Category: San Francisco Giants

By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: San Francisco Giant pitcher Stephen Okert can only hang his head after surrendering a three run homer to San Diego Padre hitter Ryan Schimpf in the top of the ninth at AT&T Park on Tuesday night

SAN FRANCISCO-Ryan Schimpf put a damper on what looked like a big San Francisco Giants victory.

Schimpf hit a three-run home run off of Stephen Okert in the top of the ninth , helping the San Diego Padres defeat the Giants 6-4 before a crowd of 41,231, the 478th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

Hunter Strickland was unable to close out what looked like a sure Giants victory, as he went 0.2 innings, allowing four runs on three hits.

Derek Norris got the ninth inning started, as he singled, after a Alexei Amarista strikeout, Jon Jay and Luis Sardinas both singled, wth Sardinas’ single loading the bases for Wil Myers, who walked to score Jay. After a Yangervis Solarte groundout off the glove of Strickland that bounced to Joe Panik allowed Sardinas to score.

Following the Solarte groundout, Schimpf launched a three-run home run into the right-center field bleachers.

Despite the loss, the Giants retained their lead in the National League Wild Card race, and stayed within three games of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the lead in the National League West. The Dodgers were shutout by the New York Yankees 3-0 at Yankee Stadium.

Albert Suarez pitched five innings, allowing one run on six hits, walking three and striking out one, but did not fare in the decision.

Angel Pagan hit his 11th home run of the season, and his second in five games, as he hit a home run on Friday night off of Edwin Escobar of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Sardinas gave the Padres the lead in the top of the third inning, as he singled in Derek Norris, who singled, went to second on a Richard sacrifice bunt and to third on a Jon Jay single, prior to scoring from third base.

Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak up to seven games, as he doubled in Kelby Tomlinson, who reached on a Fielder’s Choice that retired Pagan at second base after Pagan singled for his second hit in three at-bats.

Clayton Richard went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on 11 hits, walking four and striking out one, as his record fell to 2-4 on the season and like Suarez did not fare in the decision.

Gorkys Hernandez added to the Giants lead in the bottom of the seventh inning,man he hit his second home run of the season. Hernandez hit his first home run of the season on Wednesday night off of Jorge De La Rosa of the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The solo home run was the third hit of the night by Hernandez, his third career three-hit game.

By: Eric He

AP photo: San Diego Padres starter Paul Clemens works the delivery against the San Francisco Giants hitters in the third inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Monday night

They faced the hapless Padres, but the Giants were dealt a setback in the NL West division race on Monday as they were shutout 4-0 at AT&T Park.

Jeff Samardzija took the loss as the Giants provided him with no run support and only five hits. The flu-ridden Paul Clemons tossed five shutout innings to get the win for the Padres.

Samadzija, who falls to 11-10 on the year, allowed single runs in the fourth and fifth innings before giving him a 2-run homer to former Giants’ catcher Hector Sanchez. Sanchez’s blast landed just fair in right field to extend the Padres’ lead to 4-0.

Meanwhile, the Giants couldn’t get anything going against the Padres’ bullpen. They had just three base runners in the final four innings in a disappointing offensive showing.

“We hit the balls hard: we just missed a couple,” manager Bruce Bochy said, via MLB.com. “Really some hard hit balls, couldn’t get anything to fall in, and when we had guys on base we couldn’t get a hit. We just couldn’t get that big hit to get us rolling.”

The Giants left eight runners on base and came up empty in six opportunities with runners in scoring position.

They fall to four games back in the division to the Dodgers, but are still a game and a half ahead of the Mets in the wild card race.

Albert Suarez toes the rubber on Tuesday in the second of this three-game series against the Padres.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, September 11, 2016

AP photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Moore throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday in the fourth inning on Sunday at Chase Field

PHOENIX, Ariz. – San Francisco not only completed a three-game sweep of Arizona with a 5-3 win Sunday at Chase Field, the Giants finally picked up some ground in the National League West and Wild Card races.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers losing 3-0 to Miami, the Giants picked up a full game in the NL West, now trailing the Dodgers by 3 games. San Francisco leads the New York Mets and St. Louis by percentage points for the first Wild Card berth.

After hosting San Diego for three games, the Giants will face the Cardinals for four games, followed by three against the Dodgers.

“That’s where we’re at. And they’re all big series,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “Every game is big at this point. You have to play each game like it’s the biggest game.”

Matt Moore (10-11) worked seven strong innings to earn his third win of the season. Moore struck out 11, walked one and gave up eight hits and two earned runs. Hunter Strickland struck out two in 1 1/3 innings to earn his third save.

“Today I just tried to control my emotions a little bit better than last time (at Colorado),” Moore said. “Against Colorado, I stopped staying within myself and tried, maybe to do too much. Here, my thought process was just more about the competition and keeping (Arizona) off the board at all costs.”

“Matt had good stuff, good command of all four pitches,” Bochy said. “Those seven solid innings helped us use the bullpen the way we want to. In this ballpark against this lineup, that’s a solid job he did for us.”

San Francisco regained the lead at 3-2 when Diamondbacks starter Zach Grienke (12-6) created trouble for himself in the top of the sixth. After Angel Pagan walked, Grienke retired Buster Posey on a deep fly to center, and walked Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence to load the bases.

Left-handed hitting Brandon Belt singled through the gap into left, scoring Pagan to tie the game at 2-2. Joe Panik grounded out to first (Grienke covering) to drive in Crawford with the go-ahead run. With two out, Eduardo Nuñez was intentionally walked to re-load the bases, and Moore flied out to left to end the rally.

Grienke departed after he struck out three, walked four and gave up three earned runs on six hits, throwing 113 pitches. In the bottom of the seventh, Moore struck out the side on 11 pitches.

“I just wanted to buckle down, keep my focus and execute,” Moore said. “It was one of those moments where we wanted to keep the momentum on our side, like we’re in possession of the game. A one-run game doesn’t leave a lot of room for mistakes.

“For me, it was about believing in every pitch,” Moore continued. “My fastball command was good enough, where they thought it would be in the zone and on the corners, more so than the middle of the plate. The cutter was the one pitch I didn’t have quite the command I would have liked.”

Facing an overworked Diamondbacks bullpen, the Giants added two more runs in the seventh on a double down the right field line by Hunter Pence, scoring Pagan (walk) and Crawford (single). Pence was 12-for-15 in the series.

“The guys did a great job of stretching at-bats and getting on base,” Bochy said. “That was quite a series for Hunter, wasn’t it? We’ve seen him get on these runs and he’s fun to watch. He’s an exciting player who’s playing some inspirational baseball.”

Denard Span led off the game with a home run to right on the second pitch delivered by Diamondbacks starter Zach Grienke. It was the first leadoff homer for Span this season, and the fifth for his career.

“That provided a big psychological lift for us, that’s for sure,” Bochy said. “You’re facing their ace, and as tough as he’s been on us, we put some good at-bats together, laid off some tough pitches, and got his pitch count up.”

Arizona tied the game at 1-1 in the second. Jacob Lamb tripled to right-center and Brandon Drury followed with an RBI single to left.

Wellington Castillo’s two-out run-scoring single gave Arizona a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Castillo drove in Chris Owings, who doubled to left. Castillo’s eighth-inning solo home run – his 12th of the season, off reliever Sergio Romo – cut the Arizona deficit to 5-3.

The Diamondbacks outhit San Francisco 11-8 – Castillo, Drury and Paul Goldschmidt each had two hits. Belt and Posey each had two hits for the Giants.

“This was a huge series for us, to come in here and salvage a .500 road trip after some very difficult losses,” Bochy said. “It’s a good bounce back for these guys to come in here and play that brand of baseball.”

GIANT JOTTINGS: Attendance for Sunday’s game was 26,002. … The Giants return to AT&T Park to start a seven-game homestand, starting with a three-game set against San Diego. San Francisco’s probables for the Padres series are Jeff Samardzija (11-9), Albert Saurez (3-3) and Madison Bumgarner (14-8). … The Giants will play their final 20 games of the season within the state of California.

TAGS: San Francisco Giants,Hunter Pence,Matt Moore,Arizona Diamondbacks,Sports Radio Service,Daniel Dullum

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, September 10, 2016

AP photo: San Francisco Giants hitter Denard Span (2) waits for Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Arichie Bradley’s delivery in the second inning of Saturday night’s contest at Chase Field

PHOENIX, Ariz. – After weeks of struggling offensively, San Francisco’s bats came alive at Chase Field Saturday, as the Giants used a 19-hit attack to overwhelm Arizona 11-3 and stay in the hunt for either the National League West title or a wild-card berth.

The Giants stranded 24 baserunners, but with contributions coming from all nine spots in the batting order, that’s a number that can be dismissed in a game San Francisco needed to keep its playoff run alive.

Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence, Joe Panik and Eduardo Nuñez each had three hits for the Giants, while Johnny Cueto gave them a quality start on the mound.

“It was good to see,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “Heart of the order, back of the order, everybody swung the bats well. And look what Johnny did. He was terrific today.

“All throughout the lineup, everybody did something to help the cause.”

“I want to thank God, and my teammates for scoring all of those runs to support me,” Cueto said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros.

With the win, the Giants kept pace with first-place Los Angeles, trailing the Dodgers by 4 games in the NL West, and remain percentage points ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets for the first wild-card.

“We don’t worry about what the other teams are doing,” Bochy said. “We just go there and try to win every game. That’s the stage we’re at right now, and that’s how we’re playing.”

Cueto (15-5) is 6-1 in eight career games at Chase Field, 3-0 this year. In seven innings, he scattered three hits, struck out six, walked two while giving up two earned runs.

“I felt really good,” Cueto said. “I think I secured all of my pitches. I just want to give everything I have and not hold anything back.”

“Johnny had great stuff, great command of all of his pitches, and it’s good to give him a break after seven with that lead, too,” Bochy said. “That allows you to some things, get some guys off the bench and on the field. This was a great game for us.”

San Francisco scored first when Hunter Pence singled to open the second inning and came around on Joe Panik’s double to the left-center warning track.

Arizona starter Archie Bradley then, with runners at second and third following Cueto’s sacrifice bunt, worked out of a two-out jam. But Bradley would encounter more problems in the San Francisco third.

The Giants batted around in the third inning, scoring four runs to build a 5-0 lead. After Angel Pagan led off with a single, he scored on Buster Posey’s triple down the right field line. Brandon Crawford followed with an RBI double to the left-center field gap, scoring Posey.

Two batters later, Eduardo Nuñez was issued an intentional walk to load the bases and pitch to Cueto. The Giants’ starting pitcher responded by looping a base hit to shallow right, scoring Crawford. Pence, who advanced to third, scored on a wild pitch during Denard Span’s at-bat.

As he rounded first base, Cueto began the windmill waiving signal usually used by third base coaches, trying to get Pence to score on the hit as well.

“Of course I wanted that RBI! There were two outs!” Cueto said, laughing. “I really wanted (Pence) to score.”

“Hitters like that RBI. He’s just being like the rest of the hitters,” Bochy said. “But it was a nice piece of hitting on his part. That was a huge run at that point of the game.”

That inning spelled the end for Bradley (6-9). The Diamondbacks’ highly touted righthander surrendered five earned runs on eight hits, struck out three, walked two, and threw 68 pitches.

“My fastball was up, my curveball was sharper, and I even threw my changeup earlier,” Bradley said. “This (San Francisco) is a good team. You can they’ve been struggling, but they broke out of it tonight. They put together good at-bats, and when I missed my spots I paid for it.

“They’re learning what I’m trying to do. I made some good pitches, but they put better swings on them.”

San Francisco tacked on a run in the seventh when Pence, who scored four runs, hit a solo home run to right, his 11th of the season.

“Hunter is swinging the bat well right now,” Bochy said. “He missed a lot of time and it takes a while to get your timing back. He’s doing a nice job of two-strike hitting too.

In the Giants’ eighth, they scored four more runs. Pagan tripled and scored on a wild pitch, and after Crawford singled and Pence walked, a drive to deep center by Brandon Belt was originally ruled a home run, but was overturned after a 2:05 video review. Belt wound up with a two-RBI double instead, and eventually scored when Nuñez hit into a fielder’s choice.

Cueto, meanwhile, continued his mastery of the Diamondbacks’ lineup before Jake Peavy and Josh Osich each threw one inning to finish up.

Yasmany Tomas parked a Josh Osich fastball halfway up the left field pavilion for his 28th home run of the season. Brandon Drury grounded out to third to end the 3:09 game.

Since the All-Star break, the Giants have hit .221 (100 for 452) with runners in scoring position. If Saturday’s game is any indication, the Giants will be increasing that percentage in the stretch run.

The weekend series concludes Sunday with Giants lefthander Matt Moore (9-11, 4.40) facing D-Backs righthander Zach Greinke (12-4, 4.54). First pitch is at 1:10 p.m.

GIANT JOTTINGS: The announced attendance was 32,301. … Elias Sports Bureau reports that on Friday night, Giants RHP Cory Gearrin became the third pitcher in MLB history to play the outfield and earn a save in the same game since 1969, when saves became an official statistic. … The Giants have 26 blown saves this season, the most by a San Francisco staff since 2005(28).

TAGS: San Francisco Giants,Johnny Cueto,Arizona Diamondbacks,Sports Radio Service,Daniel Dullum

By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: Kelby Tomlinson connects in the 12 inning for the San Francisco Giants for the go single to score Brandon Belt against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix

Kelby Tomlinson gave the San Francisco Giants a shot in the arm when they need it most, in extra innings.

Tomlinson singled to center field in the top of the 12th inning to score Brandon Belt, helping the Giants comeback from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 at Chase Field.

The over five-hour, 12 inning game saw four different lead changes and three ties between the NL West rivals.

With the victory, the Giants moved within four games of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost to the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park, despite the fact that Clayton Kershaw made his first start since June.

Madison Bumgarner went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking just one and struck out nine in getting a no-decision.

Joe Nathan picked up his second win of the season, as he pitched the 11th inning, as he allowed one hit and struck out one.

Cory Gearrin saved his third save, as he pitched the 12th inning, allowing a walk and struck out two.

Gearrin also played left field, becoming the first Giants pitcher to play in the field since Noah Lowry on June 8, 2007 and was the first pitcher to play in the field and pitch in the same inning since Keith Comstock on June 13, 1987.

Jake Lamb tied up the game in the bottom of the 10th inning, as he hit a solo home run off of Santiago Casilla. It was the fourth home run by Lamb off of Casilla in eight career at-bats.

Hunter Pence scored his fourth run of the game in the top of the 10th inning on a wild pitch by Enrique Burgos to give the Giants the lead, but Casilla was unable to hold the lead.

In all, Pence went 4-for-5 at the plate with those four runs scored, and made an amazing catch deep in the right field corner.

After trailing 4-1 at the end of three innings, the Giants began to chip away, as they scored two in the fourth and tied up the game in the top of the sixth inning when Brandon Belt singled yo score Pence.

Angel Pagan gave the Giants the lead in the top of the seventh inning, as he homered to left field; however that lead would last only a half inning.

Micah Owings hit a fly ball to center field that Denard Span was unable to catch for an error when it bounced off his glove, luckily Span was able to recover to pickup the ball, throw a perfect relay to Brandon Crawford, who tagged out Owings at home, as he tried to score. Socrates Brito tied up the game on the Owings hit.

By Jeremy Harness

AP file photo: San Francisco Giants Madison Bumgarner throws against the Chicago Cubs Sun September 3 at AT&T Park goes to the hill Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field

If the Giants hope to reach the postseason for the fifth time in seven years, they will have to start winning. And they will have to do it very quickly.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have begun to sprint away from them, amassing a five-game lead in the National League West that only figures to grow at this particular juncture, and they are even losing their grip on the NL’s wild-card spot.

At press time, the Giants hold an ultra-thin half-game advantage over the New York Mets, who themselves are riding a five-game winning streak – including prevailing in eight of their last 10 contests – and are poised to take over that final playoff spot.

At this point, there is no confidence in the bullpen whatsoever, a far cry from the feeling that the Giants gave off during their three World Series runs. The offense is by means a sure things, either, but that it hardly news to a team that has ridden its pitching staff to its historic championship run.

Help may be on the way, however. See, the Giants will head to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks, who are near the bottom of the National League West with a 58-81 record, for a three-game series that starts Friday night.

In addition, they will send left-hander Madison Bumgarner (14-8, 2.51 ERA) to the mound against Arizona’s Rubby De La Rosa (4-5, 4.15 ERA).

Bumgarner, just like the Giants themselves, started the second half very sluggish in losing his first three decisions following the All-Star Game.

However, unlike his team, he eventually snapped out of his funk. By virtue of his six-inning, five-hit conquest of the Chicago Cubs and their ace, Jake Arrieta, on Saturday, he has now won four of his past five starts and has re-established his dominance at the top of the Giants’ rotation.

This appears to be the best opportunity for the Giants to regain their confidence as well as to re-establish their relevance in the playoff picture. If they come up short in the Southwest, they will be fighting a further-uphill battle that, chances are, they will not have the stuff to overcome.

 

By Jeremy Harness

AP photo: San Francisco Giant reliever Joe Nathan’s reaction after giving up the game winning double to the Colorado Rockies Cristhian Adames in the bottom of the ninth at Coors Field on Wednesday

The Giants just keep on losing games at an eye-popping level, and the bullpen – which seems to find more creative ways to blow leads – has had a lot to do with that. That showed up again in a huge, gut-wrenching way Wednesday night.

They had a two-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth against Colorado, but the bullpen – particularly closer Santiago Casilla, who is turning into the new-but-not-so-improved version of Armando Benitez – did what it has done for much of the second half.

It quickly surrendered that lead, and Casilla was not around to see the end of it. That honor was handed to the newly-acquired Joe Nathan, who gave up the game winning hit – a driving double off the bat of pinch-hitter Cristhian Adames – to send the Giants into the dugout in a rather-somber mood, 6-5 losers at the hands of the Rockies.

That has been quite a familiar theme for the Giants in the second half, which has seen the team complete squander a sizable lead in the National League West and are barely hanging on to the NL’s wild-card lead, by a half game, to be exact.

The way things are going, that will not change any time soon.

Unless the bullpen suddenly turns into either the 2010 or the 2012 version of itself – which, at this point, is as likely as O.J Simpson finding “the real killers” – the choke will soon become complete, with the Giants missing the postseason altogether and officially putting an end to the much-ballyhooed even-numbered pattern of World Series titles.

At this rate, it also appears that the 49ers will end up winning as many games this month than the Giants will, particularly if the offense cannot get its act together and provide some run support, an occurrence that has been increasingly rare these days.

In the meantime, the Giants have now won only two games in the month of September after dropping two of the three games played in Colorado, and the Giants now head to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks.

There is hope for the Giants here, since Arizona just finished getting swept by the surging Dodgers – who look like they are going to run away with the division title at this point – in Los Angeles. But then again, the Giants appeared to be primed to get off to a hot start to the second half with a three-game series with the San Diego Padres teed up perfectly for them.

Instead, as we all know now, the Padres – as has just about every other team in the National League in the past couple of months – teed off on the Giants.

If the Giants do not find a way to right this ship and do it very quickly, we could be very well talking about a collapse unlike many others in franchise history.

 

AP photo: San Francisco Giants Brandon Crawford (right) pulls in a infield pop by the Colorado Rockies Carlos Gonzalez over teammate first baseman Buster Posey’s head in the third inning of Tuesday night’s game

On the Giants podcast Michael Duca talks about the differences in games from Monday’s 6-0 shutout of the Giants by the Colorado Rockies and Tuesday’s 3-2 one run win thanks to a Kelby Tomlinson single that scored Giants catcher Buster Posey for the game winner. The Giants Eduardo Nunez had an evening as well on Tuesday hitting a solo homer and an RBI when he grounded out. That was in a small way the hits that the Giants needed to win a ball game.

In the first six games of the current road trip the Giants are hitting .124 they have four ball games left on the trip and Michael talks about what manger Bruce Bochy will need to do to right the ship for more hitting in the line up to get some run production.

Michael fills you in on all the latest on the Giants podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com