Category: San Francisco Giants

By Morris Phillips

The Cubs aren’t very good, rarely win on the road, and after three rough days facing Giants’ pitching, obviously don’t have much magic with the bats.

Given that, the Giants 5-0 Wednesday matinee win didn’t provide much drama.  But it did provide some: Tim Lincecum and reliever George Kontos kept the Cubs hitless into the seventh inning.  With all the story lines surrounding Chicago’s offensive futility—and ample down time– the game also inspired a poem only a clumsy sportswriter could pen:

After Petit and Huff had it rough

The rest of the Giants staff said “enough”

That turned AT&T into one of those uninviting places

Where no Cubs were allowed to round the bases

The Cubs went the final 20 innings of the three-game series without scoring a run, including eight plus consecutive innings spanning Tuesday and Wednesday without a hit.  As a result, a bunch of Giants’ pitchers got to lower their ERAs by facing the lovable losers, all excepting Monday’s starter Yusmeiro Petit and David Huff, who were around when Chicago put up seven runs in just three frames.

First-year Cubs’ manager Rick Renteria who’s had the misfortune of directing an offense that has the second-worst batting average and has scored the sixth fewest runs in either league, attempted to put a good face on the afternoon, which among other things didn’t see no-hit Timmy have anything near his best stuff.

“We drove (Lincecum’s) pitch count to almost 100 in five innings, so we were having good at-bats.  We actually hit a few balls hard, didn’t find any holes.  And then the last four innings, we weren’t able to do anything but I thought we put together some pretty good at-bats, we just didn’t generate any runs,” Renteria said.

“That was weird,” John Baker said.  The backup catcher got the Cubs’ first hit off of Jeremy Affeldt.  “It was a weird game too in that we had guys on base in every inning and it didn’t feel like we were getting no-hit.  You kind of knew it when you looked up and saw the zero on the scoreboard but I know when I got the hit, (Giants’ first baseman Buster) Posey had no idea that we were getting no-hit.”

For the Giants, the series played as validation of their outstanding month on the mound coinciding with their ascension in the NL West and current, best record in baseball at 34-19.  With May almost concluded, the Giants’ starters have the National League’s lowest ERA this month at 3.08, and the bullpen leads the big leagues in saves (19) and is second in wins (14).  Unlike 2013, this year’s team has shown the ability and desire to win the games they’re supposed to, like those against the lowly Cubs.

The 20-inning streak served as bit of an answer to the Dodgers’ 17 consecutive innings of no-hit ball that concluded on Monday, a feat that had only been accomplished once in MLB since 1974.  The Dodgers remain five games back of the Giants, but their strengths often seem a lot more impressive than those of the current division leaders.  But on Wednesday that wasn’t the case as the Giants put up one scoreless inning after another.

With two World titles in the bag, and the best record in baseball, the Giants don’t have to worry about whether other teams are taking them seriously.  But they may be the least imposing “best team in baseball” you’ve seen in a while.  Firstly, their .642 win percentage was surpassed by five of the last six teams with the best record after 53 games.  They aren’t imposing offensively, although their home run total (60 in 53 games) is impressive.  Pitching-wise, the Giants seem just fine, but no one knows for sure if this staff can sustain this level of performance for a full season.

Lincecum threw 30 pitches in the first inning, and got a huge assist from Pablo Sandoval on a diving stab of Starlin Castro’s shot down the third base line.  Timmy walked four and saw his pitch count climb quickly, but a developing blister may have been a bigger factor in when he departed on Wednesday.  The pitcher said he could have thrown at least one more inning had he not developed the issue, but for sure, he wasn’t keen on a repeat of his 148-pitch no-hitter in San Diego in July.

“Granted I only went five innings, but zero runs so I’m happy with it,” Lincecum said.

On Thursday, the Giants take the field in hot St. Louis where Ryan Vogelsong will face the Cardinals’ Jaime Garcia.

By Morris Phillips

Cubs’ pitcher Jeff Samardzjia played the great equalizer in Chicago’s 8-4 win over the Giants on Memorial Day.

In a meeting of teams with the best and worst records in the National League, Samardzjia single-handedly flipped the script by pitching seven plus innings—walking none and striking out 10—and cooling the hot bats of the Giants after a rocky, first couple of innings. 

For the Giants, the loss marked a blip on a solid stretch of play in which they had won nine of 13.  For the Cubs, the win felt like a new beginning, especially since it marked the first win of Samardzjia’s season thus far, which has been plagued by poor run support and just plain, bad luck. 

How poorly has Samardzjia fared with his personal results in fashioning a league-leading 1.46 ERA in 10 starts and 68 innings pitched?  He’s the first pitcher in the history of the game to have such a microscopic ERA over 10 starts to begin a season and not register even one win. 

Can you spell “poor run support?”  Samardzjia can—as well as spell his own, eye-chart of a last name—but don’t count on him doing it inside or even outside of the Cub’s clubhouse.

“Not once has he been negative about the run support or not having a win,” teammate Nate Schierholtz said.

“He’s been grinding all season,” Cubs manager Rick Renteria said.  “That’s what the good ones do: they don’t get bothered by things they can’t control.”

“This game will tell you a lot about yourself,” Samardzjia said of his plight.  “You just gotta keep doing your work.”

Just this month, Samardzjia’s been through an emotional wringer.  On May 5 at home against the White Sox, the former Notre Dame All-American in football as a wide receiver, threw 126 pitches and went nine innings, but left with the game tied at 1.  The Cubs went on to lose in 12 innings, 3-1.  In his next start at Atlanta, Samardzjia went six innings and allowed two hits in a scoreless game, but a prolonged rain delay ended his afternoon. 

And on May 21 against the Yankees, Samardzjia went seven innings, allowing four hits and no runs, leaving with a 2-0 lead.  But the Yankees rallied and beat the Cubs, 4-2 in 13 innings. 

Early on in this one, Samardzjia seemed to have an issue with red-hot Pablo Sandoval, who has spent the last three weeks on a tear, hitting .348 with 23 hits in his last 18 games.   Sandoval singled home a run in the first—after Samardzjia’s fielding error allowed Angel Pagan to reach—and then hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.  Both hits came on two-strike counts and according to the Cubs’ Darwin Barney, Sandoval’s single may have been the best swing off Samardzjia all year.

“He’s got dumb pop,” Samardzjia said respectfully of the Panda. 

But the Giants’ early fortune wouldn’t last.  Samardzjia settled in with his 95-96 mph fastball and nasty slider and also helped himself with the bat.  In the Cubs’ three-run fifth, the pitcher delivered an RBI double that one-hopped the wall behind Hunter Pence. 

With a lead, the Cubs more often than not have collapsed in 2014.  But this time, the NL West leading Giants were the ones to blink.  David Huff relieved Giants’ starter Yusmeiro Petit to start the sixth, trailing 4-3, and allowed seven hits and four runs while recording just four outs.  Huff didn’t help himself in the error-plaugued seventh when he had the Cubs’ Junior Lake picked off, but threw the ball past Buster Posey at first, allowing Lake to get to third base.  

In the same frame, shortstop Brandon Crawford booted a grounder for an error and second baseman Brandon Hicks let Luis Valbuena’s grounder glance off his glove on a play that was initially labeled Hicks’ error but later changed to a hit.

Even with the loss, the Giants maintained their five game lead over the Rockies, who were shut out in Philadelphia, 9-0.  The Dodgers were also five games back with their series opener against the Reds Monday night pending at press time.

The Giants get Tim Hudson on the hill Tuesday night in a matchup with the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta.  Hudson has thrown just three innings since May 11 after getting skipped a turn due to his bout with a sore hip and throwing just three innings in his weather-shortened start last week in Denver.

By Morris Phillips

What seemed like an innocuous, off-season trade–Colorado’s Dexter Fowler for Houston’s Jordan Lyles and Brandon Barnes–sure did inspire a bunch of negative reaction from Rockies’ followers.

Fowler, a 27-year old centerfielder, provided speed and pop for the Rockies from the leadoff spot.  He also gave the team a real presence in the outfield, which at Coors Field is about as big and intimidating as they come in the major leagues.  Even if Fowler wasn’t an All-Star caliber player, Colorado fans made it clear they would rather live with him than without him.

But when the Fowler’s trade was consummated for Lyles and Barnes, fans winced at what was coming in return.  Lyles, a former first-round pick of the Astros, had an ERA above 5.00 in each of his three losing seasons in Houston, and Barnes—at 27, the same age as Fowler—appeared to be simply a similar player to Fowler with clearly lesser statistics.  Smarty pants mathematicians projected that Lyles’ ERA would jump to 8.00 in Denver, while others opined that this was another sign that GM Dan O’Dowd didn’t know what he was doing.

But 45 games—and 25 Colorado wins, good enough for second place in the NL West behind the Giants—into the season, the trade not only looks smart from the Rockies’ standpoint, it could be considered the catalyst for the team’s offensive revival and status as an early post-season contender.

First off, Fowler was about to become an expensive commodity for Colorado, making $7.8 million this season in the final year of his deal.  O’Dowd’s detractors will say that was the GM’s only consideration when making the deal, believing that the Colorado exec is more concerned about money than winning.  But beyond that, Fowler was far too streaky to be a prototypical leadoff man, and more importantly, he was far less a factor in road contests (.214 in 206 at-bats in 2013) than at home in Coors (.311).

And for a team that’s trying to change its culture as a notoriously poor road team those numbers mean everything.  Fowler’s replacement, Charlie Blackmon, had shown in limited playing time over three season in Denver that he could hit home and away with his overall batting average improving each season to this season’s breakout .339 through 43 games.  Blackmon had less of a drop-off in home/road splits over his three seasons than many of his Colorado teammates, including Fowler.  This season, Blackmon is hitting .415 at Coors and .265 on the road.

Even Blackmon’s understudy, 24-year old Corey Dickerson, shows the same traits.  Dickerson is hitting .349 with increased playing time (.400 at Coors, .311 away), numbers far and away above his first three seasons (.300/.231).

In Colorado, the gaudy batting averages don’t start with Blackmon and Dickerson.  Perennial All-Star Troy Tulowitzki is healthy and performing, hitting .393 currently for the National League’s top offensive lineup.  The Rockies currently lead the NL in runs scored, batting average, slugging and on base percentages.  For Tulowitzki, hitting behind consistent table setters like Blackmon and frequent No. 2 hitter Nolan Arenado is making a difference. 

And first basemen Justin Morneau is having a bounce back season, hitting .327 for the Rockies.  Morneau was signed after the Fowler trade ostensibly freed up money to sign someone as desirable as the 33-year old former All-Star.

And what of Lyles and his ability to pitch in Coors after he posted subpar numbers in Houston?  He’s 5-1 with Colorado after going 14-29 in three seasons in Houston. General managers always keep an eye on young players who may have gotten caught up in a culture of losing where they’re at and might benefit from a change in scenery.  In Lyles, it appears O’Dowd scored as the 24-year old hurler’s current 3.60 ERA is a full point-and-a-half lower than his career number (5.12).  Also, Lyles has stayed away from giving up gopher balls as he’s allowed just four homers this season, after giving up 51 round trippers in 2011-2013.

As a result, the Giants-Rockies three-game series that starts Tuesday carries weight.  The Rockies have surpassed the underperforming Dodgers and could catch the Giants at the top the NL West with a sweep. Colorado almost pulled off the trick in April when the Giants averted getting swept in Denver by pulling out the series finale, 12-10 in 11 innings.

That game featured 30 hits, nine homers, three doubles and 12 pitchers.  For the Rockies, it was loss, but offensively chaotic just as they prefer. 

On Tuesday, Madison Bumgarner will try to provide some resistance, looking for his fourth straight win.  Franklin Morales will take the ball for Colorado, looking to pitch better than he did in his previous outing, a 5-1 loss to the Royals.