Category: San Francisco Giants

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary with Barbara Mason: It’s a miracle, Sharks back home for Game 7; LA Clippers on brink, face Warriors for Game 5; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @mercnews

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi-Gonzalez on That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 It’s a miraculous comeback playoff for the San Jose Sharks, who were down 3-1 in the series with the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks won games 5 and 6 by scores of 5-2 and 2-1 to force a Game 7 and not much thought they would get this far. Faceoff is on Tuesday night in San Jose for Game 7.

#2 After that horrific 31-point lead they had in Game 2 that got erased, the Golden State Warriors have now been cruising on the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors now have a 3-1 series lead and are just about ready to put the final touches in the elimination game on Wednesday night in Oakland in Game 5.

#3 After going through a 191 at-bats against the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey finally broke out and got a home run, which proved to be the game-winner on Sunday. The Pirates were the only National League team that Posey had not hit a home run off of.

#4 The Oakland A’s not only got swept by the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend. A’s pitcher Brett Anderson rolled his ankle coming off the mound to field a grounder hit by the Jays’ Randal Grichuk in the top of the third inning and had to leave the game. Anderson is hopeful for his next scheduled start on Saturday in Toronto.

#5 With the loss on Sunday to Toronto, the A’s have lost four straight in Saturday’s 10-1 loss. A’s manager Bob Melvin was upset up about the lack of hitting. The A’s pitching staff was exhausted using six pitchers, including first baseman Kendrys Morales as a ninth inning reliever.

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi-Gonzalez for That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants hit four home runs in narrow 7-6 victory over Jays

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

Maybe a trip outside of the United States would help the San Francisco Giants, and find their hitting stride.

Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-4, including his first home run of the season and the Giants staved off a late rally to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 at Rogers Centre.

Sandoval was one of four Giants to hit home runs, as Evan Longoria launched a solo home run over the center field wall and Joe Panik and Brandon Belt each hit home runs for the Giants, who have won two in a row after losing four in a row against the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It was the first home run game for the Giants since they accomplished the feat on July 4, 2018 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In his first appearance, back in Toronto since being traded to the Giants for Alen Hanson and Derek Law, Kevin Pillar received a rousing ovation from the Rogers Centre crowd.

Pillar drove in the first run of the game for the Giants, as he drove in Pablo Sandoval against the team that he played for a seven-year period.

Jeff Samardzija continues to look sharp in the early going of the season, as he gave up two earned runs in five and one-thirds inning of work. Samardzija gave up five hits, walked one and struck out four, as he improved to 3-0 in his big-league career against the Blue Jays.

Trent Thornton made his fifth start of his career, as he went five innings, allowing four earned runs, six hits and struck out five, as he fell to 0-3 on the season.

Things were going smooth for the Giants until the bottom of the eighth inning, as they led 7-2; however, Northern California native Rowdy Tellez launched a grand slam off of Tony Watson to cut the lead down to 7-6. Despite allowing the grand slam, Watson was able to get out of the inning unscathed.

Former Oakland As infielder Eric Sogard got the eighth inning rally started, as he singled off of Sam Dyson, then Richard Urena, but then Russell Grichuk singled off the right field wall that confused Urena, who stopped at second base and Sogard ended up at third.

Justin Smoak then struck out for the first out of the inning, and then Watson got the first two strikes against Tellez; however, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Tellez launched a 432-foot grand slam.

Will Smith struck out two of the three batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he picked up his sixth save of the season.

NOTES: Once again, the Giants failed to score in the first inning and the streak now stands at 24 games, a National League record and four away from breaking the dubious record, held by the 1948 Chicago White Sox, who failed to score in 28 consecutive first innings.

This was just the ninth game that the Giants played at Rogers Centre, and their first trip to the Country since the 2013 season. Overall, the Giants are now 4-5 at Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays home since June of 1989.

UP NEXT: Drew Pomeranz closes out the road trip, as he looks for his first win of the season, while the Blue Jays will send Clay Buchholz to the hill, as Buchholz also looks for his first win of the season.

Interleague Intrigue: Giants measure themselves against the Jays and Yanks

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

If you’re the statistically inferior Giants, it’s hard to find an opponent that’s not better–on paper at least, by the numbers. It’s an early season theme that grows more intense this week with interleague games against the Blue Jays and Yankees.

Those numbers say the Giants will hard pressed by a couple of ballclubs that so far have pitched just as good as the Giants, but have significantly better offenses. The comparisons don’t favor San Francisco when the Yankees’ injuries and the Jays’ inexperience are factored in.

Simply, the numbers show that the Giants’ preference to pitch and play defense leave them little margin for error when they’ve done so little offensively in the season’s first 23 games (9-14). Toronto looked eerily similar to the Giants in that respect until winning seven of their last nine games, including a sweep of the A’s over the weekend in which their offense has kicked in.

In their seven most recent wins, the Blue Jays have averaged six runs per ballgame, a number the Giants can only dream of at this point.

So when Jeff Samardzija takes the mound in Toronto on Tuesday, he’ll need to be especially aware of Justin Smoak (team-leading 17 RBI), Freddy Galvis (five home runs), and Teoscar Hernandez, who was famously robbed of a home run on Sunday at the Coliseum by A’s centerfielder Ramon Laureano.

Trent Thornton is Toronto’s Tuesday starter and he is winless in four starts. Thornton failed to get through five innings in either of his two, most recent starts, lopsided losses to the Rays and Twins. But can the feeble San Francisco offense take advantage of Thornton?

On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Giants starting lineup had no batters with an average above Steven Duggar’s .242. The 3-4-5 hitters, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria are all hitting below .230, and ESPN brought up the possibility that either or both Brandon Crawford (.208) and Joe Panik (.177) could be benched if their offense doesn’t pick up.

On Sunday, the Giants took full advantage of Posey’s first home run since June 2018 in a 3-2 win over the Pirates. But they also failed to add on in any of the game’s final four innings, putting tremendous pressure on the team’s relievers.

With few, other offensive options, manager Bruce Bochy has been forced to be patient. Consequently, he didn’t miss the significance of Posey’s breakthrough on Sunday.

“I know there’s a lot of tension right now on our offense and our struggles especially early in the game. But them personally, they have a lot of pride. So I know that was huge for (Posey). And just the timing of it. We’re down two runs and he hit a three-run homer,” Bochy said.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Will Posey’s HR mean more to come?; Posey was hitting just over .200

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

@SFGiants photo: Buster Posey swings for the fences, ending his 191 at-bats drought without a home run, against the Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday at PNC Park in Pittsburgh off Pirates starter Chris Archer.

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey hit a three-run homer off Pittsburgh Pirates starter Chris Archer to help San Francisco hang onto a 3-2 win on Sunday.

#2 The Giants were in need of some offense and just a little helped them on Sunday.

#3 For Posey, it was the longest drought going without a home run. Sometimes, it takes something like this to spark a team.

#4 It was Posey’s first home run in 191 at-bats, which includes playoffs and regular season games against the Pirates. The Bucs were the only National League team that Posey had not homered off of.

#5 The Giants have the day off Monday before opening up a two-game series in Toronto Tuesday night against the Blue Jays, who are coming off a three-game sweep of the A’s over the weekend.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Who are the Giants fooling?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The San Francisco Giants front office fear the word “rebuilding”. Maybe they really believed the propaganda that they were going to win a World Series every two years from 2010-14 forever and ever. There is an old saying, “you can’t be half pregnant” and the Giants do not want to say they’re rebuilding and they are talking about trading some players to make the team better this year, but the fans are usually smarter than the front offices.

Take a look at the attendance so far at Oracle Park. People realize the party is over, and the casual fans that were there “for the party, dude!” have disappeared and are now more interested in watching Game of Thrones than Giants baseball. At the end, the fans always have the last word, they pay for the tickets to into the park, pay $12 for a beer, pay $14 for nachos with cheese (and those are cheap snacks!), and not to mention, the souvenirs.

The Giants are not going to contend this season. They should start trading the players that still might have some value like Madison Bumgarner, which I believe will be gone by the trading deadline on July 31. Gut the whole thing, They are not fooling anybody — maybe they’re fooling themselves. They have no power and little speed. They depend exclusively on their pitching. If their pitching gives up four runs, they will lose the game. They are not an exciting team.

As of the conclusion of action Sunday, the Giants have yet to score a run in the first inning during any of their first 23 games of the season. They are 9-14 and heading to Toronto, who are a typical American League East team that can score runs in bunches. There are teams that also have losing records like the Kansas City Royals, but that is a very exciting team with lots of speed and some power.

Still, there are some 140 games for most teams as there is a season still ahead, but the way it is going for the Giants, the next six months might look like six years.

Posey launches a three-run home run in Giants’ 3-2 win over Pirates

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sfchronicle

By Jeremy Kahn

Buster Posey came up with the biggest hit of the weekend at the most opportune time in the game for the San Francisco Giants.

Posey launched a three-run home run off of Chris Archer in the top of the fifth inning, as the Giants hung onto the last batter to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 at PNC Park.

It was the first career home run of Poseys career against the Pirates, and it helped the Giants avoid the three-game sweep against the Pirates.

When Posey got back to the dugout, he was mobbed by his teammates and you could a smile on his face as well.

Just in front of Posey to scorewas Dereck Rodriguez, who singled to lead off the inning and then Steven Duggar singled.

Things got dicey for the Giants in the bottom of the ninth inning, as former Giants farmhand Bryan Reynolds hit a double into the right-field corner that kicked around to Duggar, who threw to Joe Panik, who in turn, threw to Posey to get Jung Ho Kang at the plate to end the game.

Closer Will Smith walked Francisco Cervelli with one out, and then Kang grounded into a force out that saw Brandon Crawford unable to turn the double play; however, they were able to get Cervelli at second base for the second out and then the game came to an end, when Kang was thrown at the plate.

Rodriguez made one mistake, but other than that, the right-hander was on point for the Giants.

Rodriguez gave up a two-run home run to Josh Bell in the bottom of the fourth inning, but was solid before and after that home run by Bell.

He went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking just one and striking out four, as he improved to 3-2 on the season.

After not pitching yesterday, the Giants bullpen was well rested, as the trio of Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson and Smith went a combined 3.1 innings, allowing two hits, walking two and striking out three and it ended with Smith picking up his fifth save of the season.

Archer went five innings, giving up three runs on six hits, walking two and striking out two; however, that one-pitch to Posey sent to his first loss of 2019 against one win.

NOTES: Posey last hit a home run on June 19, 2018 off of Dan Straily of the Miami Marlins, a span of 237 at-bats. The Pirates were the last team that Posey never hit a home run against in his career, a total of 49 games.

UP NEXT: After an off-day on Monday, the Giants begin a brief two-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Jeff Samardzija will take the mound against the Blue Jays, as he wants to bounce back from his last start, where he went five innings, allowing four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out seven, as he lost to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.

Samardzija will face Trent Thornton, who is 0-2 with a 5.40 earned run average for the Blue Jays under first year manager Charlie Montoyo.

Giants lose rain-shortened game in Pittsburgh 3-1

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

Even though the date on the calendar says April 20, weather and timely hitting by the Pittsburgh Pirates helped them out in the long run.

Cole Tucker hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, helping the Pirates defeat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 in a game called after just five innings due to rain.

It was a three-hour 20-minute rain delay that saw Tucker pickup his first major league hit when he launched a 431-foot home run to centerfield that sent the Giants to their fourth straight defeat.

Steven Duggar tied up the game in the top of the fifth inning, as he picked an opposite field single that scored Kevin Pillar from second base.

In what could have been a big inning came to a heartbreaking halt, as Gerardo Parra lined into a double play that doubled Derek Holland off of first base. Holland reached on a bunt single down the third base line.

Pillar ended up going 2-for-2 in the rain shortened game that saw the game lasted just around 90 minutes after the 4:05 (eastern time) start.

Jung Ho Kong put the Pirates on the board, as he hit his third home run of the season, a solo home run off of Holland that gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Jameson Tallion pitched five innings, allowing just one run, scattering four hits, walking one and striking out three, as he won for the first time this season after losing two.

Holland saw his record fall to 1-3, as he also five innings, allowing three runs, also scattering four hits, walking just one and striking out seven.

NOTES: Once again, the Giants did not score in the first inning, making it 22 consecutive games that they have not scored, tying the 1952 Chicago White Sox and the 2007 Washington Nationals for second place. The 1948 Chicago White Sox hold the major- league record for not scoring a run in their first 28 games.

Tallion retired the Giants on nine pitches in that first inning, as they are now 6-for-69 in the opening frame on the 2019 season.

In his major-league career, Buster Posey does not have a home run against the Pirates in 184 career at-bats against the Pirates.

UP NEXT: Dereck Rodriguez looks to stop the losing streak, as he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon. This will be the second career start for Rodriguez against the Pirates, as he is 1-0 against the Pirates all-time.

On August 12, 2018, Rodriguez went seven innings, allowing one run on two hits, walked one and struck out four, as the Giants defeated the Pirates 2-1.

Chris Archer will go to the mound for the Pirates, as they go for the series sweep. Archer will make his first start after returning from the suspended list. Archer is 1-0 on the season.

Archer was suspended for five games after throwing a pitch behind Derek Dietrich on April 7.

Pirates’ four-run first does in Giants’ 4-1 loss

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Jeremy Kahn

If it was not for the first inning, it was a second fantastic outing in a row for Madison Bumgarner.

Unfortunately, Bumgarner gave up four runs on four hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-1 at PNC Park.

After getting the first two out in the inning, Jung Ho Kang walked, then Josh Bell and then Francisco Cervelli doubled to left to score both Kang and Bell. Pablo Reyes then singled in Cervelli, which saw Reyes move up to second on the throw home and then the scoring ended, when JB Shuck singled in Reyes.

Bumgarner then settled down, as he ended up going six innings, allowing those four runs, on six hits, walking just one and striking out seven.

In the final five innings of his start, Bumgarner allowed no runs on just two hits, not walking a batter and striking out six; however, he saw his record to 1-3 on the season.

Jordan Lyles pitched a great game for the Pirates, as he went six innings, not allowing a run, scattering four hits, walking just one and striking out six, as he improved to 2-0 on the season.

Lyles forced to leave the game after he took a Joe Panik line drive off his pitching hand that the Pirates turned into a double play that ended the inning.

Starling Marte and Erik Gonzalez were also forced to leave the game in the top of the eighth inning, as the two collided on the ball hit by Yangervis Solarte that fell in. Gonzalez was able to walk off on his own, but Marte, who was able to stand at first, was taken off on a cart per the teams request.

Felipe Vazquez struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning, as he notched his sixth save of the season.

Buster Posey drove in the only Giants run of the game in the top of the eighth, as he singled with two on and two out to score Solarte, who singled with one out in the inning. Steven Duggar then walked, and Panik struck out for the second out of the inning, Posey singled to right to score Solarte to bring Brandon Belt to the plate as the potential tying run; however, he popped out to third base to end the inning.

NOTES: Once again, the Giants were unable to get going in the first inning, as they went down in order and are now 6-for-66 in the first inning, a batting average of .091.

Mark Melancon continues to have a great start to the season, as he has thrown 10.0 scoreless innings to start the season and Is only reliever to throw 10 or more innings and not allow a run.

UP NEXT: Derek Holland takes the ball on Saturday for the Giants, while Jamison Tallion goes to the mound for the Pirates. Game time set for 1:05 pm PT.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants struggle with Nats; Hope to turn it around in Pittsburgh

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from msnsports.com: Washington Nationals Wilmer Difo takes San Francisco Giants pitcher Drew Pomeranz deep in the fourth inning for his first home run of the season at Nationals Park in Washington DC.

On the SF Giants podcast with Miguel:

#1 The Giants dropped two out of three to the Washington Nationals. On Thursday, Nats pitchers Patrick Corbin and Sean Doolittle both gave up just one run apiece for the 4-2 win.

#2 The Giants scored a run in the eighth and ninth innings. It wasn’t a rally, but it seemed like they came on late in games and Wednesday night wasn’t an exception either when they scored four runs in the top of the ninth, but came up short as well.

#3 Giants starter Drew Pomeranz threw for 4.2 innings, six hits, four runs, three walks and seven strikeouts. He pitched well, but dropped his record to 0-2.

#4 On the other hand, the Nats got some pitching from starter Patrick Corbin, who threw a distance 7.2 innings, one run, two hits, and nine strikeouts. Talk about his body of work.

#5 The Giants open up a series next against the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night at PNC Park. It’ll be Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (1-2 3.12 ERA) against the Bucs’ Jordan Lyles (1-0 0.82 ERA). Can the Giants score off a starter who has an ERA lower than 1.00?

Michael Duca does the Giants podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants back to the skids, lose 4-2 to the Nats

Published on by jeremy2878Leave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

After a promising start to this road trip, the Giants are back to a way of losing that has gripped them over the past year.

They surprised the Washington Nationals in the series opener on Tuesday, but were bombed out of Nationals Park on Wednesday and came out flat again on Thursday, losing by a count of 4-2 to drop the three-game series.

The Nationals scored the first four runs, the last one coming in the bottom of the fifth, when starter Drew Pomeranz walked in a run, after which he was pulled from the game in favor of reliever Trevor Gott.

Gott, along with Sam Dyson, Travis Bergen and Mark Melancon, combined to shut out Washington the rest of the way, but the damage was already done and the Giants bats could not bring them back.

Catcher Erik Kratz doubled in a run in the eighth, and Evan Longoria singled in a run in the ninth, But it was not nearly enough.

Frustration appeared to have boiled over in the fourth, as Brandon Belt was called out on strikes, on a pitch that looked like it was more than a few inches off the plate. As a result, Belt slammed his helmet down and flipped his bat to the side, because of which he was thrown out by home plate umpire Ryan Additon.

On the bright side, the once-maligned Melancon pitched a perfect ninth on Thursday while striking out two, keeping his ERA at 0.00 with nine innings pitched this year. Sure, it is a small sample size thus far, but it is a far cry from his 2018 campaign.

The Giants open a three-game series in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. Their series opener has been set for Friday at 4:05 pm PT.