Category: San Francisco Giants

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 28: Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (5) celebrates after hitting a two run home run in the seventh inning during a Major League Baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 28, 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

By Jeremy Kahn

LOS ANGELES-Whenever the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers it seems that the games are always close and competitive.

Cory Seager hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, as the Dodgers came back from a 4-2 deficit to defeat the Giants 6-4 before a crowd of 51,426 at Dodger Stadium.

This was the sixth consecutive win for the Dodgers, and they are 6-2 on their current 10-game home stand that ends on Sunday night.

With their win tonight, the Dodgers are now a major league best 72-31, winning 24 out of their last 27 at Dodger Stadium since June 7 and are 45-13 at home this season.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Dodgers have won 51 consecutive games when at leading at any point during the game, the longest such streak in major league history.

This was also their 30th come-from-behind win of the season.

It was tough loss for the Giants, who took the lead in the top of the seventh inning, as Nick Hundley lashed a double down the left field line to score Jae-gyun Hwang in the top of the seventh inning.

Just prior to the Hundley double, Hwang tied up the game with a single to centerfield that scored Brandon Crawford from second base.

After the Hundley double, Gorkys Hernandez continues his red-hot play, as he hit a double of his own to score Hundley and lengthen the Giants lead with the ever so important insurance run.

Crawford advanced to second base, as Corey Seager’s throw went awry of Cody Bellinger for a throwing error. On the play, Buster Posey was forced out at second base after he led off the inning with a sharp single to right field.

That would be the score for just a half-inning, as the Dodgers continue their recent trend of scoring late in games, as they scored four times in the bottom of the seventh inning to eventually take the lead and two innings later, the victory.

Austin Barnes led off the inning with a walk, then went to third on a Joc Pederson double. That would be all for Matt Moore, as George Kontos came onto replace Moore.

Yaisel Puig came on to pinch hit and grounded out to Crawford for the second out and Barnes scored easily from third base.

Chris Taylor tied up the game with a double that scored Pederson, and then Taylor scored what proved to be the game-winning run just the Seager’s second home run of the game. It was the sixth multi-home run game of Seager’s career and second this season. Seager hit three home runs on June 20 in a 12-0 Dodgers victory over the New York Mets.

Barnes led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a walk, went to second on a Matt Moore wild pitch and then onto third when Hundley’s throw sailed into centerfield for an error.

It looked like Barnes was going to score on a Kike Hernandez would be double, but Hwang made a diving play to snare the Hernandez hit down the line and got up in time throw out Hernandez at first base.

It was a tough no-decision for Moore, who allowed just four runs on just three hits, walking four and striking out six. The second of those runs was unearned, as Barnes was able to score after he reached third base on the Hundley throwing error and then scored on the Alex Wood groundout.

On the other hand, Wood just keeps winning, as he went seven innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out five on his way to 12th win in 13 decisions on the season.

Brandon Morrow struck out two in his only inning of work, before handing the ball over to closer Kenley Jansen, who pitched the ninth inning and retired the Giants in order for his 26th save of the season in 27 opportunities.

By striking out the side to notch his 26th save of the season, Jansen has now struck out 68 batters and walked only three.

Seager got the scoring started for the Dodgers in the bottom of the first inning, as he hit the first pitch he saw from Moore on the evening halfway up the left field bleachers for 17th home run of the season.

That would be the score for a half-inning, as with one out in the top of the second inning, as Crawford evened up the game with a solo home run deep into right field bleachers.

NOTES: Ty Blach takes the mound for the Giants on Saturday afternoon, as the Giants look to even up this three-game series against the Dodgers. Blach is looking to raise his record back over the .500 mark on the season, as he looks for his seventh win of the season.

Rich Hill will take the mound for the Dodgers, as the former Oakland Athletics pitcher looks for his eighth win of the season against just four losses.

With the Dodgers leading the Giants 32.5 games in the National League West, this is only the second time in the long history of this great rivalry that a team has been of the other team by more than 30 games. The last time this occurred was on September 27, 1985, when the Giants were exactly 30 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West (according to STATS, INC.)

The Dodgers then swept the Giants in that series, as the Dodgers went on to win the National League West before losing in six games to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Giants ended up the season with a record of 62-100, their last 100-loss season and their only 100-loss season in the teams’ 135-year history.

Hwang was recalled from Sacramento prior to the game, while reliever Chris Stratton was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a calf injury.

With their record of 40-64, this is the worst start thru 104 games by a Giants team, since they moved to San Francisco in 1958. This loss broke the dubious record of 41-63 that they obtained during both the 1984 and 1985 seasons.

AP PHOTO FILE – In this July 21, 2017, file photo, Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, in Los Angeles. With Clayton Kershaw sidelined by injury, the Dodgers are in need of a dominant left-hander. Baseball’s best team need look no farther than one locker past Kershaw’s in the clubhouse.(AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo, File)

By Jeremy Harness

 The Los Angeles Dodgers are flying high these days, sporting a quite-lofty 71-31 record at press time. They are currently riding a five-game winning streak, and they have aspirations of a World Series title, something that they have not experienced in 29 years.

 The Giants, on the other hand, have recent experience with that, but it sure doesn’t look like it as you watch them play this season. They have the second-worst record in the National League with a mark of 40-63, and one of the remaining question marks is who will be dealt away before Monday’s trade deadline.

 The other question is what exactly Pablo Sandoval will do for the rest of the season, as this will determine what the Giants will do with their prodigal third baseman.

 Shortly after acquiring Sandoval after he was released by the Boston Red Sox after badly underperforming during his short time there, the Giants traded Eduardo Nunez to those same Red Sox for a pair of pitching prospects, so it will be time for Sandoval to show how much he has to give at this point.

 In the meantime, the Dodgers and the Giants will meet at Dodger Stadium for a three-game series that starts Friday night. Matt Moore, who is having a terrible season thus far with a mark of 3-10 to go along with a 5.82 ERA, will take the ball for the Giants in the series opener.

 He has lost each of his past three decisions, including one in Miami on July 7 that saw him give up five runs on 12 hits and last only 3 1/3 innings in the process.

 He will be opposite Dodgers lefty Alex Wood, who is trending in the exact opposite direction. He has a masterful 11-1 record with an ERA of 2.17. However, if there is a negative here, it’s that Wood suffered that one defeat in his last outing, a 12-3 drubbing at the hands of the Atlanta Braves on July 21, during which he surrendered seven earned runs on nine hits over only 4 2/3 innings.

 While the Dodgers continue their quest for that elusive World Series ring, it remains to be seen what the Giants will look like as a team at the end of the season.

 

Former San Francisco Giant Eduardo Nunez, left, is checked on by trainer Eric Ortega, right, and manager Bruce Bochy, rear, after being hit with a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the third inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Nunez stayed in the game and was dealt to the Boston Red Sox immediately following the contest. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Eduardo Nunez was acquired by the San Francisco Giants was acquired near the trade deadline during the 2016 season, and then less than one year later, he is on the move again.

Nunez was traded to the Boston Red Sox for minor league right-handed pitcher Shaun Anderson and right-handed pitcher Gregory Santos.

This season is a combined 6-3 with a 3.42 earned run average in 18 starts between Class-A Greenville and Class-A Advanced Salem during the 2017 season. Anderson was the Red Sox third round draft pick out of the University of Florida in the 2016 draft.

Santos, who is only 17 years old was signed by the Red Sox as an international free agent on August 28, 2015. This season, Santos is 2-0 with 0.90 earned run average with 24 strikeouts.

Nunez hit .308 for the Giants with 93 hits in 302 at-bats this season. He also stole 18 bases and picked up 25 extra base hits as well. Nunez also reached base safely in 33-straight games from May 12-June 16, the longest on-base streak in the majors this season.

San Francisco Giants’ Eduardo Nunez scores against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After getting demoralized in the series opener by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Francisco Giants turned the tables around in the second game of the series.

Hunter Pence reached on a fielding error by Josh Bell at first base in the bottom of the second inning that allowed Buster Posey to score from third base, as the Giants defeated the Pirates 11-3 before a crowd of 40,932 at AT&T Park.

Gorkys Hernandez then drove in the second run of the inning, as he grounded out to shortstop to score Brandon Crawford from third base.

Those two runs would be all that Madison Bumgarner would need, as he went five innings, allowing one run on six hits, walking one and striking out four on his way to his first win of the season.

On the other hand, that would not be all the scoring for the Giants on the night, as they tacked on a combined eight runs in both the third and fourth innings combined.

Posey added a run-scoring double in the bottom of the third inning that scored Denard Span, who led off the inning with a single and Eduardo Nunez stopped at third base. After Brandon Crawford was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Hunter Pence popped out for the second out of the inning, and then Joe Panik cleared the bases with a triple.

Nunez added a two-run double in what turned out to be his last at-bat as a member of the Giants that scored Bumgarner and Span.

Brandon Belt got in the act, as he doubled in Nunez, who was also hit by a pitch earlier in the game by Pirates starter Jameson Taillon.

Pence drove in the final run in that three inning stretch, as he singled to center to score Belt.

It was not a good night at all for Taillon, as he went three innings, allowing nine runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out one.

It was a big win for the Giants, but that was not the biggest news of the evening, as Nunez was pulled from the game in the bottom of the fifth inning and replaced by Kelby Tomlinson.

Nunez was seen via television hugging teammates, as he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for two minor league prospects.

This season, his first full year with the Giants, Nunez was hitting .308 with four home runs with 31 runs batted in and 18 stolen bases.

NOTES: Jeff Samardzija takes the mound on Wednesday in the series and home stand finale for the Giants, while Trevor Williams will take the mound for the Pirates.

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, right, talks with third baseman Eduardo Nunez before a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in San Francisco, Monday, July 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

On the Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

1 The Giants played their 100th game Sunday but lost their 62nd game of 2017 at AT&T Park against the San Diego Padres it’s a season that has fans talking about surpassing the 1985 Giants a team that lost 100 games half of those at then windy Candlestick Park that year.

2 On Sunday Giants manager Bruce Bochy was frustrated that the offense couldn’t get anything going scoring runs only in the first and fourth innings

3 The Padres Wil Myers has to enjoy hitting at AT&T Park he delivered on Sunday with a hit, an RBI, has five homers this season more than any Giant player as Nick Hundley and Buster Posey both have two home runs each at AT&T. It doesn’t seem right but Posey has a total of 11 and nine hit in other parks.

4. Giants starter Ty Blach took his sixth loss of the season with a 5-2 loss to the Pads Sunday. Blach pitched seven plus, five runs, eight hits and raised his ERA to 4.5o

5. The Giants open a series against a firey Pittsburgh Pirates team that has lost two straight coming into AT&T Park but had put together some series wins that helped their cause as the Bucs are just three games out of first in the NL Central.  It’s a series that could be a handful for San Francisco.

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

 

San Francisco Giants pitcher Ty Blach throws against the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, July 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Things were looking for the San Francisco Giants after tying it up in the first inning, but the flood gates in one inning opened and the San Diego Padres took advantage.

The Padres scored four runs on five consecutive hits in the top of the fourth inning on their way to a 5-2 victory over the Giants before a sellout crowd of 41,372 at AT&T Park.

With the loss, and with their record now at 38-62, this is now the worst start in San Francisco Giants history since moving to the Bay Area in 1958.

Ty Blach pitched seven innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking just one and striking out five; however, it was that fourth inning that did him in.

Wil Myers came up with the two biggest plays of the afternoon, as he hit his 20th home run in the top of the first inning and began the fourth inning rally that saw the Padres put the game out of reach.

Following the Myers walk, went to third on a Hector Sanchez double and they both scored on a Jabari Blash double. Hector Sanchez then doubled in Blash for the final run of the inning and the game for the Padres, who took three out of four from the Giants.

Buster Posey got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as he singled in Denard Span, who led off the inning with a double off of Dinelson Lamet.

After trailing by four runs going into the bottom of the fifth inning, Miguel Gomez doubled with two outs and then Gorkys Hernandez singled him in for the Giants second and final run of the afternoon.

Eduardo Nunez went 3-for-4 at the plate, but his base running end the seventh inning, when he was thrown out at third base after Blash was unable to hold onto the ball hit Brandon Belt for an error; however, Allen Cordoba backed up Blash and threw to Cory Spangenberg to tag out Nunez for the third out.

Lamet pitched 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, walking just one and striking out seven.

NOTES: Matt Cain looks for his fourth win of the season, as the Giants begin a three-game series on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who will send Gerrit Cole to the mound

In their only three meetings on the season, the Giants swept a three-game series from the Pirates from June 30-July 2, 2017 at PNC Park.

Saturday was the Giants 15th extra inning game of the season, the most by any team in the major leagues and their 10 wins are also the most of any team.

San Francisco Giants catcher Nick Hundley celebrates after making the game winning hit in the twelfth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, July 22, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Nick Hundley came up with the biggest hit of the afternoon for the San Francisco Giants.

Hundley hit a single over the head of Jabari Blash in left field to score Kelby Tomlinson from second base, as the Giants came back from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the San Diego Padres 5-4 before a crowd of 40,936 at AT&T Park.

The win by the Giants came just one night/morning after a hard fought 11-9 loss in 11 innings to the Padres.

After the bullpen was unable to hold down the fort on Friday night/Saturday morning, all the pitchers came up with great outings on Saturday afternoon.

Matt Moore went a solid six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, not walking a batter and striking out seven before turning it over to the bullpen.

As for the bullpen, they were absolutely outstanding, as they went six innings and allowed just one hit, a walk and a hit batter. The quartet of Albert Suarez, Sam Dyson, Hunter Strickland and Josh Osich struck out six.

The Giants struck first in the bottom of the third inning, as Joe Panik singled in Gorkys Hernandez, who singled with one out in the inning.

Unfortunately, that would not be the lead for long, as the Padres stormed back to score four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 4-1 lead over the slumping Giants.

Wil Myers hit his second home run in as many days, as he took a Moore offering and came up with his 19th home run of the season, but that was not even biggest hit of the inning for the Padres.

Pitcher Luis Perdomo came up with the biggest hit of the inning for the Padres, as he lashed a two-run triple over the head of Hernandez in center field that Matt Szczur and Luis Torrens. It was a Torrens single that gave the Padres a 2-1 prior to the Perdomo triple.

It was the third triple of the season for Perdomo, and he is the first pitcher since Dontrelle Willis in 2007 to have three triples in a single season. The three triples by Perdomo in a single season are the most by a Padres pitcher in team history.

That three run by the Padres was shot-lived as well, as the Giants scored three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie up the game.

Hunter Pence got the rally started, as he reached on a fielding error by Allen Cordoba, then after a ground out that sent Pence to second, Orlando Calixte singled in Pence. Moore then helped out own cause, as he singled to left field. After a Hernandez walk to load the bases, Eduardo Nunez singled to right field to score Calixte and Moore to tie up the game.

Despite the fact that both the Padres and the Giants were able to get their lead off runners on base in the bottom of the 10th inning, both teams were able to get out of the jam and the game went on to the 11th inning.

NOTES: Ty Blach takes the mound in the series finale for the Giants, as he looks for his seventh win of the season, while the Padres will send Dinelson Lamet to the mound, as he looks to even his record at 4-4.

The Giants made some big corresponding moves on the afternoon, as they recalled right-handed pitcher Albert Suarez and Calixte from Sacramento, while they optioned Stephen Okert and Jae-Gyun Hwang to Sacramento.

Former Giants third baseman and 2012 World Series Most Valuable Player Pablo Sandoval signed a minor-league contract with the team, and will report to Single-A San Jose, where he will play tonight.

Sandoval was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox last week, and was released by the team on Wednesday.