Tag: Buster Posey

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: MadBum gets win in 7 innings of work; Where’s Bumgarner in trade talks?

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sfgate photo: San Francisco Giant starter Madison Bumgarner who pitched seven innings Sunday at Oracle Park in San Francisco is rumored to be showcased and no doubt shopped by other clubs in the run at the trade deadline this month.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Kevin Pillar and Buster Posey provided the punch that got the San Francisco Giants over the top against their inner division team rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks with seven combined hits from Pillar and Posey. What got into them?

#2 Madison Bumgarner was on the mark in the Giants’ 10-4 win Sunday, pitching seven innings, surrendering one hit and four runs, striking out nine.

#3 Bumgarner has been working the count, picking his spots, keeping hitters of balance. It’s as almost if he’s showcasing with all the talk about going to be a rent a player, he’s always on, but teams are shopping. Here we are in July, the trade deadline is coming, will Bumgarner stay or will the Giants keep him?

#4 Since the subject of the trade deadline and the month of July is here, will the Giants be dealing this month who stays and who’s getting shopped?

#5 The Giants are at Petco Park tonight to take on the San Diego Padres. The Giants will start Jeff Samardzija (4-7, 4.52 ERA) going up against the San Diego Padres’ Logan Allen (2-0, 1.38 ERA).

Listen for the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Monday with Morris Phillips at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Pillar and Posey help Bumgarner get fifth win defeat Diamondbacks 10-4

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photo by sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Kevin Pillar, right, celebrates with Evan Longoria (10) after hitting a two-run home run off Arizona Diamondbacks’ Robbie Ray in the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 30, 2019, in San Francisco.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Kevin Pillar and Buster Posey helped out Madison Bumgarner with their bats in the series finale.

Pillar and Posey combined for seven hits, while Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits, walking no one and striking out nine and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4 before 31,778 at Oracle Park.

With the victory, the Giants ended the month of June with a record of 14-13, their first winning month since going 18-10 in June of 2018.

It was a Pillar two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning that got the Giants going, as he hit his 11th home run of the season.

Pillar added a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning that helped the Giants to the victory and split the four-game series.

Posey doubled in the bottom of the first inning, and then singled in the third and fifth innings, before walking to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning for Evan Longoria with nobody out.

The three hits by Posey match his season-high and marked his second three-hit game in three appearances. During the span, Posey is hitting .750 (6-for-8) with two doubles, two runs scored and two runs batted in.

Pillar hit a solo home run, singled twice and hit a double, as it was his first four-hit since July 13, 2018 for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

It was the fifth four-hit game of Pillars career, who picked up two during the 2017 season and one during the 2015 season.

The five runs batted in by Pillar are a career-high, to go along with his career-high tying four hits.

Longoria then singled in Brandon Belt, who walked to lead off the inning against reliever Matt Andriese. Pillar then followed it up with his fourth hit of the game, as he singled to left to score pinch hitter Alex Dickerson, who singled while pinch hitting for Tyler Austin, who walked and struck out twice before leaving the game.

Mike Yastrzemski got in on the act, as he hit a two-run double to left field to score Longoria and Pillar.

The sixth and final run of the inning came when pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval singled off of T.J. McFarland that scored Yastrzemski.

In all, the Giants sent 10 men to the plate, scored six runs on five hits, as they blew the game wide open.

The Diamondbacks attempted to get back into the game in the top of the eighth inning, as they scored three runs off of reliever Derek Rodriguez.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was ejected in the top of the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate Mike Muchlinski, and it was fourth all-time ejection for Lovullo in his managerial career.

It was not a good day for Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray, who went just four innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out five and saw his record fall to 5-6 on the season.

NOTES: With the nine strikeouts on the afternoon, Bumgarner tied Tim Lincecum for second place all-time in San Francisco Giants lore with 1,704.

Juan Marichal is the all-time San Francisco Giants leader in strikeouts with 2,281

Will Smith was named as the lone All-Star for the Giants, as he is 1-0 with a 2.16 earned run average with 21 saves in 21 chances this season for the Giants.

Smith is the first Giants left-handed reliever to go to the All-Star Game since Gary Lavelle made the All-Star team in 1983

The 21 saves to start the season are the second most by a Giants reliever to start a season, trailing only Rod Beck who saved 28 in a row to begin the 1994 season.

In his Giants career, Smith is tied for second place with Craig Lefferts with 35 saves by a left-hander, Lavelle is currently the all-time leader in saves for a left-hander with 127.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija takes the mound on Monday night, as the Giants open a brief three-game road trip against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Padres will counter with Logan Allen.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Bochy says it’s the worst season he’s seen in awhile

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@BruceBochy file photo: San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy says this has been the worst season in awhile for the struggling Giants, who are on a five-game losing streak.

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the San Francisco Giants. The basics: no hitting and no pitching. Manager Bruce Bochy says its the worst season he’s seen in awhile.

#2 Up and down the lineup, they’re just not getting the hitting or run support from Joe Panik .245, Steve Duggar .242, Buster Posey .252,Brandon Belt .229, Evan Longoria .225, and Brandon Crawford .200.

#3 The Giants have also been lacking in their pitching help. For example, starters Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Suarez, and Shaun Anderson have pitched 11 2/3 innings and allowed 20 runs

#4 One item that has been discussed is local businesses have struggled near the ballpark. Merchants have said business has been down by half or worse and some say no one is coming into their business.

#5 Giants have a much-needed day off before heading to Florida. Starting for SF, Jeff Samardzija (2-3, 3.27 ERA) vs. the Marlins Trevor Richards (1-5, 4.14 ERA).

Morris does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Panik’s walk-off gives Giants huge 4-3 win

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Orovillemr.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Joe Panik watches his two-run single in front of Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann during the ninth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The Giants won 4-3.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Down to his last strike on multiple occasions, Joe Panik came up huge in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Panik slapped a single to right field off of Luke Jackson that scored Kevin Pillar and Mac Williamson, as the San Francisco Giants came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 before a crowd of just 28,030 at Oracle Park.

This was the second walk-off of the season for the Giants, and the second this month, as Buster Posey hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 1.

As for Panik, this was his second career walk-off hit and first since May 1, 2015 against the Los Angeles Angels.

Jackson came on in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he looked for his team-high seventh save of the season; however, in the end it did not happen.

The closer got Evan Longoria to ground out for the first out of the inning, but Brandon Crawford singled to left, then Jackson got Steven Duggar to strike out for the second out of the inning and then Crawford advanced an additional 90 feet on defensive indifference.

Pillar then cut the Braves lead down to one, as he singled in Crawford and then Pablo Sandoval came to the plate. Pillar then stole second to get into scoring position that setup Sandoval for the possible game-tying hit.

Sandoval hit a ball into the hole at third base that Josh Donaldson dove and kept the ball from going into left field that would have tied up the game, and Pillar stayed at third base. Williamson came on to pinch run for Sandoval, and stole second that setup Paniks heroics.

Panik fell behind 0-2 and then the count went to 3-2, and finally on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Panik hit a 95 mile per hour into right field that scored both Pillar and Williamson to give the Giants an improbable victory.

The Braves got on the board in the first inning, as Dansby Swanson singled and eventually scored on a Nick Markakis double to left field.

Panik got the Giants rally started in the bottom of the first inning, as he singled off of Braves starter Julio Teheran, he went to second on a Buster Posey single and then over to third on a Brandon Belt fly ball to left field. Evan Longoria then tied up the game, as he doubled to left field to easily score Panik from third base; however, the rally ended, when Crawford struck out to end the inning.

Both Teheran and rookie Shawn Anderson matched each other inning for inning until the Braves finally got to Anderson in the top of the sixth inning and chased the rookie, who was making just his second major league start.

Donaldson and Markakis ended Andersons night, as they hit back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth inning and that brought on Reyes Moronta, who got Austin Riley to fly out to Duggar in centerfield; however, both Donaldson and Markakis advanced an additional 90 feet. Brian McCann broke up the tie, as he hit a sacrifice fly to Stephen Vogt in left field.

Freddie Freeman extended the Braves up to two runs in the top of the seventh inning, as he hit an opposite field single that scored Ronald Acuna, Jr., who walked with one out in the inning and went to second on a Swanson walk.

Acuna made a huge defensive play in the bottom of the third inning, as he robbed Brandon Belt of a solo home run.

If people that thought Acunas plat was huge, Crawford also came up with two huge defensive plays of his own.

The shortstop snared a Freeman line drive in the top of the third inning that looked like it was going into left field, but Crawford caught the ball to rob Freeman of a base hit.

Crawford came up huge on the defense again in the top of the ninth inning, as Acuna attempted to steal second base and was originally called safe; however, replays showed that Crawford applied the tag on the foot and the umpires went to replay and after a 44-second review, it was determined that Acuna was indeed out.

Paniks two-run walk-off base hit gave the win to Trevor Gott, who is 2-0 on the season, while Jackson falls to 2-1.

Anderson, who was making his second start of his career, went five innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out three, as he did not fare in the decision.

The veteran Teheran went 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walking three and striking out six.

Once again, the Giants helped out, as they went the final four innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking three and striking out two.

NOTES: Vogt started in left for just the second time in his major-league career, and it was his fifth appearance in left field and 17 in right field. Vogt last played in the outfield in 2017.

Sandoval picked up his 10th pinch-hit of the season, and is now 10-for-25 as a pinch-hitter this season.
In 16 career games against the Giants, Donaldson is 21-for-60, a .350 clip with seven extra base hits.

Acuna, who hit two home runs in the series opener on Monday night, has reached base in seven of his 10 plate appearances in the series, as he has walked twice and picked up five hits.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija looks for his third win of the season, as he takes the mound on Wednesday night for the Giants, while left-hander Max Fried looks to raise his record to 7-2 on the season, as he toes the rubber for the Braves.

Giants offense hoovering below the Mendoza Line to start 2019 season

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By Morris Phillips

Anyway you slice it, the Giants’ offense is chopped liver.

No main course, just a side dish relegated to a lesser than status. That simply is who they are.

The Giants rank 29th in home runs (10 in 17 games), 29th in batting average (.199), and 27th in runs scored (47) which averages out to 2.76 a game.

There are only 30 major league clubs. Only one of those 30 has yet to score a run in the first inning: the Giants.  Need I say more?

Steven Duggar supposed to set the table. The leadoff hitter is batting .224 with an OBP of .250. On Sunday, Duggar went 0 for 4 and struck out twice.

“It’s something we’ll talk about, how can we get more aggressive and put some pressure on early in games,” said Evan Longoria, when asked about the team’s lack of early offense.

Ok, what about the run producers? Buster Posey’s hitting .220. Not much power from the fading catcher. Posey hit five home runs in 2018, and has yet to homer in 2019. If he hits fewer than five this season, it will mark the sixth, consecutive year his home run total has dipped. If he hits more than five, will he hit 10, 15? Either way his home run total goes, he’s the least likeliest guy a team would pick to hit cleanup with his .298 slugging percentage.

Brandon Belt is hitting .218 and hasn’t driven in a run in any of his last eight starts. Longoria has one home run and a .197 batting average.

Unlike last season when the Giants had more proven offensive threats, there’s really nowhere else for Posey, Belt, Duggar and Longoria to hit but at the top of the lineup. But that quartet has already struck out 64 times.

The Giants rank third in the National League with a 2.75 staff ERA. They can pitch, and the defense is clearly improved. But with these offensive numbers, the margin for error is razor thin. Pitch and play defense? Yeah, maybe for a team with more resources in the lineup, not this club.

The Giants open an eight-game trip on Tuesday in Washington. Dereck Rodriguez gies for the Giants, Stephen Strasburg for the Nationals in a 4:05 pm start.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Joey Bart is all the rage, just how soon will he come up to the show?

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants catcher Joey Bart has already established himself for his hitting but needs to polish up on some defensive catching. He could very well get called up during the Giants regular season.

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 All the talk has been about young Giants prospect catcher Joey Bart. How soon do you think it will be until he will be in the show on a regular basis?

#2 Once promoted, will he be catcher Buster Posey’s regular back up? There’s so much expected of him, can he live up to the hype?

#3 Bart can swing the bats he had an OBP of .369 and hit .296 in spring training.

#4 Giants announcer Mike Krukow said that Bart has some bad habits. This spring, he has allowed six passed balls and committed six errors, but with some coaching, he can break those habits and with his bat and be a big piece of the Giants future.

#5 Once the National League adopts the Universal Designated Hitter rule, could Bart be a starting as catcher and Posey moving to the DH slot?

Michael Duca covers San Francisco Giants baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants starting to play out the string in upcoming series against the Brewers

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

It’s quite evident that the Giants are not going to make the playoffs – Buster Posey having season-ending surgery and the team trading Andrew McCutchen after a little more than half a season more than showed they have waved the right flag – so they might as well mess things up for teams that are still contending.

They can start with this weekend’s three-game series in Milwaukee against the Brewers, which starts Friday night at Miller Park. The Giants just got finished getting their heads handed to them by the Rockies in Colorado (what else is new?) in getting swept in a three-game series at Coors Field.

So if they are going to play spoiler–or if they think they actually have a chance in grabbing a wild-card spot in the National League–they will need to get things back on track very quickly.

The Giants’ Derek Holland (7-8, 3.56 ERA) will take the ball Friday night against the Brewers’ Chase Anderson (9-7, 3.96 ERA).

Anderson has won each of his last three decisions, and in his last outing, he went five innings and gave up only a run on four hits in a loss to Washington, although he got a no-decision. Holland, meanwhile, has won each of his last two decisions, while he has spent some time in the bullpen this season.

The left-hander went six innings in a loss to the Mets at home–he got a no-decision–and he also gave up only a run and surrendered only four hits in the process.

Chris Stratton (9-8, 4.90 ERA), who has spent some time in Triple-A Sacramento this year, will go Saturday afternoon, and he will face Milwaukee lefty–and former Nationals and A’s standout–Gio Gonzalez.

Stratton has been stellar in his past two starts, although he lost his last outing in a 4-1 loss to the Mets four days ago, when he gave up only a pair of runs on three hits over six innings. The outing before, he shut out the Diamondbacks over eight innings, giving up only five hits and striking out six in a 2-0 win.

On Sunday, Madison Bumgarner (5-5, 3.07 ERA) will take the hill for the Giants and opposite the Brewers’ Zach Davies (2-5, 4.88 ERA).

Giants keep yucking it up on road trip as they lose to Mets 5-3

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The San Francisco Giants appear to be running out of gas at the wrong time. They were swept this past weekend in Cincinnati, and things are not looking very good against a team that they are clearly better than in the New York Mets. They committed a couple of costly errors and gave up more than their fair share of home runs in a 5-3 loss at Citi Field Wednesday night.

The Giants have dropped two of the first three of this four-game series to the Mets.

Starter Casey Kelly surrendered a pair of solo homers while closer Hunter Strickland gave up one of his own, and as a result, the Giants have slid all the way to 9 ½ games back of the National League West lead, as they now sport a 62-66 record.

The Mets got two of those longballs in the first inning to shoot out to a 3-0 lead, and the Giants could not recover from that.

Kelly gave up four runs–two of those earned because of the two errors the Giants made during the course of the game–on seven hits over six innings. He struck out four hitters while not walking anyone, but the two homers proved to be his undoing.

Meanwhile, Noah Syndergaard was solid over six innings, as he gave up a pair of runs on five hits, striking out six while walking only one. In the process, he ran his season record to 9-3.

Austin Slater and Joe Panik each had a pair of hits for the Giants apiece, with Slater hitting a solo homer in the seventh to narrow the Mets’ lead to only a run.

Things seem to be getting worse for the Giants off the field as well. Catcher Buster Posey, who went 0-for-4 on Wednesday and now has a batting average of .284, is reportedly heading toward having hip surgery that would put an end to his season.

The Giants and Mets wrap up their four-game series Thursday at 10:10 am PDT.

They may be down, but they’re never out! A’s beat the Giants 4-3

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Celebration
A’s celebrate after beating the Giants Photo: @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

SAN FRANCISCO — The Oakland Athletics (54-42) really do not know when to quit. In the major leagues, teams that are trailing as they head into the late innings (the seventh inning and beyond) are pretty much doomed to failure the majority of the time. The goal for every big league team is to score early and often because later is usually too late.

The 2018 A’s are breaking all of those rules. The A’s are tied for second in runs scored in the seventh inning or later (173). They did it again on Saturday night against the San Francisco Giants (50-47).

The A’s were trailing the Giants 3-2 as they came to bat in the top of the seventh inning. Tony Watson was the new pitcher for San Francisco. Josh Phegley led off the inning with a single to right. The pitcher’s spot was due up (National League park), so manager Bob Melvin put in Mark Canha as a pinch hitter. Canha hit a 3-2 pitch halfway up into the bleachers in left field for his 12th home run of the season and his 38th and 39th RBIs of the year.

The A’s took a 4-3 lead and never looked back. Lou Trivino worked 2.0 innings of scoreless relief for his team. All-star Blake Treinen then came on in the bottom of the ninth. Treinen struggled a bit as he walked two Giants, but he worked his way out of trouble to earn his 24th save of the season.

The win went to Yusmeiro Petit (4-2) who was pitcher of record in the top of the seventh inning. The loss goes to Tony Watson who also receives a blown save for his record.

Neither starter had a great night. Brett Anderson worked just 3.1 innings for Oakland giving up three runs (all earned) on eight hits. Jeff Samardzija made the start for the Giants and he lasted just 4.0 innings. He allowed two runs (both earned) off three hits. He walked two and struck out one batter.

Steven Duggar had another good game for the Giants, going 2-for-4 at the plate while scoring two runs and adding an RBI. Buster Posey had a 2-for-4 night hitting as well.

Samardzija Swan Song?

To say that the Giants have been disappointed with the performance of Jeff Samardzija this season — may be one of the great understatements of 2018. His performance on Saturday did nothing to help his standing with the team. His 10th start lasted just 4.0 innings and saw “the Shark” give up two runs (both earned) on three hits. He walked two and struck out just one Oakland batter. The real concern was his velocity or lack of it. Samardzija had trouble breaking into the 90’s with his pitches. The Giants would love to open his spot for a younger pitcher, but they have to figure out what to do with the 33-year old veteran who will make $18-million per season through 2020.

A little bullpen irony 

In the seventh inning, the Giants’ lifted reliever Tony Watson and gave the ball to Ray Black with one out and two runners on base. The A’s had Lou Trivino warming up in their bullpen and would ultimately pitch the seventh inning for Oakland. The irony is that Trivino credits Black for his success as a pitcher. The A’s RHP said he was watching Black pitch at Class-A San Jose when he was with the Stockton Ports and he liked the way Black pitched. Trivino incorporated some of Black’s technique into his own style and now both are facing off in the major leagues.

So long Santiago and other transactions

Relief pitcher Santiago Casilla was designated for assignment (DFA) by the A’s. Casilla appeared in 26 games pitching 31.1 innings while posting a 3.16 ERA. He struck out 22 and walked 20 which lead to a WHIP of 1.213. Casilla had a poor outing on Friday night in San Francisco. If no team claims Casilla off waivers, he will have to decide if he will accept an assignment to the minors.

Ryan Dull received an airline ticket back to Nashville. Dull had a rough outing for the A’s on Friday night and has struggled to find any consistency on the mound this season. He had worked 18 innings for Oakland giving up 21 hits (3 HRs) while striking out 17 and walking five. Dull was carrying an ERA of 6.00, which will not keep you in the Major Leagues.

Franklin Barreto continues to rack up the frequent flier miles as he has returned from Nashville. His return is related to the leg contusion suffered by Jed Lowrie on Friday night. Lowrie did not play on Saturday and do not expect to see him on Sunday. Lowrie’s status for the All-Star game has not been addressed.

Good news for the starting pitching rotation

Daniel Mengden has been brought off the disabled list by the A’s. Mengden was put on the 10-day DL due to a foot sprain. The RHP is 6-6 this season in 16 starts with a 4.47 ERA in 90.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 55 and walked just 19 batters. Mengden could well see action in the Bay Bridge Series Part 2 in Oakland next weekend.

 

Bye to Chi: Exhausting series with Cubs ends in the 13th inning with a Giants’ 5-4 win

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time in three days, the Giants emptied their tank–along with their bullpen–to get past the Cubs.

The 452nd pitch of the afternoon thrown by James Norwood was treated to Buster Posey’s classic inside out swing which sent the ball carooming off the padded advertisement at the base of the right field arcade, scoring Brandon Belt.

Posey’s signature All-Star moment ended four and half hours of baseball in the 13th inning with the Giants prevailing 5-4 at AT&T Park on Wednesday. And then it got Posey’s manager and teammates talking about the catcher’s grit and determination.

“For him to drive the ball like that with two strikes, that’s what’s impressive,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Posey’s final swing.

“For Buster to feel something the majority of the season, his hip, and still go out every day and hit the ball like he does, he’s just a different animal,” said Dereck Rodriguez, who as the son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, might understand what Posey deals with shouldering so much responsibility on daily basis despite the constant injuries and nicks earned behind the plate.

A different animal? Yeah, what else would explain catching 225 pitches over 13 innings, then delivering the game-winning hit on your seventh at-bat two days after announcing that an expedited, pain-relieving procedure is needed in a few days just for your season to continue after the All-Star break.

“He’s a future Hall of Famer,” Rodriguez said.

Posey, always in character and in a different tone than Rodriguez, wasn’t in need of All-Star treatment.

“Everybody’s got stuff they’re dealing with. I try not to make more of it than what it is,” Posey said.

Whether business or usual, or Herculean feat, Posey’s big hit kept the Giants trending in the right direction, moving within three games of the Diamondbacks in the NL West. Ultimately, being three games behind–and just three games over .500–won’t get the Giants much. But they continue to hang around, for 95 games now, just in case they’re capable of a whole lot more down the stretch of the season.

The Giants will kick off the Battle of the Bay versus the A’s on Friday night at 7:15 pm PDT.