Giants will be first team to wear pride uniforms Saturday at Oracle Park

San Francisco Giants pitcher Anthony DeScalfani gets the start against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu Jun 3, 2021 (AP News photo 5-18-21 in Cincinnati)

By Jessica Kwong

The San Francisco Giants had Wednesday off after a disappointing 8-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

San Francisco still sits at the top of the NL West rankings, above the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The MLB on Wednesday named Kevin Gausman the NL Pitcher of the month for May. Gausman stats are: 0.73 ERA, 37 IP, 49 K, 0.76 WHIP. He shares the recognition with Rich Hill of the Tampa Bay Rays whose stats are: 0.78 ERA, 34.2 IP, 36 Ks.

San Francisco starts a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday at Oracle Park. First pitch is at 6:45 p.m.

The Giants will be the first team to play in Pride uniforms when they face the Cubs on Saturday. Their caps will have the “SF” logo colored with the Progress Pride Flag. In addition, each jersey will have a patch on the right sleeve with that design.

Manager Gabe Kapler said he is “very proud that the San Francisco Giants are taking this step.”

“Very proud to be part of it,” Kapler said on Tuesday. “Looking forward to the impact and the support that we can provide for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Starting pitchers for Thursday’s game at Oracle Park the Chicago Cubs will start right hander Zach Davies (2-2 ERA 4.65) and for the San Francisco Giants Anthony DeScalfani (4-2 ERA 3.56) first pitch is at 6:45 pm PDT

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Giants take Wednesday off before weekend set with Cubs

San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski takes a hack against the Los Angeles Angels at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Jun 1, 2021 has a jammed thumb is questionable for Thu Jun 3, 2021’s game against the Chicago Cubs (photo from the Mercury News)

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

It’s a day off on Wednesday for the San Francisco Giants, who are locked up in a tight National League West Division race. The Giants lead San Diego by one-half game as they head into this weekend’s series against the Chicago Cubs in a battle of first-place ballclubs.

An area of concern for the Giants is the status of outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, who left Tuesday’s 8-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning after jamming his thumb in an attempted catch.

Yastrzemski slid into the padding on the brick wall, where his glove hand hit the wall as the ball bounced away. He remained in the game through the end of the Angels’ five-run rally. The team said the initial X-ray did not show a fracture, and called it a sprained right thumb. The injury was to be reevaluated on Wednesday.

The Giants are also keeping an eye on third baseman Evan Longoria, who is listed as day-to-day with a side strain.

Looking ahead, the Giants announced on Tuesday that they will be the first MLB team to wear custom pride-themed jerseys to honor the LGBTQ+ community. The Giants will wear jerseys incorporating the 11 Pride colors on Saturday, June 5, when they host the Cubs at Oracle Park.

In a statement, Giants CEO and president Larry Baer said, “We are extremely proud to stand with the LGBTQ+ community as we kick off one of the best annual celebrations in San Francisco by paying honor to the countless achievements and contributions of all those who identify as LBGTQ+.”

The jerseys will have a Giants logo in Pride colors on their sleeve and cap. The custom uniforms will resemble those worn by the Giants’ High-A affiliate in 2019.

MLB The Show Postseason 2019 podcast with Daniel Dullum: Taking a look at wild card matchups; Bochy gets ready for retirement; plus more

photo from the olympian.com: Oakland Athletics’ Ramon Laureano makes his way through the dugout after hitting a solo home run on a pitch from Seattle Mariners’ Marco Gonzales during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, in Seattle.

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Playoff pairings are almost set: A’s to host AL Wild Card vs. Tampa Bay

2 Giants hope to give Bochy a good sendoff against Dodgers

3 Verlander gets 3,000th K, Astros clinch home field; Mets’ Pete Alonso sets MLB rookie HR mark

4 Look for managerial changes in the next few days

5 After 72 seasons, Cubs play final game on WGN-9

The MLB The Show podcast with Daniel is heard every Sunday and through the postseason on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Buyers remorse-Cubs regret $43M deal with Kimbrell; A’s Semien closing in on 200 hits; plus more

photo from uk.movies.yahoo.com: New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone shows the location and how much a pitch call was squeezing his pitchers after he was ejected for the fifth time for this season on Saturday at Yankee Stadium by Umpire Joe West against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel:

1 Craig Kimbrell blows another save now 0-4, 6.53 ERA, Cubs start to regret $43 million contract

2 A’s Marcus Semien reaches base six times against Texas, chasing 200 hits

3 Padres fire manager Andy Green after four seasons 274-366 won loss record.

4 Tampa Bay Rays keep rolling with third straight walk-off win

5 Umpire Joe West ejects Yankees skipper Aaron Boone a day after blowing a strike call

Join Daniel every Sunday for the MLB podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Pineda gets caught with PEDs, out for 60 games; A’s could win series over Tigers today; plus more

from yahoo.sports.com photo: Minnesota Twins pitcher Michael Pineda throws to a Cleveland Indians batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept 6, 2019, in Minneapolis

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Twins pitcher Michael Pineda suspended 60 games for PED violation, will miss the playoffs

2 Swingin’ A’s go for series win over Tigers, continue Wild Card chase

3 Surging Diamondbacks closing in on National League Wild Card berth

4 Cubs All-Star shortstop sidelined with thumb fracture

5 Nationals’ pitcher makes emotional comeback

Catch Daniel each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show Podcast with Matt Harrington: Giants need to sweep a lot of series to get wild card in their sights; Cervelli hooks up with Braves, feels no concussion issues; plus more

photo from sfgate.com:  Scooter Gennett #14 of the San Francisco Giants turns a double play in the fourth inning against Nicholas Castellanos #6 of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on August 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.

On the MLB podcast with Matt:

#1 Last chance for the San Francisco Giants, who open a two-game road trip to Oakland and face the A’s. The A’s are rolling they have won eight out of their last ten games and are tied for second for a wild card spot with Cleveland.

#2 The Giants’ wild card chances are becoming distant they got swept in Chicago and are six games back of second for a shot at the wild card.

#3 The Atlanta Braves in need of catching after Brian McCann was injured with a sprained left knee and picked up former Pittsburgh Pirate Francisco Cervelli at the pro-rated minimum MLB salary at the pro-rated amount of $119,000. Cervelli, who had concussion issues, caught six games with Pittsburgh Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis without any signs recurring problems.

#4 In Los Angeles on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and comedian Larry David both took in the Dodgers-Yankees game. It’s not too often you’ll see the two New Yorkers in the same place in LA, but they were the talk of the game.

#5 Can the Atlanta Brave Ronald Acuna Jr. get to 40-40? Right now, he has 30 homers and 30 steals with a month and a week left in the season. September could be an exciting month for Acuna Jr chasing down 40-40.

Matt does the MLB podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Shark is sharp, but Cubs sweep Giants with 1-0 win

Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Jeremy Harness

For the past couple of years, the jury has been out on Jeff Samardzija. However, on Thursday afternoon, it was the offense that let him down, less than 24 hour after scoring 11 runs.

Samardzija clearly pitched well enough to beat the Chicago Cubs and salvage a game from the three-game series, but the Giants could not bring a single run across, and that resulted in a hard-luck 1-0 loss at Wrigley Field.

As a result, they were swept right out of Chicago, in a series that would have gone a long way in continuing their push for the second wild-card spot in the National League.

The right-hander, who started his pro baseball career with the Cubs after starring in baseball as well as football for Notre Dame, went seven strong innings and gave up only a run on two hits, walking one and striking out four.

Meanwhile, the Giants had all kinds of trouble with Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks, who threw seven shutout innings at them, giving up only three hits – one of those coming off the bat of his pitching counterpart, Samardzija – and striking out seven and not walking anybody.

From there, the Giants managed only one hit off the Cubs’ relievers, as they flew away from Wrigley Field two games under .500. As expected, the National League as a whole has improved since the All-Star break, as the second wild-card spot holder, the St. Louis Cardinals, have a 68-58 mark at press time.

The Giants are now a full six games out of the wild card, and they clearly have a ton of work to do in this next month if they are going to have a chance to make a serious run at the postseason.

The Giants head to RingCentral Coliseum to take on the A’s for a two-game weekend series starting Saturday night at 6:07 p.m.

Giants fall in wild shootout against Cubs, 12-11

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants’ bats, which had been clearly identified as a problem for most of this year, was definitely not an issue Wednesday against the Cubs.

Their ability to get the Cubs out on a regular basis was.

As a result, despite a comeback in the late innings, the Giants fell to the Cubs, 12-11, at Wrigley Field, despite pounding out 13 hits, including four home runs.

The Giants trailed 6-2 after four innings, but they mounted a stellar comeback that saw them take the lead in the seventh inning, 11-10. However, reliever Reyes Moronta gave up a two-run homer to Kris Bryant, his 26th of the season, to put Chicago back on top in the bottom of the eighth.

From there, the Giants could not get anything going against Chicago closer Craig Kimbrel, who tossed a perfect ninth to nail down his 11th save of the year, after spending half of this 2019 campaign as an unclaimed free agent.

Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez had an outing to forget on Wednesday. After a stellar start in Arizona over the weekend, Rodriguez was shelled by the vaunted Cubs lineup, surrendering six runs on six hits over only four innings, including a pair of homers.

Yu Darvish, the Cubs’ starter, didn’t fare much better. He gave up seven runs and lasted only 5 1/3 innings, and four of his pitches left the ballpark.

Mike Yastrzemski continues to tear up major-league pitching. He has three hits on Wednesday, which included his 17th homer of the 2019 season, a two-run shot in the fifth inning that cut Chicago’s lead to 6-4.

Stephen Vogt, Alex Dickerson and Evan Longoria each had a pair of hots for the Giants.

Rizzo homers twice in Cubs’ 5-3 win

Photo credit: @BrianSandalow

By Jeremy Kahn

Coming off a series where they won three out of four from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants began another big series against a playoff contender.

Anthony Rizzo hit two home runs, helping the Chicago Cubs to a 5-3 victory over the Giants at Wrigley Field.

Rizzo put the Cubs into the lead in the bottom of the third inning, as he led off the frame with his 23rd home run of the season.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, the Giants tied it up in the top of the fourth inning, as Kevin Pillar hit his 18th home run of the season.

The Cubs took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth inning, as they were helped out by instant replay and that man Rizzo was instrumental on the play that turned everything around.

Javier Baez hit a ground ball that Brandon Belt fielded at first, and thinking Belt touched the bag, Rizzo headed back to first base with Baez chugging down the line from the batters box.

Both players ran into each other, and the umpires called it a double play, as Abiatal Avelino threw the ball back to Belt from second base; however, the Cubs saw it a different way and challenged the call that was eventually overturned and Baez was safe at first base.

Kyle Schwarber then walked, and then Jonathan Lucroy singled off of Belts glove at first base that scored Baez with the eventual game-winning run.

Cole Hamels gave up three runs on five hits, as he won for the first time since June 12 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Giants are now 3-2 on their nine-game road trip that will conclude with a two-game series in Oakland versus the As on Saturday and Sunday.

Austin Slater hit a two-run home run for the Giants that tied up the game in the top of the second inning.

Nicholas Castellanos gave the Cubs a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, as he hit his seventh home run, and then two batters later, Rizzo hit his first home run of the game.

Rizzo went 3-for-3, as he picked up his first multi-home run of the season and Castellanos hit his seventh home run since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers on July 31.

Tyler Beede went just four innings for the Giants, as he gave up three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out four; however, he gave up three home runs.

Fernando Abad took the loss, as he gave up the fateful hit to Schwarber in the bottom of the fifth inning. Abad went 1.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits, walked two and struck out one.

NOTES: Pablo Sandoval flew to Los Angeles to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache for a second opinion on his right elbow. Steven Duggar, who is out with a left shoulder sprain will not need surgery; however, he most likely miss the rest of the 2019 season.

Johnny Cueto pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits, walked one and struck out three. Cueto threw 60 pitches, 43 of them for strikes.

UP NEXT: Dereck Rodriguez will take the mound for the Giants on Wednesday night, while Yu Darvish will pitch for the Cubs.

MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: Reds Aquino and Astros Alvarez belt 3 HRs; Mets hot win their eighth straight game; plus more

photo from nytimes.com: The Cincinnati Reds Aristides Aquino gets the warm welcome at the plate after belting one of his three home runs at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati in the Reds 21 run win over the visiting Chicago Cubs

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

#1 The Cincinnati Reds Aristides Aquino connected for three home runs all in the first four innings of Saturday’s game in the Reds 10-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. The Reds hit a total of six homers in the game.

#2 The New York Mets continued their winning ways with their eighth straight win and for the second night in a row a come back win over the Washington Nationals 4-3. The Mets have won 15 out of their last 16 wins.

#3 Is the three game homer going to be the norm the Houston Astros as Yordan Alvarez accomplished the feat in a 21 run win over their hosts the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Saturday in a 23-2 win. The Orioles who are going the other way have had their share of frustrations including this week when Chris Davis and manager Brandon Hyde who got into a out of control argument in the Orioles dugout during a game.

#4 In the game on Saturday night Astros Carlos Correa hit the longest home run ever hit at Camden Yards which landed in the back of the center left bleachers. The Astros were just teeing off.

#5 Speaking of comebacks the Chicago White Sox just got by the Oakland A’s on Saturday night. The Sox with a 3-0 lead in the top of the ninth all they needed to do was put the A’s away but not so easy the A’s scored twice falling just a run short to tie it up and lost to the Sox 3-2.

Matt does the MLB podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com