Category: San Francisco Giants

Big Sugar: Cain sweetens the pot with win over the Diamondbacks

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The 310th start of Matt Cain’s illustrious career had a nice ring to it: five plus solid innings, one run allowed and a win.

For a guy that hadn’t won in the month of April in five years, and had just eight wins total in the last three seasons, Wednesday’s outing was akin to walking out to the pitching mound and discovering gold slivers underneath the pitching rubber.  Cain wasn’t spectacular, but he was effective, and that alone pays dividends for the Giants going forward.

“He did everything tonight that you can do,” reliever Cody Gearrin said of Cain. “He’s hitting doubles in the gap and pitching outstanding. It’s fun for us as a bullpen to come off of that. He really set the tone tonight.”

Cain had a rough first inning, allowing a run.  But he settled in, and was still around in the fifth when his two-base hit incited a three-run rally.  The wet weather, and the Giants’ pen led by Gearrin took it from there in the Giants’ 6-2 win over Arizona.

The 32-year old Cain is light years removed his last All-Star appearance in 2012, which means his 2017 salary of $21 million guarantees very little.  In fact, after a rough, first outing against the Padres, another could have had the Giants’ tapping the Ty Blach/Tyler Beede spigot. Instead, Cain’s fastball had low 90’s snap, and the double off his bat in the fifth left home plate at 106 mph. Manager Bruce Bochy took note of it all.

“His command, he had four pitches going tonight,” Bochy said.  “He had a good curveball along with the changeup and the fastball command. If you look at his last few games, here he gives up a run but he just bowed his neck and went out there and pitched very well.”

After allowing a triple to A.J. Pollock to lead off the game, and a couple of first inning walks, Cain settled.  He struck out six in a 10-batter stretch at one point, and kept the D’Backs, who led the National League with 53 runs scored coming in, at bay.  When the first two batters in the sixth reached, Cain was finished, having thrown 92 pitches.

Gearrin relieved Cain, and struck out the next three batters on just 13 pitches. Brandon Drury got the worst of those encounters, lasting just three pitches and getting fooled by a slider on check swing strike three.

George Kontos, Derek Law and Hunter Strickland each got an inning after that.  Only Law labored, allowing two hits and a run.  Closer Mark Melancon got the night off as the Giants’ four-run, ninth inning lead didn’t yield a save situation.

The Giants improved to 4-6, but remain in the NL West basement, three games behind Arizona.  But 4-6 isn’t 1-5, as the Giants have experienced a nice rebound after a rough first week.  The Rockies visit AT&T Park on Thursday, the first of four games.  In the opener, Madison Bumgarner faces the Rockies’ 2013 first-round pick, Jon Gray.  The 6’4″ Gray possesses an elite slider, and at least to this date in his career, his numbers have been far more impressive at Coors Field than on the road. Gray was 10-10 in 2016, making 29 starts.

GAME NOTES: Several Giants had encouraging moments at the plate, after the entire lineup struggled to hit during the season’s first week.  Hunter Pence came up with a RBI knock on a half swing that gave the Giants their first lead, 2-1.  Denard Span had a double and a single, and has hit safely in each of his last three starts. And Jarrett Parker, part of the left field equation that was MIA the first week, delivered a nifty single to the left side to beat the shift.

San Francisco Giants podcast: Orlando Cepeda’s wife Mirian passes from pneumonia at 62; plus more Giants news

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By | jdurkin@bayareanewsgroup.com photo

by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–The wife of former San Francisco Giant first baseman and Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda passed away today at the age 62. Mirian Cepeda was married to the former Giant slugger. The Giants plan to have a moment of silence for Mirian tonight at AT&T Park. I’m not sure if we should keep doing these podcasts this is the second week in a row that were leading off with an obituary.

Baseball is barely recovering from the loss of former National League Executive Katy Feeney who passed last week and now Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda lost his companion whose been around the ball park with Orlando who always seemed to put a smile on his face Now that’s up to all the rest of us to do that for Cepeda.

Michael Duca has more Giants news and each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

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San Francisco Giants Tuesday game wrap: D-Backs get the early jump Giants come up short in end 4-3

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Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Fernando Rodney celebrates after recording the last out of the game in a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants during a baseball game Tuesday, April 11, 2017, in San Francisco.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-This was not the way that Jeff Samardzija wanted to his 2017 season started with two straight losses.

Jake Lamb hit a bases clearing triple in the top of the third inning that cleared the bases, and those would the only runs that Robbie Ray would and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Giants 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 41,562, their 491st consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

Lamb’s one out triple went just over the glove of Gorkys Hernandez in left-center field that allowed Ray, A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt to score.

The Diamondbacks lengthened their lead to 4-0 in the top of the eighth inning, as Chris Iannetta singled in Yasmany Tomas.

Nick Hundley cut the Diamondbacks lead in half in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he doubled down the right field line to score Hunter Pence, who walked, then went to second on defensive indifference.

Following the Hundley double, Eduardo Nunez singled to score Hundley and that brought Brandon Crawford off the bench to pinch hit for Chris Marrero with two outs. Nunez stole his fifth base of the season; however Crawford struck out swinging to end the game.

Samardzija escaped other jams in the top of the first inning, and the fifth inning; however, it was the third inning that was his only hiccup where he allowed those three runs to the now 7-2 Diamondbacks.

Ray went 6.2 innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, walking five and striking out eight on his way to his first win of the season.

Despite falling short for the second time in as many starts this season, Samardzija went 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, walking four and striking out seven.

After being forced to leave Monday’s opener after being hit in the head by a Taijuan Walker pitch, Buster Posey was placed on the seven-day disabled list with concussion symptoms.

With Posey on the disabled list, the Giants have purchased the contract of Tim Federowicz from Sacramento. To make room for Federowicz on the 40-man roster, the Giants have designated right-handed pitcher Clayton Blackburn for assignment.

Federowicz made his Giants debut in the bottom of the seventh inning when he came off the bench to pinch-hit for Ty Blach, who got Lamb to fly out to Pence in right field to end the top of the seventh inning. Unfortunately, for Federowicz, he struck out against Ray on just four pitches.

It was a tough night for the Giants, as they loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning; however, Ray was able to get out of the jam unscathed, as he struck out Samardzija and then got Hernandez to fly out to left-center field where Tomas was able to track it down for the third out of the inning.

With two on and two out, and with the potential tying run at the plate, Aaron Hill grounded into a force play to end the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants threatened again, as Hundley doubled to lead off the inning, then Eduardo Nunez picked up his third infield hit of the evening; however, Marrero grounded into a double play that sent Hundley to third base. Joe Panik then doubled down the right field line to score Hundley from third base.

Pinch hitter Conor Gillaspie was then hit by a pitch, Hernandez struck out to end the inning.

NOTES: Matt Cain makes his 2017 home debut on Wednesday night for the Giants, while Shelby Miller looks to extend his record on the young season to 2-0, as he takes the ball for the Diamondbacks.

Between the two teams, they combined to leave a whopping 23 runners on base, 10 by the Diamondbacks and 13 by the Giants.

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the first ever game at then Pacific Bell Park. Barry Bonds hit a home run in the bottom of the third inning for the Giants, but Bonds was overshadowed by Kevin Elster, who hit three home runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers would go on to defeat the Giants 6-5 before a capacity crowd of 40,930.

Giants win on Opening Day, get good news on Posey’s scary head injury

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The 18th Opening Day along the shores of McCovey Cove had an ominous start and a satisfying conclusion, with a comical moment in between that stood as the pivotal play in the Giants’ 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Just another example of the home team trying to make up for those anxious days when the park by San Francisco Bay opened in 2000 and Giants’ fans suffered through several, disappointng losses to the Dodgers.  This time, fans of the orange and black were treated to all the pomp and circumstance with a giant U.S. flag ceremony, the national anthem sung by the cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” and a standing ovation for Barry Bonds, the franchise’s hero come home. Following that, the Giants thrilled the fans with their 14th win in a home opener at AT&T Park.

The ominous moment was a Tijuan Walker pitch that plunked Buster Posey in the first inning, and ended his afternoon on the field, as manager Bruce Bochy elected to lift his star player as a precautionary move.  Backup Nick Hundley came on to team with Matt Moore, who was in control, pitching eight innings, allowing just one run, to pick up the win.

“Were he not the catcher, he might have stayed in the game,” Bochy said of the incident in which Posey was alert, but wide-eyed, throughout.  Posey did leave the field under his own power after a thorough look over by trainer Ron Groeschner. Posey was scheduled to be evaluated soon after the conclusion of the game, but the team announced, that they don’t expect the All-Star catcher to return to the field for Tuesday’s game.

“It’s one of the worst sounds you can hear in baseball, the ball hitting the helmet,” Bochy said.  “It’s a scary moment.  There’s been a lot of damage to hitters hit in the head.”

Moore said afterwards that he retreated to the clubhouse a couple of times to check on Posey, saying that he felt his catcher was doing fine.  Other than that, Moore did his best to reduce all his teammates’ anxiety by taming the D’Backs, allowing just the one run on Yasmani Tomas’ solo shot in the fifth.

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Opening day–Giants want to get things going at home after having groggy opening road trip

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San Francisco Giants’ Aaron Hill, left, congratulates Brandon Belt, right, for hitting a grand slam home run against the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning of a baseball game in San Diego, Friday, April 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

by Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–18 count em 18 home opening days for AT&T Park since 2000 how time flies this is the 18th opening day at the new ball park and the Giants need to change their ways they went 2-5 on the opening road trip of the season and they need to get on track. The win on Sunday against the San Diego Padres 5-3 at Petco Park was such a big thing. When you think back to former Giants manager Dusty Baker he would always say try to win the opening game on the road trip (that didn’t happen with a loss to Arizona) and the last game on the trip.

That win obviously makes the plane ride back to San Francisco a lot smoother and builds momentum. The opponents the first week of the trip Arizona and San Diego are playing really well from where they were last year to what they showed the Giants last week. You can sense the improvement in San Diego’s case they play well against the Giants as they suffered some embarrassing loses against LA to open the season. It’s baseball there’s still a bunch of games the Giants  2-5 record is not where they want to be but it is where they are.

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

 

San Francisco Giants Sunday game wrap: Cueto dominant in win; Giants snap four game loss streak with 5-3 win over Pads

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By Jeremy Kahn

Maybe the San Francisco Giants should send Johnny Cueto to the mound for every start, but that is not remotely possible.

Cueto went seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits with three walks, as the Giants salvaged the finale of the three-game series with a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

The win by Cueto snapped a modest two-game losing streak for him at Petco Park, as he was on the losing end of the 2016 All-Star Game and then five days later, he lost to the Padres.

With the victory, Cueto raises his record on the 2017 season to 2-0.

Cueto lost his shutout in the bottom of the seventh inning, as he allowed a two-run home run to Wil Myers. It was the second home run of the season for Myers.

As for the Giants, this was a huge win for the NL Wild Card winners, who lost five out of their first six games of the season.

Hunter Pence hit a two-run home run off of Clayton Richard in the top of the third inning, and then Buster Posey made it to back-to-back home runs. It was the first home run of the season for both Pence and Posey.

The Giants got on the board in the top of the second inning in a bizarre way. With runners on both first and second with just one out, Chris Marrero singled in Posey. The throw by right fielder Hunter Renfroe hit Myers’ glove and bounced into the Padres dugout, and on the play, Brandon Crawford on the throwing error by Renfroe.

Yangervis Solarte hit a solo home run off of Derek Law in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Solarte picked up three hits on the afternoon.

It was the first loss of the season for Richard, as he won his season debut in a shutout over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.

NOTES: Matt Moore makes his second start of the season on Monday afternoon, as the Giants open their 18th season at AT&T Park. The Arizona Diamondbacks will send Taijuan Walker to the mound, as he looks for his second win in as many chances this season against the Giants.

San Francisco Giants Saturday game wrap: Padres take another one from Giants 2-1; Pads rookie pitcher Chacin hands S.F. fourth straight loss

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San Diego Padres left fielder Travis Jankowski, left, right fielder Hunter Renfroe, center, and center fielder Manuel Margot, right, celebrate after the Padres won 2-1 against the San Francisco Giants in a baseball game in San Diego, Saturday, April 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo

By Jeremy Kahn

This rut that the San Francisco Giants are currently in is not getting better, as they were held in check by a journeyman pitcher and a hot rookie.

Rookie Manuel Margot doubled twice off of Madison Bumgarner just one day after hitting two home runs and the San Diego Padres defeated the Giants 2-1 at Petco Park.

This was the fourth straight loss for the Giants, as veteran pitcher Jhoulys Chacin and two relievers allowed just five hits to the Giants on Saturday afternoon.

Chacin, who was on the losing end of a 14-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Opening Day in Los Angeles rebounded to pick-up his first win of the season, as he struck out five and walked just one.

The right-hander gave up a double to Brandon Belt in the first inning, then did not allow another hit to the Giants until Joe Panik singled that went off the glove of Wil Myers in the top of the fifth inning and his last hit by Eduardo Nunez that went off the glove of Hunter Renfroe in the top of the seventh inning was ruled a double. That double by Nunez ended Chacin’s night, and Padres manager Andy Green turned the game over to his bullpen and Brad Hand.

Ryan Buchter closed the game for the second straight day, despite giving up a two-out single to Buster Posey and a RBI single to Brandon Crawford to get the Giants within one run; however, he was able to get Nunez to fly out to end the game.

It was a tough loss for Bumgarner, who pitched a complete game giving up just two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out five.

Despite the loss, it was the 15th complete game of Bumgarner’s career and the sixth time that he was on the losing end. During the 2016 season, Bumgarner completed four completed four games and was on the losing end of two of those games.

Allen Cordoba picked up his first major league hit in the bottom of the second inning, as he singled and then scored on a Margot double.

MLB Podcast The Show with Matt Harrington: It’s just phenomenal what’s happened to the snake bit Giants; A’s Hahn could work his way into the rotation

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Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesse Hahn delivers to the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 7, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jim Cowsert)

On the MLB Podcast with Matt:

The San Francisco Giants bullpen is just terrifying right now. The starting pitching has pitched well enough to end games but the bullpen comes in and coughs up the lead and the by product of the Will Smith injury and guys being spotted into roles their not used to. There was closer Mark Melancon blowing a save on opening day in Arizona and that put everyone into a little panic. I’m looking at it as a glass half full prospective their scoring runs you’d expect the pitching to be there when the Giants go out there. Dave Righetti is one of the best pitching coaches in the game and manager Bruce Bochy is one of the best managers for starting pitchers. We’ll see if they can sort this out with the home opener on Monday.

The Oakland A’s relieverJesse Hahn impressed in his relief appearance came in to relieve for starter Raul Alcantara on Friday night and Hahn delivered with six innings, seven hits, two earned runs and three strike outs. This essentially was what you call a reverse relief start and Hahn came in with the game already underhand and went in and pitched six innings and was like the full starter. Six innings with two runs is a great start for any A’s pitcher right now other than Kendall Graveman who the A’s have great expectations from.

Matt does the MLB podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Jeremy Kahn: Taking a look at the Giants first week of the season

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San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain throws to the plate against the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a baseball game in San Diego, Friday, April 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Jeremy Kahn:

#1 The Giants start opening week not exactly as planned first there was Sunday’s opener with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Giants closer Mark Melancon couldn’t close the door on the Snakes as the D-Backs came back and came back from two runs down 5-4 to win it 6-5.

#2 Their 1-4 after Friday’s loss to the San Diego Padres 7-6 at Petco Park. The Giants lone win came on Tuesday but now have lost three straight twice in Arizona and yesterday in San Diego.

#3 Giant starter Jeff Samardjiza got rocked in Thursday’s game for eight earned runs, eight hits but got eight strikeouts.

#4 Madison Bumgarner was lights out on opening day where he looked good enough to go the distance and hit two homers

#5  JJ goes over how this series will go with the Giants-Padres

Jeremy Kahn does the Giants podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Francisco Giants Friday game wrap: Bullpen woes continue; Giants drop third straight to Pads 7-6 now 1-4

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San Francisco Giants third baseman Eduardo Nunez, right, bobbles a ground ball for an error, as San Diego Padres’ Yangervis Solarte, left, runs past to third during the fifth inning of a baseball game in San Diego, Friday, April 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

By Jeremy Kahn

It maybe just five games into the 2017 regular season, but it seems that the Achilles heel that did the 2016 San Francisco Giants wrong so many times is back again.

That Achilles heel is the Giants bullpen and once again it was the downfall, as the Giants lost for the fourth time in five games after a 7-6 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Yangervis Solarte hit a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning off of George Kontos to overcome a 5-4 Giants lead.

The Giants took a 5-4 lead when Brandon Belt hit his first career grand slam in the top of the sixth inning.

Kontos opened the bottom of the seventh inning by walking Stephen Jankowski to open the frame then a single to Wil Myers, and then Solarte gave the Padres the lead for good with his two-run double. Solarte scored an insurance run, as he scored on a sacrifice bunt by Austin Hedges.

Belt got the Giants within one run, as he hit his second home run of the game in the top of the eighth inning off of Ryan Buchter.

Jose Torres pitched a perfect seventh inning to pick-up his first major league victory. Brandon Maurer shut the Giants down in order in the ninth inning to notch his first save of the young season.

It was a big day for Padres rookie Manuel Margot, as he became the first Padres rookie in team history to hit two home runs in the home opener. In his five minor league seasons before being called up during the 12016 season, Margot hit only two home runs.

Belt’s first home run of the game came in the top of the sixth inning, as he hit a Luis Perdomo over the right-center field wall. Perdomo loaded the bases with nobody out, as he allowed a single to Conor Gillaspie, a double to Joe Panik and a walk to Aaron Hill.

Matt Cain made his first start of the season, as he went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out three.

NOTES: Hunter Strickland was placed on the paternity list, as his wife Shelley is due to give birth a daughter, Kinsey Rae this weekend. Steven Okert was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Strickland.