Category: Uncategorized

By Morris Phillips

With major doings on the major league trade front, and a tough decision rendered by the Giants’ front office, Chris Heston and Matt Duffy continued to motor along on Monday.

No doubt, all three developments are related.  While teams with playoff aspirations look to bolster their ranks for the season’s home stretch, it more and more appears the Giants believe they have what they need right in their own clubhouse.

The Giants established an early lead and finished off the Brewers, 4-2, at AT&T Park Monday night and climbed within a half-game of the NL West-leading Dodgers.  Winners of 12 of 13, the Giants are red-hot and obviously thinking about mounting an encore to their most recent World Series title this fall, not in 2016 as the well-chronicled pattern would suggest.

Heston and Duffy—like unexpected gifts that keep on giving—led the charge against Milwaukee, with Heston pitching seven innings and picking up his 11^th win while Duffy racked up three hits, including a double, to increase his batting average to a robust .307.

Bruce Bochy was careful to remove his rookie sensation before 100 pitches were expended, likely a nod to the 116 pitches Heston threw in his previous start at San Diego.  The 27-year old Heston has never thrown more than 173 innings in any of his five, full professional seasons, but he has thrown at least 148 innings four times.  Currently, Heston is projected to throw 206 innings this season, which might not be a stretch, but he figures to be a centerpiece to any shortened post-season rotation Bochy configures, and that’s where the issue of durability could arise.

Of course, we’re not talking about any ordinary talent at this point.  Heston leads all National League rookies in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts and winning percentage.  Without him, the Giants wouldn’t be the last-place Brewers, but they would be an also-ran.  Given that his time-honored clichés offered after the game carry a little extra weight.

“If you can grind it out and give the team a chance to win and just stay in the ballgame, you know you’ve done your job,” Heston said.  “There’s going to be starts like that and there’s going to be starts that take a turn for the worst.  So I think it’s just about staying level.”

by Jerry Feitelberg

Relief pitcher Tyler Clippard has been traded to the New York Mets.

In exchange for Clippard and cash considerations, the Oakland Athletics received minor league pitcher Casey Meisner,announced the Mets.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After seeing his nine-game hitting streak come to a halt on Saturday afternoon, Buster Posey did not take long to start a new one.

Posey went 4-for-4, while Matt Duffy hit a huge two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, helping the San Francisco Giants defeat the Oakland A’s 4-3 at AT&T Park.

The win by the defending World Champions gave them a series sweep over their Bay Area neighbors from the East Bay. It also marked the fifth straight win for the Giants, as they are 8-1 since the All-Star break.

This was the seventh sweep by the Giants this season, and the first by the Giants over the A’s since May 20-22, 2011.

Tim Hudson picked up his first ever win against his former team, as the 17-year veteran became the 15th pitcher to defeat all 30 major league teams. It was Hudson’s first win since he turned 40 on July 14.

Despite allowing a leadoff walk, Santiago Casilla was able to regroup and get Marcus Siemen swinging to end the game and pickup his 26th save of the season, a new career-high.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-There maybe one more game in the Bay Bridge Series, but the San Francisco Giants have already clinched if after the two games.

Madison Bumgarner pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run on just five hits, walking two and striking out seven and the Giants defeated the a Oakland A’s 2-1 before a crowd of 42,186, the 376th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

With the victory, the Giants 10 out of their last 11, while the A’s gave lost four out of their last five games.

Over his last 11 games at home Bumgarner has allowed two or fewer runs in eight of those starts.

Bumgarner was also big at the plate as well, as he took a Chris Bassitt pitch and put it into the left field bleachers in the bottom of the third inning that gave the Giants 1-0 lead over their Bay Area counterparts.

It was the third home run of the season for Bumgarner, and the ninth of his career.

Bumgarner was the first opposing pitcher to hit a home run off the A’s since Dave McNally of the Baltimore Orioles did it off of Ken Holtzman in 1972.

Bassitt went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits, not walking a batter and striking out four, as he falls to 0-3 on the season.

Matt Duffy drove in what turned out to be the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning, as with two outs, Joe Panik doubled up the right-center field gap and then Matt Duffy singled in Panik with what proved to be the winning run.

In his four starts this season, Bassitt receives an average of 1.57 runs per game during the four starts.

After Bumgarner’s home run in the second inning, the A’s tied it up in the top of the fourth inning, as Jake Smolinski singled and then Josh Phegley tied up the game with a double to left field.

Buster Posey saw his nine-game hitting streak come to an end, as he went 0-for-3 on the afternoon.

Santiago Casilla picked up his 25th save of the season, tying his career high that was set during the 2012 season.

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–The 2015 Guinness International Champions Cup wrapped up it’s trip to the Bay Area on Saturday with a grand matchup between FC Barcelona and Manchester United.  Over 68,000 fans packed Levi’s Stadium to see the two global powers take part in the cup draw.

FC Barcelona traveled to the United States without two of their strongest players in Neymar and Messi, known as some of the best players in the world.  Though, it didn’t seem to bother them that much, as they dominated possession in the match 65%-35%.  With all of that possession, came a lot of shots, as Barca outshot United 18-10.

However, even with all of those shots, FC Barcelona couldn’t get past the Red Devils, as Manchester United won 3-1. Luck came with it though, as Barcelona hit three posts in the match.  United coach, Louis van Gaal admitted the luck, “We also had a little bit of luck. Three balls on the post, but I was pleased with the performance”, while Barcelona coach Luis Enrique mentioned “post are just part of the game”.

Man U Captain, Wayne Rooney, started the scoring in just the eighth minute, ending his scoreless drought. He headed a corner from Ashley Young in the middle of the box past Mac Andre Ter Stegen to give United the 1-0 lead.

The Red Devil’s mass sub came in the 62nd minute, as van Gaal swapped out all of his starting VI.  The impact was almost felt immediately, as United made it 2-0 in the 68th minute, when a pass on the ground in the box from Tyler Blackett found the boot of Jesse Lindgard, who easily got it past Jordi Masip on the right side, “I’m happy with the reaction from the youngsters from Tuesday.  They came out a lot more aggressive and scored two goals”, commented van Gaal.

Barcelona finally broke through in the 90th minute on a beautiful volley from Rafinha. Sergio Roberto earned the assist with a cross from the right side that found Rafinha at the top of the box, where he took one touch to settle and then powered a volley to the left side of the net.

Just seconds later in extra time, Manchester United got their third, as Adnan Januzaj beat two defenders with a great individual effort to make it 3-1. “He was very good and scored a wonderful goal.  However, it was a little easier without Pique back there”, added van Gaal on Januzaj’s performance.

In David Da Gea’s first game back from injury, he was challenged early and often for United. He earned the clean sheet in all of the 62 minutes he played with three saves. “De Gea stopped the first shot and allowed us to score first. That’s always huge for us”, said van Gaal.

Both Barca and United each have one game remaining in the United States, as Manchester United takes on PSG in Chicago and Barcelona plays Chelsea in Maryland on Tuesday before they return home to Europe to cap off their pre-season play.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-What a difference a few weeks makes, at the beginning of July, the San Francisco Giants could not buy a hit; however now they are hitting everything in sight.

Hunter Pence went 4-for-4, his 15th career four hit game and first since August 31, 2014 against the Milwaukee Brewers and the Giants defeated the Oakland A’s 9-3 before a crowd of 42,128, the 375th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Jake Peavy went x innings, allowing just three runs on five hits, walking no one and striking out two on his way to just his second win of an injury-plagued season.

Peavy received immediate help for his teammates, as Buster Posey hit a sacrifice fly that scored Angel Pagan in the bottom of the first inning. Pagan to leadoff the inning against A’s starter Jesse Chavez.

Following the Posey sacrifice fly, Pence doubled to score Matt Duffy, who singled after Joe Panik popped out.

Pagan singled in Brandon Crawford, who singled to lead off the bottom of the 2nd inning for and then Panik gave the Giants a 4-0 lead after a sacrifice fly to Billy Burns in centerfield.

Burns was forced to leave the game after fouling a ball off his groin area, and later left the game after what the team is calling is a testicular contusion.

Prior to leaving the game, Burns gave the A’s their first run of the game with a groundout to first base that scored Sam Fuld.

Pence and Belt extended the lead after back-to-back doubles that scored Posey and Pence to give the a 6-1 lead. Peavy helped himself out, as he reached on a throwing error that scored Belt.

Ben Zobrist hit his 15th home run of the season to leadoff the seventh inning, then Billy Butler ended Peavy’s night with a single. After getting Josh Reddick to flyout to centerfield, George Kontos then allowed back-to-back singles to score Butler. Kontos was able to end the inning after striking out Fuld and getting pinch-hitter Marcus Siemen to ground into a force play.

Belt closed out the scoring in the bottom of the eighth, as he hit a two-run single to score Duffy and Posey.

By Jeremy Harness

The question for the Giants is this: will they stand pat, or will they make moves in order to bolster their roster for a playoff push that has suddenly become possible.

The Giants do not seem to need any pitching help at this point, but they can use some more depth in their infield. The real question, as of a few weeks ago, was at third base, but Matt Duffy has solidified that position after taking over for the since-departed Casey McGehee.

As the trade deadline draws near, the Giants are now right in the thick of the National League West race, as they sit only 2 ½ games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and have effectively made it a two-team race at this point.

The A’s, on the other hand, are not in any race right now. It was though that they would wait to see if they can make a serious run in the first couple of weeks following the All-Star break before making a decision as to stick with the current team.

Well, apparently, general manager Billy Beane has already decided to pull the plug on the season and start yet another rebuilding process. On Thursday, the A’s sent starter Scott Kazmir to the Houston Astros for a pair of minor leaguers.

Kazmir was a hot commodity, as he sported an 0.45 ERA in the month of July, and the A’s sent him to not only an intra-division opponent, but also to one that has serious postseason aspirations this season.

The two cross-bay teams will square off in a three-game series that starts Friday at AT&T Park, and the Giants are coming off a very successful trip through the southwest that saw then sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks and take two in a three-gamer with the San Diego Padres to distance themselves from those two teams.

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants are looking more like a World Series team now.

The Giants finished off an outstanding road trip to the southwestern part of the United States in grand fashion Wednesday afternoon with a dominant 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres at a half-empty Petco Park.

By virtue of their victory Wednesday, the Giants took two of the three-game series with the Padres, who entered this series having won five consecutive games. At the same time, they made the National League West a two-team race by distancing themselves from the Padres as well as the Arizona Diamondbacks, who the Giants swept prior to rolling into San Diego.

Matt Cain gave the Giants a solid outing, as he threw six solid innings and gave up only a run – courtesy of a solo homer in the second inning by Jedd Gyorko that gave San Diego a 1-0 lead – on five hits, walking only one and striking out six.

It was arguably the best outing that he has had since returning from elbow surgery, and that was not lost on manager Bruce Bochy.

“He was hitting the spots much better than he did in (his) last outing, where before, he had trouble getting the ball where he wanted,” Bochy said. “He gave us some length, got his pitch count up, which should help him.

“Just a great job by Matty.”

The performance came with a negative, however. Even though he kept the Giants in the game, he did not end up getting the win. He left the game with the game tied 1-1, but the Giants got loose for a four-run seventh inning, which was highlighted by a double to right that skipped past right fielder Matt Kemp and scored two runs.

They added three more runs in the eighth, and the Giants ended the 5-1 road trip and have inched closer to the top of the division. The Giants are now 2 ½ games behind the front-running Los Angeles Dodgers and have a chance to draw a little closer, as they head home Friday to face the A’s, who are sitting in last place in the American league West at press time.

By Jeremy Kahn

Hector Sanchez was Buster Posey’s backup for a number of years with the San Francisco Giants, but the emergence of Andrew Susac made Sanchez expendable.

With Susac on the disabled list with a sprained right thumb, Sanchez was recalled from Triple A Sacramento to replace the injured Susac.

Sanchez responded by hitting a grand slam in helping the Giants defeat the San Diego Padres 9-3 at Petco Park.

After the Sanchez grand slam where he flipped his bat that upset the Padres. Sanchez grounded out in the top of the ninth inning, reliever Shawn Kelley began to yell at Sanchez and both benches cleared along with the bullpens. The umpires restored order before it escalated even worse.

Chris Heston flirted with his second no-hitter of the season, but Melvin Upton broke it up leading off the bottom of the sixth inning.

Heston ended up pitching 7.1, walking two and striking out six on his way to his 10th win of the season.

Hunter Pence led off the top of the second inning with his fifth home run of the season. Brandon Crawford hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning.

Odrisamer Despaigne gave up six runs and seven hits in five innings, walking two and striking out two and fell to 3-7 on the season.