Category: San Francisco Giants

By Morris Phillips

While it’s not October, it was like the playoffs Thursday for the Nats and Giants—the opener of a four-game series between two teams on the outside of a seven-horse race for five National League playoff spots.   And while plenty of baseball remains after this weekend, neither club wants to go another four days trending as they are.

The Nationals had lost 16 of 25 and fallen out of first place in the East, while the slumping Giants were at least temporarily out of touch with both the NL West-leading Dodgers and the second wild card Cubs.

Accordingly, the Giants went pride of a champion, hunkering down in a 3-1 win that, at least in the battle for the NL West, stopped the bleeding.  At press time, the Dodgers were falling at home to the Reds, 10-3 in the eighth inning, a result that would draw the Giants within 2 ½ games of first place.

“Y’all didn’t think we was going to lose on Grateful Dead night, did you?” Jake Peavy shouted out to no one in particular.

No, Jake.  Especially after Ryan Vogelsong survived a 29-pitch first inning, the first of which was sent over left field wall by Yunel Escobar for a faster-than-quick 1-0 Nationals lead.   Vogelsong would go on to walk the bases loaded, but escape by retiring Wilson Ramos on a ground out.

After that, Vogey was fantastic—for four more innings.  The 38-year old left trouble behind by allowing just one more hit and one more walk, striking out a season-best eight, and leaving with a 2-1 lead that the bullpen would do a fantastic job to protect.  What started ominously became the reliever/starter’s first win as a starter since June 24.

So what changed for Vogelsong?

“I guess I had some deception on my fastball and maybe a little extra zip.  Still got some things to clean up, falling behind in counts, going deep counts.  It runs your pitch count up too quick.  I was fortunate enough to make some pitches there after falling behind and get some guys out but it definitely not something you want to live by all the time,” he said.

“He had good stuff tonight, but the first inning probably took a toll on him,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

Hunter Strickland pitched the sixth and seventh as Bruce Bochy’s plan to have a multiple-inning guy in the front end of his pen was unleashed.  With George Kontos only available for a hitter or two, and best case scenario, given the night off, Strickland was given the opportunity to protect the lead and audition as a bridge to Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla.   He passed with flying colors, retiring all six batters he faced, fanning three.

“He’s pitched well,” Bochy said of Strickland.  “He’s more of a pitcher now than he was last year.”

The Nationals managed just one hit off both Romo and Casilla after the first inning.  The loser of Thursday’s game was undoubtedly going to face plenty of questions, and for Washington those questions are obvious.  They’ve hit just .224 since the All-Star Break and they were shutout on consecutive nights in Los Angeles before they laid an egg Thursday.

Not even a Barry Bonds visit to their clubhouse could turn the National’s offense hitterish.  Bonds relived old times with former teammate Matt Williams for a short period before the game, but apparently didn’t offer any advice to the struggling hitters.  Williams did however, after his guys went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

“It may be the first pitch of the at-bat.  You never know.  If you get to swing at the fastball, we need to do that,” Williams said.

Like Vogelsong, Washington starter Stephen Strasburg is trying to get back into the rhythm of things after a month of inactivity.  The former top overall pick has had two stints on the disabled list this season–the second due to an oblique strain–and this was just his second start since returning.

And like Vogey, he struggled early.  Strasburg had never lost a decision to the Giants in a regular-season contest (excluding Game 1 of the 2014 NLDS) and the Giants’ hitters came with a plan.  Half of their eight hits came on the first pitch, including RBI singles by Matt Duffy and Buster Posey in the first inning.  Strasburg also settled down, pitching six innings, but the damage done in the first—starting with Gregor Blanco’s leadoff triple—really hurt.

“Obviously, they were swinging first pitch a lot in that inning.  I wanted to keep establishing the fastball and get that going because everything needed to fall into place.  I just made some mistakes,” Strasburg admitted.

Like a Ferrari that’s perpetually getting worked on and fussed over at the auto shop, Strasburg’s career hasn’t gained nearly the traction that the Nationals had hoped for.  The 27-year old was famously shut down in 2012 as his team faltered in the playoffs without him.  The plan to restrict his innings that season seemed to make sense as Strasburg made 64 starts over the next two seasons.  But he wasn’t a knockout, winning 22, losing 20.

Those two seasons still stand as his only full seasons, and the powerful starter has only pitched one complete game in 124 career starts.  And after the Giants introduced him to high-stakes baseball in Game 1 last fall, Strasburg’s yet to win a post-season game.

The Giants see another old post-season foe on Friday night as Max Scherzer makes his first start at AT&T Park since April 19, 2009 when he was pitching for Arizona.  The Giants faced Scherzer in Game 4 of the 2012 World Series in Detroit, and the flamethrower pitched into the seventh inning, allowing three runs in a game the Giants went on to win 4-3, breaking a 3-3 tie in the 10^th inning to clinch the world title.

By Morris Phillips

It had to be the first directive, leading off the Giants’ scouting report for the Astros.   And whatever the specific plan, Madison Bumgarner and Chris Heston followed it to the letter for the first 15 of the needed 18 innings.

Don’t let one of these guys launch one.

The Astros came into Tuesday’s series finale with an objective: do anything to avoid a disastrous, 1-8 road trip that saw them lose three in Texas, three of four in Oakland and the series opener at AT&T Park.  And befitting the club that leads all of baseball in homers, they approached the plate itching for rookie Chris Heston to make a mistake.  For the AL West leaders, an obvious strategy, but with a twist.

The Astros didn’t grow impatient as the game wore on scoreless, instead they showed just the needed amount of patience.

Colby Rasmus homered off Heston in the seventh, Jed Lowrie connected off George Kontos in the eighth, and Houston starter Scott Feldman made it stand up, pitching six, scoreless innings in the Astros 2-0 win over the Giants.

“I made one mistake.  I left a fastball a little bit up there, and he made me pay for it.  Good piece of hitting and you just have to tip your cap,” Heston said of Rasmus’ game-deciding homer.

During the first six innings, Heston and Feldman were in control, pitching ahead in the count, retiring hitters, and doing their best to counter picture-perfect conditions and still air that clearly favored the entirety of the gathered sluggers.  The Astros lineup—lefty-leaning with four changes from Tuesday—had deep threats 1 through 8, and six of their eight position players already with double-digit home runs.

The Giants no doubt had their collective eyes on the outfield wall as well with Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and the Brandons hitting 3 through 6.

But Heston and Feldman held the advantage, as the Astros drew four walks, but ran themselves out of a situation in the sixth, while the Giants were even quieter with just three hits.  Coming off the disabled list to start for just the fifth time, Feldman was done after six.  Bochy, no doubt encouraged by Heston’s outing after two subpar ones, let his starter continue into the seventh.

That’s where Heston ran into Rasmus.

In the fourth, Rasmus had drawn a walk on Heston after falling behind 0-2.  The at-bat consumed eight pitches and loaded the bases for Evan Gattis, but the slugger grounded out to end the inning.  Little accomplishd, but likely Rasmus had seen all that Heston had to offer.

In the seventh, Heston’s 0-1 fastball was up and Rasmus launched it—one bounce on the outer walkway and into McCovey Cove.

Then in the eighth, Jed Lowrie, the least slugger for Houston with just four bombs coming in, got a hold of Kontos’ offering where he took a little off a 3-2 pitch, and Lowrie, feeling healthier after dealing with issues from surgery on his hand, put a little on.

“I feel that was bigger than mine.  A big at-bat,” Rasmus said of Lowrie’s shot.  “Proud of him.”

The loss was the Giants fifth in their last six games, and after the Dodgers shutout the Nationals Wednesday night, they find themselves 3 ½ games behind the division leaders.  The Cubs also won Wednesday, 3-2 over the Brewers, so the Giants trail Chicago by 4 ½ games in the hunt for the second wild card spot.

The Astros improved upon baseball’s best interleague record, moving to 11-3 in 2015.  Houston has hit 158 home runs and they are 39-7 when they hit more than one in a game.  The Astros haven’t been eight games over .500 and in first place this late in a season since 2003.

Nori Aoki experienced post-concussion symptoms during the game and was taken out in the fourth inning, replaced by Justin Maxwell.  Bochy hinted that the setback could land the veteran hitter on the disabled list.

The Giants continue their homestand on Thursday at 7:15pm when Stephen Strasburg matches up with Ryan Vogelsong.

By Morris Phillips

Wiped out at Wrigley.  A new wave of injuries.   Bum, an iffy Cain, and pray for several days of rain.

For the Giants, life as defending champions has been filled with optimism, inconsistent play and a lot of injuries. Start with the revolving door of a disabled list, add the team’s recent, dismal play and questions about the team’s post-season viability multiply like signs of global warming.

Simple math–with 51 games to play, the Giants look like the seventh horse in a six-team race for five playoff spots.  Clearly better than the eight also-rans below them in the National League standings and slightly poorer than the six clubs ahead of them, the Giants are in need of changing the math dramatically in the remaining eight weeks.

With limited options, the Giants maintained a steady presence in San Diego over the weekend scouting the Phillies’ Chase Utley.  The 36-year old infielder is hitting .189 with 228 at-bats in an injury-marred season.  Could Utley keep the Giants from Panik-ing about Joe’s absence at second base?  Sure, but this would be more of an insurance move than an upgrade.

So the Giants appear married to improvement within the ranks.  But the immediate schedule offers no breaks.  Monday marks the only day off in a 23-game stretch of playoff contenders that actually gets tougher in the remaining 13 games.  After home games against the Astros and Nationals, the Giants visit St. Louis and Pittsburgh, homes of arguably the two best teams in baseball.

Following that stretch: one day off, then the Cubs, Cardinals again and then three games at Dodgers Stadium.

If the Giants can survive the next 22 games, they could thrive in the final 29.  In the final month, only the four home games against the Dodgers figure to be against a team with a winning record.

Trailing the Dodgers by three games in the NL West, and the Cubs by 3 ½ games in the wild card, the Giants will likely have to accomplish both.  Winning 12 of the next 22, and then 19 of the final 29 would give the Giants 90 wins.  Win 90, and the Dodgers would have to win 29 of their remaining 50 games to avoid a one-game playoff with their rivals.

On Monday at press time, the Dodgers were putting the final touches on a four-game losing streak of their own, losing 7-0 to Nationals at home.

Could the Giants catch the Cubs?  Sure, but it figures to be a much tougher task.  With 52 games remaining, Chicago has more games against bottom dwellers Milwaukee and Philadelphia (13), than they do against the Cardinals and Pirates (12).   Plus, after a dismal weekend in Chicago, the Cubs appear to be a better, and more resourceful club than the Giants.  In contrast, the Dodgers look vulnerable.

But before the Giants can conquer their competition, they must answer the questions about themselves.

The biggest issue is the health of Panik, Andrew Susac, Mike Leake and Nori Aoki.  Aoki will be evaluated before Tuesday’s game after he was hit in the head by a pitch on Sunday and was removed in the third inning.  Susac, Panik and Leake are expected to be healthy enough to return in the next 10 to 14 days.  Without that quartet, the remainder of August gets that much tougher as the team’s depth and versatility has taken a noticeable hit.

In his weekly turn on KNBR Monday, Giants’ broadcaster Mike Krukow focused on the team’s depth, saying “they don’t have a lot of guys able to come up for an at-bat late in a ball game.”

The team’s overall pitching thus far has been simply OK.  Currently, seventh in the NL in team ERA, the Giants trail all of the other six teams vying for the NL playoffs.  Conversely, their pitching numbers are noticeably better than the league’s eight also-rans.

For improvement, the Giants need some quality starts from Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong, Chris Heston and Matt Cain.  All four were roughed up in Chicago, and Heston suffered his second, subpar outing.  Cain hasn’t been effective since his return, and Peavy saw 32 of his 101 pitches fouled off on Sunday.  Vogelsong allowed six hits in four innings in his first start since June 11.  Vogey hasn’t really pitched well over a stretch of appearances since May.

If those four can’t change their luck, Tim Lincecum and Tim Hudson could be in the mix.  But the likelihood either will be activated before September 1?  Extremely slim.

Offensively, the Giants have the answers, but the lineup needs to regain health and stability.  Susac’s return could be critical with Buster Posey hitting everything, but likely to wear down without a break or two.  Pagan, Aoki and Blanco are limping to the finish, but could show improvement with regular rest.  Hopefully, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence can be catalysts with Matt Duffy a question mark because the lithe infielder hasn’t played a full season at the big league level yet.

The bullpen’s been managed wisely as of late, but overall, the relief core hasn’t been great.  In order for the Giants to thrive, the relievers—led by Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo—may have to be great down the stretch.   One good sign: the bullpen has its health for the first time with Hunter Strickland, Jeremy Affeldt and Yusmiero Petit poised for increased workloads.

On Tuesday, the Giants open a six-game homestand with Madison Bumgarner facing Scott Kazmir at 7:15pm.