Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman slides into home plate to score the Nationals’ second run as San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, right, looks on in the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in San Francisco. Zimmerman scored after the Nationals’ Daniel Murphy singled to right field. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:
1 On Buster Posey not jumping out there during Monday’s game was told in advance in case of any kind of brawl or confrontation not to jump in the melee and that his teammates will take care of the problem for him. Posey is the team’s “meal ticket” and no one on the club wants him out there tussling with the opposition who may want to take an opportunity to take him out of action.
2 Critics have said that Posey has no backbone in not going out there but his teammates have said they know Posey has their back and he was told not to go out there he broke his leg in 2011 and has suffered numerous concussions and he again is the team’s key player he’s not going to take a risk and get hurt
3 Was this really about an old grudge between Hunter Strickland and Bryce Harper? It goes a little further than that and Harper was chirping and yelling during his home run trots when he hit two homers off Strickland in the 2014 NL Playoffs. It was also noted that Strickland could hear Harper barking in the Nat’s dugout in that playoff and that’s when he made the promise there will be pay back.
4 Michael talks about the concussion suffered by the Giants Mike Morse during the melee near the mound when he collided head to head with teammate Jeff Samardjiza.
5. In the aftermath Washington manager Dusty Baker said that he would take great strength to restrain one’s self. Baker said other than Ghandi or Martin Luther King who would have the fortitude to restrain one’s self in that circumstance. Michael says that Harper merely should have just taken the pitch and went to first base like most big leaguers would.
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez throws against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
SAN FRANCISCO-Jeff Samardzija could not help the San Francisco Giants get over the ill effects of the Monday’s bench clearing brawl and subsequent loss to the Washington Nationals.
Samardzija lasted just four innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, not walking a batter and striking out five before being pulled after throwing 100 pitches and the Nationals defeated the Giants 6-3 before a crowd of 41,266, the 515th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.
Former Oakland A’s pitcher Gio Gonzalez pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out six and improved his record to 4-1 on the season.
Ryan Zimmerman drove in the first run of the evening for the Nationals in the top of the first inning, as he doubled in Trea Turner, who singled to lead-off the game. Daniel Murphy then singled in Zimmerman to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead at the end of one-half inning.
Gonzalez helped out his own cause in the top of the second inning, as he singled in Michael A. Taylor to push the lead up to three runs.
The Giants attempted to claw back into the game in the bottom of the second inning, as Orlando Calixte hit a two-run double to score Aaron Hill and Gorkys Hernandez. It was the second hit of the game for Calixte, who picked up his first major league hit off of Gonzalez in the bottom of the first inning.
Taylor drove in two runs in the top of the fifth inning, as he singled in Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters. Jayson Werth drove in the final run of the inning, as he walked with the bases loaded to score Taylor from this base.
Bryce Harper, who was involved in the bench-clearing brawl with Hunter Strickland on Monday afternoon went 0-for-5 at the plate on Tuesday night, just one day after going 0-for-3 with a hit by a pitch.
In the aftermath of Monday’s bench-clearing brawl, Hunter Strickland was suspended for six games, and Harper received a four-game. Both Harper and Strickland are appealing the suspensions.
Michael Morse, who collided with Samardzija during the brawl on Monday, was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list and Kelby Tomlinson was recalled from Sacramento.
With Calixte on the roster, the Giants optioned Mac Williamson to Sacramento.
NOTES: Matt Cain looks to stop the Giants two-losing streak on Wednesday night, as he takes the mound versus the Nationals Max Scherzer. The two pitchers faced each in Game Four of the 2012 World Series, while Scherzer was pitching for the Detroit Tigers.
Sixteen years ago, today, Barry Bonds hit two home runs for numbers 521 and 522 in his career to pass Willie McCovey and Ted Williams to move into 11th place. It was also the 16 and 17th home runs for the month of May for Bonds, breaking the record of 16 set by Mark McGwire in 1998 and Mickey Mantle in 1956.
With 2017 in jeopardy, Hunter Strickland decided that revisiting 2014 was a necessary detour.
A selfish act? From the majority of perspectives, it was just that.
“We were ahead 2-0, two outs and nobody on base,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of the eighth inning incident in Monday’s Nats-Giants’ game in which Strickland hit Bryce Harper in the hip with a 98 mph fastball. “I mean, that’s the prime time to hit somebody if you’re going to hit them, it looked like it was intentional to me,” he said.
Strickland hadn’t faced Harper since the 2014 NLDS in which he surrendered two home runs to Harper, part of his star crossed post-season that year in which he allowed eight home runs, but walked away like the rest of the Giants with a World Series championship. One of the two home runs was a splash hit in which Harper stood at the plate while his ball flirted with the foul pole, then circled the bases with a couple of glares at Strickland.
After Monday’s game, the Giants’ reliever claimed he needed to pitch the Nationals’ star inside. Leaving balls over the plate, as Strickland noted, didn’t work in 2014. With Harper having a big season to date, it was unlikely to work in 2017.
“I went inside,” Strickland said. “Obviously, I went in a little too far.”
What happened next was just plain dangerous. Harper ran up, wielding his helmet as if he might fling it at Strickland. The pitcher turned away, then braced for the punches, while unleashing some of his own. Teammates from both sides rushed in, Michael Morse and Jeff Samardzija the quickest, so fast they collided at the exact spot of the punches being thrown.
At the moment prior to the area in front of the mound becoming ground zero, catcher Buster Posey stood motionless at the plate, before a belated run to the scrum. Was Posey complicit in Strickland’s act? Apparently not.
“It looks bad, it does,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Harper gets hit and you look at a guy who’s given up some home runs, and he’ll tell you that he was trying to come in. You don’t want to make a mistake there. You have two guys who don’t care for each other too much.”
Bochy would add that he spoke to his pitcher following the game, likely regarding Strickland’s intent, but the contents of that conversation, the manager said, would remain private.
“We don’t do things from what I ordinarily want us to do,” Bochy said. “We’re trying to win ballgames. I needed to talk to him and make sure we’re straight with some things.”
On Monday, winning took a back seat, this time to the throwing incident. That back seat continues to get further back, the Giants now stand 22-31, 11 games off the pace of the division-leading Rockies. One game removed from the season being one-third complete, the Giants have a record and positioning that could make the remaining two-thirds meaningless.
Any recent signs point to a Giants’ resurgence? Not really. The Giants appeared less comfortable Monday in their own ballpark than the Nationals, who traveled cross-country in between consecutive day games. Tanner Roark shut down the Giants on six hits, and it’s not the first time the underrated Roark has done that.
Could Strickland’s call to arms serve as a rallying call?
SAN FRANCISCO – So, there was a fight and a baseball game broke out … or however the saying goes.
The Giants and the Nationals went from 0 to 100 real quick on Monday afternoon in the form of a fabulous eighth inning brawl between Bryce Harper and Hunter Strickland — one that probably justified sitting through a 3-0 loss for many fans.
Retribution in baseball is a strange thing. In 2014, Strickland allowed two monster home runs to Harper during the NLDS. Two and a half years later, they dueled again, and Strickland exacted revenge – by plunking Harper with a 98 mile-per-hour fastball high in the right hip.
Strickland said the intent was to just pitch Harper inside.
“I’ve left the ball over the plate a couple of times to him, and he’s taken advantage of that,” he said. “Just mostly go inside, and obviously I got in a little bit too far.”
Yeah, just a little.
Harper begged to differ.
“After he did it,” he said, “I was like, ‘That was definitely intentional.’
And when you think someone just threw a 98 mile-per-hour fastball at you on purpose, what do you do?
“You can’t hesitate,” Harper said. “You either go to first base, or you go after him. And I decided to go after him.”
So Harper, who had already been thrown out of eight previous games and isn’t exactly the calmest player in baseball, went after him. He walked toward the mound, dropped his bat, flung his helmet and charged Strickland. They went at it, both of them landing punches before the benches cleared, and all hell broke loose.
“It’s go time,” Strickland said. “You’ve got to protect yourself and stand your own ground.”
Hunter Strickland speaks with reporters after throwing at Bryce Harper.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged the situation looked bad, but defended his pitcher.
“You’ve got Harper throwing a helmet,” he said. “Strick’s got to stand his ground. He’s got no choice there.”
Strickland obviously had no choice with Harper charging at him, wielding a helmet. But Strickland did have a choice as to where that pitch would go, and Bochy talked to him, making sure the hit-by-pitch was not intentional.
“We don’t do things out of the ordinary or from what I want,” Bochy said. “We go out there and try to win ballgames. I needed to talk to him and make sure we’re straight.”
In a rush to get to Strickland, Jeff Samardzija and Michael Morse collided, and Morse went down. A magnificent combination of hair and masculinity enveloped the AT&T Park infield. While Harper looked at Strickland with a death stare, three of Strickland’s teammates literally dragged him off the field, pulling him into the Giants’ dugout.
“There were some big guys tumbling around on the ground,” Buster Posey said. “Mike Morse is as big as they come and he was getting knocked around like a pinball.”
It was probably as much fight as the Giants have shown all season, one filled with frustrations and struggles and shutouts such as this one.
Because everyone’s going to remember the fight, but the only thing that really matters – besides the incoming suspensions to Harper and Strickland – is that the Giants lost the game, falling to 22-31, 11 games back of first in the division.
And to add insult to injury, the brawl incited by Strickland cost them a run. Instead of pitching to Harper with two out and ending the eighth, Strickland plunked him. Two straight singles off Strickland’s replacement, George Kontos, yielded another run to the Nationals.
Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered, because the Giants couldn’t score a run. But it’s rather symbolic that, in the midst of a subpar season, Strickland is still holding a grudge from three years ago when he should be pitching to win every game in order to pull the Giants out of the mud.
Harper spoke to this point.
“It’s so in the past, it’s not even relevant anymore,” he said. “They won the World Series that year [in 2014]. I don’t he should even be thinking about something that happened in the first round. He should be thinking about wearing that ring home every single night. I don’t know why he did it or what he did it for, but I guess it happens.”
Morse, who matter-of-factly said he was fine after being plowed over by Samardzija, perhaps said it best: “We lost the game. That’s more important.”
AP File Photo: Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker watches from the dugout in the ninth inning of an interleague baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore, Monday, May 8, 2017. Baltimore won 6-4. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
by Morris Phillips
SAN FRANCICO–The Washington Nationals who open a three game series with the San Francisco Giants are having a great season we thought they’d be a step behind coming into the season in terms of what happened with the closer Mark Melancon who was in Washington to close last season and he joined the Giants in the off season. He appeared in the LA series and had to go on the DL the Giants felt indifference on not having that powerhouse closer. The Nats Daniel Murphy is hitting fifth with a hefty .315 clip.
Hitting in front of Murphy is clean up hitter Ryan Zimmerman batting .365 and Zimmerman is just playing well. The Nats are on top of the NL East by a good eight games. This will be a challenging series for the Giants probably far more than seeing the Braves and it’ll be interesting to see if this is a series where they can take two out of three from the Nats.
San Francisco Giants’ Eduardo Nunez, left, slides to score on a wild pitch by Atlanta Braves pitcher R.A. Dickey, right, in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 28, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
By Jeremy Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO-Things may have ended well for R.A. Dickey, but it was a disaster in the first three innings for the veteran knuckleballer.
Dickey gave up seven runs on six hits, and threw a wild pitch in those first three innings and that was it for the game; however, the seven runs were too much for the Atlanta Braves to overcome and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Braves 7-1 before a crowd of 42,343, the 513th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.
The veteran pitched six innings, allowing those seven runs on six hits, walking five and striking out two, as he saw his record fall to 3-4 on the season.
On the other side of things, Johnny Cueto pitched a great game, as he also went six innings, allowing one run on six hits, walking just one and striking out eight and raised his record to 5-4 on the season.
Following a Gorkys Hernandez triple that scored Joe Panik, who led off the inning with a walk, Dickey retired the next 12 batters before getting replaced by Matt Wisler.
The Giants got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as Eduardo Nunez scored on a Kurt Suzuki passed ball.
Brandon Crawford drove in the second run of the inning, as he grounded out to Matt Adams at first, who tossed to Dickey, who was covering to scored Brandon Belt from third base.
Things got worse for Dickey and the Braves in the bottom of the second inning, as Hernandez drove in Panik. After a Johnny Cueto sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning, Denard Span walked, then Nunez singled in Hernandez. Following a Brandon Belt fly out, Buster Posey walked for the second time in as many at-bats to load the baes, Crawford hit a two-run single to bust the game wide open.
Hernandez picked up another RBI in the bottom of the third inning, as he tripled in Panik, who led off the inning with a walk. That Hernandez triple would be the last batter to reach base for the Giants for the remainder of the game.
Dickey and Wisler retired the final 18 batters that the Giants would send to the plate after the Hernandez triple.
NOTES: Matt Moore looks to extend the Giants winning streak up to three, as he takes the mound on Monday afternoon, while Tanner Roark will take the ball for the Washington Nationals.
It was on this date in 2006, that Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time home run list. Bonds hit a 90 mile per hour fastball off of Byung-Hyun Kim of the Colorado Rockies in the bottom of the fourth inning to pass Ruth.
San Francisco Giants’ Nick Hundley swings for an RBI single off Atlanta Braves’ Ian Krol in the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 27, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
By Jeremy Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO-Brandon Belt got robbed of a home run in the bottom of the second inning by Ender Inciarte, but it was a different story in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Belt hit a solo home run into the right-center field bleachers, as the San Francisco Giants blew open a 2-0 lead and defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-3 before a crowd of 41,355, the 512th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.
The win by the Giants put an end to their four-game losing streak.
It was the second home run of the game for the Giants, as Nick Hundley got the Giants on the board with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning.
The home run was the start of a three-hit night for Hundley, who picked up his first home run as a Giant with his two-run home run in the bottom of the second.
After the Belt home run, the Giants added two more with the help of four consecutive hits by Hundley, Mac Wililamson, Ty Blach and Denard Span.
Not only did Blach have a huge hit that helped out his own cause in the bottom of the fourth inning, but he also pitched a great game as well. The single was Blach’s fourth of his major-league career, and the first off of a pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw.
Blach went 7.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, while walking three, striking out five and went 2-for-3 at the plate on his way to his third win of the season.
On the other side of things, Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz lasted just four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out two and allowed those two home runs.
Things got a little interesting in the top of the eighth inning, as the Braves cut the Giants lead down to 5-2, as Rio Ruiz doubled down the right field line, then Inciarte singled and then Brandon Phillips got the Braves on the board with a single that scored Ruiz.
In what looked like a fantastic inning ending double play off of the bat of Nick Markakis, there was a challenge and Markakis beat the throw to score Inciarte.
The Giants extended the lead up to 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth, as Hundley picked up his third hit of the night to score Belt, who walked with one out, then stole second.
Derek Law, who pitched 0.2 innings gave up a one out walk to Dansby Swanson and then Danny Santana tripled to score Swanson. That would be the end of the line for Law, as Bruce Bochy brought in closer Mark Melancon, who got Jace Peterson to strikeout swinging and then Inciarte grounded out to Melancon to end the game.
NOTES: Johnny Cueto looks for his fifth win of the season, as he takes the ball in the series finale for the Giants, while knuckleballer R.A. Dickey takes the mound for the Braves.
Eduardo Nunez saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end, as he went 0-for-3 with a walk. The 12-game hitting streak was tied for the second-longest current hitting streak in the major leagues.
Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin (6) argues with umpire Will Little after being ejected from the game during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Saturday, May 27, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
On the MLB Podcast The Show with Matt:
The New York Yankees Manshiro Tanaka looked like he would be a sure winner on Friday night at Yankee Stadium striking out 13 Oakland A’s hitters in seven plus innings but he didn’t get the run support as the Yanks couldn’t only muster just one run off of A’s starter Sean Manaea who worked seven innings. The A’s got runs late on Friday night with two in each of the eighth and ninth innings to take the opening game of the three game series 4-1.
On Saturday the Yankees turned it around picking up a 3-2 win and got home run support from Matt Holliday. The starter Jharel Cotton pitched well enough to win but the A’s just couldn’t get the hitting and lost by a run in game two of the series. Jed Lowrie who struck out looking three times argued over the strike zone with the plate umpire. A’s manager Bob Melvin joined Lowrie and got his money’s worth for an early shower as both he and Lowrie were tossed from the contest.
Atlanta Braves pitcher Jaime García works against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 26, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
By Jeremy Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO-Jaime Garcia pitched a great game for the Atlanta Braves, and helped out his own cause with one swing of the bat.
Garcia slapped a single into left field with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, helping the Braves to a 2-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 41,326, the 511th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.
This is the first Braves shutout of the 2017 season, their first since October 2, 2016 in the final game ever at Turner Field, a 1-0 shutout over the Detroit Tigers.
On the Garcia hit to left field, Tyler Flowers scored from second base after he singled with one out, went to second on a Rio Ruiz ground out. The throw from Brandon Belt went away from Buster Posey and Dansby Swanson scored all the way from first base.
Garcia went 6.2 innings, allowing zero runs, while scattering four hits, walking just two and striking out four.
The Giants best opportunity to get to Garcia came in the bottom of the sixth inning, as they loaded the bases after a Posey intentional walk; however, Garcia was able to Justin Ruggiano to ground out to end the inning.
Eduardo Nunez picked up two hits on the night for the Giants, who have lost four in a row after taking the series opener against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at Wrigley Field.
Following the Nunez single in the bottom of the first inning, Garcia retired the next 11 batters in a row until Ruggiano led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single; however, Garcia was able to get out of the inning unscathed, as he got the next three batters.
Cain went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking just one and striking out three, as he saw his record fall to 3-3 on the season.
NOTES: Ty Blach looks to even up the series on Saturday night, as he will face left-hander Mike Foltynewicz for the Braves.
Chris Shaw made his Sacramento Rivercats debut on Thursday night, and went 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Shaw played his first 37 games of the season with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels.
On this date in 2009, Tim Lincecum threw eight scoreless innings and struck out eight and the Giants defeated the Braves 4-0.
photo by mearsonlineauctions.com: Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal had completed 244 games in his MLB career with the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers in the 60s and early 70s
Calling All Doctors: Why so many pitchers on the disabled list?
By Amaury Pi Gonzalez
OAKLAND–During the first seven weeks of the season the Oakland Athletics had five starters on the disabled list. Kendall Graveman was out ten days with right shoulder strain, their #1 starter Sonny Gray missed the whole month of April with right shoulder strain, lefty Sean Manaea missed 16 days with left shoulder strain, Daniel Mengden was also on the DL to start the season after right foot surgery and Chris Bassit is out recovering with Tommy John surgery. The Los Angeles Angels have lost their ace Garrett Richards for the whole season, after opting last year for a stem cell treatment instead of the Tommy John surgery, also Tyler Skaggs is out, Nick Tropeano, Andrew Heaney, closer Huston Street, and it goes on and on and on like the movie Titanic.
Up in Seattle, the Mariners currently have their first four starters on the DL. Their ace Félix Hernández still our since April 28, shoulder inflammation(he has pitched many innings inn his career and he is not the same pitcher anymore), HIsashi Iwakuma could comeback soon, but he still out. Lefties Drew Smily has yet to pitch this season with a flexor strain and James Paxton is also out with a forearm strain.
The New York Mets ace Noah Syndergard is out with a partially torn lat muscle, and he recently said he has no clue when he will be able to return. Plus many more that I will not mention here.
Nutrition is better today, pitchers are stronger, throw harder. Is it their training? Is it weight lifting by some pitchers the culprit? We have a different culture for pitcher today, with some exceptions i.e. Justin Verlander and others can pitch way over 100 pitches per game and be fine, with the mentality in today’s game is to restrain a pitcher from throwing “too many”pitches. I remember the first time I interviewed Cuban-born pitcher Livan Hernández, when he came to the Giants; “yo nunca me preocupo por la cantidad de lanzamientos que tengo que hacer” trans “I never worry about the amount of pitches I have to make”.
There was a time when pitchers after ending the season traveled to winter leagues and pitch some more. Jim Bunning, Mike Fornieles,Luis Tiant and many more when to the Caribbean leagues and pitched in the winter, I remember those guys. Most of those guys will not even know what a flexor or lat is, they just pitched. Yes, there was a time when a reliever was the guy that was stuck in the bullpen because he was not good enough to start a game.
Today we have middle relievers, set up men and closers. In 2015 the Kansas City Royals won the World Series against the New York Mets and they used a reliever in each of the last three innings(they did that also consistently during the regular season) Gregg Holland, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis.
In 2016 Chris Sale with the Chicago White Sox(today with Boston) led the American League, with six(6)complete games, the whole season.
During Juan Marichal 16 year Hall of Fame career, he completed a total of 244 games, and in 1968 he alone completed 30 games during the season. Robin Roberts completed 305 games during his 19 years and Warren Spahn completed 382 games during a 21 year career, perhaps the best left hander in history. Yes, these three are Hall of Fame pitchers, but even those that were average pitchers could go 8 or 9 innings and even more at any given time. Those guys would laugh at the notion of their pitching coach telling them”give me six good innings today”. I remember asking Marichal(after he retired)one night during a game at cold Candlestick Park when he sat with me in the broadcast booth- Juan what would you have said to your pitching coach if he asked you prior to a game to “give me a good six innings” –he kind of smile and told me: “le perdería mucho respeto a ese hombre” trans: “I would lose a lot of respect for that man”. The frase “six quality innings” should be debated, because sometimes they call it quality when it os not really that, it is just the notion that the guy completed six innings!
We would be lucky today to get 30 games completed by a whole league.
You might have your own conclusion on why pitchers today pitch less and are hurt more often. I do believe today we have better athletes playing baseball, but back then we have better baseball players playing baseball.
Happy Memorial Day!
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio talent, the LA Angels TV talent, and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
