Category: San Francisco Giants

Rockies outlast Giants 5-3 in 12 innings

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Carlos Gonzalez has a pretty nice track record against the Giants, and that continued Thursday night.

After the Rockies used walks to load the bases in the 12th inning, Carlos Gonzalez brought in two runs with a bloop single off reliever Cory Guerrin just beyond the outstretched arm of second basemen Kelby Tomlinson to break a 3-3 tie and ultimately give Colorado a 5-3 win at AT&T Park.

The Giants put together a rally in the bottom of the 12th, putting two runners on, but the rally fell short with a popout.

The Giants got a nice outing from starter Jeff Samardzija, who went 6 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He issues three walks and struck out three, but he did not factor in the decision.

The Rockies got to Samardzija (1-2, 6.94 ERA) in the second, getting three runs off the big right-hander to race out to an early lead. The final blow of the inning came when Samardzija’s pitching counterpart, Chad Bettis, singled in a run.

In the third, however, Samardzija exacted a little revenge by lining a single off Bettis, which moved Austin Jackson to third. A sac fly by the ensuing batter, Gorkys Hernandez, brought in Jackson to narrow Colorado’s lead to 3-1.

Bettis (4-1, 3.12 ERA) went six full innings and surrendered three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out five.
The Giants then used a two-out rally in the sixth to tie it up. Buster Posey drew a walk before Brandon Belt lined one just over the brick wall in right-center.

The hit was initially ruled a double, as the ball ricocheted hard back into the field of play, but the umpiring crew got together and upon review, the ball was found to have cleared the wall and instead hit the railing just beyond it, resulting in a game-tying two-run home run.

Meanwhile, Samardzija settled down very nicely after that turbulent second inning, shutting Colorado’s bats down from that point until he left the game in the seventh. Thursday night marked his longest outing of this brief season. After starting the season on the disabled list with a strained pectoral muscle, Samardzija went 5 2/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh last Saturday.

Will Smith and Sam Dyson took over for Samardzija and did not allow a single baserunner over the ensuing inning and a third.

The Giants were down to their last out in the ninth when Brandon Crawford’s chopper was just out of the reach of Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino, which Crawford used to leg out an infield single. He then stole second, but Austin Jackson grounded out weakly to third, sending the game to extras.

The Giants and Rockies face each other again Friday night at 7:15 pm PST.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants are a .500 club and doing better than most

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@SFGiants photo: Inside the San Francisco Giants dugout are the bat rack and the helmets of Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria, and Andrew McCutchen on Thursday night.

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

I like what the San Francisco Giants are doing better than what the Los Angeles Dodgers are doing. The Dodgers snapped their six-game losing steak Thursday night and caught up with the Miami Marlins. The Dodgers are now 17-26 and the Marlins drop to 16-27 in their loss to LA.

There are six teams on pace to lose 100 games and the Dodgers and Marlins are two of them, the Padres are another one. The White Sox are currently on a pace to lose 121. The White Sox have won only 11 games thus far this season. The White Sox won a game against the Texas Rangers on Thursday 4-2, snapping a two-game lose streak.

So with all things being equal coming into Thursday’s game at 22-22 isn’t all bad. Everybody has been saying they’re playing .500 ball and if they get healthy, they can do some damage and they certainly can. Pitcher Madison Bumgarner came out of his bullpen rehab healthy and was rearing to go and throw another one and then head out on his rehab assignment.

There’s much more on the Giants podcast with Michael Duca listen in each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Splash Hits Into Giants’ McCovey Cove

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Photo credit: @PaulBraverman

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–When AT&T Park opened for business back on April 11, 2000, there is the San Francisco Bay Area, and the portion just beyond the right field wall was coined as “McCovey Cove,” by former San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy.

When you hit a home run on the fly into the cove they were called, “Splash Hits” and the count is noted on the 24-foot wall in right field.

In the 19 seasons that baseball has been played at AT&T Park, there have been 78 “Splash Hits” that have landed in San Francisco Bay on the fly.

It maybe just 309 feet down the right field line, but to hit a ball into the Cove, it is a little further, as you have the arcade seating, the passageway and the port walk, where the fans can watch the game through the knothole.

Nearly three weeks after the first regular season game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Barry Bonds reached McCovey Cove for the first ever “Splash Hit,” hit by a San Francisco Giants player.

Bonds reached the Cove, as he launched a home run off of Rich Rodriguez, a left-handed reliever for the New York Mets.

Nine days later against the St. Louis Cardinals, Bonds reached the water twice in the same game against Cardinals starter Andy Benes and reliever Heathcliff Slocumbe.

Eleven months and one week after reaching the water against the Cardinals, Bonds joined a very exclusive club when he hit the seventh “Splash Hit,” off of Dodgers reliever Terry Adams. The two-run home run off of Adams was the 500th career home run for Bonds, and became just the 17thplayer to hit 500 home runs in a career.

Bonds hit the first nine “Splash Hits,” until Felipe Crespo reached the water on May 28, 2001 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and reliever Bret Prinz.

Crespo hit his second “Splash Hit,” om July 8, 2001 against the Milwaukee Brewers and pitcher Curtis Leskanic.

Bonds and Crespo were the only Giants player to have “Splash Hits” until J.T. Snow hit one off of Kyle Lohse of the Minnesota Twins on June 5, 2003.

Jose Cruz, Jr., hit the Cove for his first “Splash Hit” on July 8, 2003, as he took Dan Haren of the Cardinals into the Bay.

Michael Tucker made it a quintet on May 30, 2004, as he took left-hander Joe Kennedy of the Colorado Rockies for a swim into McCovey Cove.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski joined the club, as he reached the water off of Denny Stark of the Rockies.

When Bonds retired at the end of the 2007 season, there were 45 “Splash Hits,” and 35 of them were hit by Bonds.

Since Bonds retired after the 2007 season, there have only been 33 “Splash Hits” by Giants players from 2008 to the present.

Both Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt are currently tied for second with eight “Splash Hits,” while Denard Span hit five in his two years with the Giants.

While the Giants have 78 “Splash Hits,” opposing players have hit 45 in the time span that the park has been opened.

Todd Hundley of the Dodgers hit the first “Splash Hit” by an opponent on June 30, 2000 off of former Giants closer Robb Nen.

Former major leaguer Ryan Klesko is the only player to have “Splash Hits” as a Giants player and as an opponent

Kevin Correia is the only pitcher serve up “Splash Hits” as a Giants pitcher and an opposing pitcher.

Carlos Delgado, Carlos Gonzalez and Adam LaRoche have the most “Splash Hits” hit by an opposing player with three.

There have been three post season “Splash Hits,” as Bonds turned the feat against the Cardinals on October 12, 2002, then Rick Ankiel of the Atlanta Braves reached the water on October 8, 2010 and then Bryce Harper hit the last post season “Splash Hit” on October 7, 2014.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Green-Harden battle could just be the beginning of a physical series; Cano says he didn’t know he was taking steroids; Does Gruden know what he’s doing?

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Photo credit: @clevezirm

On the Headlines Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Tony will be looking back a bit on that first game with the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors when the Rockets’ James Harden and the Warriors’ Draymond Green got into a scrap in the first few minutes.

#2 The Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Can came clean admitting he took a substance Furosemide, a diuretic he told reporters that he was given the substance by a doctor in the Dominican Republic, but didn’t realize it was a banned substance. Cano was suspended by MLB for 80 games and is one of the highest-paid players in the MLB.

#3 Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has been getting some criticism about the way he’s handled personnel so far. He’s let go of Michael Crabtree, punter Marquete King and now Kahlil Mack’s contract, whose contract is coming up could be leaving. The Raiders are looking for some cap room.

#4 In spite of the A’s having the usual arm problems their starters have been coming through with Sean Manaea helping Oakland get a one run 6-5 win and Tuesday night with pitcher Daniel Mengden improving his record to 3-4, going six innings, eight hits, two runs, and three strikeouts and two wins in the series against Boston.

#5 The Giants, after losing five straight all on the road, have now won three straight and are preparing for the Colorado Rockies starting on Thursday night. The Rockies, who are in second place in the NL West, will be a test for San Francisco at AT&T Park after success against a last-place Reds team.

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Remember that Mike Leake-Adam Duvall trade from 2015? Oh, yeah.

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Cincinnati Reds’ best West Coast roadtrip in seven years came steeped in subtlety, a lot like the Reds’ season to date.

It surely didn’t get its crescendo on Wednesday at AT&T Park. The Reds did just enough good, delivering the game’s biggest hit–former Giant Adam Duvall’s three-run homer in the first inning–then basically starving out the home team from there in 6-3 victory that, yes, capped their road trip, and helped them avoid yet another three-game sweep. But it wasn’t the cathartic release the Cincinnati players enjoyed by sweeping the Dodgers four straight over the weekend.

After a dreadful 8-26 start to the season that dropped the Reds 13 games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers on May 7, they’ve won six of nine.

Matt Harvey, currently the Dark Knight of Southern Ohio, didn’t resurrect his career on Wednesday, but he certainly looked like he’s working on it. The sensation of a few seasons back struck out five of the final six batters he faced, but was lifted after a generally, rough four innings in which gave up seven hits and three runs.  Even Harvey admitted afterwards, following Brandon Belt’s home run that trimmed the Reds’ lead to 4-3, he needed to figure something out to get as far as he did.

“I was telling (his batterymate, Tucker Barnhart) after the game that after the home run to Belt, I threw a pitch to Sandoval or whoever followed him, I kind of felt it click. I realized was flying open and wasn’t really getting out front and executing pitches the way I wanted to,” he said.

Harvey followed that realization by striking out Pablo Sandoval, Double A-Richmond callup Miguel Gomez, Kelby Tomlinson, Andrew Suarez and Gregor Blanco in a six-batter sequence.  It wasn’t his finest moment, but it did find the Giants’ weakness. San Francisco’s lineup without Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford was exposed as an easier touch. The Giants squandered too many run scoring opportunities, and struck out 10 times, the 15th time they fanned that frequently in 44 games thus far.

The Giants went the final six innings scoreless, while the Reds added on. Three, pretty good Cincinnati relievers–Jared Hughes, workhorse Wandy Peralta and closer Raisel Iglesias shut the door on the Giants despite allowing a collective, five hits and some hair-raising–and controversial (see Ben Leonard’s story)–moments.

The Giants fell back to .500 (22-22) with the loss, somehow getting the least out of eight base hits, three doubles, Belt’s homer and a pair of walks.  Pinch-hitter Austin Jackson struck out with a runner at third, and one out, in the sixth. Sandoval hit into an inning-ending double play in the seventh. And Belt, who hit his team-leading ninth homer in the third, struck out with a runner aboard to end the game.

The game’s hero, Duvall was considered the 25th best prospect in the Giants’ system when they dealt him in July 2015 to get Mike Leake from the Reds to bolster their rotation for that season’s stretch drive. Since then, the former University of Louisville first baseman has hit 77 homers and 78 doubles for the Reds while the Giants passed on resigning Leake for the 2016 season. Duvall homered twice in the concluded series, and also came up with a terrific catch, robbing Sandoval of extra bases in the first inning.

“They made a couple of plays there that saved them,” manager Bruce Bochy conceded.

Belt accuses umpire of trying to end game quickly after Giants’ 6-3 loss to Reds

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Photo credit: San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt (9) is congratulated after hitting a home run against the Cincinnati Reds during the third inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, May 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Ben Leonard

SAN FRANCISCO—When home plate umpire Doug Eddings rung him up to end the game, Brandon Belt didn’t bother holding back.

Immediately after Raisel Iglesias pounded a fastball away to close a 6-3 Reds’ win, the 6-foot-5 Texan turned his head and started screaming at Eddings while everyone else walked off the field. More than 20 minutes later in the clubhouse, Belt was still fuming, even in the midst of a hot streak, accusing Eddings of trying to bring the game to a quick end.

“Multiple times, I’ve heard that guy say or insinuate that he wants to get through the game fast,” Belt said. “Then he makes calls like that that I can’t imagine he thought was a strike. You’ve got to wonder.”

Belt wouldn’t go into details of what Eddings said or when, but said Eddings was one of a couple bad apples of umpires in a league with many quality officials.

“You have a feeling that one or two of them just want to get the game over with, whether through it’s what they say or what they do,” Belt said. “I’m not sure if they’re connected or not, but if you don’t want it to be, then don’t say it.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman, crew chief Joe West declined to comment, saying, “I don’t comment on postgame comments and things said in anger.”

Belt’s rage ultimately made no difference in the outcome, as his Giants (22-22) fell just short of a sweep of lowly Cincinnati (15-29). The first baseman finished the day 2-for-5 with a solo home run as part of a 9-for-18 tear in his last four games, but a four-run Reds’ first inning was ultimately too much for San Francisco to overcome.

Rookie Andrew Suarez looked like he wasn’t going to make it out of the first after allowing the first four hitters of the game to score, including three on former Giant Adam Duvall’s homer. Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy thought the slight left-hander was trying too hard to power his way through hitters in the early going—and Suarez agreed.

“My adrenaline was pumping too much in the first,” Suarez said. “After those first four runs, I just tried to settle in and go as deep as I could.’

Considering it took him 29 pitches to get his first out, Suarez did go deep, rebounding to give the Giants six innings and allowing just one more run—an unearned run after a passed ball from Nick Hundley in the fifth. The 25-year-old gave up just three hits after the first inning.

The Giants scratched and clawed their way back into the game, but couldn’t get the big hit to take the lead. San Francisco quickly responded with two runs in the first on an RBI double from Andrew McCutchen and a Pablo Sandoval sacrifice fly against ex-Mets’ ace Matt Harvey.

The ‘Dark Knight’s’ mystique has been all but defiled, but that didn’t stop him from bearing down when it counted. He found himself in a mess with two runners in scoring position and no outs in the second, but worked his way through the inning unscathed. Despite giving up the solo shot to Belt, Harvey limited the damage and kept Cincinnati ahead for good.

Harvey finished just four innings and gave up three runs, but struck out the side to end his day and stem the tide for the Reds to pull away and avoid a sweep. Three Reds relievers combined for five innings of scoreless, five-hit ball to cap off Harvey’s start and send Cincinnati home on a high note.

A former All-Star, Harvey found his way to Cincinnati after struggling mightily since 2016 and weathering numerous off-the-field incidents—the most recent of which reportedly partying the night before a start. Bochy was impressed with his velocity—Harvey touched 95 mph at times on the radar gun—and thought his stuff was still there, but thought his command was not quite as sharp as he had seen before.

“But he’s healthy. You look at that more than anything,” Bochy said. “He just needs to get out there and pitch.”

The Giants will welcome the Colorado Rockies (23-20) to AT&T Park for the first time this season for a four-game set beginning Thursday. Jeff Samardzija (1-2, 6.94) is slated to square off against the Rockies’ Chad Bettis (4-1, 3.12) to open the series.

Belt goes swimming, Crawford goes 4-for-4 in Giants’ 5-3 win over Reds

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–After allowing three runs in the first four innings, you knew that it would be long night for Ty Blach.

Luckily, Blach’s teammates helped him out, as they came back with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 before a crowd of 37,809 at AT&T Park Tuesday night.

Brandon Belt got the rally started with one swing of the bat, as he took a Tyler Mahle offering and it landed in McCovey Cove for Belt’s eighth home run of the season.

Following the Belt Splash Hit, the Giants got three straight singles from Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford and Austin Jackson. After a strikeout by Kelby Tomlinson, pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval lashed a Mahle pitching inside third and down the line to tie up the game.

“I was surprised at the situation,” said Sandoval.

Gregor Blanco then singled to reload the bases, Andrew McCutchen narrowly beat Scooter Gennett’s throw from second for a Fiedlers’ Choice to score Jackson with the go-ahead run.

“Cutch looking good hustling down the line,” said Bruce Bochy.

Blach went four innings, allowing three runs (one of them earned) on five hits, walking one and striking out one.

Eugenio Suarez got the Reds on the board, as he hit a two-run home run off of Blach in the top of the third inning. The Suarez home run came just after Tomlinson committed a fielding error at second base that allowed Jesse Winkler to reach base.

The Reds added to their lead in the top of the fourth inning, as Billy Hamilton drove in Tony Cruz, who singled with one out, then went to second on a Mahle sacrifice bunt.

It was another nice night for Crawford at the plate, as he continues to hit the ball well, as he went 4-for-4 on the evening and is 9-for-12 over his last three games.

Mahle, who pitched 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, while walking one and striking out two, saw his record fall to 3-5 on the season.

The perfect pitched fifth inning by Pierce Johnson gave the right-hander his second win of the season, as he struck out one.

All in all, the five bullpen pitchers that included Johnson, Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson and Hunter Strickland went five innings, allowing no runs on four hits, not walking a batter and struck out eight to preserve the Giants third win in a row and clinching the series.

“Had guys that were fresh,” said Bochy.

NOTES: Andrew Suarez looks for his second major league win, as he takes the mound on Wednesday afternoon, as the Giants look for their first three-game sweep over the Reds since May 3-5, 2002. Matt Harvey will make his second start for the Reds since being acquired from the New York Mets for catcher Devin Mesoraco on May 8.

Austin Slater was optioned to Sacramento after Monday’s 10-7 victory over the Reds, while Miguel Gomez was recalled from Double-A Richmond.

The Belt Splash Hit in the bottom of the fourth inning was the 78thhit into McCovey Cove since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000. It was the eighth Splash Hit for Belt, tying him with Sandoval, who hit his eighth earlier this season on April 4 off of Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.

Belt and Sandoval are tied for second place behind Barry Bonds, who hit 35 in his eight years playing at AT&T Park.

UP NEXT: Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 12:45 pm PST.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: McCutchen and Giants swing for six doubles against Reds on Monday night

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photo @SFGiants: San Francisco Giants hitter Andrew McCutchen swings for one of his two doubles on Monday night at AT&T Park against the visiting Cincinnati Reds

On the Giants podcast with Michael and Morris:

The Cincinnati Reds came into AT&T Park on Monday night after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games and with a six game winning streak but ran into the Giants who had a six game losing streak until they snapped it on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0.

With the win it picked up the Giants spirits and hitting as well on Monday they got help from Andrew McCutchen, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey Brandon Belt, and Evan Longoria all who hit for doubles. Belt hit an eighth inning home run his seventh of the season with nobody out to help provide for the Giants offense.

The Giants got the 10-7 win and got their run production early three in the first, one in the second, two in the third, and later three in the sixth which helped because the Reds put seven runs on the board which in most circumstances is good enough to win a ball game normally.

Michael Duca and Morris Phillips do the Giants podcast weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rollercoaster ride: Giants start fast, then hang on in 10-7 homecoming win over the Reds

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants returned home from a rough road trip on Monday, and appeared to have their handpicked, get-well opponent in place: the NL bottom-dwelling Cincinnati Reds.

Except the Reds–after falling 19 games under .500 in the season’s first 35 games and firing manager Bryan Price–suddenly turned hot over the weekend, sweeping a four-game set at Dodgers Stadium.

So what to expect Monday night? A ragged ballgame were neither team looked like the ’98 Yankees, especially the Giants who burst out to a 9-4, sixth inning lead only to hold on for a 10-7 win that got dicey in the ninth.

“They’ve been playing very well, they’ve been scoring runs,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We had a lot of timely hitting going on. It was good to start a homestand like this.”

After interrupting a six-game slide on Sunday with a 5-0, getaway win in Pittsburgh, the Giants were looking to maintain their self-esteem on Monday. They did that with 14 hits, seven of them doubles, and 12 of those 14 coming from the first six guys in the lineup. After Brandon Belt homered in the eighth, the Giants were three outs away from a tidy, 10-4 win.

But the ninth got hairy as reliever Jose Valdez, in just his second appearance as a Giant, allowed a three-run homer to Adam Duvall. Valdez did recover however, striking out Scooter Gennett to end the ballgame.

Chris Stratton picked up the win, going five innings, allowing nine hits and four runs. That was just enough for Stratton to pick up his fourth win and comfortably keep his rising ERA under 5.00. Stratton allowed home runs to Tucker Barnhart and Scott Schebler.

The Giants evened their record at 21-21 with the win, surprisingly enough to keep the club within 3 1/2 games of division-leading Arizona, who lost their sixth straight on Monday. If Monday’s snapshot of the league standings is any indicator, 2018 is no 2017. This time last year, the Giants’ awful start had them dead and buried as the Dodgers, D-Backs and Rockies surged on their way to playoff appearances. This season, a .500 record has them within reach of the entire National League, where 10 of the 15 clubs have winning records, but none are better than the Braves at a modest 25-16. The Giants swept the Braves in Atlanta last week.

Andrew McCutchen picked up the 1,500th hit of his 10-year, big league career in the Giants’ three-run, first inning. McCutchen finished with a pair of doubles and scored twice.

A guy with more than 1,600 career hits, Joey Votto of the Reds, had an interesting, if not brief evening. Votto was at the plate in the first inning when a 3.5 earthquake registered in the East Bay, and probably caused more of a stir within the stadium on people’s cell phones than in their senses. Votto would ground out in that at-bat. His second at-bat ended his evening, a base hit with enough personality that it took a right turn on outfielder Gregor Blanco for an additional base error. But Votto eased up turning around first and was removed with lower-back tightness, which he said cropped up in warmups.

“I was feeling pretty good and then that earthquake hit and all of a sudden everything got thrown off right around 7:18 p.m. in the middle of my first at-bat,” the not-normally humorous Votto said afterwards.

The Giants have Ty Blach starting Tuesday, in a Ty-Ty affair. Tyler Mahle starts for the Reds, a 23-year old who holds the distinction of being the active-leader in strikeouts among all players aged 23 or younger with 58 in the 64 plus innings of his career, accumulated this season and last. That’s no trivial matter for the Giants; they’ve struck out 92 times in their last eight games, including six on Monday. In fact, the Giants have suffered 10 strikeouts or more in 14 of their 42 games this far.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: After snapping six-game skid, Giants looking to get back on track in series with Reds in SF

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Photo credit: sfgate.com

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

The Giants, after dropping six straight games, finally got a win and took some of the pressure from a six-game skid in Pittsburgh with a 5-0 shutout being the pitching of Derek Holland, who went six-plus, four hits, no runs and seven strike outs. Holland’s five walks was the most he has given up thus far this season.

The Giants provided great defense behind Holland and didn’t commit an error. The team is leading the National League in errors with 31. The Giants also look forward to getting pitcher Madison Bumgarner healthy again.

Bumgarner threw off the mound tonight at AT&T Park before the Giants meeting with the Cincinnati Reds. Bumgarner will continue to rehab until his scheduled start on May 25th some 11 days from now. Meanwhile, the Reds, who are in last place, have recently found their way to the win column putting together a six-game win streak coming into AT&T tonight. The Reds have simply improved with good hitting and good defense.

Morris Phillips does the SF Giants podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com