Tag: Buster Posey

Lefty Derek Holland gets an opportunity to resurrect his career in the SF Giant’s starting rotation

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2018 Major League Baseball Photo Day
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 20: Derek Holland #45 of the San Francisco Giants poses during Photo Day on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Robert Binder/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

from the cover athletic.com photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Derek Holland throws to the Oakland A’s during Monday’s pre season game at AT&T Park in the second game of the Bay Bridge Series

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Seven weeks after Derek Holland’s under-the-radar signing with the Giants as a non-roster invitee, the relationship between the club and the player has gotten quite serious.

Madison Bumgarner (and Jeff Samardzija) are on the shelf, and the 31-year old Holland is in the starting rotation. Given Holland’s recent history, this is quite a development, one the resurgent pitcher won’t take for granted.

“This is a great ballclub,” Holland said.  “And I’m glad to be a part of it.”

After a 14-loss season (in 26 starts) with the White Sox in 2017, Holland was released. Signing with the Giants, he hoped, would give him an opportunity to stay in the majors as a reliever.  But the Giants are plentiful in terms of options in their relief corps. Thanks to the imposing salary cap, all the opportunities–if any–would be in the club’s starting rotation. In fact, besides the still-too-green Tyler Beede and Chris Heston, nearly three years removed from his June 2015 no-hitter, the Giants possessed few options other than Holland.

So Holland took the ball and ran with it.  In five spring appearances, Holland won once and got his ERA under control after it hit 6.20 for 2017.  With 18 strikeouts in 15 innings, Holland earned a look for a rotation spot.  The Giants were forced to overlook Holland’s four homers allowed, and his 17 hits allowed in 15 innings didn’t seem so bad when compared to Matt Moore of 2017, or the possibility of signing aging, ageless one, Bartolo Colon.

So when Bumgarner’s bone in his hand was broken by a liner through the box, and Samardzija was declared out of at least the first two starts of his season, Holland got a spot.  But the Giants can’t be sure what they’re getting: Holland’s best year was 16 wins in 2011, and he missed most of both 2014 and 2015 with injuries.  The 31-year old stayed healthy in 2017, but his ERA soared.

“Despite getting released, I started off really well,” Holland explained.  “I  made every start.”

Last April, Holland won three games.  Then two in May, and only one win in June.  In June and July, the starter lost five games both months.  Then after a relief appearance in September, Holland was granted his unconditional release. A similiar start for the Giants would be nice, the rest of Holland’s 2017 would be too much of a reminder of what they got from Moore, who lost 15 times.

The difference? 2017 was rough on Moore psychologically, and it sometimes showed. Holland’s a much lighter personality, and the expectations for him aren’t as high.  That atmosphere could put the veteran in better position to succeed.  The Giants certainly hope so.

On Monday, in his final tune-up against the A’s, Holland pitched five innings and allowed four hits. Two of those four hits were solo shots for Mark Canha and Matt Chapman, but Moore kept the Giants in the game, and limited the traffic on the basepaths.

“He did a nice job,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I really think he’s set to go, and throw 100 pitches.”

 

Baseball is back in the Bay; Giants down the A’s 5-1 on Sunday

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baseball AZ

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Baseball returned to the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon as the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics played the first of three annual Bay Bridge Exhibition Series games at the Coliseum in Oakland. The G-Men came out on top in game of one as they downed the A’s 5-1 before 21,229 fans on very chilly day.

Johnny Cueto made the start for the Giants and Daniel Gossett took the hill for the A’s. If you are a Giants fan you are very happy with the way Cueto pitched especially with the loss of Bumgarner. The big righthander pitched 5.2-innings giving up just one run (earned) on five hits. He struck out six and walked just one batter. Cueto threw 82 pitches (57 strikes). He looks ready to go for the regular season.

The Athletics  Daniel Gossett looked good for the first two innings and then ran into some real trouble in the top of the third inning. Gossett gave up three runs off three three hits with the real damage coming from a Buster Posey two-run double that slammed off the center field wall. He would give up a solo run in the fourth inning.

Gossett worked 3.2 innings giving up those four runs (all earned) on five hits. He struck out two and walked one. Gossett threw 78 pitches (47 strikes).

“I thought his stuff was good. Similar to what we saw during regular Spring Training. He just did’t throw enough strikes,”said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “He got himself in a jam and Posey got a big hit … they scored some runs off of it. He has to be a little more efficient with his strikes and get ahead in the count.”

The A’s used six pitchers in the contest:

  • Yusmeiro Petit worked 1.1 scoreless innings giving up no hits.
  • Daniel Coulombe struck one and walked one but did not give up a hit in his one inning on the mound.
  • Liam Hendricks posted all zeros in his inning on the hill. Melvin said it was his best outing of the training season.
  • Raul Alcantara struggled in his one inning giving up one run on one hit. The hit was a home run to the Panda – Pablo Sandoval. Melvin indicated Alcantara has to start throwing his breaking ball for strikes.
  • Simon Castro closed out the game by giving up no runs on no hits while striking out two and walking one.

There were not the many highlights on offense. The A’s only run came in the bottom of third inning when Dustin Fowler led off the inning with base hit. After Joyce came close to hitting one of out the park to deep center field, Semien grounded out to short and that moved Fowler into scoring position at second base. Jed Lowrie then hit a single up the middle and the speedy Fowler raced home to score the only run of the game for the Athletics.

The totals in game for the Giants were five runs, seven hits and no errors while the A’s posted one run, six hits and two errors. San Francisco is now 14-15 for the spring and Oakland falls to 13-15.

The two meet in San Francisco on Monday night.

Athletics Current Roster

Khris Davis
Khris Davis is ready for the season to begin Photo: @Athletics

The A’s have 17 pitchers, seven infielders, seven outfielders and three catchers for a total of 34 players. That number must be cut to 25 by Thursday. Look for Oakland to keep 13 pitchers, 10 position players and 2 catchers.

Due to injuries, the A’s are down to five starting pitchers by default. It appears the bullpen will receive maximum usage this season. The team did work at upgrading the relief corps in the off-season and now it appears it is a good thing they did with the injuries to the starters.

Who will play center field?

The battle is between Dustin Fowler, Boog Powell and Jeff Smolinski. Powell saw action with the A’s in 2017 playing in 29 games and hitting .282 including three home runs. He also played in 23 games for the Seattle Mariners before being traded to Oakland. Smolinski appeared in 16 games for the Athletics batting .259 with an OPS .607.

The Athletics acquired Fowler from the New York Yankees in the Sonny Gray trade. Fowler appeared in one game for the Yankees which is the total of his MLB experience. When Fowler was traded, he was on the disabled list with a ruptured right patellar tendon. He came off the DL last November.

Powell is hitting .250 for the spring with an OPS of .665. He has hit two home runs and two stolen bases. Fowler is batting .195 in 41 trips to the plate this spring. He has not hit a home run but has recorded four RBI and has three stolen bases. His OPS is .471.

Smolinski has hit .289 this spring with an OPS of 1.003. He has hit four home runs and recorded 13 RBI. Those are some numbers that may be hard to ignore

This appears to be a battle between power and speed. The advantage that Fowler possesses is his speed which can be a real asset on defense and could be a real help on offense if he could use that speed to get into scoring position. The problem is the on-base-percentage of .227. If that OBP is over .350, now that speed becomes a weapon.

The fact is the experience and offensive production of Powell and Smolinski gives them a real advantage in staying with the “big club” on Thursday and beyond. The A’s need Fowler to develop into a leadoff hitter who can get on base by the base hit, bunt or base-on-balls. He probably needs some time at Triple-A to work on those skills.

After the game on Sunday, Bob Melvin had this to say about Fowler, “He’s doing a nice job and he’s starting to swing the bat better. He’s starting to hit the ball the other way which means he’s getting on top of the ball and more on track. Early in the spring that wasn’t the case. His bats are getting better and better.”

2018 Giants must figure out how to gain ground in the competitive NL West

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Arizona Diamondbacks’ J.D. Martinez (28) is greeted at the plate by Daniel Descalso, left and Paul Goldschmidt after hitting a two-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants are rumored to want to bring back a majority of their 25-man roster, a retooling project as opposed to a rebuilding effort to shape their 2018 squad.

Add a power source, the thinking goes, someone like Giancarlo Stanton, if not Stanton himself, and that big bat in the middle of the order takes the pressure off Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey and others, giving the Giants a competent offense, one at least slightly better than the three-runs-or-less trainwreck of 2017.

But the Giants don’t just need to get better, they need to gain traction within the NL West, a division that’s gone to the Dodgers for a record fifth year in a row, and has two other 2017 postseason qualifiers with staying power in the Rockies and Diamondbacks.

So to recap, the team with the worst record in baseball this season, and the last half of the previous season, is supposed to catch its rivals by tweaking it’s roster.

How’s that supposed to work?

Start with pitching, and that’s where the Dodgers and Diamondbacks have set themselves apart, with both staffs ranked among the top three in baseball. The Dodgers and D’Backs have done it in the manner the Giants intended: with pitching that provides two or more dominant starts every time through the five-man rotation, and a bullpen that protects all leads.

The Giants will need to shave a run off their slightly-below MLB average team ERA (4.59) and come up with two more strikeouts every nine innings to get to where Los Angeles and Arizona are. They may attempt to do that with a bullpen and a starting staff that could return intact, that after the team announced Matt Moore’s option will be picked up despite his 14 losses, and ghastly performances versus NL West competition (1-7, Moore’s only win within the division came on April 10).

“I’ve really enjoyed the city and staff we work with every day, the ballpark and the division,” Moore said when asked if he was excited for the opportunity to return.

The Giants’ aim for 2017 was (prior to the 93 losses and counting) to win low scoring games with pitching and defense. Neither aspects were anywhere close to where they needed to be this season, resulting in the team’s proverbial margin for error being too slim.

Once again, how will that work? Don’t be surprised if the Giants answer by saying a healthy Will Smith, Mark Melancon, Johnny Cueto and Madison Bumgarner minus the dirt bike will suffice.

Offensively, the Giants run counterintuitively to the vast majority of clubs in terms of offensive philosophy with their retention of clutch hitters who don’t necessarily hit the ball out of the park. Thus, the ESPN article a month ago suggesting the club rid itself of nearly its entire everyday lineup in search of hitters with a home run profile.

But the Giants may only tweak here, let’s for now say Stanton or Mike Moustakas (both having career years in home runs) and a plus defender in centerfield in, and Brandon Belt and a reserve outfielder out.

Is that enough bold change to make up the 23 home run gap between the Giants and 29th place Pittsburgh, or the 85 home run difference between the Giants and the Dodgers?

Probably not. For instance, Stanton is likely to finish second or third in the NL MVP race to Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt and/or Colorado’s Nolan Arenado despite hitting 55 home runs to date. Were Stanton to do something similar for the Giants in 2018, guess what? His contributions could still leave him behind Goldschmidt and Arenado. No slight to Stanton, that’s just reflective of how good the other two are, and how much promise they retain heading into next season.

Again, it’s hard to see how the Giants close the gap so dramatically in such a short period of time. But don’t be surprised if they try.

That’s different: Eighth-inning rally gets Giants a rare, series win over the Indians

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San Francisco Giants’ Conor Gillaspie, right, is congratulated by Gorkys Hernandez after scoring against the Cleveland Indians during the eighth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Tuesday night, the Giants walked off with a win, and walked into a hearty celebration. Wednesday afternoon, the Giants engineered a successful, late inning comeback, and resigned the Panda.

That’s changing the narrative.

In a season so disappointing any true momentum shift would likely involve Mays, McCovey and both Bonds in a Field of Dreams: SF television pilot scenario, the sad-sack Giants will likely have to do with far less.

They appeared to get that in their last two wins over the AL Central-leading Indians. Buster Posey’s two-run, pinch-hit double in the eight inning propelled the Giants to a 5-4 win and a rare, series victory.

“It’s big,” Brandon Crawford said. “We obviously want to have a good, second half. The first half didn’t go the way we wanted, obviously. It’d be nice to turn that around and winning two, close games where we had to come from behind against a good team that’s a good start, definitely.”

The trends the Giants bucked in winning Wednesday were numerous, enough to prompt most to drive to Vegas in a triple-digit heat looking to cash in on all the abnormalities. The Giants had been a major league worst in day games (11-24), a bust when trailing late (6-51 when trailing after seven innings), and a zero when Matt Cain starts (seven, consecutive losses).

Posey hadn’t been productive in his infrequent turns as a pinch-hit either, but that didn’t keep the All-Star catcher from sending reliever Bryan Shaw’s 3-2 offering off the left field wall scoring Conor Gillaspie and Crawford with the deciding runs. Shaw had to live with getting beat on a slider, something other than his best pitch, and Posey got to exault in helping the club on his scheduled day of rest.

“My pinch-hitting numbers are not very good, but it’s nice to come through,” Posey said.

The Giants won a series against an American League opponent for the first time in more than a year. Cain did his part by pitching six innings, allowing three runs. Denard Span contributed a homer and a double, and Crawford had two hits and a run scored while hitting cleanup.

The Indians post-All Star break week in the Bay Area ended poorly as the team won once in six tries and escaped with their division lead almost all but wiped out. The reoccurring theme of bullpen games, and narrow losses wasn’t lost on manager Terry Francona.

“When you’re playing games like this where every run is so magnified, we have to play clean baseball. I don’t think our bullpen can’t handle it. I just think we have to play the game in all areas,” Francona said.

In a surprise announcement, the Giants confirmed the signing of Pablo Sandoval to a minor league contract, giving the Panda an opportunity to resurrect his career starting at Triple-A Sacramento after he was let go by the Red Sox despite the $49.5 million left on his contract.

On Thursday, the Giants open a four-game set against the Padres with Madison Bumgarner facing San Diego’s Jhoulys Chacin.

 

Naturally it’s the Nats: Scherzer not the one to surrender momentum to the struggling Giants

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National’s Ryan Zimmerman circling the bases after his three-run, first inning home run off Matt Cain at AT&T Park on Wednesday night. (AP/Eric Risberg)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Representing varying degrees of pressure, the 3-0 deficits the Giants faced in each game of their just concluded series with the Nationals said it all about being down, and not being let up.  Those significant, but normally surmountable leads said plenty about the current acumen and confidence of the Nats, versus the increasing lethargy enveloping the Giants as well.

On Monday, the Nats built their 3-0 lead in the eighth inning. Perhaps the rare, cross country flight between day games on consecutive days delayed the NL East leader’s impending takeover by an hour or so.  On Tuesday, the Nats built their 3-0 lead after two innings.  On Wednesday, they built the lead after the first four batters of the game, capped by red-hot Ryan Zimmerman’s three run homer.

Term the series pressure, followed by pressure packed, followed by pressure filled, with Max Scherzer, Washington’s Wednesday night starter, providing much of the later. Consequently, the Giants never looked comfortable at any point.

We did say they’re different levels to this game.

Scherzer, bouyed by Giants’ hitters anxious to avoid deep counts when facing one of MLB’s most dominate pitchers, cruised to a 3-1 victory, holding the Giants without a hit until the fourth, and only surrendering five hits in a complete game performance that was breezy, if not brief.

“We got a break with one run or we’d probably get shut out, to be honest,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “He’s done that to a lot of clubs.”

Former Giant’s manager Dusty Baker saw his win total as a big league manager reach 1,799, one win from a milestone reached by just 16 others. Baker’s gameplan for the occasion was brutally simple: ride his ace to the finish, if possible, in the absence of closer Koda Glover, who was unavailable due to a heavy workload in recent games. The result was a spectacular success; Scherzer finished off the Giants with 100 pitches, 79 of those strikes, and he retired the first hitter in every inning. Baker’s seen it all, but sounded giddy when asked about his ace.

“The difference was, he was getting strike one,”  Baker said. “Who out there can deal the way he was dealing? Boy, that was masterful.”

While Scherzer dealt, Washington’s hitters extracted every pitch out of Matt Cain, just as they sucked every pitch out of Jeff Samardzija the day before. Somehow, Cain kept it close despite throwing 80 pitches in the first four innings, but it mattered little as the Nationals’ completed the sweep, their eighth win in their last 11 games.

Bryce Harper saw his suspension reduced from four games to three, and began serving it immediately.  That left the Nats down an MVP candidate, and it hardly mattered. Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon had two hits apiece, and seven of the Nationals’ nine hits came in the first four innings. On Tuesday, 13 of the Nats’ 14 hits came in the first five innings.

“Everybody had their fingers on this,” Scherzer said.

Once again, the Giants got caught marching in place offensively. Only in the fourth inning did they manage to couple hits, and that entailed two Washington outfielders failing to catch Busted Posey’s fly ball that fell between them when Jayson Werth and Michael Taylor both lost the ball in the lights. Posey’s ball was ruled a double scoring Eduardo Nunez.

The Giants finished 2-4 on their homestand, and were twice shut out before scoring just one run Wednesday. They fell 11 1/2 games off the pace of the Dodgers in the NL West.

Changing their tune: Giants nip Dodgers behind Cain’s third, consecutive encouraging start

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By Morris Phillips

In a close game against the hated Blue, Giants’ catcher Buster Posey and starting pitcher Matt Cain’s moment of realization while sitting together in the dugout between innings could have signaled the pair were on the same page, a determined alliance of stubborn, veteran ballplayers tired of losing, and willing to unearth any details that might prompt a reversal of their fortunes.

Or just two old guys acknowledging how much time has passed in their baseball careers without being too smug to admit it.

“Goodness. He looks really young,” Posey said to Cain regarding Giants’ rookie Christian Arroyo, 21, making his big league debut on Monday.

And truth by told, Arroyo did look young, but he didn’t play like a youngster.  The Giants’ number one ranked prospect was tabbed from Sacramento to help jump start a club that found itself in sole possession of the National  League’s cellar on Monday morning, promoted as a desperately needed shot in the arm.

And while it took just a shade under three hours, the Giants achieved the desired result, a win and another encouraging outing from Cain, a guy who suddenly fills a huge void in the absence of Madison Bumgarner.

Cain hadn’t beat the Dodgers in nearly four years, and only five of the 312 starts in his career had resulted in a win over his team’s biggest rival.  But this time, things fell into place, and weren’t disrupted when the veteran pitcher was removed while favoring his hamstring in the moments leading up to the top of the seventh inning.

Instead, the bullpen hunkered down, 30-year old Posey threw out runners in the eighth and ninth innings, and the 32-year old Cain fell into the win column.

“We’re at our best when the pitching’s there and the defense is there. That’s our strength and it’s gotten away from us,” manager Bruce Bochy admitted.

“I don’t think we had a scenario where we very predictable,” Cain said.

 

Giants win on Opening Day, get good news on Posey’s scary head injury

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The 18th Opening Day along the shores of McCovey Cove had an ominous start and a satisfying conclusion, with a comical moment in between that stood as the pivotal play in the Giants’ 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Just another example of the home team trying to make up for those anxious days when the park by San Francisco Bay opened in 2000 and Giants’ fans suffered through several, disappointng losses to the Dodgers.  This time, fans of the orange and black were treated to all the pomp and circumstance with a giant U.S. flag ceremony, the national anthem sung by the cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” and a standing ovation for Barry Bonds, the franchise’s hero come home. Following that, the Giants thrilled the fans with their 14th win in a home opener at AT&T Park.

The ominous moment was a Tijuan Walker pitch that plunked Buster Posey in the first inning, and ended his afternoon on the field, as manager Bruce Bochy elected to lift his star player as a precautionary move.  Backup Nick Hundley came on to team with Matt Moore, who was in control, pitching eight innings, allowing just one run, to pick up the win.

“Were he not the catcher, he might have stayed in the game,” Bochy said of the incident in which Posey was alert, but wide-eyed, throughout.  Posey did leave the field under his own power after a thorough look over by trainer Ron Groeschner. Posey was scheduled to be evaluated soon after the conclusion of the game, but the team announced, that they don’t expect the All-Star catcher to return to the field for Tuesday’s game.

“It’s one of the worst sounds you can hear in baseball, the ball hitting the helmet,” Bochy said.  “It’s a scary moment.  There’s been a lot of damage to hitters hit in the head.”

Moore said afterwards that he retreated to the clubhouse a couple of times to check on Posey, saying that he felt his catcher was doing fine.  Other than that, Moore did his best to reduce all his teammates’ anxiety by taming the D’Backs, allowing just the one run on Yasmani Tomas’ solo shot in the fifth.

 

Giants Bullpen Collapses Again, Lose 3-2 Against St. Louis

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: A picture says a 1000 words in one game earlier this season San Francisco reliever Santiago Casilla was angry for being lifted but in this Saturday photo Santiago sympathizes with what his manager Bruce Bochy has to do and lifts Casilla from the game against the St Louis Cardinals at AT&T Park in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO- Just as the team looked to have turned a corner on its second-half struggles, the Giants bullpen collapsed yet again to drop a tight game to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

St. Louis strung together two runs on two hits and a walk to steal a 3-2 lead from the Giants in the top of the ninth. And for a manager renowned for his ability to work his bullpen, a questionable decision at the game’s most crucial moment proved to be the Giants’ downfall.

Yet again, Bruce Bochy put his faith in former closer Santiago Casilla to close out a tight ballgame. And yet again, he was mistaken in doing so.

Clinging to a one-run lead, Casilla entered in the bottom of the ninth win a man on first. An ill-advised walk and a seeing-eye single later and Casilla had blown his ninth save attempt of the season.

After warming up Hunter Strickland, Bochy would elect to replace Casilla with Matt Reynolds, who would lose the lead on a sacrifice fly to his first batter of the night. San Francisco would threaten with two singles in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t complete the comeback attempt.

The collapse erased what what a magnificent pitching performance by starter Jeff Samardzija, who allowed just one run on seven hits across 6 2/3 innings. Perhaps even more damaging is the fact that both the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers won their games, hurting the team’s chances at a playoff birth.

After the game, Bochy talked about Samardzija’s dominant outing.

“He did a great job. He gave us all we needed and it’s a great start, a quality start,” said Bochy. “Leake, we couldn’t do a whole lot off of him but we found a way to get a couple runs, and we’re a couple out away from winning the ball game. That’s been part of our issue.”

After the game, Bochy said that his decision to pull Romo- who started the ninth inning- in favor of Casilla was an attempt to play the matchups based on history.

“We said if it got to Molina there, he’s had success off of Romo, and Casilla would be a better matchup,” said Bochy. “For some reason, Molina has seen the ball pretty good off of Sergio (Romo), and you go off history. That’s why the change was made there”

 

After suffering at the hands of yet another two-out-rally by the Giants last night, the Cardinals looked to flip the script on Samardzija, jumping out to an early lead when Brandon Moss parked an opposite field shot with two down in the first inning.

As they’ve done so often lately, the Giants’ bottom half of the order-anchored by the streaking Hunter Pence- kicked off the scoring for San Francisco on Saturday night. The Giants got on the board after a deep drive by Brandon Belt to the center field warning track would plate Pence, who singled before him.

The Giants threatened to put up another crooked number, but a spectacular diving play by Cardinals’ first baseman Matt Adams would end the inning by doubling up Eduardo Nunez at first.

San Francisco would look like the team of old in the bottom of the fifth frame, as third baseman Eduardo Nunez would use his speed to steal two straight bags off the Cardinals after leading off with a single. The pair of swipes would set up a sacrifice fly from Samardzija to plate the go-ahead run.

After issuing his fourth walk of the night with two outs in the seventh, Bochy would elect to use his bullpen to close the books on Samardzija’s impressive night. Lefty Will Smith would do just that, getting pinch hitter Jhonny Peralta to fly out to deep right field to end the threat.

Samardzija would walk away with an impressive line that saw him allow just one run on seven hits through a strong 6 2/3 innings.

But the Giants’ bullpen woes would rear their ugly head to erase his strong effort. After getting the leadoff batter, Sergio Romo would promptly give up a seeing-eye single to allow the tying run on board.

In a surprising move, Bochy would elect to trust the struggling Santiago Casilla in a tight spot. Like so many other times, this would prove to be an unwise decision by the skipper known for his bullpen management.

Casilla would start his night off with an ill-advised walk to his first batter, Yadier Molina, move the tying run into scoring position. Casilla’s night would be short, but costly, as Randal Grichuk would follow Yadier with a single past the outstretched glove of a diving Crawford to tie the game at 2-2.

Reliever Matt Reynolds would then retire his next two batters, but not before a sac-fly by Kolten Wong would give the Cardinals their first lead of the game.

San Francisco would threaten with a two-out rally after Eduardo Nunez and Denard Span would lace a pair of singles, but pinch hitter Connor Gillaspie would hit a routine pop-up on his first pitch to end the game.

 

 

 

 

Giants bullpen gives up sure win in late innings

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by Michael Martinez

SAN FRANCISCO – Johnny Cueto (13-3) appeared to have his first win since the All Star break in the bag after he threw a solid six and two thirds innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Cueto also had a nice day at the plate putting together two hits and driving in a run. However, the Giants bullpen fell apart in the late innings and allowed the Orioles to make things competitive.

Hunter Strickland came in to relieve Cueto and got out of a seventh inning jam but gave up two runs in the seventh to let the Orioles back into the ball game, which included a solo shot by Mark Trumbo. The blast was Trumbo’s was number 34 of the season he still leads the AL in that category.

Derek Law replaced Strickland in the eighth and was able to limit the damage as the Giants still held a 7-5 lead heading into the top half of the ninth.

Then Santiago Casilla came into the game and not only let two runners get on base, but threw a hanging curveball right over the heart of the plate to Baltimore second baseman, Johnathan Schoop. Schoop made Casilla pay as he crushed the hanging breaking ball into the left field bleachers to give the Orioles the lead, eight to seven. The homer marked Casilla’s fifth blown save of the year.

“I have confidence in all my pitches,” Casilla said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I threw the curveball, and I just made a mistake. The ball didn’t break.”

The Giants then tried to make something happen off Orioles closer Zach Britton in the bottom of the ninth, but unfortunately could not get a run across the plate to push the game into extra innings. Britton added to his league leading save total, 37, as Baltimore sits just a half game behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

For San Francisco, its their 18th loss since the Mid Summer Classic and a real bad one after they held a six run lead heading into the top of the seventh.

The orange and black hit their stride at the plate, tallying 14 hits for seven runs and forced Orioles skipper, Buck Showalter,  to remove starter Wade Miley in the fifth inning.

Giants back up catcher Trevor Brown got the scoring started with an RBI single in the second inning. Brown got the start behind the dish after Buster Posey was a last minute scratch due to back tightness. The injury could have been sustained from the flight back and has gradually worsened, according to Posey.

Before Sunday’s ball game, Brown had been hitless in his last seven at bats, with just three hits in his last 19. But Brown made the most out of his start and was a huge spark for SF’s offense. He finished the game three for five with three RBIs.

“He’s been great,” Posey said about Brown’s performance this year. “He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Outfielder Hunter Pence also had a good game and it appears his swing could be coming into form. Pence hit a bomb to center field, 436 feet to be exact, and added a single during the Giants big fifth inning. Pence’s dinger was his first since returning from the disabled list. Prior to today’s game, Pence had not put one into the seats dating all the way back to May 18.

Fortunately, the Dodgers (65-52) lost to Pittsburgh on Sunday, 11-3, keeping the Giants a game ahead in the NL West.

After blowing a huge lead and taking a loss in what looked to be the Giants first back-to-back wins since July 30 and 31 as well as their second consecutive series victory, San Francisco will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at home tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. PT as Matt Moore takes the mound.

“I think everyone knows what’s at stake. I don’t think there’s really any motivation needed,” Posey said. “This time of the year, this is when it’s fun. Each game as we get further and further along will have a little more importance on it. I think the group of guys in here generally thrive in these situations.”

Giants Go Deep To Steal Series Finale From Dodgers

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: San Francisco Giants Joe Panik hits for a double in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-The Giants entered Sunday’s series finale against the Dodgers just one home run short of leading the MLB. They used three of them to take three-of-four games from their rivals from down south over the weekend, completing yet another comeback with a 9-6 win.

Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Angel Pagan all went deep for the Giants on Sunday, leading to their fifth come-from-behind victory on the season that showcases the lineups old scrappiness with their newfangled depth throughout the order.

The 2016 are now the first team in franchise history to hit home runs in their first seven games, and the power surge has not gone unnoticed by skipper Bruce Bochy.

“It’s a team that’s gonna hit with more power. That doesn’t always mean home runs but I think if you look at the doubles, that’s gonna pick up, and throughout the lineup we have guys who can drive the ball. We’re not gonna rely on the long-ball but it certainly helps, particularly when you’re down five runs, it’s usually something that you need.”

Starter Johnny Cueto might have wished he was still in the confines of Miller Park after his second outing with his new team didn’t go over nearly as well as his first start of the season.

The quirky right-hander got knocked around for six runs on the day-including five in the first inning alone- but was picked up by his teammate’s at the plate. Despite his early struggles, Bochy kept faith in his new starter, and Cueto would rebound from a torrid start to give up just one more run over the next six innings before leaving with a chance at the win.

Although Bochy noted the tough first inning, the manager was ultimately impressed with Cueto’s resiliency and ability to bounce back after getting knocked around early.

“For him to end up going seven innings says a couple things. How tough he is, he’s a problem and he comes in there and gets a win after that. He was just a different pitcher after the first inning.”

Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir may not have given up runs in a bunch like Cueto, but the southpaw faired no better than Cueto, getting tagged for six runs over just four innings on seven hits. He was the first Dodgers pitcher to give up three home runs to San Francisco since 2004.

The Dodgers bats and the soggy AT&T turf dampened Cueto’s first start at home as a member of the Giants. After holding Los Angeles to 15 runs in eight career starts prior to Sunday’s game, the Dodgers tagged the 30-year old for five in the top of the frame.

Cueto allowed five hits, a walk and plunked one, while also slipping twice in the AT&T grass while attempting to field his position during that span.

But the Giants would showcase the power of their newfangled lineup, as they would erase Cueto’s miscues with the help of the longball.

Posey would kick things off in the third inning with a solo shot high into the left field bleachers to cut the Dodgers lead to just two. Two batters later, the newly-extended Brandon Belt would launch an equalizer of his own in the deep part of the yard, parking one over the center field wall near triples alley to tie the game.

Cueto, who had settled down after his wild first inning, would be tagged again by the Dodgers’ Corey Seager, whose ten game hitting streak would continue with a line drive single to plate Chase Utley in the top of the fourth to regain the lead for his club at 6-5.

The Giants would find an answer again, this time in the form of a blast from Pagan, whose ball would land just over the left field fence in the bottom half of the inning to notch things up again.

San Francisco’s bats stayed hot heading into the sixth, as Angel Pagan and Denard Span would reach base ahead of Joe Panik, whose seventh hit of the year was a two-rbi double that bounced on the center field warning track to give the Giants their first lead of the day at 8-6. Panik would come around to score on a deep sac-fly by Pence two batters leader to extend the margin.

Bochy’s continuing faith in his starter would be rewarded, as Cueto would settle in to strike out three batters while allowing just two hits and one walk over the next three innings. After escaping one last jam with a two-out liner to Pagan, Cueto would exit the game to a loud standing ovation from the AT&T Park crowd.

The Giants bullpen picked up where Cueto left off, with Sergio Romo and Josh Osich working a rather uneventful eighth inning before Santiago Casilla would down the heart of the Dodgers lineup in order to capture his second save on the season, giving his team a 9-6 final.

The win gives San Francisco sole possession of the NL West heading into a stint with the Colorado Rockies next week.