Tag: giants

By Morris Phillips

For eight, briskly played innings Monday night, Giants’ fans patiently waited, and then it happened.   After witnessing the best act of the night by someone wearing a Giants’ uniform, the home crowd roared with approval.

Just one thing: the kid in the Giants’ uniform full of verve, variety and dancing uncontrollably for the in-between innings’ Dance Cam isn’t a major league ballplayer. He’s a kid. And his act did little to impact the game where the Giants offered more of the same in what’s developed into a disastrous stretch of ball along McCovey Cove.

So in a nutshell: After dropping a 5-1 decision to the visiting Mariners, the Giants have lost nine straight at AT&T Park, their worst stretch at home since 1940 when the New York Giants lost 11 in a row at the Polo Grounds. The Giants haven’t won a home game since knocking off the Braves, 4-2 on May 29.

And, it hasn’t been pretty with the exception of the kid, who had at least 15 distinctive dance moves, and was so compelling the camera hung with him for a good 90 seconds. Conversely, the Giants’ offense hasn’t been watchable, scoring just three runs in the first four games of the home stand.

On Monday, Mariners’ starter Taijuan Walker made it look easy, shutting down the Giants for seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits. Walker’s had a nice stretch of four starts, but he’s still the highly touted prospect that hasn’t yet panned out, losing nine of his 20 career starts to date. But against the Giants, he got ahead of hitters, pitched effortlessly, and as pitchers so fashionably say these days, Walker let the hitters get themselves out.

“We’re just making better pitches, not trying to throw anything harder or trying to be too cute with anything, just making better pitches,” Walker said of a stretch of four starts in which he’s won three times and posted and ERA of 1.55.

Quite naturally, Giants’ hitters looked overanxious as well. Three of the first five innings concluded with a Walker strikeout, and eight of the nine Giants’ hitters to bat with a runner in scoring position, failed to reach. For those counting, that’s 21 baserunners stranded in the last four games.

With the offense scuffling, Giants’ starter Tim Hudson had his work cut out for him once again, and he held up until the fifth, when he allowed a pair of runs that put the Mariners up 3-1. Four of the seven Mariners to bat in the inning singled off Hudson, including Logan Morrison, who placed perfectly a pop up in between Angel Pagan and Jarret Parker, who were charging, and a retreating Joe Panik.

Morrison’s seeing-eye hit scored Brad Miller and drew a visible reaction from Hudson. The veteran would depart in the sixth on the hook for the loss, which would become his 23^rd loss in an interleague game, the most all-time, a dubious record Hudson now shares with former teammates Derek Low and Barry Zito.

In the eighth, the game’s only fireworks came off the bat of Kyle Seager, who took reliever Jeremy Affeldt authoritatively into the right field arcade.

The Giants look to avoid a winless homestand on Tuesday afternoon Tim Lincecum takes the mound in a matchup with Seattle’s J.A. Happ.

NOTES: Matt Cain’s rehab start in Sacramento on Monday was a mixed bag. Cain threw 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts. Cain threw 75 pitches, displaying a healthy mix of fastballs that topped out at 91 MPH and changeups that registered 77 MPH. The veteran starter is expected to make one or two more such starts before any decision is made on his return to the big league club.

By Morris Phillips

The Pirates’ memory of what transpired on October 1 is probably a lot more vivid than the collective memory of the Giants.

If so, that may explain how the hot Giants had their heels cooled by Pittsburgh in a three-game sweep at AT&T Park that concluded on Wednesday afternoon with a 5-2 Giants’ loss.

The Pirates 2014 post-season was made frustratingly brief by the Giants and Madison Bumgarner in an 8-0 shutout that sent Pittsburgh home for the winter without them even scoring a single run in the playoffs.  What’s worse is the shutout took place at PNC Park in front of disbelieving Pirates fans.  And more worse: the game was effectively over after four innings when Brandon Crawford’s grand slam gave the Giants a 4-0 lead that Bumgarner was certain to maintain.

After that harsh dismissal, it wouldn’t surprise anyone that the Pirates probably had their trip to San Francisco circled on their calendars.  In a three-game sweep in which the Pirates did everything right—especially on the mound—it sure seemed to be the case.

“We did run into a hot club that played very well,” manager Bruce Bochy admitted.  “When they didn’t hit it hard like the eighth inning, groundballs had eyes.  It was one of those series.  What could go wrong went wrong did at times.”

Francisco Liriano allowed four hits and a run in seven innings and the Giants’ hitters were stymied for the third straight day.  In each loss, the Giants scored first only to see the Pirates assume the lead and hold on.  Liriano allowed Joe Panik’s RBI single in the second, but Pittsburgh responded with single runs in the fourth and fifth, then three more in the ninth to put the game away.

Jordy Mercer homered for Pittsburgh in the fifth to give the Pirates a lead, and Jung Ho Kang had the two-run double that capped a three-run rally in the ninth.

The Giants’ lineup was missing Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence as Bochy elected to give his heavy-use guys a day off.  Those absences boosted Liriano, who allowed the Giants fewer hits (4) than a trio of relievers that followed him in the final two frames (5). The late rally saw Belt produce a pinch-hit single and the Giants get the tying run to the plate, but the Pirates closed the door.

Reliever Mark Melancon came on with the bases loaded and one out, and he got Crawford and Nori Aoki to ground out to end the game.

The Pirates won for the 12^th time in their last 16 games while the Giants have dropped five straight for the second time this season.  The Dodgers lost in Denver to the Rockies 7-6 last night allowing the Giants to stay within two games of the NL West leaders.

On Thursday, the Giants visit President Obama at the White House for the third time in celebration of their 2014 World Series victory before they open a three-game series over the weekend in Philadelphia.

By Morris Phillips

The Giants have won at the best clip in all of baseball for over a month, and they didn’t show any signs of slowing down on Thursday in their return to AT&T Park.

Chris Heston pitched into the eighth inning without allowing a run, and captured his pitching battle with Braves’ ace Shelby Miller as the Giants won 7-0 in a game that was scoreless for the first six innings.

Hot-hitting Brandon Belt homered off Miller in the seventh, and the Giants tacked on six runs with seven hits in the eighth to win going away.

After winning 25 of 35, the Giants are just a half game behind the Dodgers in the NL West, a total 360 from their eight-game losing streak in early April that landed them in the division cellar.  While health is major reason for the surge, Heston’s a big factor too, stepping in for the one still absent, significant piece—starter Matt Cain—without any noticeable dropoff.

The Giants have won each of Heston’s last four starts whether the rookie has been just OK or spot on like he was Thursday.  Heston has had a couple of shaky outings, but he’s proven resilient, throwing more innings (62 1/3) than any other rookie this season.  Like the grizzled veterans he’s sharing the rotation with, he’s been unflappable with his seasoned approach.

“Just seemed like he was keeping guys off balance all night hitting his spots,” Belt said of Heston’s outing.  “When your ball moves like his does you can get with a lot of stuff.  And lot of guys don’t put the ball on the barrel.”

Heston’s clearly been more relaxed at AT&T Park–with the cool temperatures and heavy air–allowing him to be less burdened in his approach, saying, “You know you can throw strikes in hitter’s counts and let your defense work.”

The rookie was threatened only once all evening, in the sixth when the Braves had runners at first and third.  But Heston escaped, getting Nick Markakis to ground out to end the inning.

Heston won his matchup with Miller as a hitter as well.  While Miller looked so feeble striking out in the third, Kruk and Kuip felt obligated to reignite the designated hitter in the National League debate, Heston acquitted himself quite well, doubling for his first major league hit in the sixth.

The Giants batted around in the eighth–the second time they’ve done that in the last four games—and all the solid contact was befitting of a lineup of mostly .300 hitters.  In that breakout inning, Hunter Pence tripled, and Belt, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik had doubles.

After failing to score more than six runs in any of their first 32 ballgames, the Giants have done it eight times in their last 16.

Of all the impressive hitters in the Giants’ current lineup, Belt stands out, with all six of his round-trippers hit since May 15.  Belt’s blast in the seventh was his first this season at AT&T Park.  For a guy whose seen major struggles in each of the last two seasons, he’s no doubt locked in, hitting both his double and homer into the opposite field gap.

“I hit both on the barrel of the bat,” he said.

“A couple of those home runs he hit on the road were crushed,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “(He’s a) big strong guy.”

The Giants look to grab a sixth straight at home on Friday night with Atlanta’s Mike Foltynewicz facing a guy with a lengthy history as a Brave, Tim Hudson, at 7:15pm.

By Morris Phillips

After another big win for the Giants, 8-4 at Milwaukee, you get a sense of how difficult it is to characterize the current state of the three-time World Champs.

Since May 12, the Giants have become an offensive machine.  On that day in Houston, the Giants scored more than six runs for the first time in 2015 in an 8-1 win over the Astros.   After failing to score more than six runs in any of their first 32 games, the Giants have done it seven times in the last 13–including Monday afternoon–and won each time.

The Giants aren’t a Big Orange Machine in reference to the hitting-crazy Reds of the mid 70’s, but the same old pitch-and-catch bunch that did so much damage in three of the last five post-seasons.  They have the second-best record in one-run games (10-5) in the National League and a league-best eight shutout wins.  All but one of those shutouts has come in the team’s magical month of May, in direct conflict with any contention that the club is driven by offense.

Given all the offense and stellar pitching so then what’s the real strength of the ball club?  Who’s the key guy that’s driving all the recent success?

Well, they’re actually two guys, the only two Giants who appear on the various lists of National League statistical leaders: closer Santiago Casilla and shortstop Brandon Crawford.  In his fourth, full season as a major leaguer, Crawford is having a breakout season, hitting .298, 50 points higher than any of his previous, season-ending batting averages.  And Casilla has been quietly effective, among the league leaders in saves with 12 and greatly responsible for the Giants leading the league in save percentage (86.7%).

Given all those numbers and only two names, only one conclusion can be drawn: the Giants are a well-rounded team as the Brewers no doubt found out on Monday at Miller Park.

The Giants entered their holiday series with Milwaukee weary from a couple of tough losses and more than seven hours of weather delays in Denver over the weekend.  And if that wasn’t enough, the Giants’ bullpen was shot–a regular occurrence for a team that’s been through Denver—and the team weary from arriving at their hotel at 1 a.m. and having to rise and shine for a Memorial Day matinee.

Then the Brewers had their own shenanigans going on with the opening, closing and then reopening of the Miller Park fan-like roof while the game was in progress.  Probably orchestrated to throw the visitors off their game, if so it worked as the Giants trailed 4-1 in the fifth inning.

At that point, Tim Lincecum had allowed three homers, including one that almost was none, as a controversy developed in the first inning when Khris Davis’ opposite-field shot was appealed by the Giants, who felt the Brewers’ slugger failed to touch home plate on his trip around the bases.

The Giants’ appeal found favor with home plate umpire Will Little, who then ruled Davis out.  But Milwaukee’s new manager, Craig Counsell, did good, demanding a video review, and winning it when the New York video review posse sided with Counsell and the Brewers, and against Little, who couldn’t have been any closer or had a better look at Davis’ foot.

In the third inning, Davis touched up Lincecum again, and this time gave home plate a stomp off the two-foot jump for a 2-0 Milwaukee lead.

Lincecum had allowed just one home run coming in—a highlight of his impressive pitching to start 2015—but he would allow three on Monday.  In the fifth, Ryan Braun went tape-measure as his prodigious shot was measured at 474 feet, the fourth longest in the history of Miller Park.

With Lincecum allowing bombs and the Giants’ offense quiet with the exception of Nori Aoki, who would amass three hits including a solo shot, manager Bruce Bochy admitted afterwards that the tough travel had his club sleepwalking.

“It didn’t look good the way Lohse was throwing,” Bochy said.  “You’ve got to keep going hard and see what happens.”

‘What happens’ happened for the Giants in the sixth as eight consecutive hitters reached base and the team scored seven times to go from three down to four up.  Hunter Pence came up the capper, a two-run double off the left field wall that scored Gregor Blanco and Aoki.  Two oddities took place in the Giants’ surge: Angel Pagan struck out twice in the inning, bookending the eight consecutive hitters that reached, and Brewers’ centerfielder Carlos Gomez committed a pair of damaging errors.

The Giants’ taxed bullpen was spelled by Jeremy Affeldt, who relieved Lincecum and got five outs.  And then Hunter Strickland, recalled from AAA Sacramento, got the final seven outs without allowing a hit.

The win allowed the Giants to keep pace with the Dodgers, who won later at home over the Braves, 6-3.  Los Angeles continues to lead the NL West by two games.

On Tuesday, the Giants have Madison Bumgarner on the mound in a matchup with Milwaukee’s Matt Garza, who’s enjoyed some success facing the Giants in his career.  That one commences at 5:05pm PST.

By Morris Phillips

If you’re going to send a message, why not eliminate room for interpretation.

The Giants did that, sweeping the Dodgers at AT&T Park again, without allowing a run, beating reigning Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw for the second time in less than two months after Kershaw lost only three games all of last season.

Delivering the message’s emphatic conclusion and acting as de-facto Giants’ team spokesman, Madison Bumgarner threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, and effectively put the 4-0 win away in the third inning with a majestic home run off Kershaw.

“We kind of kid around with the pitchers sometimes that if you want to win the game, throw a shutout and hit a homer,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Bum’s feat.  “He was trying to do that.”

Beat the Dodgers single-handedly?  Yeah, Bumgarner was aiming for that.  But with a subtle dig thrown in.

“He’s the best pitcher in baseball,” the Giants’ ace said of Kershaw.  “To be able to do that and run into one, it’s pretty special.”

Best pitcher in baseball?  And what exactly was that message?  That Kershaw and the Dodgers may be in the conversation, but they still can’t claim to be champions or win big games like Mad Bum and the Giants can.

And now after a terrific start, the Dodgers can’t even claim a special place in the NL West.  Despite being the National League’s pre-eminent offensive team thus far, and being near unbeatable at home, the Dodgers can’t win in San Francisco or shake the Giants.  Los Angeles’ lead was 5 ½ games last week.  Now it’s down to 1 ½ games.

Clearly, the developments were hard for manager Don Mattingly to decipher.  Joc Pederson, the Dodgers’ leadoff man, doubled on one hop off the center field wall on the fifth pitch of the series on Tuesday.  Tim Hudson, the Giants’ starter that night, retired three of the next four batters and escaped.

That escape act continued for another 26 chapters.  The Dodgers compiled 23 hits, including nine hits on Thursday, but they couldn’t cash in.

“You don’t think you’ll come here and not score a run for three games,” Mattingly said.  “I actually thought we had some good at-bats.”

By Morris Phillips

Quite often, those prominent faces revived in new places do so in San Francisco.

From Jason Schmidt, Pat Burrell, Randy Winn to Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson, the Brian Sabean-orchestrated Giants have squeezed the last, remaining ounces of quality baseball from declining vets again and again.

But like Mr. Phoenix—in lets say, Phoenix—those reclamation projects sometimes take flight elsewhere like Dan Haren in Miami, and Martin Prado, also in Miami.

And when they do it someplace else, the Giants often find themselves on the bad side of a good thing.   They definitely found themselves in that place on Thursday night when Haren, Prado and others trounced the Giants, 7-2 at AT&T Park.

Haren threw seven innings, allowing two runs and eight hits to earn his fourth win in five decisions this season.  The talented but nomadic 34-year old joined the Marlins this off-season after contemplating retirement instead of joining a seventh, different team in 13 big-league seasons.  But Haren decided to pitch on, and so far he’s been terrific, far better than his pattern of winning as much as he’s lost since 2009.

Haren used the heavy, cool air to his advantage, escaping a couple of jams and keeping the Giants from coming up with the big hit that have often damaged his starts.  By the time the Giants had some success in the seventh, pushing across their only two runs, the Marlins were ahead comfortably, 6-0.

“He’s a great competitor,” manager Mike Redmond said of Haren.  “I’ve seen that really his whole career.  He just doesn’t make a ton of mistakes out over the plate.  He doesn’t give in.”

Meanwhile, Tim Hudson was no mystery from the start, allowing three runs in the second– starting with Haren’s RBI double—and six runs total.  Manager Bruce Bochy elected to leave Hudson in the game into the seventh, hoping to spare an overworked bullpen.  Hudson would end up allowing a career-worst 15 hits and having to answer obvious questions afterwards.

“Pretty much the difference in the game was their starting pitcher offensively.  If I can just get him out then we have a pretty good chance to win the ballgame,” Hudson said.

Haren had a pair of hits, two runs batted in and two runs scored despite entering the game without a hit on the season.  But like the rest of the Marlins’ lineup, Haren attacked the vulnerable Hudson early in the pitch count with success.

In a bit of an oddity, a game with a combined 26 hits took only 2 ½ hours to complete as pitchers pitched and hitters hit at a brisk pace.

Prado continued his hot-hitting, producing a second consecutive three-hit game after a four RBI game on Saturday.  The consistent-hitting infielder is hitting .309, one year after hitting a career-low .282 for the Diamondbacks and Yankees.

The Giants broke through in the seventh with Justin Maxwell’s run-scoring sacrifice fly and Matt Duffy’s RBI double.  The Giants extended their streak of scoring six runs or less to all 29 games this season, a new franchise record for tepid offense.

In game two of the four-game series, the Giants will have Tim Lincecum facing Miami’s Jarred Cosart with first pitch at 7:15pm.