Category: San Francisco Giants

By Morris Phillips

An early three-run deficit and an opponent riding a lengthy run of success at AT&T Park couldn’t derail the Giants on Thursday. 

After trailing 4-1 in the third inning–and before you knew it–chipping away led to adding on, and the Giants had things under control in a 6-4 victory over the Marlins in the opener of a four-game, weekend series.

The Giants have won 16 of 21 and increased their lead in the NL West to four games over the idle Rockies and five games over the Dodgers. And the win halted a surprising streak built by the Marlins, in which they had won 10 of their previous 11 games in San Francisco. 

Matt Cain finally broke through and grabbed his first win of the season, pitching into the eighth inning after a rough beginning. It took seven starts for the longest tenured Giant to get a win in 2014, but in the eyes of manager Bruce Bochy, the drought wasn’t a big deal.  In Bochy’s opinion, Cain had pitched well but simply didn’t have the results to show for it.  Against Miami, two early home runs didn’t deter the right hander, and by the middle innings, Cain was dealing, on his way to retiring 16 of the final 21 batters he faced.

“He didn’t cave in,” Bochy said.  “It wasn’t a very auspicious start.  He finally got settled in.”

Miami’s Nathan Eovaldi came out throwing smoke and making big pitches in big spots to get out of jams, as he stranded a trio of Giants’ base runners in the first two frames.  But all the activity on the bases finally caught up to the 24-year old in the fifth, when he allowed three runs on four hits and couldn’t finish the inning.  Giants’ hitters got a primer in the third, when Michael Morse simply rode Eovaldi’s fastball the opposite way and into the right field arcade.  Morse’s homer brought the Giants within 3-2. 

In the fifth, the hit-it-where-its-pitched philosophy continued as Buster Posey launched a double in front of the 421-foot sign in right to score Angel Pagan.  Morse then delivered a run-scoring single in front of centerfielder Christian Yelich, who was playing deep.  And then again, when Tyler Colvin doubled down the left field line which chased Eovaldi. 

“To the Giants’ credit, they did a great job of putting at-bats together that inning,” Marlins’ infielder Casey McGehee said.

The Giants’ bullpen has been the big league’s stingiest to date in 2014, and that continued Thursday as Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo came on to close the deal, combining to get the last four outs.  Again, Romo did not walk anyone or create any unpleasant drama.  The closer simply got ahead in the count, and finished hitters by expanding the strike zone just enough to induce swings.  In Romo’s first 20 innings pitched this season, he’s walked just three while striking out 20.

The transformation of the Giants’ offensive attack in just one year continued on Thursday as Morse’s home run was the 50^th the team has hit in just 42 games.  Last season, the Giants hit just 44 home runs at AT&T Park, the lowest total of any National League club at home except the Marlins.

On Friday, Yusmeiro Petit will start for the Giants in place of Tim Hudson, who is experiencing discomfort in his hip.  Petit will be opposed by Miami’s Henderson Alvarez.

 

By Morris Phillips

When it’s 87 degrees at first pitch along McCovey Cove, you can bet the 25 guys in the third base dugout, manager and coaches are on alert: Giants’ hitters know to try to launch one, and Giants’ pitchers are well aware that they if they elevate, they could give up something cheap.

With the warm, still air conducive to offense, and from the perspective of the starting pitchers, Madison Bumgarner was able to slow it down just enough, while the Braves’ Julio Teheran couldn’t quite get his grip on the issue.

Both pitchers faced 22 batters, but Teheran had issues gripping the ball, walked five, got taken deep by Hunter Pence and only lasted 3 1/3 innings.  Bumgarner allowed seven hits and walked one, but he kept the ball in the park, and was the last guy standing when he left after five innings with a 5-4 lead.

“They got another lead and I was doing my dangdest to keep it for them,” Bumgarner said in his familiar drawl.

After that, three San Francisco relievers were near perfect, while the offense added on—two runs in the fifth, one run in the sixth and one in the eighth—in a 10-4 win over the Braves on Wednesday.

“They just kept coming.  One of those days were they just kept tacking on runs,” Braves’ infielder Chris Johnson said.

The Giants captured five of six from the Braves in the last two weeks, and the two playoff hopefuls are done seeing each other in 2014 unless it happens in the post-season.  That’s life in today’s MLB where each team plays an unwieldy 20 separate opponents.  One thing’s certain: the Giants will look at the stretch as a real positive going forward, while the Braves will undoubtedly see it as low point.

Through 39 games, Atlanta’s offense has produced a major-league second-to-worst 122 runs.  Three days in hot San Francisco was an improvement, just not a significant one. The Braves scored 11 runs, but just one in the first eight innings on Monday–mostly against a resurgent Tim Lincecum–and none in the final five frames Wednesday, when the Giants’ hot bullpen took hold. Atlanta hitters struck out a whopping 32 times in the series, and that undoubtedly led directly to frustrated B.J. Upton’s ejection by home plate umpire Lance Barrett in the sixth inning after the outfielder struck out for the third time.

Teheran’s issues with holding on to the baseball are simply hard to grasp. They led to five walks, with the Columbian-born pitcher saying that dry weather—not humid weather—in San Francisco and Los Angeles affects his grip.  Offensively, Jason Heyward (.205) and B.J. Upton (.212) have really struggled with the bats.  Half the Braves’ projected pitching staff have battled injuries, with Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen to miss the entire season.  On top of all that, the Braves have won just five times in 15 games since April 29.

Meanwhile, the Giants have won 15 of 20 are starting to cook in a competitive NL West.  Their lead grew to 3 ½ games on Wednesday as the Rockies lost 3-2 in Kansas City with the Dodgers four back prior to their game Wednesday night against the Marlins.

The Giants 49 home runs (three—Pence, Brandon Crawford and Michael Morse—on Wednesday) in 41 games have been a revelation, but the revolving door of daily heroes may be the biggest factor.  Gregor Blanco jumped off the Giants’ bench and into a start in center field in place of an ailing Angel Pagan and got a hit, walked twice, and stole three bases and scored three times.  The three steals, three runs combo hadn’t been accomplished by a Giant since 1991 when Darren Lewis did it.

Reliever Jean Machi continued to heighten his profile as well by pitching two, scoreless innings, lowering his microscopic ERA to 0.44.

Bumgarner won for the fifth time in 2014, and the young lefty already six seasons into his big league career continued a positive trend.  After allowing a career-worst 23 home runs in 208 innings in 2012, the North Carolina native has thrown just 20 gopher balls in 254 innings since.  Bumgarner had given up at least one long ball in three of his four previous starts.

In that same stretch, Teheran has thrown 247 innings and allowed 30 home runs, a blemish on the outstanding start to the 23-year old pitcher’s career.  This was the shortest start of Teheran’s career and the five walks tied a career-high.

On Thursday at 7:15pm, the Giants welcome the Marlins for four games with Matt Cain—still looking for his first win in 2014—facing Miami’s Nathan Eovaldi.

NOTE: Giants’ third basemen Pablo Sandoval left the game in the sixth, hobbling on a sore toe on his left foot.  Manager Bruce Bochy said he didn’t think Sandoval would miss any time all but penciling him in to Thursday’s starting lineup.

By Morris Phillips

Tim Lincecum’s been all over the place since 2010.  Just look at the numbers.

From being a big disappointment at AT&T Park (15-23 record overall and a 6.59 ERA in three starts this year) to his star turn as a reliever in the 2012 playoffs and World Series, to his no-hitter at San Diego in 2013 and to his three consecutive seasons with a losing record, it’s been a mixed bag for Timmy: mostly bad, occasionally good, and every once in a while brilliant.

Then in the off-season the Giants resigned the 29-year old righty to an extremely generous contract that will pay him $17 million this season, and Giants’ fans freaked.

But on Monday, those same fans gave Timmy a rousing round of applause after he allowed a run on two hits and struck out 11 in the Giants 4-2 win over the Braves.  Again those numbers show the peaks and valleys the Franchise has covered: Lincecum lasted 7 2/3 innings and threw 112 pitches to become the last of the Giants’ starters to go at least six innings in a start this season.  In his best start at home since last August when he threw a gem against the Brewers, Licecum had it all going, especially those tricky off-speed pitches.

“Great for Timmy, he came off such a rough outing there (at Pittsburgh where he lasted just four innings).  Great ballgame for us,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

“It was vintage Timmy with his secondary pitches going along with his fastball.”

“He threw a lot of off-speed pitches and threw that heater every once in a while,” Atlanta’s Freddy Freeman said.  “He kept us off balance all night.”

Lincecum’s far and away the Giants’ franchise leader in games of 10 strikeouts or more with 35, but he hadn’t turned the feat in his last 18 starts dating back to 2013.  In fact, with his fastball in decline, Lincecum pulled the feat just three times in 2013, and only once in 2012.

But against the Braves on Monday, Timmy had ‘em flailing away, striking out every hitter in the Braves’ starting lineup with the exception of Freeman, who went 0 for 2 with a walk.  Critics will say Lincecum did what a lot of pitchers have: shut down the big league’s worst offense that’s already scored two or fewer runs 17 times including Monday.

People who aren’t critics, like Giants’ announcer Mike Krukow, like what they saw.  According to Kruk, Lincecum should take this one, run with it and have a great season.  If he does, it would be his first since 2010 when he went 16-10, or 2009 when he won the second of his Cy Young awards with a 15-7 record.  Just like the he did in his high times, Lincecum had command of his pitches, a tight, compact pitching motion and control over his fastball, which these days he throws sparingly.

The Giants did their part behind Lincecum in the seventh inning when they scored three times to break a 1-1 tie and chase Braves’ starter Gavin Floyd, who to that point had been just as good as Lincecum.  Floyd—making only his second start of the season—had put up four scoreless innings after allowing a well-struck, splash hit home run to the newest Giant, Tyler Colvin.  Then in the seventh, Floyd gave up a single to Hector Sanchez, then watched Brandon Crawford’s grounder ricochet off Freeman’s leg near first base.  The next batter was Colvin, and he made history by being the first Giant to triple and homer in his home debut since Darrell Evans pulled the feat in 1976.  Colvin’s drive put the Giants up 3-1.

“To be a part of a winning ballclub and get the hits I did right there, help Timmy out, he pitched a great game, I feel pretty good about it,” Colvin said.

The Giants increased their lead in the NL West to 2 ½ games over the Rockies, with the Dodgers 4 ½ games back after they beat the Marlins Monday in Los Angeles.  The Giants are the first major league team this season to win 25 games after winning nine of their last 11 and surpassing the Brewers as the early pacesetter.

On Tuesday, the Giants continue their seven-game homestand with Ryan Vogelsong facing off against Atlanta’s Mike Minor.

By Jeremy Harness

Giants vs. Dodgers. It doesn’t ever get old. And just because it’s not in September doesn’y mean it’s any less significant.

And besides, when September rolls around, these two teams will most likely look back to the games that are being played now as the contests that make just as much difference between winnign the division or not.

Yes, we’re far from that point of the season, but you get the picture.

The next installment of NorCal vs. SoCal begins Friday night, as the two eternal rivals hook up at Dodger Stadium for a four-game series that starts tonight.

At the start of the season, most people were picking the Dodgers to run away with the division going away, but things are a little different now.

See, the Giants, with their improved pitching and stellar bullpen, are tied atop the National League West with the Colorado Rockies while the Dodgers, with their highly-fattened payroll, are 2 1/2 games back in second place.

Ryan Vogelsong (1-1, 4.60 ERA) will take the hill for the Giants and will head up against Josh Beckett, who has an 0-1 record with a 3.14 earned-run average and is looking for his first victory in more than a year and a half.

If the Giants’ offense performs like it did during their series defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Beckett will have a great opportunity to do just that.

Friday’s matchup will feature Madison Bumgarner, the Giants’ Opening Day starter, going up against the Dodgers’ Paul Maholm, two up-and-coming star hurlers.

Yusmeiro Petit, in his first year in the starting rotation, will take the ball Saturday and will face LA righty Zack Grienke, who suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for two months after an on-field confrontation with San Diego’s Carlos Quentin.

And finally, Tim Hudson, who nearly had a complete game against the Padres last Wednesday, will try to close the series out in style on Sunday, but standing in his way is budding megastar Clayton Kershaw, who signed a seven-year, $215-million deal in the offseason.

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants’ road trip has not gotten off to the best start, as the Pittsburgh Pirates captured the three-game series win Wednesday afternoon by besting the Giants, 4-3, at PNC Park.

Tim Lincecum (2-2) had an outing to forget, as the right-hander went only four innings while surrendering four runs on eight hits, walking two while striking out four.

When Lincecum left the game, the Giants trailed 4-1, but they did make a comeback in the fifth inning. Brandon Belt lined one into right field that scored Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence.

However, that rally was short-lived, as Belt was thrown out at third while trying to stretch it into a triple.

Gerrit Cole was considerably better for Pittsburgh, as he gave up three runs on seven hits over eight innings.

Notes: Sandoval left the game with what was described as a thumb strain, and he is listed as day-to-day