bumgarner was able to regroup, as he got Austin Romine to groundout to Bumgarner and then Mike Tauchman struck out swinging to end the inning.

It may have taken 26 games, but the Giants finally scored in the first inning, as Tyler Austin singled, then Brandon Belt doubled Austin to third and then Buster Posey hit a sacrifice fly to Maybin that allowed Austin to score.

Urshela drove in the Yankees third run of the evening, as he singled to left field to score Voit, who singled to lead off the third inning, went to second on a Torres sacrifice bunt and then scored on the Urshela single. Urshela advanced an additional 90 feet, when Belt misplayed the ball in left field.

Voit got in on the act in the top of the fifth inning, as he doubled to left to score LeMahieu, as Voit stretched streak of reaching base up to 37 games in a row.

The power-hitting first baseman ended the night by going 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and three RBIs.

Steven Duggar came up with the defensive play of the night in that fifth inning, as he threw out Voit attempting to go to third base. It was the ninth outfield assist of the season for the Giants, tying them for the most in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox and the Miami Marlins.

The Yankees lengthened their lead in the top of the sixth inning, as Thairo Estrada picked up his first major league RBI, as he singled to center field to score Austin Romine.

Buster Posey cut the Yankees lead down to 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he doubled to score Austin and then Yangervis Solarte drove in Posey, as he singled.

It was a nice return to the Bay Area for LeMahieu, who played for the Colorado Rockies from 2012-2018, and began his career with the Chicago Cubs in 2011.

James Paxton pitched a great game for the Yankees, as he went 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out eight and improved to 3-2 on the season.

Bumgarner also went 5.2 innings, allowing five runs, on five hits, while not walking a batter and striking out five and saw his record fall to 1-4 on the season.

The 11 hits allowed by Bumgarner tied a career-high, as it was the fourth time that he gave up 11 hits in a game. The last time that Bumgarner gave up 11 hits in the same game was on September 11, 2012 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

NOTES: With their run in the first inning, the Giants now have been outscored 16-1 in the opening frame and are now 9-for-84 at the plate, a .107 clip.

While the Yankees have a MLB-high 13 players on the injured list, the Giants have just one player on the IL, as Johnny Cueto is on the 60-day disabled list, while he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

Jordan Montgomery, Dellin Betances, Jacoby Ellsbury, Didi Gregorius, Ben Heller, Aaron Hicks, Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki, Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier are the 13 Yankees currently on the injured list.

This day in Giants history, Cueto threw his first shutout in a Giants uniform, as he shutout the San Diego Padres 1-0. It was also the 100th win of Cuetos career.

On this date in 1961, Roger Maris hit his first of his 61 home runs of the season, as the Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 13-11 in 10 innings at Tiger Stadium. Mickey Mantle, who hit 54 home runs that season hit home runs from both sides of the plate, as he hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning and then another two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning.

Also on this date in 2005, Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs and drove in 10 runs, as the Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 12-4. Rodriguez became just the second Yankees player to drive in 10 or more runs in a game, trailing Tony Lazzeri, who drove in 11 runs on May 24, 1936, as the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 25-2.

UP NEXT: Derek Holland takes the mound for the Giants, as he makes his sixth start of the season and the 220th start of his career. This will be the 11th career start for Holland against the Yankees, as he is 1-7 with a 6.38 ERA.

J.A. Happ will head to the hill for the Yankees in the middle game of this three-game series, as he looks for his first win of the season against two losses. In his career versus the Giants, Happ is 1-4 with a 4.80 ERA in five career starts.

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants are riding a bit of a winning streak, and they look to add to the momentum against a New York Yankees team that is struggling to put a lineup together these days.

Left-hander Madison Bumgarner (1-3, 3.66 ERA) will take the hill Friday night at Oracle Park, and he will go up against Yankees lefty James Paxton (2-2, 3.10 ERA) when the two teams kick off a three-game weekend series.

The Giants and Yankees last met at Yankee Stadium in July 2016, when New York took two of the three-game series. New York also holds the all-time regular-season series advantage over the Giants, 5-4, while they have seen each other several times in the postseason, dating back to 1921.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are dealing with all kinds of injuries, and the Giants might be catching them at the right time.

Slugger Giancarlo Stanton has been getting ready to return to the lineup after being down since April 1 with a biceps injury. However, the return has been put on hold for now, as he is now reportedly suffering from a sore left shoulder.

The other big cog in the lineup, Aaron Judge, became sidelined after suffering what has been called a “pretty significant” oblique injury this past weekend. All of this means that neither player will be playing this weekend at Oracle Park for the three-game series.

The Yankees have also been without infielders Aaron Hicks and Troy Tulowitzki as well as right-hander Luis Severino, and they will be out of the lineup until further notice.

Lefty Derek Holland (1-3, 4.33 ERA) will take the ball Saturday afternoon opposite New York righty J.A. Happ (0-2, 5.96 ERA), while Dereck Rodriguez (3-2, 3.54 ERA) goes for the Giants Sunday afternoon against Yankees righty Domingo German (4-1, 1.75 ERA).