Tag: Madison Bumgarner

Thin Bullpen: Giants wilt in the ninth, Pirates win 6-4 in front of smallest crowd since 2010

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Newman maybe auditioning for a role as the Pirates’ leadoff man, but he maybe better suited as the team’s focal point.

Newman knocked in a pair of runs in a four-run ninth inning and the Pirates shocked the Giants 6-4 on Monday night. The Pirates improved to 11-5 in the games the speedy, powerful Newman has batted leadoff.

The Giants started Madison Bumgarner, who was attempting to win for the 61st time at Oracle Park, surpassing former teammate Matt Cain as the winningest pitcher in the park’s history. Bumgarner was in line for the win after allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings, but the Giants’ injury-ravaged bullpen let him down.

With relievers Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson and closer Will Smith unavailable due to injuries, manager Bruce Bochy stuck with Tyler Rogers, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning. But Rogers allowed Kevin Kramer to reach on an infield single, and was replaced by Fernando Abad after just one pitch in the inning.

Abad walked Josh Bell, and gave up Elias Diaz’ lengthy drive to the left field gap that one-hopped the wall. But the smash registered as just a base hit when Mike Yasztremski fielded the ball cleanly and appeared to have a catch to the Pirates’ baserunners. Both Kramer and Bell retreated as Diaz advanced almost creating an out-making logjam on the basepaths, but the Pirates were still set up with bases loaded and Newman up.

Newman delivered to tie it, the first time the Pirates had been even since the fifth inning. Kevin Reynolds’ base hit untied it, and Jose Osuna provided insurance with his sacrifice fly that scored Newman.

“Too bad we couldn’t hold on to give him a win,” Bochy said of Bumgarner, his strong outing squandered.  “You look at his body of work; he’s been a savior. Guys who give you innings like that are invaluable. Not just innings but quality innings.”

The Giants fell to 30-39 at home–the third worst record in the National League–after losing for the sixth time in their last seven home games. Meanwhile, the youth-infused Pirates have won 11 of 17 after being dreadful for almost all of July and August.

Newman and Reynolds, the former Giants minor leaguer acquired in the Andrew McCutchen deal, have been a big part of the recent surge.

“I think the combination of the two has them getting the results they’ve been getting,” said manager Clint Hurdle.

Giants crush A’s 10-5 in game three of the Bay Bridge Series 2

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
bb1
Graphic: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND — The A’s literally snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory on Saturday night as they watched a 4-2 lead going into the top of the eighth inning be wiped out when the San Francisco exploded for eight runs on seven hits off five Oakland pitchers. It was simply a stunning rally that the A’s did not see coming.

For the Giants, it felt like they had pent up emotion and energy that just had to be released. Madison Bumgarner did his best to keep his team in the game to give them the chance to win. When the A’s pitching staff gave the Giants the slightest of openings, the men from across the Bay took the opportunity and did the most with it.

The Giants took game one (game 3 of 4 total) of the Bay Bridge Series in Oakland 10-5 on Saturday night before 56,367 fans who were treated their money’s worth for coming out to the ballpark. The Giants scored 10 runs off 13 hits and left six men on base. For the A’s, they put five runs up on the board on 10 hits while leaving 10 men on base and committing one error. The game took three hours and 50 minutes to complete.

The Giants record for the season improved to 64-65 with the victory while the A’s fell to 74-54 on the year. San Francisco is now 5.0 games out the second Wild Card spot in the National League. The A’s are 0.5 games behind the Rays for the second Wild Card slot in the American League.

In this type of game where 14 pitchers were used, determining the winning and losing pitcher is almost “voodoo” science. Sam Coonrod (3-0) gets credit for the win while Yusmeiro Petit(3-3) was tagged with the loss.

Neither starter figured into the final decision

Chris Bassitt pitched 5.2 innings for the A’s on Saturday night. The right-hander ran into some trouble as he started through the Giants order for the third time. He gave up a home run to Brandon Crawford on 0-1 pitch with two out in the top of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning, Evan Longoria drove in Alex Dickerson from second base to tie the game at 2-2. That would be all for Bassitt as he was replaced on the mound by Jake Diekman.

Bassitt gave up two runs (both earned) off four hits (1 HR). He struck out five Giants and walked none. Bassitt threw 92 pitches (64 strikes).

Madison Bumgarner worked 5.0 innings for San Francisco in the contest. He also gave up two runs. The first run came off a leadoff home run by Mark Canha in the home half of the second inning that easily cleared the left-field fence. The A’s touched “Mad Bum” for another run in the bottom of the third inning.

Jurickson Profar walked to lead off the third for Oakland. Josh Phegley then singled to left field which moved Profar to second base. With one out, Matt Chapman hit a double to left that drove Profar in from second base to score the A’s second run of the game. The A’s took a temporary 2-0 at that point.

Bumgarner also gave up two runs (both earned) on two hits (1 HR). He struck five A’s and walked one. Bumgarner threw 97 pitches (64 strikes).

Did I just see a sacrifice?

Jurickson Profar was the leadoff hitter for the A’s in the bottom of the seventh, and he hit a double to right field. Catcher Josh Phegley then laid down a sacrifice bunt on the third-base side of the infield that moved Profar to third base (yes, everyone including the Giants was surprised). Marcus Semien followed up with an RBI single to left field. Matt Chapman singled to center sending Semien to third base. That would all for Giants reliever Jandel Gustave who would be replaced by Fernando Abad.

Matt Olson was the first Athletic to face Abad, and he hit a single to right that drove Semien home to score the fourth run of the game for Oakland. That would end the scoring for the A’s in the seventh inning and gave them a 4-2 lead, which proved to be not enough.

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That’s a lot of fans! Graphic: @Athletics

Focus on the A’s

  • Mark Canha hit his 20th home run of the year off Bumgarner in the second inning of the game. He also extended his hitting streak to eight games.
  • The A’s now have five players with 20-plus home runs on the season: Canha (20), Chapman (29), Laureano (21), Olson (26), and Semien (22).
  • Oakland has a record of 22-11 versus left-handed starters in 2019.

Spotlight on the Giants

  • Brandon Crawford hit his 10th home run of the season in the win on Saturday night and his first home since July 15 at Colorado.
  • Kevin Pillar has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games and is hitting .397 over that stretch.
  • Evan Longoria went 2-for-4 in the game, was hit-by-pitch and posted two RBI. He is hitting .347 since June 30.

Up next

The Bay Bridge Series concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:07 PM at the Coliseum. The Giants will send rookie RHP Logan Webb (1-0, 1.80 era) to the hill to make his second start of the season. He made his major league debut last Saturday in Arizona picked up the win. Expect quite a few fans in the stands rooting for Webb who grew up in Rocklin just east of Sacramento.

The A’s will counter with LHP Brett Anderson (10-9, 4.06 era). Anderson has been having a rough go of things as he is 1-4 with a 5.02 ERA in his last five starts. Run support has been a big issue for Anderson. The A’s have provided three runs or fewer in 14 of his last 17 starts. Anderson was the losing pitcher in the game with the Giants in San Francisco on August 13.

Player’s Weekend Uni’s

The black and white themed uniforms created an interesting effect on the field Saturday night. It was really a throwback feel. In fact, I felt like I was watching the movie “Eight Men Out” at times.

I really liked the all-black uniforms the Giants wore as the visiting team. They were as the guy says in the SUV commercial — “sharp!”. The all-white worn by the A’s were had a very clean look, but the lettering and numerals were washed out. If they had outlined the lettering and numbers in black, the home uniforms would have been “sharp”.

The A’s pitchers did wear black hats because it was determined that the hitters were having trouble picking the baseball up against the all-white caps.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants get swept by Cubs, head to Oakland for two-game weekend series

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The Giants were swept in three games in Chicago two of them were loses by just one run. Do you view the Giants as a formidable opponent in their wild card chances seeing how they played against a competitive team like the Cubs? Dropping 14 of their last 17 games at Wrigley.

#2 Thursday’s game at Wrigley proved to be one for the books. Despite the loss, the Giants and Cubs played to a 1-0 final and former Cub starter Jeff Samardjiza went seven innings with two hits and one run.

#3 For Samardjiza, was this an advantage pitching in a park where he played part of career and that he was familiar with?

#4 The Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks got the call as the starter and didn’t disappoint going seven innings pitching a three hit shutout. He had good movement on his pitches on Thursday.

#5 The Giants have a rare Friday off before playing at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Going for the Giants, Madison Bumgarner (8-8, 3.72 ERA), and for the A’s, Chris Bassitt (9-5, 3.61 ERA).

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

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: D-Backs Chase Bumgarner out of park, score 3 in the 1st

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photo sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Phoenix.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris, the way you saw it at Chase Field on Sunday, Giants starter Madison Bumgarner had the kind of outing you don’t see him have too often — getting shelled for six hits and four runs in six innings of work.

#2 You don’t see Bumgarner have too many nights like that, but on Sunday, the Arizona Diamondbacks got to him early scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

#3 The Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski, who hit three home runs on Saturday, hit a triple on Sunday. He’s been a hitting machine during the Diamondbacks series.

#4 Zack Greinke, the Diamondbacks pitcher, was supposed to start, but Merrill Kelly (9-12) got the call for Arizona pitching 5.2 innings, six hits, one run earned, two walks, five strikeouts and didn’t allow a home run.

#5 The San Francisco Giants’ Tyler Beede (3-7, 3.77 ERA) will open up the first game in Chicago Tuesday night. The Cubs will start Cole Hammels (6-4, 3.69 ERA).

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

D-backs salvage fourth game of series with Giants, 6-1

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Photo credit: @Dbacks

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, August 18, 2019

PHOENIX — Arizona got to San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner early and maintained the lead, as the Diamondbacks salvaged the fourth game of their weekend series against the Giants with a 6-1 win.

Wilmer Flores and David Peralta homered, and Adam Jones provided a key two-run triple in the first inning, as the Snakes pulled to within one game of .500 (62-63) and trail in the National League Wild Card race by four games.

The Giants slipped to 63-62, three games out of a NL Wild Card. Both the D-Backs and Giants must try to surge past the New York Mets, Philadelphia and Milwaukee to reach a Wild Card berth, currently occupied by Washington and the Chicago Cubs.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. We’ve got to win games,” Bochy said. “We’re the ones that are behind.

“Hey, it was a good series. You come in here and take three out of four, you’ve got to feel good about that. (Arizona) is a good club. We came in and played well. Now, we go to Chicago and it’s going to be another big series.”

The loss was Bumgarner’s first since June 5. San Francisco is 16-11 in his starts this season, including nine of his last 11. In six innings, Bumgarner (8-8) struck out nine, walked two, but gave up four earned runs on six hits.

The Diamondbacks roughed up Bumgarner after he retired the first two Arizona hitters on four pitches. Eduardo Escobar doubled and moved to third on right fielder Austin Slater’s throwing error. Christian Walker walked, and Adam Jones plated Escobar and Walker with a triple to right.

Josh Rojas followed with a base hit, driving in Jones, putting Arizona up 3-0.

“(Bumgarner) was just inches away from getting out of that inning,” Bochy said. “Other than that, it’s another great start. Madison was fine. We just couldn’t do much offensively. We couldn’t get that one big hit.”

Mike Yastrzemski tripled to lead off the San Francisco sixth and scored on Scooter Gannett’s base hit, cutting the Arizona lead to 4-1. Walks to Brandon Belt and Slater loaded the bases with two outs, and the Diamondbacks summoned Andrew Chafin from the bullpen.

Brandon Crawford hit a sharp bouncer to second baseman Wilmer Flores, who threw to Chafin covering to snuff out the Giants’ rally.

Arizona added its fifth run in the bottom of the seventh on David Peralta’s 12th home run of the season. With two out, Peralta struck a solo shot to right-center off Giants reliever Fernando Abad.

The Diamondbacks scored again in the eighth (off reliever Tony Watson) when pinch-hitter Jarrod Dyson singled, stole second, moved to third on back-to-back walks to Rojas and Nick Ahmed, and scored on Jake Lamb’s bases-loaded walk.

San Francisco continues its quest for the postseason on Tuesday, when the Giants open a three-game series against the Cubs. Righthanders Tyler Beede (3-7), Dereck Rodriguez (5-6) and Jeff Samardzija (9-9) are the San Francisco probables. The Cubs will counter with lefthander Cole Hamels (6-4, and righthanders Yu Darvish (4-6) and Kyle Hendricks (8-9).

GIANT JOTTINGS: The game marked the final regular season appearance at Chase Field for Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who is retiring at the end of the season. … Prior to Sunday’s game, the Giants recalled INF Abiatal Avelino from Triple-A Sacramento and designated LHP Travis Bergen for assignment. … Attendance was 26,079 on a 105-degree afternoon.

TAGS: San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Madison Bumgarner, NL Wild Card

Pillar goes 5-for-5, Belt gets grand slam in Giants’ 5-run win, 11-6

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt hits a grand slam against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second inning during a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019, in Phoenix.

By Jeremy Kahn

In what is the San Francisco Giants’ last trip to Chase Field this season, the team is on fire through the first three games of the series.

Kevin Pillar went 5-for-5, Brandon Belt hit a grand slam and drove in six runs and the Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-6 at Chase Field.

With the victory, the Giants clinched the four-game series with one game remaining on Sunday afternoon and Madison Bumgarner on the mound.

Rookie Logan Webb, who grew up in Rocklin made his major-league debut went five innings, allowing two runs (one earned), giving up five hits, walking one and striking out seven, as he picked up the win in his debut.

Webb, who just returned from an 80-game suspension in July for testing positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs.

The right-hander made three starts at Double-A Richmond and then one at Triple-A Sacramento this past Monday.

Things did not start out well for Webb, as he allowed two runs in the bottom of the first inning, as Jarrod Dyson singled to lead off the inning, and then scored on a Wilmer Flores double. After Webb got Eduardo Escobar and David Peralta, Flores scored on a throwing error on a ball hit by Adam Jones.

Webb got out of the jam, as he got Jake Lamb to ground out to first base to end the inning.

That lead for the Diamondbacks would not last long, as Alex Dickerson led off the second inning with a walk, then Flores committed a throwing error, as he tried to flip the ball to Nick Ahmed at second base.

Pillar then came up with his first hit of the game that loaded the bases, and then Belt hit a grand slam that gave the Giants the lead for good.

It was the second career grand slam for Belt, who last hit one off of Luis Perdomo of the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on April 7, 2017.

Brandon Crawford got into the act following the Belt home run, as he singled; however, Webb popped out on a sacrifice attempt for the first out of the inning.

Mike Yastrzemski, who hit three home runs on Friday night then singled to right field and then Stephen Vogt loaded the bases with a base hit of his own.

Evan Longoria drove in the fifth run of the inning, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Crawford from third base and sent Yastrzemski to third base.

Diamondbacks pitcher Taylor Clarke did not get out of the second inning, as he went 1.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned), walking one and striking out one.

Belt drove in his fifth run of the game in the top of the third inning, as he hit an opposite field single to left field that scored Pillar.

The Giants scored another run in the top of the sixth inning, as Longoria grounded into a double play that scored Austin Slater.

Crawford drove in his first run of the game, as he grounded out to Flores that allowed Scooter Gennett from third base.

Slater, who went 2-for-3 on the game after coming into the game on a double switch that saw Yastrzemski move to left field for Dickerson and Slater went into right field, singled to left field to score Pillar to give the Giants what looked like a commanding seven run lead.

The Diamondbacks, who scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Friday night to tie up the game began the comeback, as Christian Walker hit a solo home run and then Escobar hit a sacrifice fly that scored Dyson in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Pillar drove in a run with his fifth hit of the game that scored Longoria, who singled to lead off the inning.

Belt then drove in his sixth run of the game, as he grounded out to Flores that scored Gennett from third base.

The final two runs of the game came when Ahmed hit a two-run home run off the foul pole in the bottom of the eighth inning.

With the score 11-6 in the top of the ninth inning, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo sent his catcher Alex Avila to the mound and he pitched a perfect ninth inning that included striking out Yastrzemski for the second out of the inning.

Jandel Gustave came on to close it out for the Giants in a non-save situation, and the game ended on a great play from Slater to Gennett to Longoria, as Escobar tried to stretch a double into a triple; however, Slater made a perfect throw to Gennett, who threw to Longoria to end the game.

NOTES: With the addition of Webb to the roster, Joey Rickard was optioned to Sacramento to make room for Webb.

The Giants went 7-for-16 with Runners In Scoring Position.

UP NEXT: Bumgarner will take the mound on Sunday for the Giants, while the Diamondbacks, who will try to avoid the sweep will send Merrill Kelly to the hill.

MadBum stifles Phillies 5-0

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Photo credit: @McCoveyChron

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO — After three straight days of famine at the plate in front of their faithful home fans, the Giants on Thursday returned to the feast that had been their calling card during their major resurgence following the All-Star break.

The bats were shut down by the Washington Nationals, but they bounced back in a big way against a pitcher who had entered the game on a real hot streak. Starter Aaron Nola (10-3) had entered the game having only given up two runs over his last three road starts, but the Giants capitalized on a third-inning rally to down the Phillies, 5-0, at Oracle Park.

Equally remarkable was Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (7-7), who blanked the Phillies’ bats with seven shutout innings and gave up only one hit in the process while striking out three, which would qualify as his best outing of the season.

His contributions were not limited to what he did on the mound, either. He also got a key hit in the third inning to help ignite the rally that would push the Giants ahead as well as drawing a pair of walks.

“He did it all tonight,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I felt good about him going tonight, because he’s so good at figuring things out when it doesn’t go well. He put in a lot of work in between starts, to get where he needs to be.”

Upon taking over for Bumgarner, the bullpen kept Philly off the scoreboard, as Trevor Gott and closer Will Smith, who picked up his 28th save of the season on Thursday with a perfect ninth, combined to surrender only a walk.

After two quiet innings, the Giants broke through in the third off Nola. Brandon Crawford and Bumgarner started the inning with back-to-back hits before Brandon Belt drove Crawford in with a single to break the scoreless tie.

Mike Yastrzemski went the other way and carried it all the way to the left-field wall, and when Jay Bruce couldn’t play the carom off the wall, Bumgarner and Belt were able to score rather easily, and the Giants had a 3-0 lead.

Bumgarner lost his no-hitter in the sixth, when Cesar Hernandez pinch-hit for Nola and promptly ripped a single up the middle.

With two out in the sixth, the Giants – particularly Kevin Pillar – took advantage of a pair of Philly mistakes to tack on another run. Pillar reached base on a fielder’s choice, and as he stole second, he forced a bad throw from catcher Andrew Knapp that sailed into center field and allowed him to scoot on to third.

After he walked Crawford, reliever Nick Pivetta uncorked a wild pitch that rolled to the backstop, which Pillar used to scamper to the plate and give the Giants a 4-0 advantage. Yastrzemski added to that lead with one mighty swing of the bat, pulverizing a Pivetta fastball and sending it into the arcade in right-center for a solo homer.

“You pull for these guys (like Yastrzemski),” Bochy said. “He spent a lot of time in the minor leagues, and finally gets called up, and he hasn’t been in awe of anything.

“He’s been like that since Day 1. He’s just a nice all-around player.”

San Francisco Giants Podcast with Morris Phillips 8/6/19

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sf scooter

  • Reporter Morris Phillips leads us through what is next for the Giants after the MLB Trade Deadline
  • Why are the Giants having so much trouble when they return home from a road trip?
  • Should the Giants reconfigure Oracle Park to make it more hitter-friendly?
  • Did the Giants do the right thing holding on to “MadBum”?
  • Will the Giants make the Wild Card?
  • The answers to these questions and more on this week’s edition of the Giants podcast with Morris Phillips

Podcast: Duca on baseball and the Giants

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greyscale photography of condenser microphone
Photo by Tommy Lopez on Pexels.com

Podcasts: Duca on baseball and the Giants

  • Michael Duca joins Charlie O to talk about the most important topics in baseball
  • Is the new trade deadline a good thing?
  • Why didn’t the Yankees and Dodgers get a deal done at the deadline?
  • Did the Giants do good hanging on to “MadBum”?
  • Did San Francisco move out the right players at the deadline?
  • What about Scooter? Does he fill a need?
  • Plus a discussion about hair or no hair!

Check out the talk! If you are a baseball fan, you will have a good time!!!

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Yaz goes 4-5 with two doubles; Bum gets win in narrow 7-6 final; plus more

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner pitches to the San Diego Padres in the first innings in Petco Park on Sunday

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 You just never know whose going to contribute to the San Francisco Giants winning causes Mike Yastrzemski went 4-5 with two singles and two doubles in the Giants 7-6 win.

#2 Morris talks about the rookie Yastrzemski whose having a great year for San Francisco .275, 33 runs, 31 RBIs, 9 home runs.

#3 Giants starter Madison Bumgarner had everything working for him except for giving up a three run home run in the bottom of the third inning to Hunter Renfroe that put the San Diego Padres on top 4-2.

#4 Bumgarner pitched seven innings, four hits, striking out six and walking two batters.

#5 The Giants have the day off on Monday and open up a three game series on Tuesday in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank starting for the Giants Tyler Beede (4-5 ERA 4.85) for the Phillies Drew Smyly (1-5 7.69)

Morris does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com