Tag: Chicago Cubs

San Francisco Giants’ Luis Matos celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a double hit by Casey Schmitt during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field on Wed Sep 6, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

It was not so long ago that the San Francisco Giants seemed to have a clear shot at a post season spot. Everything offensively and defensively was working but lately there has been a major shift and not for the better.

Going all the way back to mid-August the Giants can see the decline. They dropped two series to the Braves, then it was the Phillies and then they won a series against the Reds. When it looked like things might be turning around, it didn’t.

The team went on the road starting with a four game series with the Padres. San Francisco did win the first game of that series but was manhandled in the next three games. Next the Cubs swept them and the Giants were looking at a six game losing streak. The team now heads home and the way things are going right now, home is looking pretty darn good.

A closer look reveals a lack of offensive production, as well as problems on the mound. The inability to hold onto leads has been obvious and come from behind wins, well for right now, just are not happening.

This team continuously finds a way to lose. Right now they are 70-70 and in danger of falling below .500. If the season ended today, there would be no wild card for the Giants this season. Thankfully the season has a bit more to go but it is waning with only 22 games and San Francisco cannot continue on the course that they are on right now.

So who is to blame? Right now there is plenty of blame to go around. Many players are struggling and they do have some promising rookies but they need time to mature. So who wants to be accountable for this decline.

So far the answer is no one. It’s hard to believe that the team’s batting average is .214 since the break. There is someone falling short in this conversation whether it is the players, the coaching or the front office. Someone is responsible for the downfall of this team.

They are in a free fall right now and how long will fans continue to support this uninspiring, and at times ugly baseball. It wasn’t that long ago that the Giants won 107 games in a season, that being 2021.

We have heard they’re still “in the hunt” ad nauseum. Offensively, this team needs to wake up the bats. They are not in a slump anymore, this is a trend and it could very well spell missing the playoffs this season.

Right now they are below average offensively with a high strikeout rate, the fourth worst in baseball. They have hit 136 homeruns this year which is 20th in baseball. The only bright spot is Wilmer Flores who is the exception on this team right now.

Leaving runners stranded has become commonplace. San Francisco is in a tough place right now and righting this ship has happen sooner rather than later because they are running out of later.

The Giants will begin a three game series with the Colorado Rockies Friday night. Colorado is a team that has struggled this season and San Francisco under most circumstances would be a favorite to win the series. The Giants will send Kyle Harrison to the mound with a 1-1 win/loss record and a 4.70 ERA. Ty Blach (2-1 ERA 4.33) will get the nod for Colorado with first pitch at 7:15PM.

Chicago Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki follows through with a three-run double during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Thu Sep 6, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 The SF Giants are getting further and further away from a NL Wild Card birth on Wednesday at Wrigley Field they were crushed again by the Chicago Cubs 8-2 getting swept in three games.

#2 The Cubs Seiya Suzuki got a key hit against the Giants with a three run double in the bottom of the first which opened the scoring.

#3 Michael, Alex Wood who started got touched up going 2.1 innings five hits, five runs all earned, with a walk and a strike out. Is Wood’s arm just tired or is he just making some bad pitches?

#4 The Cubs picked up their fourth straight win while the Giants picked up their fifth straight loss. The Cubs are now 3.5 games up for second place in the Wild Card and Giants now drop 2.5 games back for a shot at the Wild Card.

#5 The Giants have Thursday off and return to Oracle Park Friday night to host the Colorado Rockies. Rockies starting pitcher TBD and for the Giants left hander Kyle Harrison (1-1 ERA 4.70) a 6:40 pm PT first pitch.

Michael Duca does the SF Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Mary Anne

San Francisco Giants right fielder Mitch Haniger (17) chases down a 3-run double hit by Chicago Cubs’ Seika Suzuki during the first inning at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Thu Sep 6, 2023 (AP News photo)

The San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs played their series finale on Wednesday. The Giants lost 8-2 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. San Francisco fell to 70-70, while Chicago improved to 76-64.

The Cubs got on the board first. Seiya Suzuki doubled on a sharp line drive to Mitch Haniger. Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, and Dansby Swanson scored for a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

The Cubs extended their lead in the bottom of the third inning. Cody Bellinger doubled on a line drive to Mitch Haniger. Ian Happ scored for a 4-0 lead. Nick Madrigal singled on a line drive to Austin Slater. Bellinger scored for a 5-0 lead as Dansby Swanson went to third base.

The Cubs added a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Miguel Amaya homered on a fly ball to left center field for a 6-0 lead.

The Cubs extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Christopher Morel singled on a sharp line drive to Luis Matos. Mike Tauchman scored for a commanding 7-0 lead.

The Giants finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning. Casey Schmitt doubled on a line drive to Mike Tauchman. Luis Matos scored to reduce the Cubs’ lead to 7-1. Joey Bart was out in a sacrifice fly to Mike Tauchman. Casey Schmitt scored to cut the Cubs’ lead to 7-2 with two outs.

The Cubs wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cody Bellinger homered on a fly ball to right field for an 8-2 lead.

Notes: The Giants recalled Joey Bart and Luis Matos from Triple-A Sacramento. Wade Meckler was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. Patrick Bailey was placed on the 7-day injured list.

Up Next: The Giants will return home to host the Colorado Rockies on Friday at 7:15 pm Pacific. Kyle Harrison (1-1, 4.70 ERA) will start for the Giants. The Rockies’ starting pitcher is TBD.

San Francisco Giants’ Joc Pederson (23) greets J.D. Davis at home after they scored on Davis’ two-run home run off Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Hayden Wesneski during the sixth inning at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Tue Sep 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (70-69) took on the Chicago Cubs (75-64) in game two of their series Tuesday evening at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Giants are struggling, watching their hopes of a wild card in the playoffs starting to slightly dim. They have lost four games in a row and dropped 17 of their last 25 games.

They are tied with Arizona and Miami for the final NL postseason spot. They desperately needed to win Tuesday night’s game and while it looked good in the early innings, the Giants could not hold onto several leads throughout the game losing 11-8.

Tuesday game recap: San Francisco wasted no time putting runs up on the board scoring in the first three innings. They needed some solid offense and they got it in the early innings of this game. They led 3-0 after three innings.

LaMonte Wade Jr. homered in the first inning giving the Giants an early 1-0 lead. Wade Meckler singled J.D. Davis home in the second inning and the score was 2-0 in favor of San Francisco. Another home run in the third inning off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski extended that lead to 3-0. The Giants had a great start in this game.

The Cubs fought right back taking the lead 4-3 in the third inning. Nico Hoerner scored off a Dansby Swanson single. Cody Bellinger scored the Cubs second run of the game when Jeimer Candelario walked with the bases loaded. Chicago would finish up the third inning with a Yan Gomes double sending Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki across home plate for the 4-3 lead.

San Francisco had some work to do if they wanted to put an end to this losing streak. It was a quiet fourth and fifth inning but the Giants had a very productive sixth inning. Joc Pederson doubled Wilmer Flores home and J.D. Davis hit a two-run home run taking a 6-4 lead. The San Francisco defense would now need to protect that lead.

You just cannot keep this Chicago ball club down. They tied up this game in the seventh inning 6-6. Suzuki homered with Swanson on board for the two runs and it was a new ball game. The Cubs went on to take the lead 7-6 when Nike Madrigal grounded into a fielders choice and Candelario scored. Chicago extended their lead thanks to Christopher Morel who hit a three-run home run and the Giants watched their lead dissolve now trailing 10-6.

San Francisco had two innings left in this game to right the ship or lose their fifth game in a row. The Giants got right to work scoring in the eighth inning when Brandon Crawford singled J.D. Davis home.

San Francisco had gotten one run back but needed a whole lot more still trailing 10-7. With runners on first and third and two outs the Giants had the tying run at the plate. The top of the eighth came to an end and San Francisco left the two runners stranded and were three outs away from yet another loss.

The Cubs were not finished and continued their hit parade scoring another run when Suzuki singled Swanson home increasing their lead to 11-7. The Giants defense kept the damage to a minimum with the one run but were three outs away from dropping another game. They had a huge offensive task in front of them.

Wilmer Flores, who has been playing some terrific ball, hit a solo home run in the ninth inning and San Francisco was desperate to salvage this game. With one out, J.D. Davis came to the plate and hit into a double play and that was the ball game 11-8 in favor of the Cubs.

This game that started out with such promise crumbled in the later innings. Game three will be played Wednesday with first pitch at 11:20. At the time of this post starting pitcher for San Francisco was undecided. Jordan Wicks will take the mound for Chicago with a 2-0 win/loss record and a 1.80 ERA. The Giants will be trying to prevent the sweep.

San Francisco Giants shortstop Paul DeJong throws Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner out at first during the sixth inning at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Mon Sep 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

CHICAGO, Ill. — The San Francisco Giants’ (70-68) batters unintentionally observed the National Holiday designated for American workers, as the Chicago Cubs (74-64) put in Work, 5-0 on the North Side of the Windy City.

The Giants were unwelcomed guests of the home team, as their starting pitcher, right-hander Justin Steele (16-3, 2.58) had them handcuffed with his career-high 12 strikeouts and only two hits allowed. Steele was as effective as a steel trap door, by pitching eight innings, giving up two walks, tossing 92 pitches, with 62 strikes.

Chicago’s righty relief pitcher, Jose Cuas also got in on the action with his own strikeout on the woeful Giants. His action gave SF the Baker’s Dozen, or in some circles, unlucky 13 K’s.

Although the offense was essentially nonexistent, starting pitcher Logan Webb (9-12, 3.51) was holding his own through 6 innings with a one-run deficit on a second inning deep homer (432ft.) by Seiya Suzuki. However, while the bullpen was warming up pitchers to come in for him, the seventh turned the game into a no contest, with two more runs, and knocking him out of the game, with 6 2/3 innings pitched, five hits, three earned runs, four strikeouts on 94 pitches.

The Cubs were not satisfied with that tally, so they decided to add on two more in the eighth stanza. This included their fifth and final run on a fielder’s choice rundown play, where Cody Bellinger creeped into home before the tag was applied to the runner in the aforementioned play.

As for the Giants’ feeble two hits: Third baseman Casey Schmitt hit a single to right field in the top of the second inning. Shortstop Paul DeJong slapped a base hit to leftfield in the top of the eighth inning. Other than that, the Giants bats were cold as popsicles, despite the temperature hitting 89 degrees at first pitch in the Midwest’s largest Metropolis.

Besides Steele putting in a hard day’s work, Susuki followed up his HR blast with a RBI double, and fielder’s choice RBI. He also scored two runs himself. As Disco sensation Donner Summer intimated in her hit song, these two worked hard for their money, on Labor Day.

The Giants have a chance to redeem themselves Tuesday evening (6:40 pm CST), September 5, as they face the Cubs for game 2 of the three game series. San Francisco will start RHP Ryan Walker (4-2, 2.16), while Chicago plans to put RHP Kyle Hendricks (5-7, 3.59) on the hill.

Notes: With the last loss San Francisco is 1-4 on this current road trip and 1-3 against the Cubs in 2023. In their last 28 games, they have managed to only win nine games, Despite that horrible winning percentage since August 5, they are still two games above .500 and continue to be in playoff contention.

The Chicago Cubs didn’t get too many opportunities to touch home plate against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Jun 11, 2023 (@Cubs photo)

.SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.– The Chicago Cubs were not able to sweep the weekend series versus the San Francisco Giants, as they were too small for the Oracle Park large inhabitants, 13-3 on a nice Sunday by the Bay.

The Giants were serious about avoiding the sweep early, when Designated Hitter Joc Pederson belted the first of two home runs, on a two-run bomb in the bottom of the first inning. 2-0 SF after one.

The Baby bears from the Windy City managed to get a run in the top of the second when Giants shortstop Casey Schmitt committed two errors on a ball hit by Cubs center fielder Mike Tauchman. Catcher Yan Gomes knocked in the tying run in the top frame of the third inning on a fielder’s choice play.

In the middle of the third, 2-2. Pederson was at it again in the bottom of the third, with his second two-run Jack of the game; this one splashed into McCovey Cove (101) and put the home team up 4-2, after three.

San Francisco added to the tally the next couple of innings: Catcher Blake singled in first baseman Wilmer Flores in the bottom of the fourth, right fielder Michael Conforto knocked in two Giants in the fifth inning on a single to center field, and Sabol also contributed another rbi. After five, Giants 8, Cubs 2.

Chicago managed to scratch in one more run in the sixth, as Nico Hoerner hit into a fielder’s choice scenario, scoring their final run.

The Giants were not finished scoring, as they tacked on five more in the sixth and seventh innings.

Second baseman Thairo Estrada hit a solo homer in the sixth frame, while Flores added a sacrifice fly rbi in the same frame. Estrada belted his second round-tripper in the seventh with a three-run blast, giving them a whopping ten run lead after seven, 13-3.

That was all the Giants needed, because the Cubs could not muster up any more the last two innings, and take the win of the series, but a gigantic loss of the game.

The Cubs have the day off Monday, June 12, but will host the Pirates of Pittsburgh in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, Tuesday June 13.