Category: San Francisco Giants

George Devine Sr journalist and broadcaster passes away at age 74 podcast by David Zizmor

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by David Zizmor

SAN FRANCISCO–George Devine Sr our co-host of many, many local programs for Sportstalk radio, podcasts, and interviews for many years sadly passed away at the age of 74, at a time when we just don’t know how to begin expressing a terrible heartbreaking loss like this. George Sr will be remembered by his colleagues here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com as one of the most studious and yet humorous of all talk show hosts. George Sr covered the Oakland A’s for the site up until his brother Peter Devine had a near life threatening car accident in San Francisco in 2014. George Sr. also covered Cal Bears football for Sportstalk radio.

Peter later thankfully recovered and it is George Sr who sadly succomed to a short illness according to his son George Jr and passed away on Thursday night. George Sr was a native San Franciscan and lived in the Sunset District. George Sr also worked at Fox Radio Sports, worked in real estate and taught real estate at the University of San Francisco. His death comes as a shock to many of his colleagues as he was taking care of his brother Peter’s recovery when he fell sick and left us.

George Sr was one of the nicest guys in the pressbox, he never had a bad word to say about anybody and he always had a smile on his face and he was always quick with a joke. They weren’t always the best jokes amd they were very corny but they were funny becaue George Sr told them. I don’t know if anyone else could have gotten away with them but because it was George Sr they were funny. He had a way about him he was just a big sweetheart and everybody in the pressbox just loved him.

He was one of those guys who was a joy to be around and he always made you feel a little bit better it was about 2002-03 we were sitting in the Giants pressbox at AT&T Park and if don’t know exactly where the Giants pressbox is it was directly behind home plate on the lower level under the second deck. It takes a lot for a foul ball to get in there, the ball had to go up and over the screen behind the plate and get into the pressbox and it has to go straight back and it has to have a lot of zip on it.

As it turns out any ball that makes it into the Giants pressbox is kind of a rocket and it’s hard to get away from and there are more than a couple of holes in the back of the pressbox where baseballs have come through and have embedded themselves into the plaster. In 2002-03 George Sr got in the way of one of those baseballs and someone hit a foul ball and it was a rocket and if your a split second late your just not going to be able to react. George Sr took one off the upper chest in he meaty part just below the shoulder so it didn’t break anything.

What we all remember was George Sr for awhile had a baseball sized welt on his upper chest it must have hurt but he took it like a champ and it was kind of a badge of honor for quite sometime. George Sr ended up laughing it off, he was that kind of guy. Even a baseball into his chest a million miles an hour didn’t slow him down. George Sr you will be missed by all of us and your a very special friend and colleague.
George Devine Sr. gone at 74.

David Zizmor is a co-host of George Devine Sr’s and does commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Who’s the best?: No doubt it’s Trout after Angels’ slugger wins second straight All-Star MVP

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Trout goes out

By Morris Phillips

Talk about setting yourself apart.  Mike Trout’s first feat of the evening at the 86th All-Star game—a leadoff home run as the game’s first batter—hadn’t been accomplished in 38 years.

Trout’s final feat—being named the MVP for the second consecutive year—had never been accomplished.

“I just tried not to do too much,” Trout said of the leadoff homer.  “Put a good swing on the ball. Got two strikes and that calmed me down a little bit.”

“You’ve got like a 2-inch window up in the zone,” NL starting pitcher Zach Greinke said of trying to pitch to Trout.  “If you throw it higher than that, he takes it.  If you throw it lower he does what he did.”

Trout’s big night included giving his American League team the first two leads of the night on the way to a 6-3 victory.  The American League representative in the World Series will have the home-field advantage for the second consecutive year, although it didn’t work out for the Royals last year as the Giants captured Game 7 on the road.  Twenty-three of the last 29 teams to win the Fall Classic have had the homefield advantage.

Greinke had gone five consecutive starts—back to June 13—without allowing a run.  On Tuesday, Greinke was had by Trout in game’s first four pitches.

In the fifth, with the second Dodgers’ pitcher of the night, Clayton Kershaw on the mound, Trout reached on a fielders’ choice. Three batters later, Trout scored the go-ahead run on Prince Fielder’s two-strike base hit through the left side that put the AL ahead to stay. Lorenzo Cain capped the rally on the game’s next pitch with a double down the left field line that scored Albert Pujols.

The American League would go on to score two more in the seventh and one in the eighth to win going away. They forged an especially efficient attack, needing just one hit in both the seventh and eighth innings to score their final three runs. Only in the fourth inning—with Madison Bumgarner pitching for the NL-did the American League get at least one hit, but fail to score a run.

National League hitters had their hands full with Dallas Keuchel, the AL starter, and the eight pitchers that followed. Only Andrew McCutchen with a leadoff homer in the sixth off Chris Archer, and Ryan Braun, with a triple in the ninth off Glen Perkins had any, notable success.

Nine NL batters struck out, but drew only two free passes. NL pitching tallied 15 strikeouts, but was hurt by four walks. Greinke, Jacob DeGrom and Aroldis Chapman combined for 10 of those strikeouts, and DeGrom needed just 10 pitches to strike out all three batters in the sixth.

Detroit’s David Price pitched a perfect fourth inning and was declared the winning pitcher, while Kershaw took the loss.

Of the local All-Stars, none managed to get a base hit, with Buster Posey playing half the game and getting a pair of at-bats. Stephen Vogt of the A’s struck out swinging at high cheese off the arm of DeGrom in his only at-bat. Brandon Crawford’s sacrifice fly in the ninth chased home Braun with the NL’s final run.

Bumgarner got his first All-Star game action by pitching a scoreless fourth inning as NL manager Bruce Bochy elected not to save his ace for the game’s concluding inning.

Trout’s leadoff home run was the first since Bo Jackson accomplished the feat in 1989 as a member of the Giants. AL manager Ned Yost started Trout and three others that formed a quartet 25-years of age or less. In all six players 25 years of age or less started and 20 were named to both teams, both records for the All-Star game.

Trout joined a group of five that have won the All-Star game MVP twice: Willie Mays, Steve Garvey, Gary Carter and Cal Ripken Jr. were the four to previously achieve the feat. Trout also won the American League season MVP in 2014.

“He can hit with power. He can run. He can drive the gap. He’s a great defender,” Yost said of Trout. “He’s just special. When you look at Mike, you don’t look at a 23-year old. You look at a guy that is one of the best baseball players on the this planet.”

The American League has captured 21 of the last 28 All-Star games but won’t have an American League team host the game in any of the next three years.  In 2016 and 2018 the game will played in a National League park but have the AL bat last to provide equality to the arrangement.

All-Star Game-San Francisco Giants podcast by Michael Duca Tue Jul 14, 2015

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by Michael Duca

There will be time when Giants All-Star catcher Buster Posey will be molded into a older veteran category. In many circles he’s at that point already at 28. Posey and three other Giant representatives who are at Tuesday’s All-Star game is the youngest All-Star contingent in the history of the mid summer classic. Posey finished the first half .314, 14 home runs, 58 RBIs and 46 runs scored.

Brandon Crawford also represents SF with a first first half total of .262, 12 HR, 52 RBIs, 42 runs scored, he struggled when he first came on the scene but in the last two seasons his infield partner second baseman Joe Panik started out the same way. He had a very difficult time handling the ball with multiple errors committed.

Everyone was wondering if Panik was ever going to settle in the position and we all know the answer to that from game seven of the World Series last year when Crawford and Panik turned in one of the most spectacular double plays in World Series history. It was off the strength of that play and his play in the World Series that Crawford raised his national profile.

Panik finished the first half with a .308 clip, 7 homers, 33 RBIs, and 47 runs scored, he reminds me of someone else who came up and just kind of took the position by storm and that was former Giant second baseman Robby Thompson who had a great career and Panik fits the old Robby mold. Defensively Panik is very skilled, offensively rock solid he goes out there everyday with the confidence that he will accomplish the job on the field. Panik is noted for helping other players who are coming up for the Giants and his play is contagious.

Madison Bumgarner had a six to one strikeout ratio against hitters he faced and starters are pretty darn good if they can strike out three out four hitters they face. Mad Bum finished the first half of the season 9-5 ERA 3.33, 121 strikeouts, and only 23 walks all first half. Oh yes he hit four home runs during the first half to help his own cause.

Bumgarner is the consummate competitor never shows any emotion and shows his emotions and expressions on the field and doesn’t even break into a big old country grin when he hits a ball 390 feet down the line that hits one of the service ambulances at AT&T Park. He’s just all business on the mound. The Bumgarner and Dodgers Yasiel Puig rivalry has really never come to fruition this season because Puig seems to be regressing in his career this year .261, four homers, and 14 RBIs.

While a Giant sleeps: Legendary Giants Willie Mays was sleeping on a pillow and Barry Bonds had his smiling face nearby the Hall of Fame Giant a few down from the pillow and took a selfie. Bonds explained Mays was the greatest God father anyone could have. While others have said the selfie that Bonds took was strange you have to understand Bonds appreciation of all the things that Mays meant to him.

Michael Duca does Giants commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Giants have pulled an about-face with their ability to groom homegrown All-Star level talent

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Panik Crawford

By Morris Phillips

Oh boy, have times changed.

In 2005—the first losing season under general manager Brian Sabean after eight winning ones—the criticism was coming from all directions.  The Giants were finally floundering with Barry Bonds as the centerpiece—and no one to hit behind the slugger or a closer to replace Rob Nen and sew up the ninth inning—and the future didn’t seem bright.

Foremost, Sabean was criticized for the acquisition of Matt Herges, who wasn’t as effective as Nen.  And things wouldn’t get better on the trade front in 2005 when Sabean brought in Armando Benitez and Moises Alou.  That season marked a second straight season without a post-season and critics had no choice but to look at the team’s farm system with no prospects bubbling to the top.

At that time, the Giants hadn’t produced a homegrown position player in four years.  Prior to that Bill Mueller and Marvin Bernard were the most significant names.  When the Giants needed to reach for a minor-league system groomed arm that season, they had only Noah Lowry and Jesse Foppert to choose from.

On top of that, USA Today declared that the Giants’ system—in an evaluation of the each team’s baseball organization heavily weighted towards the numbers of high-level prospects on the minor league levels—was 30th and dead last.

It didn’t help that Sabean and other team execs had decided to forfeit their first pick in the 2004 amateur draft in order to save money.  Critics took to wearing t-shirts that said “lunatic fringe” in reference to Sabean’s biting description of the vocal segment of the fan base that made their displeasure known.

And then—like momentum in the form of today’s starting pitcher—valuable, talented players good enough to be among the best in the National League with time began to spring forth starting in 2006.

That year, Matt Cain made his major league debut, and Tim Lincecum was drafted in the first round of the draft.

After that, Buster Posey was drafted in the first round, and Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo were groomed in the minor league system.  Out of nowhere, a Panda sprung forth and assumed the third base spot.

Not that Sabean discontinued his reliance on proven talent acquired through trade, but no longer did the Giants depend solely on veterans brought in to replicate or exceed their best seasons from the past.  In 2010, when the team needed a big arm to fill out its rotation, Madison Bumgarner was ready to join Cain and Lincecum.

And three World Series titles later, the beat continues with the naming of 24-year old Joe Panik and 28-year old Brandon Crawford as the team’s first double play combination to be so honored in the same year since Rich Aurilia and Jeff Kent in 2000.

“Hopefully, I’ll get in the game with him,” Panik said on Monday. “To have someone that you’re comfortable with up the middle and you’ve had chemistry with the past year, it’ll be awesome.”

If paired on Tuesday, maybe Panik and Crawford can execute their favorite play—the diving stab and glove-hand flip Panik to Crawford to start a double play—just as they did in Game 7 of the World Series when Eric Hosmer attempted to single home a critical run for the Royals but was thwarted.

Since 2007 when Bonds made his final All-Star appearance, the Giants have been awash with homegrown All-Stars.  Lincecum (four times), Cain, Bumgarner, Posey, Wilson (3 appearances each), Sandoval (twice), Romo and Vogelsong have all made appearances.

During that same period, only Melky Cabrera (2012 All-Star MVP), Marco Scutaro, Tim Hudson and Hunter Pence (one appearance each) have represented the Giants as players groomed outside the organization.

On Tuesday, the Giants go homegrown again with Posey and Bumgarner in addition to Panik and Crawford.  Manager Bruce Bochy and bench coach Ron Wotus round out the San Francisco contingent.

Sportstalk Podcast @ M Lounge and Restaurant downtown San Jose Mon Jul 13, 2015

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Cast: Joe Lami (host), Mary Lisa Walsh, Ben Leonard, Jeremy Harness, Matt Harrington, Lee Leonard (producer) the cast got to enjoy San Jose’s favorite place for Asian Fusion. Owner Ashwini and General Manager Irma invite you to try some of M’s favorite recommendations the lobster thermador, the vegetable samosas, king crab, calamari, cream corn soup, fried prawns, Nonya Shrimp Por Phia, M Style Water Chestnuts, and San Jose’s favorite the hot and sour soup.

Ashwini and Irma invite you to enjoy Friday and Saturday night DJ dancing on the M Lounge and Restaurant floor starting at 9:30PM. Happy Hour is 3:00PM-7:00PM and 9:00PM to closing everyday. M Lounge and Restaurant located at the corner of Second and San Fernando in downtown San Jose at 88 Second Street. Open everyday Monday to Thursday 11 AM-11PM and Fridays and Saturdays 11AM-12AM. We loved M Lounge and Restaurant you will too stop by for lunch and dinner daily.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: MLB first half of the season and beyond

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

As the first half of the season concluded today, there are some surprises and some others that we found to be what we expected. Mathematically, the first half of the season ended around July 4. After all 30 teams concluded their action today, and now will recess until next Friday, after the All Star Game this Tuesday the 14th, some teams have played approximately a minimum of 89 games and a maximum of 98. Most teams have between 64 to 72 games left to play in the post All Star part of the season.

American League West: Today, the LA Angels who last season won this division and won a total of 98 games, most in baseball, took over first place, as Houston lost their sixth consecutive game and dropped to second. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are the best “one-two”punch in the league.The Oakland Athletics who played 91 games are in last place nine games from the Angels with three teams in-between. Who is going to win it? There will be trades for most of these teams, maybe with the exception of the Seattle Mariners who loaded-up this past winter and they ended this first half next to last, one game on top of the A’s. The two teams which I broadcast for, the LA Angels for Fox Sports West and the Oakland A’S for KIQI San Francisco/Multicultural Radio network, are book-ends, one in first the other one in last.

How would have predicted that? Well the LA Angels were expecting to win this season, so maybe they are not “suprised”at where they are today. There are two surprises in this division. #1 Seattle Mariners, who were the “trendy”pick in Spring Training to win the west, and #2 the Oakland Athletics, which produce good young pitchers every year, leading the league in pitching but first in the world in errors, a decent hitting team, with a very toxic bullpen the past four months. The A’s star is 25 year old Sonny Gray, easily the best pitcher on both sides of the bay, on his way to a 20 game victory season with the best earned run average. I do not think the A’s will finish last, but I am not very sure they can win this division or even make a run as a wild card. I would be greatly surprised if I am wrong. Bob Melvin is an excellent manager, two-time winner of Manager of the Year, but he cannot walk on water.

American League East: Used to be “the beast of the east”, but as we ended Sunday this first half, actually there is no beast here, but all the teams separated by just 6 1/2 games from the New York Yankees in first to the Red Sox in last. Now, how many times in recent history we have seen the Yanks in first and Red Sox Nation in last? This is anybody’s division to win. Surprise: Few expected the Yankees to be leading here, and many never expected the revamped Red Sox to be in last. Sensational finish by September is possible here, because there is no team much superior than the other. The ideal team here would be the offense of the Toronto Blue Jays with the pitching of the Tampa Bay Rays. These two teams can still win this division. The Red Sox are not far behind for a last place team, but I do not think they have the horses, they should go after Phillies Cole Hammels, they really need him, but the Dodgers might also have a shot at Hammels. We will see.

American League Central

The American League Champions Kansas City Royals ended with 52 wins(most in the American League)and on top of this division making it a two-team race with the Minnesota Twins in second place just 4 1/2 games out. Detroit nine games back. After that Cleveland and Chicago are both 11 games out. There should be no surprise the KC Royals are on top, this is the most athletic team in this league and by far the most confident, dangerous combination of youth and talent lives in KC these days. Surprise: Detroit Tigers, once a powerhouse, so far a mediocre .500 team, but the biggest surprise here are the Minnesota Twins with a payroll that Marlins Giancarlo Stanton alone could afford, are in second place, like their veteran player Torii Hunter would say “awesome dude!” I do expect Kansas City to win this division, they are hitting more home runs this year, they still are a fast team, (speed never takes a day off or have a slump)their defense is solid and their bullpen is the best in baseball. The Chicago White Sox might not end the season with Manager Robin Ventura at the helm, they are a huge disappointment in the south side of Chicago. Oh, if the Tigers fire their manager Brad Ausmus, do not be surprised if Omar Vizquel get his first shot at managing in the major leagues, he is their first base coach and he is waiting for the opportunity to manage, he is totally bilingual and as respected and qualified as anyboy I know today.

National League West. The LA Dodgers finished this Sunday on first place 4 1/2 over the San Francisco Giants, and that might be the same way this division might finish at the end of September. The only thing the Dodgers have to do is to beat San Francisco, which head-to-head they can’t seem to do it, the Giants are an interesting bunch, playing for a great manager like Bruce Bochy, they cannot afford any more injuries and they have to play much better against Arizona and Colorado, two teams that give them trouble. The trick for the Giants is staying close, I am not completely sold on the Dodgers, they do not have the fire the Giant have. But I expect the Dodgers to pick up a starting pitcher. The Giants could also use the same. To advance into the playoffs here you have to win the division, the wild card will probably not come from the west this season. Surprises: There are none here, I think the teams would finish just like they finished as of today.

National League East. The Washington Nationals were the pick to win this league last year and also this year. In 2014 they finished with 96 wins, tops in this league and second to the LA Angels in baseball. Hard to find a better starting rotation than the Nationals. They are in first as we speak with a two game lead over the NY Mets and seven games ahead of Atlanta. Atlanta still could make a run, but it looks like a two team race. Miami is 11 games out and the Phillies who just visited San Francisco, the only thing they took out of San Francisco is some good sourdough bread, they are playing for 2016, no 2017? Maybe. Surprises: The Mets have great young arms and although they do not score much, we know that pitching can carry you a long way, so in a way they are a surprise here. But the San Diego Padres, who a month ago fired their excellent manager Bud Black(look for him to get a real shot as the GM with the LA Angels next year)are by far the biggest disappointment here in the west.

National League Central. The St Louis Cardinals are on top with record of 56-33,(also the best record in all of baseball) but they had a much bigger lead until they ran into the Cubs and the Pirates recently, then they sputtered and ended with just a two game lead over second place Pittsburgh. The Pirates are a solid team that could overtake the Cards, however, I still think the Cards will find a way to cross the finish line. How about them Cubbies? New manager Joe Maddon said he was going to win this year and he didn’t disappointed, so far. In a place where winning is a novelty, he has his Cubs eight games out of first. Cincinnati and Milwaukee are done this season. Wild Cards in the National League could come out from this division. Surprises: To me the Chicago Cubs and the way they have played, they still could make a run to win this division, or a very possible wild card spot. For the north siders anything above .500 is a bonus. The New York Mets are another pleasant surprise and I think they may fade during the second half that begins by the end of this week.

Enjoy the All Star Game. My prediction: American League 5 National League 3.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for A’s baseball and the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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San Francisco Giant's players celebrate after series sweep of Phillies

Giants Head to Break after Series Sweep of Phillies

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AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

By Jeff Hall

SAN FRANCISCO –

Heading into the All-Star Break on a high note the Giants sweep the lowly Philadelphia Phillies with a 4-2 win and completing a series sweep in front the sell-out crowd of 42, 387 at AT&T Park. It was the first time the Giants have swept the Phillies since September 4-6 2000.   Overall the Giants were 18-43 9.(419) with runners in scoring position in the series.

Giant’s starter Chris Heston pitched well in his first career matchup against the Phillies. Heston faced the minimum in the first three innings despite allowing 3 hits. Thanks to solid defense (2 double plays and a caught stealing). Heston who picked up his ninth win of the season is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last three home starts.

‘ I think he’s getting a little more confident out there, I think he did a good job keeping the hitters off balance all day, but mainly just vintage Heston with the sinker in and out, he was giving guys fits.” Giant’s catcher Andrew Susac said following the game.

He’s been a savior. You lose Cain, you lose Peavey. He’s been our steady guy in the rotation. I’m proud of this guy with all he’s been through. H e persevered and now he’s one of our Guys. Said pleased Giant’s Manager Bruce Bochy

The Phillies who have the worst record in the Majors are likely looking forward to the break, the team. The Phillies have 63 losses through their first 93 games, which ties them for their most losses before the All-Star Break in franchise history. (1997, 24-61).

The Phillies no doubt have increased the Giants confidence in the series both at the plate and on the mound.

The Giants got on the scoreboard first scoring four runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning. With one-out Buster Posey singled to center Posey was followed by All-star starter Brandon Crawford who lined a solid single to left driving in Posey for the game’s first run.

Things are going so bad for the Phillies that Brandon belt grounded into what could have been a double play to end the fourth inning without further damage, but Phillies starter Chad Billingsley was slow to cover the base and it allowed Belt to beat Billingsley to first and kept the inning alive.

Andrew Susac made the Phillies pay for the mistake increased the Giants lead by driving the ball to straight away center for a 3-run homer 410 feet giving the Giants a 4-0 lead. It was Susac’s third home run of the season.

“Susac said “He (Billingsley) threw me a slider and I missed it “I’ve been trying to do to much lately, He threw the slider again, I’m sure it’s not where he wanted it, I made a good adjustment and drove it out. “

Susac talked about the performance of Heston and the growth of the young pitcher at this point of the season.

‘ I think he’s getting a little more confident,I think he sees this park isn’t easy to get hits. I think he did a good job keeping the hitters off balance, but mainly just vintage Heston, started giving guys fits.”

The Giants as a team are pleased the way they finished things up heading into the All-star break

“It’s very positive for us, we knew we had to do it. You don’t want to get too far back. We’ve got to keep it going on the same track we’re on.” Susac said about the team’s current performance.

Notes:

After the All-Star break the Giants will return to action in Arizona to face the Diamondbacks on Friday July 17th.

Prior to the game Bochy did not say what his starting rotation would be after the break, but he talked about the health of his starters, Particularly Tim Hudson who he believe is ready to go and will likely get a start in the first week after the break. Both Hudson and Peavey are expected to be ready to go after the break.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Jeremy Kahn Sat July 11, 2015 (photo Posey with Carrot phone)

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by Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants had the laugher on Friday night in their 15-2 thrashing over the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park. The Giants got it out of their system with the thrashing but the Giants almost went the other way on Saturday as Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies took a 4-1 lead on the Giants in the top of the sixth but the Giants roared back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth and took a one run lead in the sixth for the comeback eventually to win a 8-5. For Sunday the Giants will start Chris Heston (8-5 3.51) for the Giants and for the Phils Chad Billingsley 1-2 ERA 6.67.

Hunter Pence who hit a grand salami on Friday night is making a nice return since coming back from his injury Tuesday he’s hit for 20 RBIs in just 21 games a great number considering the Giants have played 88 games thus far. Pence feels like he’s in midseason form and his RBI production shows he hasn’t missed a step. The Giants look like they’ve been given a shot in the arm with Pence’s return. While Pence has missed the first 21 games of the season he’s looking to get into that mid season form and with his presence in line up.

Ryan Vogelsong made his first appearance on the mound since getting ejected in Washington for arguing balls and strikes. Vogey also faces the Phillies and he’s from the Philadelphia area and wanted to perform well in front of the Phillies fans who are watching back in Philadelphia. He lives less than five miles from Philadelphia. For Saturday night Vogelsong went 5.2 innings, five hits and four runs, five strike outs and two home runs.

Giant All Star selections: Buster Posey (third All-Star game selection) you saw what he did in post season last year offensively and he was in the national stage starring in the World Series. He had a great game seven against Kansas City in the series last year and catching pitcher Madison Bumgarner (third selection) pitching five innings of relief to win the series.

Bumgarner is going to the mid summer classic, he had that MVP season and got the Sports Illustrated player of the year award and has had himself a season never mind the pitching job he’s been effective with the bat with four home runs. Bumgarner goes to the All-Star game 9-5 ERA 3.33.

Brandon Crawford what a first half .255, 12 home runs, 50 RBIs and 39 runs scored and says he’s looking forward to the All-Star game his first appearance and part of that great double play combination at short stop with his key stone partner Joe Panik (first selection) whose gloving it out there with solid defense and swinging a hefty batting clip of .313, 7 homers, 33 RBIs, 46 runs scored.

Jeremy Kahn is a beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

With Rookie of the Year DeGrom dealing, Mets cruise in series finale with the listless Giants

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DeGrom

By Morris Phillips

It was last thing anyone that cares about the Giants wanted to see.  Eight scoreless innings only to see a meaningless run pushed across in the ninth in a 4-1 loss to the slightly less offensively-challenged Mets.

After seven consecutive losses and finally a win, the Giants are back in the loss column again.  And this time, given their current state, this loss could be seen coming a mile away.

Reigning Rookie of the Year Jacob DeGrom loves pitching in the daytime, and his teammates have responded to matinee starts as well.  In this case, the combination of DeGrom’s lights-out pitching and the team’s confidence outweighed an awful road record that saw the Mets drop 18 of 22 on the road at one point.  And DeGrom’s not only good, he’s been hot as well, winning six of last eight decisions to enter the discussion for the NL’s starter in the All-Star game.

To combat DeGrom and the Mets, the Giants offered a lineup minus Buster Posey, a late scratch due to a hamstring issue.  Angel Pagan was a scratch as well.  With or without Posey and Pagan, the Giants have whiffed lately, scoring just eight runs in their previous five games coming in.

Manager Bruce Bochy probably saw the writing on the wall right before he posted his lineup in the dugout before the game.

“When you’re going against a guy like this you’ve got to play perfect ball,” Bochy said.

DeGrom allowed just two hits, struck out 10, and retired 13 in a row at one point.  Catcher Kevin Plawecki likened his vantage point to that of a video game.

“He’s a lot of fun to catch,” Plawecki said of DeGrom.  “He got ahead of a lot of guys and was able to throw any pitch he wanted.”

The Dodgers shut out the Phillies 5-0 Wednesday night to increase their lead in the NL West to five games over the Giants and Diamondbacks.  The Mets hadn’t captured a road series since May before winning two of three this week against the Dodgers and Giants.  Despite an awful 16-28 road record, the Mets are a big-league best 20-8 during the day.  DeGrom’s 5-1 during the day and he lowered his ERA to 1.09 across seven daytime starts.

Jake Peavy single-handedly dragged the Giants into the late innings despite making just his second start after a lengthy stay on the disabled list.  Peavy’s reward?  A Brandon Crawford throwing error in the sixth that allowed Ruben Tejada to score from third with the game’s first run.

Peavy was still battling in the seventh when he allowed consecutive singles, the second one to DeGrom.  The next batter, Juan Lagares, grounded out to third base, but that was good enough to get Eric Campbell home from third.

The veteran fell to 0-4 despite scattering six singles across his seven innings of work.  Peavy looked healthy and pitched great, a good sign going forward according to Bochy.

“When he’s healthy, he’s like that,” Bochy said.  “I’m encouraged, I really am, at where (Peavy and Tuesday’s starter Matt Cain) they’re at.  Both of them.  We’ll be a stronger team with those two in the rotation.”

“I was excited to get back out there a couple of times before the All-Star break and get my feet wet.  We hope we can be a big shot in the arm.  Me and (Cain) are going to push each other.”

The Giants’ first-time All-Stars—Joe Panik and Crawford—were a combined 0 for 8 along with Crawford’s damaging throwing error.  Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt each had a pair of hits, and both contributed to the Giants’ ninth-inning rally.  The game ended when Andrew Susac grounded out as the potential tying run with Belt and Pence both aboard.

On Friday night, Madison Bumgarner faces Cole Hamels, as popular a name as any among numerous mid-season trade rumors.  The Phillies-Giants matchup commences at 7:15pm.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants meet the Mets and reviewing where to improve

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by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–Right now the Giants are not scoring, it’s kind of hard to win if you don’t score they got awfully good pitching from Chris Heston on Monday night in spite of losing their seventh straight game at AT&T Park. All things being equal, they put two guys on in the first inning and they got two double play balls and they didn’t complete one of the double plays because Hester dropped the ball.

Hestor just kind of sailed through the middle innings there’s nothing wrong with the Giants pitching right per say but the bullpen is having a rough go with an ERA was over six. Giants reliever Santiago Casilla is not right. The Giants don’t know what’s missing there. Casilla came in Monday night against the Mets with runners on second and third and nobody out and held the score at zero.

The Mets catcher Johnny Monell in the top of the ninth who had been a minor leaguer for about 100 years for the Giants goes down on two strikes immediately on two breaking pitches and Casilla can’t throw his fast ball for a strike. Throws three pitches out of the zone and runs up a 3-2 count he has to come in with something and throws a nothing fast ball a 100 MPH fastball that was dead straight lower half of the zone Monell turned on it hits it down the line in right field for two RBIs and that was basically your ball game.

There is only so far you can go with spare parts and you have to remember when your missing Hunter Pence, Nori Aoki, and to be honest when your practically missing Angel Pagan the guy has 300 at bats and no home runs this year. Pagan’s defense has been miserable for the last couple of weeks. He’s been playing like he’s a secret agent for the Dodgers.

If your promoting your bench players into your starting line up A. Your starting line up isn’t as strong as it was. B. You got no where to go and your bench is now not there, because your bench is starting players like Ryan Lollis (no hits, one stolen base in five ball games), that’s not going to be a recipe for success for the course of the season. You might be able to get away with it for a little while but they’ve been without Pence for half the season, they’ve been without an effective Pagan for the better part of a third of a season, their going to miss a quarter of a season from Aoki about 30 plus games.

Michael Duca does Giants commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below