Tag: Kevin Pillar

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Mets-Giants go extra innings three times in series

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski, right, is congratulated by third base coach Ron Wotus (23) after hitting a solo home run against the New York Mets during the 12th inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, July 21, 2019.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski is having a season with on Sunday. He got a walk away home run off New York Mets pitcher  Robert Gsellman in the bottom of the 12th in a four-game series that went into extra innings three times.

#2 The game on Sunday went 12 innings, which gives you an idea how the Mets and Giants battled tooth and nail to win this series

#3 The Giants have been getting these series in the last month’s worth. They take three out four from the Mets and are just 2 1/2 games back in the NL Wild Card standings

#4 Giant outfielder Kevin Pillar got fed up with the strike calls when he got punched out by plate umpire Mark Rippenger. He argued with Rippenger, but got ran. It was Pillar’s first ejection for this season.

#5 The Giants open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. Starting pitchers for the Cubs, Alec Mills (0-0, 4.50 ERA), and for the Giants, Shaun Anderson (3-2, 4.87 ERA).

San Francisco Giants podcasts are heard right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Sunday

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants have the confidence and wild card in sights, but will they deal MadBum and Smith?

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner works against the New York Mets during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 18, 2019, in San Francisco.

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 San Francisco Giants centerfielder Kevin Pillar said that the team has confidence and belief, which would also be a good argument to keep pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith.

#2 The Giants so far have hit more home runs than at home at Oracle Park and average 5.5 runs on the road to 3.4 runs at home per game.

#3 The Giants are four games over .500 at 27-23 on the road. What best explains why their doing better on the road compared to at home?

#4 Manager Bruce Bochy managed the club a 6-1 road trip in Milwaukee and Colorado. The Giants in a four-game series with the New York Mets where they played to a 16 inning win over the Mets 3-2 on a walkoff single by a Donovan Solano to drive in the winning run.

#5 Hall of Famers Edgar Martinez, Harold Baines, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera, and Lee Smith. All will be inducted for this year’s class for the 2019 Hall of Fame. Once again, home run king Barry Bonds failed to get elected by getting 59.1% of the vote.

Michael does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Longoria wins it on home run in seventh SF wins 1-0

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photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Evan Longoria, left, is congratulated by third base coach Ron Wotus (23) after hitting a solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, July 7, 2019.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Evan Longoria ended two things against Jack Flaherty with one swing of the bat.

Longoria hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, breaking up both a shutout and a no-hitter and it helped the San Francisco Giants to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before a crowd of 33,841 at Oracle Park.

This was only the third shutout of the season for the Giants and the first since April 24 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

On the afternoon, the Giants only got two hits, and this was the fewest hits in a game where they won since a two-hit over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on March 30, 2018.

Flaherty was throwing a perfect game until he walked Alex Dickerson to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning.

After the Longoria home run, Dickerson singled to left, but then Flaherty got Stephen Vogt to fly out to Dexter Fowler and then Kevin Pillar lined out to Paul DeJong to end the inning.

It was the 12th home run of the season for Longoria, and his fifth in his last six games. During the six-game stretch, Longoria is hitting .429 (9-for-21) with seven extra base hits (two doubles and five home runs), 10 RBI and eight runs scored.

Longoria is no stranger to breaking up no-hitter, as it was the fourth time in his career that he broke up a no-hitter in the 7th inning or later.

With DeJong on first base in the top of the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt hit a line drive into the right-center gap; however, Pillar flew through into the air and made a fantastic catch that kept the game scoreless.

The Longoria home run made a winner out of Jeff Samardzija, who pitched a tremendous game, as he went seven innings, scattering four hits and striking out two on his way to picking up his sixth win of the season.

This was the first time since August 28 and September 2, 2017 that Samardzija went seven innings with two or fewer runs. That was also the last time he pitched at seven innings in consecutive starts.

It was a tough loss for Flaherty, who also went seven innings, allowing one run on just two hits, walking one and striking out six and saw his record fall to 4-6 on the season.

Sam Dyson pitched one inning, allowing one hit and struck out three. Closer Will Smith came on in the top of the ninth inning and despite giving up a single to Goldschmidt, he picked up his 23rd save in 23 chances, as Fowler grounded into a double play to end the game.

Over his last 19 outings, Smith has not allowed a run in 17 of those games and is possessing a 0.96 earned run average (two earned runs in 18.2 ip) with 30 strikeouts and opposing hitters are hitting .156 against him.

NOTES: Pillar also drove in the only run of the game on April 11, when he homered against the Colorado Rockies in a 1-0 Giants victory that made a winner out of Samardzija.

The Giants are now 18-9 in one-run games and 4-7 in final games of the series.

This was the seventh time this season that the Cardinals have been shutout, and it was the first time that the Cardinals have lost a series to the Giant since May 19-21, 2017 at Busch Stadium.

UP NEXT: Following the All-Star break, the Giants begin a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.

Shaun Anderson will open the series against the Brewers at Miller Park on Friday night, followed by Madison Bumgarner and Tyler Beede. The Brewers starter has yet to be determined.

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.

Not Here, Not Now: Scuffling Giants don’t get a reprieve against the Rockies’ Gray

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The consensus: yeah, the Giants’ offense is struggling, but Jon Gray was on top of his game Monday at Oracle Park.

Gray, a familiar face starting for the eighth time against the Giants since 2015, won for the first time against San Francisco, pitching shutout baseball for six innings in the Rockies 2-0 win.

And it wasn’t how Gray did it, it was when he did it. Three of his six strikeouts came in the fifth and sixth innings with a runner in scoring position, and with all of his arsenal working at that point, the hitters–Alex Dickerson, Mike Yastrzemski and Evan Longoria–were left looking foolish.

Opportunities for the Giants to get back into what was a two-run ballgame throughout, appeared and vanished so quickly, the home crowd had little time to gasp, groan or fuss.

“His fastball had a bit more life, carry and location to it than he’s shown the last few starts,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “Then he started landing the curveball later in the game.”

Gray was 0-3 with a 5.18 ERA against the Giants coming in, but he wasn’t that guy on Monday. He started fast–striking out Yastrzemski and Buster Posey in the first–and finished faster. As the game progressed, Gray maintained the life on his fastball, while not missing on his slider, which confused the Giants’ hitters by consistently arriving at the plate 8 mph slower than his heater. All three of his final strikeout victims swung and missed at the slider to conclude their at-bat, but they also whiffed on it earlier in their at-bats as well.

“I have so much confidence in (my slider) right now. I feel like I can throw it in any count, any time, and use it as a put-away pitch,” Gray said.

Drew Pomeranz was similarly effective for the Giants, striking out a career-best 11 batters in just five innings of work, but his one mistake–a home run allowed to David Dahl–was a familiar one. Pomeranz has given up 15 home runs in his 15 starts this season, already a career-high for him.

Still, Pomeranz needed to pitch better given his 2-7 record and 7.09 ERA coming in, and he did that by pitching effectively up in the zone, and displaying good, late movement on his heater with the exception of the pitch to Dahl. The score ended the evening for Pomeranz prematurely with manager Bruce Bochy needing a pinch-hitter to maximize a rally in the fifth.

“I just was thinking attack. I didn’t want to walk guys, even though I did walk a couple guys,” Pomeranz said. “Some of the other guys had three-pitch strikeouts so it kind of helped balance it out.”

In conclusion, the Giants’ offense just didn’t respond. After a disappointing end on Sunday, in which they went hitless in the final, four innings of tie ballgame, losing 3-2 to the Diamondbacks in 10 innings, they managed just six hits on Monday.

And the clutch hitting was non-existent: the Giants are 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position over their last two games. They were shut out for the ninth time this season, and the fifth at Oracle Park.

The Giants, losers of five of their last seven, will have Madison Bumgarner on the mound Tuesday.

Dickerson makes smashing Giants debut in 11-5 rout of Diamondbacks

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, June 21, 2019

PHOENIX — Just up from Triple-A Sacramento, outfielder Alex Dickerson had little sleep, but wasted little time making an impact on the San Francisco Giants lineup.

In his first game as a Giant, Dickerson cranked a grand slam and a bases-loaded triple, leading San Francisco to an 11-5 NL West win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday at Chase Field.

“It was a good feeling,” Dickerson said. “I didn’t get the barrel on the ball the whole time I was there (with San Diego). It’s good to come back, get a good pitch to hit.”

“It’s a long day. I got more sleep for this one than I did in my callups back when I was a rookie. I felt real good the whole day, very well rested. Just added a little travel to it to try and play a baseball game.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, “Wasn’t that impressive? What a day, and what a lift for us. We’re coming off some tough games and looking for some offense early, and he and Pillar, what a show those two put on.”

“(Dickerson) is strong. He’s got a quick bat and it’s good to have him up here to give him a chance.”

“You can’t have a better debut than that.”

Dickerson started the season with San Diego, which designated him for assignment earlier this month after he hit .158 in 12 games. The Padres traded him to San Francisco for prospect Franklin Van Gurp.

“This means a lot, but at the same time, it’s back to business,” Dickerson said. “I want to show that this is the level I want to be at, and it really is business at this point. There’s a little bit of emotion there, but in time, you put that behind you and just be a baseball player.”

The hitting exploits of Dickerson and Kevin Pillar (two-run home run, four RBIs) helped Jeff Samardzija (4-6) grind through six innings to get the win. Samardzija gave up five earned runs on nine hits, struck out five and walked one, but never surrendered the lead.

“There’s mixed emotions about tonight as a whole, but when your teammates pick you up and give you 11 runs, it makes it a whole lot easier to swallow,” Samardzija said. “There was some good and some bad. I was just a little more upset in general with being a little erratic and not very consistent, but I battled and we move on to the next one.”

Dickerson was 3-for-5 with six runs batted in, and fell a double short of hitting for the cycle.

“Pillar set me up great with good a-b’s in front of me, which gave me good pitches to hit,” Dickerson said. “He always had the pitchers on the ropes, and I told myself ‘It’s time to do some damage.'”

“That was impressive,” Samardzija said of Dickerson. “He came in off the bus and went out there and almost hit for the cycle! He had a lot to do with the run support, and he was fun to watch.”

Trailing by six in the bottom of the ninth, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases on Carson Kelly’s double, a walk to Jarrod Dyson and Ildemaro Vargas reached on an infield error.

That prompted a pitching change for the Giants, as closer Will Smith entered the contest. Smith struck out David Peralta and Adam Jones to kill the rally in a non-save situation.

Diamondbacks starter Taylor Clarke (1-3) gave up six earned runs on seven hits in three-plus innings.

San Francisco started the scoring in the top of the second on Kevin Pillar’s ninth home run of the season. Pillar’s drive to left-center drove in Stephen Vogt, who led off the inning with a double.

The Giants extended their lead to 6-0 when Dickerson delivered his first home run of the season, and his second career grand slam.

Arizona found the scoreboard in the third on Ketel Marte’s RBI single, driving in Jerrod Dyson, who reached on a one-out single. Marte limped into first and left the game, replaced by pinch-runner Ildemaro Vargas.

San Francisco loaded the bases when Pablo Sandoval was hit by a pitch, and Clarke issued walks to Brandon Belt and Pillar. Dickerson’s slam landed above the 413-foot mark in right-center.

The Diamondbacks cut San Francisco’s lead to 6-3 in the fourth on Nick Ahmed’s two-run home run, his sixth of the season. Christian Walker led off the inning with a base hit and scored on Ahmed’s opposite-field shot to right-center.

Carson Kelly followed with a double, was sacrificed to third by Clarke, and scored on a base hit by Vargas, cutting the Snakes’ deficit to 6-4. Peralta singled to right, and Adam Jones followed with an RBI single, making it 6-5.

Jones was initially ruled thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double. After a video review, the call on the field was upheld.

San Francisco used a four-run rally in the seventh to build a 10-5 lead. The big hit was Dickerson’s bases-clearing triple. The Giants scored once more in the ninth on Vogt’s RBI double, his second two-bagger of the night, scoring Belt from first.

In the Diamondbacks first, Samardzija allowed a one-out triple to Ketel Marte, followed by a walk to David Peralta. But he struck out Adam Jones and retired Eduardo Escobar on a comebacker to work out of trouble.

“I thought Shark pitched without his best stuff,” Bochy said. “He had tough luck early with some ground balls that got through. But really, the one inning (the fourth) is where he had a hiccup. They got back in the game, but he went back out there and gave us two solid innings, which you want to see.”

On Saturday night, right-hander Tyler Beede (1-2, 6.67 ERA) starts for the Giants. The Diamondbacks have yet to name their starter.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: Diamondbacks 2B Ketel Marte left the game with a left groin cramp and is listed as day-to-day. … The video review on Diamondbacks’ Adam Jones’ RBI single and throw out was 1:57. … Before the game, the Giants announced they claimed OF Joey Rickard off waivers from Baltimore. To make room for Rickard on the 40-man roster, San Francisco RHP Nick Vincent was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list, and will be optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. … Attendance was announced at 29,312.

TAGS: San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Alex Dickerson, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Pillar,

Pillar goes 3-for-3 in Giants’ 5-3 win over Brewers

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Photo credit: @KNBR

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Pillar did everything for the San Francisco Giants from getting hits to becoming the groundskeeper.

Pillar went 3-for-3, including a tie-breaking solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, helping the Giants to a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in front of 35,106 on Fireworks Night at Oracle Park.

This was the third straight win for the Giants, marking the fourth time this season that they have reached that number of wins in a row.

Drew Pomeranz went the first five innings, as he went the first five innings, allowing two (none earned), allowing five hits, walking three and striking out five and raised his record to 2-6 on the season.

The last two games he has been a different guy, said Bruce Bochy.

All of the Giants runs on the evening came via home runs, as Pablo Sandoval gave the Giants a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit an opposite field two-run home run off of Brewers starter Zach Davies, who entered the game with a 7-0 record.

Sandovals home run also scored Brandon Belt, who led off the inning with a walk against Davies, who like Pomeranz also pitched five innings.

It was also a nice night at the plate for Sandoval, who went 3-for-4 at the plate, as the Giants make it three wins in a row.

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, as Orlando Arcia scored on a passed ball by Buster Posey.

Things got weird with Arcia at the plate, as it looked like he struck out on a pitch in the ground; however, home plate umpire Paul Emmel said that Arcia tipped the ball, much to the chagrin of both Posey and Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

Lorenzo Cain then singled to center field that sent Arcia over to third, and with Christian Yelich at the plate, Posey was unable to hold onto the Pomeranz pitch and the Brewers took a 1-0 lead.

Throw strikes when I needed to, said Pomeranz.

After Sandoval gave the Giants the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, Yelich tied up the game in the top of the fifth inning, as he singled to left to score Cain.

Pillar then gave the Giants the lead for good, as he hit his eighth home run of the season into the left field seats.

Things got a little strange in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Pillar stole second, the base popped out of the ground after he arrived on the bag. Brewers manager Craig Counsell came out to see if Pillar was out, since his foot came off the base; however, after a review, it was determined that Pillar was safe.

Instead of having the grounds crew fix the base, Pillar conveniently put the base back into the ground and play was resumed.

Definitely a first for me, said Pillar. Umpire (Chad Fairchild) said he had never seen it either, Pillar added.

Mike Yastrzemski then stretched the lead up to 5-2 following the Pillar swipe of second base, as he hit second major league home run and first at home over the center field wall.

Davies went five innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking one and striking out two and lost for the first time this season.

Things got a little dicey in the top of the eighth inning, as Mark Melancon threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded that scored Jesus Aguilar from third base.

Melancon was able to get out of the jam, as he got Cain to fly out to end the inning.

Melancon had some tough luck, said Bochy.

Mike Moustakas got the inning going, as he singled and was then retired on a double play ground ball by Hernan Perez; however, Aguilar walked and then Arcia hit a single off of Joe Paniks glove that sent Aguilar to third. Travis Shaw then walked, and Melancon uncorked a wild pitch that scored Aguilar.

The single by Moustakas extended his hitting streak up to eight games, as he went 2-for-5 on the evening.

Will Smith came on to close it out for the Giants, as he picked up his 17th save of the season. Smith walked Yasmani Grandal with two outs, but re-grouped to get Moustakas strikeout to end the game.

NOTES: This was the most home runs in a game for the Giants since they hit four home runs in a game on June 4, 2018 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 10-4 victory at what was known as AT&T Park.

Belt extended his on-base streak up to 17 games, dating back to May 23 and is 17-for-54 during the streak.

UP NEXT: Madison Bumgarner takes the mound for the Giants on Saturday afternoon, while Jimmy Nelson takes the hill for the Brewers.

Anderson, Pillar lead Giants to 4-2 win over the Padres

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — In a close game, the Giants aren’t so bad.

Keeping it close was good enough to squeeze past the Padres, 4-2 on Wednesday night, and capture the two-game set at Oracle Park. A quality start from Shaun Anderson, timely hitting and Will Smith closing the door were the highlights of the evening.  Now the Giants need to work on that formula increasing in frequency.

In 2019, the Giants have enjoyed one and two-run ballgames, winning 19 of 33. It’s the other 33 ballgames decided by three runs or more that have doomed them, winning just nine of 33. If you’re the Giants, you’re more likely to get blown out than blow someone out, and therein lies the problem for the last-place club.

That and winning home games (the Giants are 13-20 at home)… just not an issue on Wednesday. The Giants made the key plays, offensively and defensively, and the Padres, losers of 11 of 16, threw the ball away, and couldn’t manage a key hit.

Anderson led the transformation by pitching six, solid innings and picking up the win. His key frame was the first, when he coaxed a double play ball off the bat of Franmil Reyes to end the inning and keep the game scoreless when the Padres threatened to get the jump off a bases loaded, one out situation.

“Huge pitch. That’s the ballgame,” said manager Bruce Bochy with the benefit of hindsight. “Big turning point in the  game. What a job (Anderson) did, throwing six, solid innings.”

Kevin Pillar got the Giants on the board in the second on a solo shot, then trailing 2-1 in the fifth, the Padres gave the struggling Giants’ offense a boost, courtesy of a pair of miscues. Throwing errors by rookies Josh Naylor and Fernando Tatis contributed to the Giants taking the lead.

Winning close games demands a closer, and Will Smith handled that, converting for the 16th time in 16 chances. Smith escaped a bases loaded situation by getting Manuel Margot to pop out to end it.

“We put ourselves in a position to win,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “It just wasn’t enough to get over the hump.”

The Padres and Giants opened the season in San Diego with the home team winning three of four, while showing off their big, off-season acquisition, Manny Machado. That advantageous start had the Padres dreaming of the postseason. But Wednesday’s loss dropped them two games below .500 for the first time all season.

The Giants’ modest win streak marks the first time since early April they’ve captured consecutive, home games.

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.