Tag: Matt Moore

Giants win on Opening Day, get good news on Posey’s scary head injury

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AP17100761171221

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The 18th Opening Day along the shores of McCovey Cove had an ominous start and a satisfying conclusion, with a comical moment in between that stood as the pivotal play in the Giants’ 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Just another example of the home team trying to make up for those anxious days when the park by San Francisco Bay opened in 2000 and Giants’ fans suffered through several, disappointng losses to the Dodgers.  This time, fans of the orange and black were treated to all the pomp and circumstance with a giant U.S. flag ceremony, the national anthem sung by the cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” and a standing ovation for Barry Bonds, the franchise’s hero come home. Following that, the Giants thrilled the fans with their 14th win in a home opener at AT&T Park.

The ominous moment was a Tijuan Walker pitch that plunked Buster Posey in the first inning, and ended his afternoon on the field, as manager Bruce Bochy elected to lift his star player as a precautionary move.  Backup Nick Hundley came on to team with Matt Moore, who was in control, pitching eight innings, allowing just one run, to pick up the win.

“Were he not the catcher, he might have stayed in the game,” Bochy said of the incident in which Posey was alert, but wide-eyed, throughout.  Posey did leave the field under his own power after a thorough look over by trainer Ron Groeschner. Posey was scheduled to be evaluated soon after the conclusion of the game, but the team announced, that they don’t expect the All-Star catcher to return to the field for Tuesday’s game.

“It’s one of the worst sounds you can hear in baseball, the ball hitting the helmet,” Bochy said.  “It’s a scary moment.  There’s been a lot of damage to hitters hit in the head.”

Moore said afterwards that he retreated to the clubhouse a couple of times to check on Posey, saying that he felt his catcher was doing fine.  Other than that, Moore did his best to reduce all his teammates’ anxiety by taming the D’Backs, allowing just the one run on Yasmani Tomas’ solo shot in the fifth.

 

Giants close home stand with a critical win as the Dodgers lose in Colorado

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Moore provides more

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt, who makes himself at home in San Francisco on three occasions each year, sent a rocket to the centerfield wall in the sixth inning that seem destined to erase the Giants’ 2-0 lead, and add to the slugger’s ledger of feats at AT&T Park. But with great calm, centerfielder Gorkys Hernandez raced back and snatched the drive a split second before crashing into the wall.

Giants’ fans cheered wildly for the tremendous catch, then likely turned to each other to ask, “Who’s Gorkys Hernandez?”

With the NL West crown to be decided in the remaining month of the season, and the Giants battling attrition on an almost daily basis, it’s all hands on deck. Hernandez, briefly a major leaguer in Pittsburgh and Miami, and after putting together a decent season at AAA Sacramento, is that next hand. And at that critical juncture of Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Arizona, a pretty good one at that.

“What a beautiful catch, huh? He’s a gifted outfielder, that’s why he played today,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We wanted our best defense out there. He’s really good defensively. If he doesn’t catch that ball, now they got second and third (with one out).”

Hernandez’ catch helped make a winner out of Matt Moore for the first time in his new home park. Moore was coming off his near no-hitter in Los Angeles last week, and he was as good, but far more brief this time out. Manager Bruce Bochy, mindful of the 133 pitches Moore threw against the Dodgers, lifted his starter after Hernandez’ catch with one out and one on in the sixth.

“You don’t really watch the scoreboard in April and May, so just right now knowing where we’re at, we’re all focused on getting ourselves on a good hot streak,” Moore said.

Diamondbacks’ starter Shelby Miller took the loss in his return from an extended stay in the minors to regain his stuff after starting his Arizona career with a 2-9 record in 14 starts. But he didn’t appear any more effective in the first inning, allowing hits to Joe Panik, Buster Posey and Hunter Pence to put the Giants up 2-0.

Miller settled after that, pitching six innings allowing just the two runs on six hits. Consequently, the pitcher who the D’Backs leveraged their farm system to acquire has had a confounding season-to-date. Miller’s 2-10 with a 6.81 ERA in his big league starts, juxtaposed against a 5-1 record with a 3.91 ERA at AAA Reno. Maybe it should have been buyers beware for the Diamondbacks: Miller was 6-17 in 2015, his only season with the Braves.

After Miller departed, relievers Randall Delgado and Edwin Escobar failed to record an out in the seventh, allowing the Giants to increase their lead to 4-1. Delgado has been a bright spot for the D’Backs, making 62 appearances, the last 14 without allowing an earned run, but the Giants pounced on the reliever as pinch-hitter Conor Gillaspie tripled, and Angel Pagan doubled him home.

The Giants bullpen had its moment in the ninth, when with two outs closer Santiago Casilla allowed a home run to pinch-hitter Jake Lamb, then a soft single to Jean Segura. But Casilla steadied, retiring A.J. Pollock to end the game.

The Giants got help on the out-of-town scoreboard as the Dodgers dropped the opener of their doubleheader in Denver 7-1. At press time, the Dodgers trailed 5-2 in the second game, and with a loss there, the Los Angeles lead in the division would drop to ½ game. When asked if he noticed what was going on elsewhere during the game, Bochy refused to bite.

“We try to stay positive here, and try to win ballgames, and don’t get concerned with what the other teams are doing. It’s up to us to go out and play better ball and win ballgames,” Bochy said. “It’s the old adage, ‘we control our own destiny.’”

The Giants open a big four-game series in Chicago on Thursday afternoon with Jeff Samardzija returning to Wrigley Field as the starter in the opener. Mike Montgomery will get the start for the Cubs.

NOTES: Bochy said the Giants have not decided on Friday’s starter, first indicating that Matt Cain would return and get the start, then apparently leaning toward swing guy Albert Suarez. Neither option seems ideal, likely making the call a last-minute decision… The Giants announced their first round of September callups with reliever Josh Osich, outfielder Mac Williamson, utility man Kelby Tomlinson the key guys. Those three will be available in Chicago along with pitchers Ty Blach, Steven Okert and Matt Reynolds. Blach posted a 14-7 record in Sacramento with 113 strikeouts.

Giants bullpen gives up sure win in late innings

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by Michael Martinez

SAN FRANCISCO – Johnny Cueto (13-3) appeared to have his first win since the All Star break in the bag after he threw a solid six and two thirds innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Cueto also had a nice day at the plate putting together two hits and driving in a run. However, the Giants bullpen fell apart in the late innings and allowed the Orioles to make things competitive.

Hunter Strickland came in to relieve Cueto and got out of a seventh inning jam but gave up two runs in the seventh to let the Orioles back into the ball game, which included a solo shot by Mark Trumbo. The blast was Trumbo’s was number 34 of the season he still leads the AL in that category.

Derek Law replaced Strickland in the eighth and was able to limit the damage as the Giants still held a 7-5 lead heading into the top half of the ninth.

Then Santiago Casilla came into the game and not only let two runners get on base, but threw a hanging curveball right over the heart of the plate to Baltimore second baseman, Johnathan Schoop. Schoop made Casilla pay as he crushed the hanging breaking ball into the left field bleachers to give the Orioles the lead, eight to seven. The homer marked Casilla’s fifth blown save of the year.

“I have confidence in all my pitches,” Casilla said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I threw the curveball, and I just made a mistake. The ball didn’t break.”

The Giants then tried to make something happen off Orioles closer Zach Britton in the bottom of the ninth, but unfortunately could not get a run across the plate to push the game into extra innings. Britton added to his league leading save total, 37, as Baltimore sits just a half game behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

For San Francisco, its their 18th loss since the Mid Summer Classic and a real bad one after they held a six run lead heading into the top of the seventh.

The orange and black hit their stride at the plate, tallying 14 hits for seven runs and forced Orioles skipper, Buck Showalter,  to remove starter Wade Miley in the fifth inning.

Giants back up catcher Trevor Brown got the scoring started with an RBI single in the second inning. Brown got the start behind the dish after Buster Posey was a last minute scratch due to back tightness. The injury could have been sustained from the flight back and has gradually worsened, according to Posey.

Before Sunday’s ball game, Brown had been hitless in his last seven at bats, with just three hits in his last 19. But Brown made the most out of his start and was a huge spark for SF’s offense. He finished the game three for five with three RBIs.

“He’s been great,” Posey said about Brown’s performance this year. “He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Outfielder Hunter Pence also had a good game and it appears his swing could be coming into form. Pence hit a bomb to center field, 436 feet to be exact, and added a single during the Giants big fifth inning. Pence’s dinger was his first since returning from the disabled list. Prior to today’s game, Pence had not put one into the seats dating all the way back to May 18.

Fortunately, the Dodgers (65-52) lost to Pittsburgh on Sunday, 11-3, keeping the Giants a game ahead in the NL West.

After blowing a huge lead and taking a loss in what looked to be the Giants first back-to-back wins since July 30 and 31 as well as their second consecutive series victory, San Francisco will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at home tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. PT as Matt Moore takes the mound.

“I think everyone knows what’s at stake. I don’t think there’s really any motivation needed,” Posey said. “This time of the year, this is when it’s fun. Each game as we get further and further along will have a little more importance on it. I think the group of guys in here generally thrive in these situations.”

The Tampa Bay Rays down the A’s; Gray shelled for nine hits and seven runs

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Sonny Gray got lit up by the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night at the Oakland Coliseum here Gray delivers a pitch in the first inning

OAKLAND–The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the A’s  7-3 Thursday night at the Oakland Coliseum behind the strong pitching of lefty Matt Moore. The A’s Sonny Gray had another tough outing, and he absorbed his ninth loss of the season. A’s manager Bob Melvin said that Gray was tinkering with some of his pitches to regain his command.  Melvin remarked that he feels Gray still has great “stuff” and that he is confident that he will regain the form that he had the last three years.

The Rays grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first. Logan Forsythe singled to right leading off the game. He advanced to third on two successive ground outs. DH Corey Dickerson singled to drive in Forsythe. With two out in the second, the Rays first baseman Tim Beckham, hitting just .213, sent  a Sonny Gray pitch into the seats in left field a for his fourth home run of the year. Rays lead 2-0 in the middle of the second. The A’s stormed back in their half of the inning. With two out and men on at first and second, Jake Smolinski hit his fifth dinger of the year to put Oakland in the lead 3-2. The ball hit the top of the fence and then bounced over. Had it bounced back to the field of ply, the umps may have ruled it a double.

Corey Dickerson tied the game at three with a leadoff opposite field solo home run. It was Dickerson’s fourteenth of the year.  The Rays scored four runs on five hits in the top of the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. Five straight hits and a sac fly made life miserable for Gray in the fifth. The A’s failed to score in the bottom of the fifth and Sonny is done for the night. Sonny’s line for the night is five innings pitched, nine hits allowed, seven runs all earned.

Game Notes- The A’s are 4-3 since the All-Star break and fell to 7-10 in July. The A’s are now 42-54 for the season. The Rays improved to 38-57. Both teams are in last place in their respective divisions.

Sonny Gray is 4-9 for the year and 1-4 with a 4.86 ERA since coming off the DL on June 5th. Gray has won just one game since April 22nd. Jake Smolinski had the big knock of the night for Oakland when he hit a three-run dinger in the second inning.

The Rays have won three consecutive games for the first time since June 12-15. Matt Moore is 4-3 with a 2.68 ERA over his last eight starts.

Game two of the four-game series will be played Friday night in Oakland. Game time will be 7:05 PM. Lefty Sean Manaea will be on the hill for Oakland, and righty Jake Odorizzi will handle the pitching chores for Tampa Bay.

Time of game was two hours and forty-six minutes, and 14,412 fans watched the A’s go down to defeat.