Category: San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips and Michael Duca: Season ends in three weeks, but the way Giants are going, season is already over

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On the Giants podcast with Morris and Michael:

According to the calendar, the Giants’ season is ending in about three weeks, but the way the Giants are playing…maybe it’s already over. The offense has just disappeared and Monday night’s game against the Braves was another example of that. Starter Dereck Rodriguez pitching great again–going six inning plus, five hits, two runs, and two walks with three strikeouts.

Rodriguez has been very consistent, but deep into the ballgame, his teammates let him down. It was pointed out his line for Monday night’s game reflects his consistency his numbers in terms of hits allowed since the All-Star break leads all MLB starters with 30 hits allowed in a 50-inning stretch.

Morris and Michael do the Giants podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NL East-leading Braves as good as advertised in 4-1 win over the Giants

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Photo credit: @Braves

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Well, the Giants are still on the same downward trajectory, but that doesn’t affect how standout rookie Dereck Rodriguez goes about his business.

Nine, consecutive losses has the Giants crawling to the finish line of the 2018 season, but Rodriguez ramped it up on Monday, pitching into the seventh inning only to see Gorkys Hernandez’s throwing error allow the Braves to break a 1-1 tie on their way to a 4-1 victory.

“That kid pitched a great game like he’s done so many times this year,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “A shame we couldn’t get any runs for him.”

When it comes to breakout performers, the Braves have a lot of teams outnumbered. Countering Rodriguez’ remarkable consistency on Monday was Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuna and starting pitcher Sean Newcomb.

While Acuna suffered a rare, quiet evening, Albies doubled and tripled, and Newcombe shut the Giants down for six innings allowing just three hits. Albies big leagued Hernandez in the seventh as well, tricking the veteran outfielder into a throw behind him at first while the rookie took second base. Hernandez’ throw got loose as well allowing the rookie to move to third.

The result was a tough luck loss for Rodriguez due to being the pitcher of record when the Braves scored their unearned, second run.

The Giants and Braves will play in their game two on Tuesday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Was umpire being sexist against Serena at U.S. Open?; Did Cleveland know Donaldson was damaged goods before obtaining him?; plus more

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On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 Do you believe if Serena Williams during the U.S. Open was thrown off her game because of getting hit with an illegal coaching call, abusing a racket, and verbally abusing an umpire? Was the umpire being sexist with his calls against Serena?

#2 Williams was hit with a $17,000 fine ($10,000 for verbal abuse, $4,000 for coaches violation, and $3,000 for racket abuse). Should umpire Carlos Ramos have given warnings before installing each violation against Serena?

#3 Josh Donaldson’s agent said that he was that he was not offered a multi-year deal by the Toronto Blue Jays before being dealt to Cleveland. Also, Donaldson was reportedly damaged goods before coming to Cleveland.

#4 First in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves have some hitters at top of of their lineup with Ronald Acuna Jr .293, Freddie Freeman .306 and Nick Markakis .309. The Braves are playing in S.F. this week in their bid to win the NL East.

#5 Amaury talks about whether there was too much pressure and hype on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garopplolo to win the opener in Minnesota and continue his five-game win streak.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio talent; is the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum Hall of Fame vice president, and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Schoop is all the poop as Brew Crew take down Giants 6-3 with both benches emptying

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photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner walks towards Milwaukee Brewers hitter Ryan Braun (8) who in turn steps towards Bumgarner’s direction only to be intercepted by Giants catcher (5) Nick Hundley Sunday afternoon at Miller Park in Milwaukee

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 In a heated battle, the San Francisco Giants lost their eighth straight game to the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-run loss at Miller Park on Sunday afternoon. The game didn’t go without some frustrations. The Brewers’ Ryan Braun at the plate. Giants starter Madison Bumgarner threw his first serving to Braun high and up that backed Braun off the plate. The second pitch up and high, and the third one hit Braun in the elbow as Braun was walking up the first base line he was jawing with Bumgarner, which brought out both dugouts.

#2 Brewers manager Craig Counsell came out to argue with plate umpire Tom Hallion. who had just warned both benches. Counsell argued that Hallion should have tossed Bumgarner and that the Brewers didn’t do anything to precipitate Bumgarner to throw at Braun.

#3 The Brewers’ Jonathan Schoop hit a grand slam home run to help the Brewers get a three run lead. The Giants, who ended the six-game road trip Sunday, went 0-6, and if that wasn’t tough enough, they come back to San Francisco to host the first-place Atlanta Braves.

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

Schoop’s grand slam send Giants to their eighth straight loss 6-3

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Photo credit: @CarlDeff

By Jeremy Kahn

Jonathan Schoop came up with the biggest hit of the day when the Milwaukee Brewers needed it the most.

Schoop hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning that gave the Brewers the lead for good on their way to a 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Miller Park on Sunday afternoon.

The win by the Brewers helped them sweep the Giants, who went 0-6 on the road trip and have lost eight games in a row overall.

Madison Bumgarner allowed the grand slam to Schoop just after Bumgarner hit Ryan Braun in the back that forced the Brewers players to come out of the dugout and led to the ejection of manager Craig Counsell by home plate umpire Tom Hallion.

It was a bit of sweet redemption for Schoop, who struck out in his first at-bats against Bumgarner and then in the bottom of the sixth, he launched a Bumgarner pitch over the wall to give the Brewers a 5-2. This was the fourth home run for Schoop as a member of the Brewers since July 31 from the Baltimore Orioles.

Bumgarner was looking for the Giants, as he was cruising into the sixth inning and the Giants led 2-1. Braun doubled off Bumgarner in the first inning that scored a run, but he then retired the next 15 batters before he gave up a walk to Christian Yelich with two outs in that fateful sixth inning.

After the Yelich walk, Bumgarner gave up a single to Jesus Aguilar, which allowed Braun to come to the plate. The first pitch to Braun was inside, and then Bumgarner threw another pitch inside that ended with a stare down between the two. Bumgarner then hit Braun to load the bases, and brought the Brewers players out of the dugout, and eventually led to the ejection of Counsell, who was upset that there was no warning given to Bumgarner.

With the victory, the Brewers were able to maintain their 2.5 game for the top wild card spot over the St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-2 at Comerica Park.

The eight straight losses for the Giants is a season-high, as they cut the Brewers lead down to two in the top of the eighth inning, as Austin Slater hit an RBI triple; however, Schoop put the finishing touches on the game, as he drove in a run with a Fielders’ Choice in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Bumgarner ended up going six innings, allowing five runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out four.

Gregor Blanco gave the Giants a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit a sacrifice fly off of Brewers starter Zach Davies, who was not involved in the decision. Corbin Burnes picked up his fourth win of the season, as he struck out two of the four batters that he faced and Corey Knuble went 1.1 innings of perfect ball to nail down his 15th save in 18 opportunities.

Blanco gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as he hit a Davies pitch over the right field wall for his second home run of the season.

NOTES: Ryder Jones started at first base for Brandon Belt, who was scratched from the game with a sore right knee on Saturday night came on in the top of the fifth inning, to replace Jones, who was forced to leave the game with a dislocated knee after he fouled off a pitch.

UP NEXT: The Giants will return home to host the Atlanta Braves for a three-game series starting Monday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

Dereck Rodriguez will take to the AT&T Park mound on Monday, as he looks to stop to the bleeding of this eight-game losing streak against the National League East leading Atlanta Braves, who will send Sean Newcomb to the mound.

After 4-3 loss in Milwaukee, Giants’ losing streak now stands at seven

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

It seems that this nightmare of a road trip will never come to a close for the San Francisco Giants.

Gio Gonzalez made his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers a memorable one, as he received a standing ovation, as he allowed an unearned run on just three hits in 5.2 innings of work and the Brewers defeated the Giants 4-3 at Miller Park on Saturday.

Gonzalez, who was making his Brewers debut after being acquired from the Washington Nationals on August 31, also retired 16 of the 21 batters he faced.

The Brewers now lead the National League Wild Card by 2.5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost 4-3 to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Christian Yelich hit his 28th home run of the season, his first season with the Brewers after beginning his career with the Miami Marlins.

Travis Shaw also hit his 28th home run of the season, as he got the Brewers on the board in the bottom of the first off of eventual losing pitcher Chris Stratton.

The Brewers also got RBIs from Mike Moustakas, who drove in a run with a double and Orlando Arcia drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Austin Slater drove in the Giants first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit a line out to Yelich, to score Chase d’Arnaud, who was originally called out by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi; however, after a review, d’Arnaud was called safe for the Giants first run of the evening.

Ryder Jones got the Giants within one run in the top of the eighth inning, as he hit a two-run pinch hit home run.

Stratton went just five innings, allowing four runs on four hits, walking three and striking out six, as his record fell to 9-9 on the season and the Giants have now lost seven games in a row.

NOTES: Brandon Crawford was not in the lineup again, but did make a pinch-hit appearance in the top of the eighth inning, where he walked. Brandon Belt was a late scratch at first base, as d’Arnaud started at first in his place.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Brewers conclude their series with a Sunday finale at 11:10 am PDT.

Madison Bumgarner looks to stop the losing streak on Sunday, as he takes the mound for the Giants. Zach Davies looks for his third win of the season, as the Brewers goes for the series sweep.

Jesus Aguilar sends the Giants to their sixth straight loss 4-2

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Photo credit: @INDeporteVE

By Jeremy Kahn

Jesus Aguilar usually hits the ball very far, but the Milwaukee Brewers power hitter kept the ball in the ballpark and it helped his team in a huge way.

Aguilar hit a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Tony Watson, as the Brewers defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-2 at Miller Park on Friday night.

Losing pitcher Hunter Strickland started the seventh inning, but after walking back-to-back pinch hitters in, Curtis Granderson and Eric Thames, Strickland was replaced by Watson, who gave up the eventual game-winning double to Aguilar.

With the victory, the Brewers increased their lead in the wild card race to a 1.5 games over the charging St. Louis Cardinals, who lost to the Detroit Tigers on a walk-off home run by Jose Castellanos in the bottom of the ninth inning at Comerica Park, by the final score of 5-3.

On the other side of things, it could not have gotten any worse for the Giants, who have lost six games in a row and are now a season-high six games under .500.

Josh Hader pitched two strong innings to pick-up his fifth win of the season, Joakim Soria got through the Giants in the top of the eighth and then Jeremy Jeffress closed it out to notch his ninth save of the season.

Bruce Bochy was not around to see the end of the game, as the Giants manager was ejected in the top of the ninth inning after arguing the strike zone with home plate umpire Adam Hamari. Bochy was ejected from the game after Nick Hundley was called out on a low strike call, and then Bochy came out to add his two cents before he got the heave-ho from Hamari.

Derek Holland once again pitched a great game, as he went six innings, allowing two runs on just two hits, walking five and striking out a season-high tying eight. It was the fourth time this season that Holland notched eight strikeouts in a game.

The Brewers got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when they got their only hits off of Holland, as Lorenzo Cain singled and then after then two outs later, Ryan Braun hit his 15th home run of the season.

Chris Shaw got the Giants on the board in the top of the fourth inning, as his groundout scored Evan Longoria, who hit back-to-back singles with Brandon Belt and the two advanced an additional 90 feet on a Chase Anderson wild pitch and then Longoria scored the first run of the night on the Shaw groundout.

Alen Hanson tied up the game, as he led off the top of the fifth inning with his eighth home run of the season off of Anderson, who gave up his National League leading 29th home run of the season. Anderson, who like Holland, did not fare in the decision, went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking one and striking out five.

NOTES: Once again, Brandon Crawford was out of the starting lineup for the Giants, but he was available to pinch-hit for the Giants. Crawford last started for the Giants on Monday after missing the previous three games with a sore left knee. Crawford last played on Tuesday, but sat out Wednesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field and with the off-day on Thursday, Bochy said that he is listed as day-to-day.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Brewers play in game two of the series on Saturday at 4:10 pm PDT.

Chris Stratton will go for his 10th win for the Giants, while the Brewers will send Gio Gonzalez to the mound. This will be the first start as a member of the Brewers for Gonzalez, who was acquired from the Washington Nationals on August 31.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants expecting big things from new second baseman Abiatal Avelino

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 In the Andrew McCutchen deal that sent him to the New York Yankees, it gave the Giants a young prospect that’s maybe the key to this deal in acquiring Abiatal Avelino a promising second baseman.

#2 Avelino thought that when he got the call to go the show. He thought he was going to New York to replace injured second baseman Greyber Torres, but he found out he was being traded to San Francisco for Andrew McCutchen.

#3 Avelino wasn’t disappointed about coming to SF realizing he’ll have a better chance at starting in the Giants’ rebuild. Also, what does that mean for second baseman Joe Panik’s future with the Giants?

#4 The Giants take a five-game losing streak into Milwaukee tonight. The Brewers are in the hunt. Is this going to be a series on what the call ups can do or can they get up for this game and take it to the Brew Crew and play spoilers?

#5 Also, talk about the Rockies’ Trevor Story, who hit three home runs Wednesday night and 31 for the year, and how Giants pitcher Andrew Suarez just couldn’t contain him.

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

Giants starting to play out the string in upcoming series against the Brewers

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

It’s quite evident that the Giants are not going to make the playoffs – Buster Posey having season-ending surgery and the team trading Andrew McCutchen after a little more than half a season more than showed they have waved the right flag – so they might as well mess things up for teams that are still contending.

They can start with this weekend’s three-game series in Milwaukee against the Brewers, which starts Friday night at Miller Park. The Giants just got finished getting their heads handed to them by the Rockies in Colorado (what else is new?) in getting swept in a three-game series at Coors Field.

So if they are going to play spoiler–or if they think they actually have a chance in grabbing a wild-card spot in the National League–they will need to get things back on track very quickly.

The Giants’ Derek Holland (7-8, 3.56 ERA) will take the ball Friday night against the Brewers’ Chase Anderson (9-7, 3.96 ERA).

Anderson has won each of his last three decisions, and in his last outing, he went five innings and gave up only a run on four hits in a loss to Washington, although he got a no-decision. Holland, meanwhile, has won each of his last two decisions, while he has spent some time in the bullpen this season.

The left-hander went six innings in a loss to the Mets at home–he got a no-decision–and he also gave up only a run and surrendered only four hits in the process.

Chris Stratton (9-8, 4.90 ERA), who has spent some time in Triple-A Sacramento this year, will go Saturday afternoon, and he will face Milwaukee lefty–and former Nationals and A’s standout–Gio Gonzalez.

Stratton has been stellar in his past two starts, although he lost his last outing in a 4-1 loss to the Mets four days ago, when he gave up only a pair of runs on three hits over six innings. The outing before, he shut out the Diamondbacks over eight innings, giving up only five hits and striking out six in a 2-0 win.

On Sunday, Madison Bumgarner (5-5, 3.07 ERA) will take the hill for the Giants and opposite the Brewers’ Zach Davies (2-5, 4.88 ERA).

Story blasts Giants 5-3 with 3 HR’s

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Photo credit: @SportingGreenSF

By Jeremy Harness

Trevor Story blasted three home runs on Wednesday, and that proved to be the difference as the Colorado Rockies beat the Giants, 5-3, inside Coors Field.

One of those, which was in the bottom of the fourth inning, traveled 505 feet and was the longest ball ever to be hit in the history of the Rockies’ home field.

With the loss, the Giants fell to five games under .500 and are now 10 games behind the National League West lead. That, to go along with the fact that the Giants just cannot beat the Rockies in Coors Field, particularly when it matters.

The first bomb by Story gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead, but the Giants came right back in the third when Austin Slater’s run-scoring single tied the game at 2-2, and they took the lead when Aramis Garcia slammed a home run of his own in the fourth.

However, Colorado took over the game from that point on, and this time, the Giants could not recover.

In the bottom of the fourth, Story struck again and re-tied the game at 3-3 with his record-breaking home run the cleared the bleachers in left field. He left the ballpark one last time in the bottom of the sixth to give the Rockies a 4-3 lead.

D.J LeMahieu added some insurance in the seventh when he singled to score Carlos Gonzalez, and the Colorado bullpen slammed the door on the Giants the rest of the way, as they keep their hopes alive for the postseason.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ playoff hopes are long gone at this point. That was hammered home when catcher Buster Posey elected to have hip surgery a month ago, and then the team traded away right fielder Andrew McCutchen.