Category: San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb delivers against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the top of the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed May 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

Los Angeles (29-16) 000 000 010.  1. 7. 1

San Francisco (20-25) 002 001  01x.  4 7.  0

Time: 2:23

Attendance: 36,027

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants avoided being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in Wednesday night’s finale to their three game series, defeating their rivals from the south, 4-1,  in an exciting contest that wasn’t decided until the last out.

 San Francisco’s for the time being ace, Logan Webb, was on the hill for the hosts and began his evening with a respectable earned run average of  3.38 in spite of poor performances in his April 30 and May 5 starts, which he followed on May 10 with an acceptable but losing effort against the woeful Cincinnati Reds.

Webb was throwing tonight to Curt Casali, with whom the Giants had signed a one year contract earlier in the day in an effort  to buttress the team’s injury plagued catching corps. Casali had been hitting .362 for the Iowa Cubs. This is his second stint with San Francisco. He was a Giant in the wildly successful 2021 season and part of ’22.

The Dodgers certainly didn’t choose anyone from the top of their rotation. Dave Roberts and Company took its time deciding who would be on the mound  in Wednesday night’s game before settling on Eliéser Hernández, a five year veteran with a lifetime mark of 10-21, 5.04 with the Marlins, as their starter.

The 28 year old righty was signed by the Dodgers in January and invited to spring training but assigned to Oklahoma City before being placed on the Dodgers’ 26 player roster today. Although Hernández has been used primarily as a starting pitcher, the Dodgers’ thumbnail sketch of him in their game notes appears in the “Bullpen” section

Logan had control issues in the early going, throwing 67 pitches while holding the Dodgers scoreless in the first three frames. Hernández, on other hand, held San Francisco hitless until Casali singled to right with one down in the third.

Mike Yastrzemski immediately converted that hit into a run, two runs, in fact, with a 345 foot home run over the brick facing in right field. When the inning was over, Hernández had delivered only 45 pitches, but he and his team were trailing, 2-0.

That almost became 2-1 when  Teoscar Hernández led off the fourth with a towering drive over the fence in front of the visitors’ bullpen in right center, Over the fence or not, the ball came down in Luis Matos’ glove, a spectacular catch that preserved the Giants’ lead.

The score remained 2-0 stayed until the bottom of the sixth, when, after Estrada’s lead off single to left, Hernández retired Chapman and Wade, bringing up Héctor Ramos, He whacked a 3-2 pitch into left center field, splitting the outfielders and bouncing off the 391 foot marker, driving in Estrada and increasing SF’s lead to 3-1..

Hurling six innings was enough work for Hernández. He had reached a pitch count of 91 that included 63 strikes and allowed three runs, all earned, on four hits, one of them yard, and a walk. He was the losing pitcher, making him 0-1, 4.50 in his return to the show. Eduardo Salazar followed him on the mound. Salazar  kept the Giants off the board in the seventh but coughed up a tally in the eighth

Webb didn’t come out to pitch the seventh either.  He’d thrown 103 pitches, 62 for strikes, in his six frame exercise and held the Dodgers to three hits, three bases on balls, and a hit batter, He stood in line for the win and got it, evening  his won-lost balance sheet to 4-4 and 

dropping  his ERA to 3.03. Sean Hjelle replaced him, retired Andy Pages  and James Outman before allowing Betts to single to right.

That was it for Hjelle. Southpaw Erik Miller was assigned the tough task of facing Ohtani. Miller struck him out looking at a four seam fastball.

Tyler, the torpedo tossing Rogers twin, had to face the heart of the Dodgers order in the eighth.  He was, at best, moderately successful. Freeman and Smith started things with back to back singles that put runners on the corners. Muncy’s sacrifice fly to the warning track in left diminished the Giants’ lead to 3-2. 

Matos came through again in the penultimate frame. He tacked on another tally with a broken bat single to right that plated Wade, who ha walked and  advanced to second on a passed ball.

The stage was set for Camilo Doval, in search. of his seventh save.  He struck out Pages and Outman but walked Betts. This brought up Ohtani, who dropped a 2-2 pitch into left for a single that moved Betts up 90 feet. Freeman was now at bat, representing the potential tying run. The count reached 2-1. Doval threw a cutter. Freeman swung … and grounded out to second.

The Giants will have a well earned day off tomorrow and return to work on Friday the 17th for the first game of three against Colorado.

The Rockies will throw Ryan Feltner (1-3, 5.20) against San Francisco’s Kyle Harrison (3-1, 3.42) on Friday night at Oracle Park with a 7:15pm PT first pitch.

Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani (right) crosses the plate and is greeted by teammate Freddie Freeman (5) in the top of fourth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue May 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

Los Angeles (29-15). 000 410 104. 10 13 0

San Francisco (19-25). 000 001 001. 2. 9. 2

Time: 2:36

Attendance: 33,575

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The most important news concerning the San Francisco Giants’ travails wasn’t the 10-2 shellacking they suffered at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park tonight. It was María Guardado’s report that the results of Jung-Hoo Lee’s MRI showed possible structural damage to his left shoulder that could require season ending surgery. Lee will see Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Thursday for a second opinion.

The Giants’ terrible performance tonight served to underline the severity of the threat posed by the impending loss of Lee’s. contributions and those of the other occupants of the injured list.

San Francisco’s starting pitcher had not looked good in his previous start last Thursday, where he took his second straight loss, this time to Colorado at Coors Field, where he one hit the Rockies for three innings before allowing seven runs on as many hits in the fourth. Hiis performance tonight parallelled that. Although he shut the Dodgers out on no hits in the first third of the game, the 26 year old righty left after throwing 78 pitches, 49 for strikes, in 4+ innings, in which he allowed five runs, all earned, one of which was posthumous, and three walks while notching four Ks. With the loss his record declined to 3- 6,6.17.

25 year old Gavin Stone, the Dodgers’ fifth round draft choice four years ago, broke into the show last May, was 1-1, 9.00 after going 18-12, 3,19, with a 1.21 WHIP in his minor league career. He was a post-season All Star in the PCL in ’23. He was tonight’s winning pitcher, having held San Francisco to one run, earned, on five hits and three walks over six innings. He struck out a couple opf batters and had a pitch count of 90 with 58 strikes. His redcord now stands at 4-1, 3.27.

The rivals traded zeros for the first three frames, which. were notable for at least two plays. One was Luis Matos’s three base error on Freddie Freeman’s first inning drive to deep center, a premonition of what might happen if Lee’s diagnosis is confirmed. An optimist might have observed that Winn pitched out of the jam. The other was the nifty double play that shut down LA in the top of the third. With James Outman, who had walked, stole second, and advanced to third on Blake Sabol’s throwing error (another example of the perils of a bulky injured list) on second, Matt Chapmans snatched Mookie Betts bouncer down the line, tagged Outman, and threw the speedy Betts out at first.

But Los Angeles asserted itself in the next few innings. Their designated hitter, 大谷 翔平, AKA Shohei Ohtani, powered the Winn’s initial offering in the fourth, an 88 mph slider, into the right centerfield bleachers, 446 feet from home to give him an even dozen homeruns for the season and the Angelinos a 1-0 lead. Back to bak walks to Freeman and Will Smith, followed by a double to center by Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy’s sacrifice fly, and the Giants were reeling from a 4-0 deficit

Two batters into the fifth and Winn was out of the game. Back to back singles to center by Betts and Ohtani brought Randy Rodríguez to the mound. A one out single to left by Will Smith drove Betts in with an inherited run, which was charged to Winn

The Giants staged a comeback of sorts in the sixth on a walk to LaMonte Wade, Jr. and, after Wilmer Flores popped out to short, two wild pitches while Héctor Ramos was at bat, Ramos, when he got a hit he could pitch, drove Wade in with the Giants’ first tally, a run that LA responded to in their next turn at with a leadoff triple to right by Betts and Ohtani’s automatic double to left.

Nick Avila, a right handed rookie who was recalled from Sacto yesterday, set the Dodgers down in order in the eighth.

The home team hit Gus Varland, LA’s third pitcher of the fray, Gus hard – line outs to left by Estrada ahd Wade, and Chapman’s double into the right field corner, but he escaped unscathed when Ramos lined out to second.

Avila wasn’t as effective in the visitors’ half of the ninth as he had been an inning earlier. Outman led off with a double to right. Miguel Rojas, who had replaced Betts at short, replicated Outman’s two bagger, driving in Rojas. He, in turn, was driven in by Freeman’s single down the line in right after Ohtani finished his three for five night’s work by grounding out to second. Will Smith then doubled to right, but Freeman stopped at third because Yaz almost made a spectacular catch before the ball glanced off his glove. Both Freeman and Smith crossed the plate on Hernández’s triple to right center.

And so it came to pass that Nabil Crismatt gave up an automatic double to Sabol, an RBI single to Matos, an another safety to Shmitt to preserve the Dodgers’ win with a final score of 0f 10-2.

We don’t yet know who will start for the Dodgers when the series is wrapped up tomorrow, Wednesday, 6:45. It will be Logan Webb (3-4,3,88) trying to get the Giants and himself back on track.

Los Angeles Dodgers Enrique Hernandez (8) is jubilant rounding the bases after hitting a solo home run in the top of the seventh against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Mon May 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

Los Angeles (28-15). 100 011 100 2 . 6 11. 0

San Francisco (19-24). 030 001 000 0. 4. 6. 1 10. innings

Time: 2:55

Attendance: 35,033

Monday, May 13, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–After their come from behind 10 inning defeat of Cincinnati gave them the series win over the Reds, the struggling home team lost a 10 inning thriller. The loss was one more blow to a team that has suffered some bad breaks in the past few days.

Jung-Hoo Lee today joined Jorge Soler, Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Austin Slater, Nick Ahmed, Tom Murphy, Robbie Ray, Austin Warren, and Ethan Small on the injured list. The Giants recalled catcher Jackson Reetz, who barely had time to unpack his bags after he’d been optioned to the River Cats, to replace the injured Lee.

An article in Sunday’s Los Angeles times would have you believe that the Dodgers also were kind of beat up. Pain had caused Shoei Orhani to sit out yesterday’s loss to the Padres, who have won their last two series against the talent laden socal rivals.

Ohtani was in the lineup tonight, batting second, going two for five and driving in a run. The Times bemoaned Mookie Betts’ recent slump. He showed up at Oracle Park with a batting average of .339 and led off the game with a 363 foot home run to left and also went two for five. The Giants should have such troubles!

San Francisco’s starting pitcher, 27 year old Jason Hicks, with a game time record of 3-1, 2.3 was nothing to sneeze at. Hicks, who had gone five frames and allowed three earned runs to gain his third win of the season, in his last outing, Hicks acquitted himself well tonight, although he threw too many pitches, 93, in his five innings of work.

He surrendered seven hits, one of which was Betts’ long ball, and two runs, both earned. didn’t walk anybody and struck out four. He wasn’t involved in the decision although his earned run average rose to a still better than respectable 2.44

It’s not often that you get to see a 25 year old major league pitcher who’s won three consecutive most valuable awards, but that’s what we saw tonight when Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for the Giants tonight.

He isn’t a household name in MLB–yet–but fans of the Nippon Pacific League know 1山本 由伸 as the winner of that major league’s MVP from 2021 through 2023. The right hander brought a lifetime record in Nippon Professional Baseball of 75-30, 1,72 with him when he signed his 12 year contract with Los Angeles, and added four wins and a loss, with an ERA of 2.79, before his no decision against San Francisco tonight.

Yamamoto wound up throwing 84 pitches, 55 for strikes, over 5-2/3 innings, in which he allowed four runs, all earned, on five hits, one a homer, and two bases on balls, and struck out six. His earned run average climbed to 3.21.

Luis Matos, recalled from Sacramento yesterday, got his first big league hit of the season and put the Giants ahead, 2-1, in the home second with a 385 foot blast over the center field fence with Blake Sabol, also recently recalled, on base.

LA almost caught up in the third when, after Ohtani who had reached first with one down on a force out was picked off first, Hicks to Wade. Unfortunately Wade’s throw to second bounced off shortstop Casey Schmitt’s glove and the Dodgers’ designated hitter made it to third.

Schmitt originally was charged with an error, but that was changed to an error on Wade’s throwl. In any case Hicks maintained his poise and got Freddie Freeman to ground out to second, ending the inning and preserving SF’s precarious lead.

They lost that advantage in the fifth, but almost escaped that fate. Andy Pages led off with a double to left. After Hicks fanned James Outman, Betts sent a looping fly ball to right. Yastrzemski made a magnificent tumbling catch of the ball, racing 63 feet at 27.2 mph to grab the ball. Then Ohtani beat out a slow roller to second that Thairo Estrada fumbled. It was scored, correctly, as a hit, a game tying hitl

Los Angeles untied the knot against Luke Jackson, Hicks’ successor. After fanning Will Smith, he walked Max Muncy, heaved a wild pitch that allowed Muncy to take second before Teoscar Hernández whiffed, That brought up Gavin Lux, whose automatic double to center put the visitors ahead, 3-2.

The Giants knocked Yamamoto out of the box in the bottom of the sixth. It was Ramos who did it, driving in Chapman, who had walked and gone to second on a walk to Wade, with a single to left. That brought in Alex Vesia, who struck out Reetz, pinch hitting for Sabol to end the inning. Michael Grove set SF down in order in the seventh.

The pinch hitter LA sent to the plate to face Erik Miller, who took the mound in the top of the seventh, was Kike Hernández. The veteran did a lot better than the rookie Reetz. Hitting for Outman, Hernández hit it out of the park, 406 feet down the left field fence, just to the right of the foul pole. We were back to a tie game, 4-4.

The right handed Rogers, Tyler the submariner allowed a single to Will Smith in eighth, and that was it.

Daniel Hudson was the Dodger pitcher in the bottom of that frame. In spite of Wade’s drive to the back of the warning track in center field, he set the Giants down in order in their half of the eighth, which set the stage for Camilo Doval’s technicolor Hollywood epic entrance in the top of the ninth. He lived up to it, pitching a 1,2,3 inning that included a 102 mph cutter.

Blake Treinen, recently returned from the injured list, was the Dodgers’ choice to pitch the bottom of the ninth. He walked Flores Fitzgerald pinch ran for him and, in the twinkling of a eye, got picked off. Ramos then beat out a roller for an infield singer, 3-1, a call that was upheld after video review. But Treinen held firm and retired the next two batters, sending sending us into extra innings.

Tyler Rogers’ brother Taylor had to face Ohtani with Betts on second as the zombie runner. Ohtani whiffed, but Freeman walked ,and Smith smacked a two run double to the base of the center field fence. Both runners scored. Muncy took a called third strike, and Teoscar Hernández skied out to center.

Brett Wiselty pinch hit for Schmitt against JP Feyereisen, trying to wrap things up for LA, with Matos on second as the courtesy runner. Feyereisen fanned Wisely but walked Yastrzemski, bringing Estrada to the plate. He grounded into an around the horn double play, and that put an end to a game that was worthy of the Giant-Dodger rivalry.

Treinen was the winning pitcher. He now has a season record of 1-0, 0.00 over four innings. Taylor Rogers, now 1-2, 4,11, was charged with the loss.

Los Angeles hasn’t yet announced who they’ll send to the mound, Tuesday, at 6;40. The Giants will go with their struggling ace, Logan Webb (3-4, 3.38)