Category: San Francisco Giants

Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado, left, celebrates his three-run, walkoff home run with teammates in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Sunday, June 18, 2017, in Denver. The Rockies won 7-5. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

By Jeremy Kahn

The chants of MVP! MVP! MVP! reverberated throughout Coors Field for Nolan Arenado after he supplied a dramatic end to a big weekend for the Colorado Rockies.

Arenado hit a three-run home run off of Mark Melancon with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, helping the Rockies to a stunning come-from-behind 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field.

This was the second blown save of the season for Melancon, as his record fell to 1-2.

The three-run home run by Arenado not only completed the four-game sweep by the Rockies over the Giants, but it gave Arenado his first career cycle.

As for the Rockies, they have now won five games in a row and continue to have the best record in the National League. The Rockies have also won nine games in a row over the Giants this season.

On the other side of things, this is a nightmare season for the Giants, who have now lost six games in a row and nine out of their last 11 and are now 19.5 behind the Rockies in the National League West.

Things were looking good for the Giants, as they turned the ball over to their closer Melancon, as they retook the lead in dramatic fashion in the top of the ninth inning with the help of Hunter Pence, who came off the bench to pinch hit.

Pence hit a dramatic pinch-hit home run to give the Giants the lead in the top of the ninth inning. It was the third pinch hit home run for Pence in his major-league career.

Brandon Crawford gave the Giants a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit a two-run home run.

Both Trevor Story and Pat Valaika each hit home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Rockies 3-2 lead until Pence’s dramatics in the top of the ninth inning. Following Pence’s two-run home run that scored Gorkys Hernandez in front of him, Crawford added a RBI single.

Colorado native Ty Blach pitched well in his front of his family and friends who were in attendance, as he pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, while walking two and striking out four.

Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while walking four and striking out five.

NOTES: Johnny Cueto takes the ball on Monday night, as the Giants play their first ever at Sun Trust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves will counter with veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Madison Bumgarner will throw his second simulated in Arizona on Wednesday, four days after he threw a simulated game on Saturday.

San Francisco Giants first baseman Buster Posey checks the scoreboard as he returns to the dugout after retiring the Colorado Rockies in the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 17, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

By Jeremy Kahn

Once again, the San Francisco Giants seemed to run into a pitcher wearing a Colorado Rockies uniform and they looked like Cy Young.

Kyle Freeland pitched six strong innings, helping the Rockies defeated the Giants 5-1 at Coors Field.

With the victory, the Rockies have won eight straight versus the Giants this season and are now 9-1 against them this season.

Matt Cain saw his record on the season fall to 3-6, as he last won on May 15 against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park.

Overall, the Giants tailspin in the National League West keeps going and going, as they have lost five in a row and 14 of their 18.

The Giants are now 18 games under .500, and are currently 18.5 games behind the Rockies in the National League West.

The lone bright spot for the Giants on Saturday afternoon was Joe Panik, who picked up three hits and was denied a fourth hit, when he lined into a double play to Mark Reynolds, who tagged first to get Kelby Tomlinson to end the game.

Nolan Arenado gave the Rockies a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he singled with two outs. Both Pat Valaika and Tony Wolters each added two-out singles in the bottom of the seventh inning to stretch the Rockies lead up to 5-1. Between the two teams, all six runs were scored with two outs.

NOTES: Denver native Ty Blach makes his first start against the Rockies, and his fifth overall appearance. The Rockies will send Tyler Chatwood to the mound in the series finale, as he makes his third start of the season against the Giants.

Madison Bumgarner threw 40 pitches in a bullpen session in Arizona, and will throw another session later this week.

AP File Photo:  San Francisco Giants Right field Hunter Pence (8) stumbles at home plate but recovers to get on 1st base during a game between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals on June 14, 2017, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Douglas Stringer/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Giants fans cannot complain. Recently we have not seen any team winning three World Series in a span of five years. Their 2010,2012 and 2014 titles were welcomed by Giants fans from 18 to 80 (and some even older) in 2010 they captured their first ever World Championship title in San Francisco, after 52 years of hoping and waiting. Then,they took a break in between the next four years to win two more. Some were talking about a dynasty.

But since the middle of the 2016 season the Giants have been the worst team in the game.Hard to say that for a team that has over 500 consecutive sellouts, but its just a fact. Baseball is not a perfect science, so you think they can correct that record since mid 2016, but that remains to be seen. What we do know is that the Dodgers, the Rockies and Diamondbacks did get better and one of those three teams will win this division and maybe the wild card will also come from this division . Did the Giants rest on their laurels of their Tri-World Series era, while the division got much better and passed them? Did their front office miss-calculated the talent they had on hand?

The question today is: So what are the Giants planning to do to improve this team? Obviously they have been an organization that likes to keep their players, signed and extend their contracts.

Are they going to “back up the truck” or just fix a couple of things?

The last few weeks the Giants became irrelevant in the Bay Area while the Warriors were winning their second NBA championship, and are carving themselves a place in history. The Warriors had a great team last season, but an ever better this season when they brought Kevin Durant to join the Curry & Co boys. Baseball is much more complicated than basketball.and the season is twice as long and you have more players to deal with.

For the Giants right now, there are more questions than answers. Do they fix the car or buy a new one? This team at least might need an overhaul, especially in their outfield. Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt is the motor, but they have much more to do. Some parts have to depart to make the car run smooth again, maybe, Johnny Cueto, Hunter Pence, Eduardo Nunez and other(s). On the pitching side, Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore, probably will stay, Their bullpen needs some smaller repairs also, but they have to be precise.

The 2017 off-season will be a key one for this organization.In a very much improved and different western division.

Happy Father’s Day.

 

 

Colorado Rockies’ Ian Desmond watches his three-run home run off San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 16, 2017, in Denver. The Rockies won 10-8. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

By Jeremy Kahn

It seems that the rut that the San Francisco Giants are currently in will continue until they find the right timing.

Ian Desmond hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and ended the game with four runs batted in and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Giants 10-8 at Coors Field.

With the victory, rookie pitcher Armando Senzatela won for the ninth time this season, tying the most wins in the major leagues.

Senzatela tied Clayton Kershaw, Dallas Kuechel and Jason Vargas for the most in the major leagues during the 2017 season.

In his six innings of work, Senzatela gave up three home runs. Denard Span and Joe Panik each hit solo home runs, while opposing pitcher Jeff Samardzija hit a two-run home run.

The two-run home run by Samardzija gave the Giants a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning; however, that lead would not last long, as the Rockies took a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on Desmond’s home run. Trevor Story added a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Desmond drove in his fourth run of the evening on a sacrifice fly.

The Giants made it a game in the top of the eighth inning, as they scored two runs and then added another in the top of the ninth inning; however, Rockies closer Derek Holland was able to bounce back from his blown save of the season to pick-up his 24th save of the season.

With the victory, the Rockies have now won seven straight versus the Giants, their longest winning streak in their 24-year history.

On the other side of things, the Giants have lost four games in a row and 13 out of their last 17 games and are 17 games below. 500.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy was ejected by home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom in the top of the seventh inning after arguing over a ball and strikes call on D.J. LeMahieu.

NOTES: Matt Cain will get his 39th career start against the Rockies on Saturday afternoon, the 39 starts by Cain against the Rockies are the most by a pitcher against any team in major league history. In his career, Cain is 17-10 with a 3.52 earned run average against the Rockies. Kyle Freeland makes the start for the Rockies.

Teammates hug Colorado Rockies’ Raimel Tapia, center, after his single off San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Hunter Strickland drove in the winning run in the ninth inning of a baseball game Thursday, June 15, 2017, in Denver. The Rockies won 10-9. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

By Jeremy Harness

 Just when things were really turning around, the Giants had it taken right away from them in an instant. Such is the case for the team’s sorry season thus far.

 The Giants were very game in making a dramatic late-innings comeback, but the Colorado Rockies thwarted that effort with a walk-off single to earn a 10-9 win at Coors Field Thursday night.

 Matt Moore continued his miserable season on Thursday, giving up a whopping eight runs on 11 hits and pitched only three innings, walking two hitters while striking out seven in the process.

Had it not been for the Giants tying the game in the ninth, Moore would have been tagged with his eighth loss of the season against only two wins, with an ERA of 6.00. He has dropped three straight decisions and has seen losses in four of his last five.

 Meanwhile, Jeff Hoffman (4-0) was in line for his fifth win to start the season, after surrendering only a single run on seven hits. He went five innings and walked three and struck out two, and he left the game with a comfortable 8-1 lead.

 However, the Giants began to tee off on Colorado’s bullpen starting in the seventh inning, when Buster Posey launched a two-run homer off Scott Oberg.

 In the eighth, the Giants exploded with a five-spot, which was highlighted by Brandon Crawford’s three-run shot off Colorado reliever Jake McGee, which cut the Rockies’ once-sizable lead to a single run. The Giants made it all the way back in the very next inning, handing Greg Holland his first blown save of the year with a run to tie the game.

Those good feelings didn’t last very long, however. Hunter Strickland could not keep the Rockies from scoring in the bottom of the ninth, and when Raimel Tapia’s single brought in Mark Reynolds, the crowd in Colorado has a lot to cheer about, and Strickland was tagged with his second loss of the year.

 

Topps 1958 baseball photo: Former Giants outfielder Jim King the subject of Tony The Tiger’s feature piece and his brief career in San Francisco in 1958

by Tony the Tiger Hayes

SAN FRANCISCO–Not only was Jim King a Giant, he played a historic role in San Francisco Giants history. King was the starting left fielder in the club’s first ever game played in City by the Bay.

Never heard of King? Don’t beat yourself up, fog banks often lingers longer in the City than King did.

A career journeyman with more stops than a greyhound bus, King was signed to the club just days before San Francisco welcomed the team with a parade down Montgomery street and departed before the All-Star break.

Why was he a Giant?

King had been part-timer in three big league seasons with the Cubs and Cardinals when he won a job with the Giants as a backup outfielder and pinch hitter after a strong spring camp in 1958.

He was not expected to be the Giants opening day left field starter in the first major league game played in California. That slot was supposed to go to the savvy veteran Hank Sauer, a former NL MVP and All-Star.

But the night before Opening Day, SF manager Bill Rigney noting a strong wind towards right field decided to play the percentages against right-handed Dodgers starter Don Drysdale and swapped the left-handed hitting King for the righty Sauer. He batted King second in the lineup in the Giants 8-0 rout (4/15/58).

Before & After

After making Rigney look like a genius with a superb opening day game, King settled on to the Giants bench as Sauer was given most of the left field starts. King was eventually shuttled to Triple-A Phoenix to make way for youngsters like Leon Wagner and Felipe Alou. Later in ’58, King was dealt to Toronto of the International League. King finished with a .214 average in 34 games with the Orange & Black.

King eventually resurfaced in the American League and enjoyed a nice run at Washington where he was a starter for six seasons.

He wasn’t Willie Mays. But…

In the first major league game played in California, King batted 2-for-5 with an RBI as the Giants stomped the Dodgers 8-0. After grounding out in the first, King rapped an RBI single in the third and singled again in the sixth.

Giant Footprint

Not only did King take part in the first ever major league game held in San Francisco, he also played in the first big league contest hosted by Los Angeles, walking in a pinch hitting appearance in the sixth inning of a 6-5 defeat at the L.A. Coliseum.

By the way King Street in which AT&T Park borders and shares with 24 Willie Mays Plaza was not named after the obscure original San Francisco left fielder.

 

San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto throws against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

On the Giants podcast with Miguel:

1 The Giants opened the short two game series with the Kansas City Royals to a 8-1 loss and the Royals Whit Merifield got a bases loaded triple that pretty much put the kibosh on starter Ty Blach’s outing on Tuesday night at AT&T Park

2 Blach got touched up for seven runs, ten hits, in 5 plus innings of work on Tuesday and raised his ERA to 4.24 and the Royals six run sixth inning pretty much done in Blach

3 No matter who manager Bruce Bochy brings in to pitch they’ve struggled and Bochy pretty much is leaving pitchers out to fight their way out of jams such was the case on Tuesday night when Blach couldn’t get out the sixth and on Wednesday afternoon. Giants starter Johnny Cueto who surrendered three runs in the top of the third in a 5-1 game pitched his way out of the top of the fifth leaving the bases loaded and surrendering no runs but was lifted in the too of the sixth after reaching his pitch count.

4 The Twins series saw San Francisco lose two out of three plus an impressive four hit 4-0 shutout from Twins starter Ervin Santana on Friday night

5 The Royals have won three straight coming into Wednesday’s action including the 8-1 seven run victory over the Giants on Tuesday. KC is only five games back AL Central

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, from left, watches with batting coach Hensley Meulens and bench coach Ron Wotus during the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in San Francisco, Tuesday, June 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-In their first appearance back at AT&T Park since Game Five of the 2014 World Series, the Kansas City Royals scored more in one game than they in the three games of that Fall Classic.

Jason Vargas was helped out by a six-run sixth inning, as the Royals defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-1 before a crowd of 41,284, the 520th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

Vargas was helped out by a Whit Merrifield bases clearing triple that landed just out of the reach of Hunter Pence in right field. The other big hit in the inning was a Alcides Escobar down the right field line that scored Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer.

Jorge Bonifacio gave the Royals the lead for good in the top of the third inning, as he hit a two-run single to centerfield that scored Escobar and Alex Gordon.

Vargas raises his record on the season to 9-3, as he went seven innings, allowing just one on four hits, while walking one and striking out seven. Overall, in his career, Vargas raises his career record versus the Giants to 2-1.

On the other side of things, it was not a good night for Ty Blach, as he went 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs on 10 hits, walking just one and striking out four and he saw his record on the season fall to 4-4.

Brandon Crawford got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the second inning, as he hit a sacrifice fly to score Buster Posey, who led off the inning with a double.

Eduardo Nunez extended his streak of reaching base up to 27 games, the longest such streak in the major leagues, as he doubled in the bottom of the sixth inning.

NOTES: Former Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto closes out the series and the home stand on Wednesday afternoon as he takes the mound for the Giants, while the Royals will send Jason Hammel to the mound.

This past Sunday, when Buster Posey and Austin Slater each picked up three hits and drove in four runs, it was just the third time over the past 15 seasons, according to Elias Sports Bureau, that two Giants accomplished this in the same game. Andres Torres and Pablo Sandoval did it in 2010, and then Brandon Belt and Hunter Pence accomplished it in 2015.

With the annual baseball draft beginning on Monday, and continuing on Tuesday, the Giants drafted one player in each of the 10 rounds.

With their first pick, the Giants drafted outfielder Heliot Ramos of the Leadership Academy High School. Their second pick was another high school player, as they drafted third baseman Jacob Gonzalez out of Chaparral High School in Arizona. If the last name sounds familiar to Giants fans, it should as Gonzalez is the son of former Diamndbacks left fielder Luis Gonzalez. After drafting Gonzalez, the high school trend continued, as Seth Corry out of Lone Peak High School was the Giants third round pick.

The next seven picks were all from the college ranks, as the Giants then Garrett Cave out of the University of Tampa, then Jason Bahr from the University of South Florida. Bryce Johnson from Sam Houston State, Logan Harasta from Buffalo, John Gavin from Cal State Fullerton, Aaron Phillips from St. Bonaventure and Rob Calabrese from UIC rounded out the final picks for the Giants.