Tag: San Diego Padres

Giants Honor Late Orlando Cepeda, but Fall to the Padres 4-3, on a Beautiful day by the Bay

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San Francisco Giants crew setting up for the Orlando Cepeda tribute at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Sep 15, 2024 (photo by Michael Roberson/ The African American Athlete)

By Michael Roberson

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif — The San Francisco Giants (72-78) held a pregame ceremony for former Giant and Hall of Famer the Late Orlando “Baby Bull” Cepeda, before losing to the San Diego Padres (85-65), 4-3 inside the friendly confines of Oracle Park.

Cepeda, who spent his first nine seasons with the Giants, died June 28 of this year at the age of 86. The organization posthumously gave him his flowers in a celebration of his life at Oracle Park, simultaneously while the rest of Major League Baseball celebrated Roberto Clemente in the other ballparks.

Orlando”s career numbers are impressive across the board, but even more so as a Giants’ first baseman. As a major leaguer, Cepeda hit .297, had 2,351 hits, belted 379 home runs, and knocked in 1,365 runs. As a Giant, (1958 – 1966) he batted .308, hit 226 homers, and produced 767 RBIs.

Also during his time in the city by the Bay, Cepeda earned the 1958 National League Rookie of the Year award. In addition to that prestigious honor, Orlando was a 10-time All-Star, representing the Giants.

During the 1966 season, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he garnered the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1967, in addition to winning the World Series that same year.

Next he went south to the Peach State and played for the Atlanta Braves (1969 -1972). Midway through the 1972 season, he was back in the Bay Area, after being traded to the Oakland A’s. Unfortunately his reunion on the West Coast was pretty unceremonious.

He was injured right away and considered retirement. Eventually the cantankerous owner Charlie Finley released him of his contract while he was rehabbing in Puerto Rico. Ironically, Oakland went on to win the first of their threepeat of World Series victories (1972 – 1974), while Cepeda was not credited for the team’s championship.

In 1973, with the American League adopting the Designated Hitter position, it revitalized the Caribbean Legend into continuing to play baseball. The Boston Red Sox signed him to the first ever DH contract that allowed him to strictly hit and not have to worry about playing on the field defensively.

Cepeda parlayed that opportunity into being awarded the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, on the merits of batting .289, hitting 20 home runs, and tallying 86 RBI’s. He also had the distinction of hitting at least 20 homers on four different teams (Giants, Cardinals, Braves & Red Sox).

In 1974, Orlando played briefly in Mexico, then he was offered a contract by the Kansas City Royals. The season resulted in stats that were lower than his prime campaigns, and eventually became his final season in the Big Leagues. Cepeda hit .215, hit only one home run, and knocked in 18 runners.

He played in his native Puerto Rico the next season, but ended up retiring because he felt his body was not up to continuing playing baseball. He faced trials and tribulations for a while after baseball, but things did eventually get better.

In 1987, he returned to the fold of the San Francisco Giants family, serving several posts and capacities over the years. His number 30 is retired and on the outfield wall next to Wille Mays’.

With all the ceremonial respect being paid to Cepeda, the game started 30 minutes (1:35) later than the usual start time for Sunday Afternoon. The visiting Southern California “Fathers” were on a mission (journey), not the building they founded, but winning the game.

San Diego scored first, on a sacrifice fly by Manny Machado, scoring Luis Arraez in the top of the sixth inning. Donovan Walton tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the same inning,

In the top of the 8th, Fernando Tatis Jr. came into the game as a pinch hitter and promptly belted a solo bomb, propelling the Padres back on top, 2-1. The Giants used the drama of the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at 2 and force extra innings. Heliot Ramos also hit a solo home run to tie the score.

During the bonus inning (10), Padres’ David Peralta hit an RBI single (Crownenworth), then he later scored on Donovan Solano’s groundout. San Diego was up 4-2 after 9 1/2 innings.

The Giants tried to use the spirit of Orlando Cepeda and comeback and win in the bottom of the tenth, but that did not exactly happen. Michael Conforto stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter, and hit a deep fly ball out, which resulted in an additional run, but not enough for the win. San Diego escaped with a 4-3 victory, and series sweep.

Rest in Peace Orlando Cepeda.

Padres sweep Giants with 4-3 10-inning win at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin (left) and pitching coach Bryan Price (right) watch the Giants and San Diego Padres in the ninth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Sep 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

San Diego Padres 4 (85-65)

San Francisco Giants 3 (72-78)

Win: Robert Suarez (9-3)

Loss: Camilo Doval (5-3)

Save: Adrian Morejon (2)

Time: 2:42

Attendance: 33,043

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Padres completed their sweep of the Giants with a 4-3 win in 10 innings, as the Giants have dropped four straight to tie their season-low six games under .500.

Prior to the game, the Giants held a celebration of life for the late hall-of-famer, Orlando Cepeda on a gorgeous and windy partly cloudy fall day on the shores of McCovey Cove. The ceremony was emceed by Giants’ broadcasters Erwin Higueros and Mike Krukow. Numerous guests spoke, including fellow Hall-of-Famer Juan Marichal, Dusty Baker and Cepeda’s granddaughter.

Before it was over, Krukow read a statement made by Willie Mays, who passed ten days before Cepeda. Mays considered Cepeda a little brother and told the story of how Cepeda was a bat boy when Mays played winter ball in Puerto Rico in 1954.

Sunday was Roberto Clemente Day around Major League Baseball, and all uniformed personnel wore a special patch to commemorate the occasion. Players throughout the league also had the option of wearing Clemente’s number 21. Heliot Ramos wore number 21 for the Giants. Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and David Peralta wore number 21 for the Padres.

Mike Yastrzemski, who did not wear number 21 Sunday, was honored prior to the game in a short ceremony as the Giants’ nominee for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award. The award is given annually to the player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

Anyway, the Giants had been shutout in three-straight games, marking the first time they suffered through that humiliation since June 23-25, 1992. The Giants were also looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Padres.

Melvin held a team meeting following Saturday night’s loss and made clear that the way they were playing was not cutting it. Prior to the game Sunday, Melvin had his players go through infield practice, something that happens more in spring training, to try and fix some of their defensive miscues.

The ceremonies delayed the start of the game to 1:35. Once the game started, Landen Roupp took the ball for the Giants and set down the first six men he faced. Likewise, Padres’ starter Martin Perez set down the first nine men he faced,

Roupp was really supposed to be the opener, but he ended up throwing five shutout innings, and allowed just two hits. The only time he ran into trouble was in the top of the third inning, when he gave up a pair of hits and walked a guy. What helped him get out of that jam was a double play he induced off the bat of Elias Diaz.

Spencer Bivens came in for the Giants in the top of the sixth, and the Padres immediately had him on the ropes. Luis Arraez led off the inning with a base-hit to left, and Donovan Solano reached on an error by second-baseman Mark Canha.

Jurickson Profar moved the runners over to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, and Manny Machado got Arraez in with a sacrifice fly to left. Erik Miller then came in and struck out Jackson Merrill to end the inning.

Like Roupp, Perez had also thrown five shutout innings, which extended the Giants’ scoreless innings streak to 32. However, Padres Manager Mike Shildt let Perez back out for the bottom of the sixth, and Donovan Walton led off the inning with a home run to right-center to tie the game and finally snap the streak.

It was Walton’s first big league hit since July 2, 2022, and it also ended the day for Perez. Perez went five-plus innings, while allowing a run and two hits.

Jeremiah Estrada came in and survived a two-out double by Matt Chapman, and left-hander Taylor Rogers pitched a one, two, three top of the seventh for the Giants. Tanner Scott came in for San Diego in the bottom of the seventh, and while he walked Marco Luciano with one out, Luciano was caught trying to steal second to end the inning.

Submariner Tyler Rogers came in for his brother in the top of the eighth. Fernando Tatis led off, and he took the first pitch from Rogers and hit a bomb to left-center to put the Padres back ahead.

Rogers retired the side in order after the home run by Tatis, and Jason Adam came in to throw a one, two, three inning for the Padres in the bottom of the eighth. Ryan Walker then pitched through a two-out walk for a scoreless top of the ninth.

The Padres brought in their closer, Robert Suarez, for the bottom of the ninth as they tried to finish off the sweep. The first batter for the Giants was Heliot Ramos, and on a 3-2 pitch, he hit an opposite-field home run to right that went into the water for the first-ever splash hit by a right-handed hitter in the 25-year history of Oracle Park.

It was the 105th splash hit by a Giant, and the 166th home run into McCovey Cove overall. Until Sunday, not a single one had been hit by a right-handed hitter. Buster Posey nearly became the first with his two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning in Game 1 of the 2021 National League Division Series between the Giants and the Dodgers, but it ended up hitting the water cannon.

Most importantly, Ramos’ splash hit tied the game 2-2. Suarez then retired the side in order, and that sent the game into the 10th.

With extra innings came the automatic runner at second. The home team used to have the advantage in extra innings, as they had the last at-bat and the chance of a walk-off. However, with the road team having a runner at second with nobody out in a tied game, they had the real advantage now.

That advantage would pay dividends for the Padres in the top of the tenth. Melvin brought in Camilo Doval with Jake Cronenworth at second. David Peralta led off the inning with an RBI base-hit to left, which scored Cronenworth to put the Padres back ahead. (I know, “led off the inning with an RBI base-hit” makes no sense, but neither does baseball Sunday.)

Arraez doubled with one out to put runners at second and third, and Solano grounded out to third to knock in Peralta and make it 4-2.

Adrian Morejon was summoned by San Diego for the bottom of the tenth, and Yastrzemski was the runner at second for the Giants. Yastrzemski got to third on a ground out by Luciano, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Conforto.

However, having a runner at second with nobody out down by two is nothing like having a runner at second with nobody out in a tied game. Patrick Bailey grounded out to third, and the Padres won it 4-3.

Robert Suarez picked up the win despite blowing his fifth save; Camilo Doval took the loss; and Adrian Morejon got the save. The Giants fall back to their season-low six games under .500 at 72-78.

The Giants will now embark on their final road trip of the season, and if you think their 72-78 record right now is bad, just wait until they have to go through Baltimore, Kansas City and Arizona to play three teams destined for the playoffs.

The Giants will have a day off in Baltimore Monday, and then they will begin a three-game series against the mighty Orioles on Tuesday at Camden Yards.

The Giants will have a chance to play spoiler in the American League East race. The Orioles trail the New York Yankees by three games, but the Giants would be doing a major favor to the Orioles by beating them since it would make it more likely that Baltimore would be a wild card team and not have a week off.

Blake Snell (3-3, 3.52 ERA) will take the ball for the Giants on Tuesday, and he will be opposed by former Giant Albert Suarez (8-5, 3.39 ERA), who is back in the big leagues this season for the first time since 2017. First pitch will be at 6:35 p.m. in Baltimore, and 3:35 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

Giants have been shutout now for 27 straight innings; SF gets blanked by San Diego 8-0

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San Francisco Giants Marco Luciano (left) and the San Diego Padres Manny Machado advanced on a two run single in the top of the sixth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Sep 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

San Diego (84-65). 100 103 030. 8. 17. 1

San Francisco (72-77). 000 000.000 0. 5. 1

Time: 2:33

Attendance: 31,243

Saturday, September 14, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Diego Padres cut the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lead for first in the National League’s Western Division to 3-1/2 games by shutting the San Francisco Giants out, 8-0, this chilly Friday evening on the banks of McCovey Cove while Los Angeles was overwhelmed, 10-1, by the Braves in Atlanta. The Giants have now been shutout in three games and for 27 straight innings.

San Diego led their hosts from the start and never looked back, but they didn’t break the game open until they posted a three spot against rookie starter Mason Black in the top of the sixth, when Donovan Solano’s double, followed by singles off the bats of the indomitable Luis Arraiz and right fielder Fernando Tatís, Jr., a walk to the versatile veteran Jurickson Profar, and Jackson Merrill’s two bagger.

That, added to single runs in the first and fourth frames, made it 5-0 in favor of the Padres, who tagged on a trio of tallies in the eighth, getting to Erik Miller on a uncursed leadoff double by Arraez, an RBI single by Tatís, a base on balls to Profar, and a two RBI double by Jackson Merrill. The Pads scored their eight runs on 17 hits off five San Francisco pitchers.

Erik Miller, who faced only two batters in the top of the seventh, was the sole unscored upon San Francisco hurler, unless you include Donovan Walton, an infielder by trade, who gave up two hits but no runs in the ninth.

Black, who fell to 0-4, 6.75 with the loss, lasted only four innings and surrendered two runs, one earned on six hits, one of them a fourth inning solo home run to Xander Bogaerts, and a walk. 55 of his 79 offerings met the criteria to be counted as strikes.

Sean Hjelle pitched two innings and surrendered three runs, all earned, on five hits and two free passes. Jordan Hicks, just back from paternity leave, was touched up for three runs, all of them earned, on four hits and a walk in his inning and a third.

Joe Musgrove earned his sixth win against five losses for his six innings of three hit ball, in which he struck out eight of the 22 Giant batters he faced. Adrián Morejón struck out the side in seventh, and Alek Jabob mopped up with two hits and a K in the final two frames.

Arraez extended his streak of consecutive plate appearances without being struck out from 129 to 135. He also stretched his hitting streak to a dozen games. Only Bobby Witt, Jr., now has more three hit games than Arraez’s 18.. Merrill’s two RBIs raised his total to 85, tops for NL rookies.

The free falling Giants will try to recover Sunday afternoon. The game, scheduled to begin at 1:05pm PT, will follow a celebration of the life of Orlando “Peruchín” Cepeda at 12:30pm. Martín Pérez (4-5, 4.46) will take the mound for the Friars; The Giants Landen Roupp (0-1, 3.44) will throw his curve balls at the Padres.

Work Pitchers, Hit Deep In Counts, Put the Ball In Play: The Padres Make .264 An Impressive Number

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Hitting home runs, running the bases, scorching shots into the gaps for extra-bases, or drawing  walks isn’t quite what the Padres do.

What they do is see pitches, work counts, and rack up base hits. The most hits (1,335 in 148 games), singles (922), and the best team batting average in MLB belong to the Padres in 2024, and it’s a hard-earned distinction for post-season likely San Diego.

“We got some really good approaches,” manager Mike Schildt said. “And guys not only have the bat to ball skills, we have a lot of guys–and Luis (Arraez) leads the charge, but… a lot of our guys put the ball in play. They take really tough at-bats, not afraid to hit with two strikes. But have the approach A) what they’re doing and B) what they’re trying to do with it. They see the field, and they can move the baseball around.”

The .264 team batting average was a modest number. In 1976, Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine hit .280 as a team. In 1986, Cleveland hit .284 as a team and missed the playoffs. In 1997, the Fenway Sox hit. 291, the Coors Field Rockies hit .288, and the Indians won the AL pennant by hitting .286. That’s baseball’s free swinging past.

In 2024, however .264 is robust and the industry standard. As the game has skewed more and more towards power pitching, strikeouts, and modest batting averages, the Padres have responded by dissecting almost every hurler they face. The hits define their success. The team batting average may seem pedestrian, but in fact, it’s exceptional.

“The approaches are dialed in, and guys can leave the ballpark either way,” rookie Brandon Lockridge added. Lockridge made his Major League debut on Friday, but it was his breakout .414 OBP with Yankees Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre that drew GM A.J. Preller’s attention and brought Lockridge to San Diego in a mid-season swap.

San Diego has talented hitters: perennial hitman Manny Machado heads the list. Machado has logged nearly six full seasons in San Diego, and 164 of his 339 career homers have come since his arrival.

Xander Bogaerts, in his first season away from Boston, has set sail with a .309 clip since July 12. He’s also likely to join Machado as an infielder with a ninth, consecutive season with 10 or more home runs. Currently, Bogaerts has nine homers, 99 hits, and 25 walks in 376 plate appearances.

Luis Arraez’ arrival in May by trade with the Marlins has been season-altering. The three-time All-Star with the powerful, compact build has compiled 147 hits while striking out just 15 times. Currently, he’s in a stretch of 129 appearances without a strikeout, and among franchise hitters, only Tony Gwynn (170) has gone longer without being punched. Arraez has the lowest career K rate in baseball (7.0 percent), and he’s made Arraez easier to spell than (Juan) Soto, the similarly talented slugger he essentially replaced at first base.

“Good approach, good swing, elite hitter, and that’s Luis,” manager Mike Shildt said in repeating hitting coach Gene Tenace’s assessment of Arraez.

Rookie Jackson Merrill’s arrival has also been transformational. The ROY candidate has 147 hits in 143 games and enough big moments on SportsCenter to boost the highlight show’s ratings. Merrill projects to finish the regular season with 550 plate appearances, more than 30 walks, and an outside shot at just 100 strikeouts.

Veterans Jake Cronenworth and Jurickson Profar are having big seasons. The 31-year old switch-hitting Profar has 145 hits and a career-best 3.1 WAR. Cronenworth has 131 hits and a team-high 53 walks.

Franchise wonder kid Fernando Tatis Jr. has experienced absences in all five of his big league seasons, missing 293 games due to injury or suspension. But those absences have very little to do with his incredible productivity. This season–in 90 games to date–the 25-year old Tatis has a four-hit game (June 20), and his first career walk-off hit (September 5). But this week alone, and in response to his absence due to a femoral stress reaction, he’s robbed Seattle’s Randy Arozarena with a spectacular reach over the right field wall, and homered in three, consecutive games. In the Padres’ 5-0 shutout of the Giants Friday night, Tatis redirected Logan Webb’s mistake slider 433 feet in the first inning.

“Go and attack,” Tatis said of his home run at-bat. “Webb has been a pitcher that’s been giving us a little trouble to face him. Today, we went in with the mentality that we were the attacker, and we had some good results.

“I want to be that guy, and as soon as I’m on the field, I’m  going to push myself to be that guy, and I take a lot of pride in that,” he added.

The Petco Push, Padre Pride, or even the Friars’ Fresh Approach. You label it, and the NL West-contending Padres embody it.

CEASE AMAZES WITH ACCELERATED PATH TO 1,000 K’s

Dylan Cease was good in Chicago, until everyone around him disappeared. Cease is good in San Diego as well. And Cease has always wielded a nasty strikeout pitch or two, a standard he established in July 2019, when he arrived in the big leagues.

Cease’s first six appearances resulted in four losses for himself and the Sox. But the then 23-year old right-hander pitched deep into all six and racked up a healthy, strikeout total. In the ensuing five years, and below the radar, Cease has established himself as one of the games’ true aces with 56 total wins and his 1,000th strikeout on Friday.

In the third inning, Donovan Walton was caught looking at a fifth, consecutive slider. But Cease shrewdly delivered his only pitch away in the sequence, which likely caught Donovan by surprise.

“Longevity and execution and performance and all that good stuff, but just happy we won,” Cease said. “I feel like I haven’t contributed in like a month.”

“Congratulations to Dylan first of all. One thousand strikeouts in the big leagues is really impressive,” Schildt said. “It’s just two plus-plus pitches that you got to honor. You got to honor the top, with tonight sitting 98–97, 98–you got to honor that. And you got to honor a slider that looks like a strike out of the hand. You got those two plus pitches with that kind of life; it’s a recipe for a lot of strikeouts.”

Cease joined Robbie Ray, Blake Snell, and Yu Darvish to form the quartet that has reached a thousand punch outs the fastest all-time. All four contemporary hurlers, and coincidentally all present and accounted for on Friday at Oracle Park.

“That’s pretty wild,” Cease said. “I have no idea.”

Webb gives up three runs in first, and Cease and Padres blank Giants 5-0

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The San Diego Padres catcher Elias Diaz (right) waits to put the tag on the San Francisco Giants Heliot Ramos (left) in the bottom of the sixth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco Fri Sep 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

Friday, Sept. 13, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

San Diego Padres 5 (83-65)

San Francisco Giants 0 (72-76)

Win: Dylan Cease (13-11)

Loss: Logan Webb (12-10)

Time: 2:33

Attendance: 39,798

By Stephen Ruderman

The Padres came into Oracle Park Friday night, where they scored three runs off Logan Webb in the top of the first inning, and Dylan Cease blanked the Giants and handed them their second-straight shutout loss, 5-0, to open this three-game series.

The Padres were in town for the first time since the home opener. While the early-season excitement and expectations may have been gone, 39,798 fans still filed into Oracle Park to watch the Giants play spoiler against a Padres’ team in the midst of a four-team fight for the three wild card spots in the National League.

Logan Webb once again looked to be the stopper, and he would go up against Dylan Cease in a rematch from last Saturday, when the Giants beat the Padres 6-3. Despite the fact that the Padres are right in the thick of things and that the Giants are about a week away from being eliminated, the Giants came into tonight’s game 6-4 against the Padres this season.

The top of the first inning would not go well for Webb. Luis Arraez led off and singled to right on the second pitch of the game. Fernando Tatis Jr. then came up and hit a home run to center field to give the Padres an early 2-0 lead just four pitches into the game.

Webb got Jurickson Profar to ground out for the first out of the game, but Manny Machado singled and got to second on a wild pitch. Jake Cronenworth struck out looking for the second out, but Xander Bogaerts doubled to right, and Machado scored to make it 3-0.

The Giants were able to get to Cease last weekend, and it looked like they were going to get to him again in the bottom of the first, as they put runners at first and second with one out. However, Cease got out of it unscathed.

When the Giants got to Cease last Saturday, it was in large part due to the unusual heat at Petco Park. Friday night under the normal cold confines of Oracle Park would be a completely different story. Cease proceeded to retire ten straight, and 14 of the next 16.

Webb survived a leadoff double by Jackson Merrill in the top of the second, and it appeared that he had settled down when he threw a one, two, three inning in the top of the third. However, he ran into trouble again in the top of the fourth.

Merrill hit his second double of the game with one out, and then David Peralta struck out swinging. Webb seemed as if he was going to get out of it, as Machado hit a little nubber off the end of the bat in front of the mound. However, Webb just threw it over the head of LaMonte Wade at first, and Merrill scored to make it 4-0.

That would be it for Webb, who gave up seven hits and three unearned runs over just four innings. It was an usually-short outing for the Giants’ ace.

Tristan Beck came in for the top of the fifth and gave up a leadoff base-hit to Profar. However, Beck retired the side in order immediately afterwards, and he threw a one, two, three inning in the top of the sixth.

It looked like the Giants were finally going to break through against Cease in the bottom of the sixth. Heliot Ramos singled to lead off the inning, and after Cease retired the next two, Patrick Bailey came to the plate.

Bailey lined a double to right, and Giants Third Base Coach Matt Williams waved Ramos in from third. However, Padres’ right-fielder Fernando Tatis threw to second-baseman Jake Cronenworth, who made a perfect relay throw home. Ramos veered to his right to make a head-first slide around catcher Elias Diaz, but he was still tagged out, as he nearly took out Home Plate Umpire Mark Wegner.

It was a rough way to end the inning and waste another opportunity for the Giants, but it was a nice way for Cease to end his outing. Cease gave up just four hits and walked two over six shutout innings. Most importantly, he struck out ten and got his 1,000th-career strikeout when he struck Donovan Walton looking to start the bottom of the third.

Beck ended up going two and two thirds, as he was pulled with runners at first and second for the Padres and two outs in the top of the seventh. Taylor Rogers came in to get out of the inning, and he threw a scoreless top of the eighth.

Tanner Scott threw a one, two three bottom of the seventh for San Diego, and Jason Adam did the same in the bottom of the eighth.

After another rough outing for Camilo Doval last night, in which he threw three wild pitches in the top of the seventh inning, he was back in for the ninth Friday night. Doval retired the first two he faced, but the Padres were not going to do him any favors with two outs.

Profar singled to right, and Brandon Lockridge pinch-ran for Profar and stole second. Machado then doubled the other way to right, and Lockridge came in to make it 5-0.

Jeremiah Estrada came in for the Padres in the bottom of the ninth, and threw a one, two, three inning to end it.

Dylan Cease got the win, and Logan Webb took the loss.

Despite how much the Giants’ offense has struggled this season, this is the first time all year that they have been shutout in back-to-back games. However, Friday night was the 31st game this season in which the Giants have struck out 12 times, as pointed out by Sam Lubman of 95.7 The Game.

As also pointed out by Lubman, in the Giants’ first 60 seasons in San Francisco, they never struck out 12 times in 20 or more games in a single season. This is now the seventh-straight season in which the Giants have had 20 or more such games.

The Giants fall to 72-76, and their tragic number to be eliminated is now six. The Giants were eliminated from the National League West race last night.

As for the Padres, they’re the ones playing meaningful baseball, and they improve to 83-65. The Padres have eclipsed the Diamondbacks for the first wild card spot.

The Giants and Padres will be right back at it Friday night. Mason Black will make the start for the Giants, and he will be opposed by left-hander Joe Musgrove, whom the Giants got to on Sunday. First pitch will be at 6:05 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

  1. Padres 83-65 +1.5
  2. Diamondbacks 82-65 +1.0
  3. Mets 81-66 —

Braves 80-67 1.0

Giants News and Notes:

The Giants called up Donovan Walton prior to the game. Walton started and went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts.

Walton is back in the big leagues for the Giants for the first time since he gave us some excitement in a 24-game stint in 2022.

He only hit .158, but he hit seven doubles in his first 10 games, earning the nickname “Donnie Doubles,” which was based off Donovan Solano’s nickname, “Donnie Barrels.” Solano left the Giants following the 2021 Season. In his 11th game for the Giants on June 5, 2022, Walton hit a grand slam at Marlins Park in Miami.

To make room for Walton, Luis Matos was sent back down to Sacramento.

Farhan Zaidi confirmed that his contract runs through the end of next season with an option for 2026, as does Bob Melvin’s. Even though he is signed through the end of next season, Zaidi’s future with the Giants remains uncertain.

Bryce Eldrige, after just nine games with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels, has been called up to Triple-A Sacramento, where he will finish his season. Eldridge hit .270 in his nine games with Richmond with one home run, and four RBIs.

Eldridge, who was the Giants’ first-round draft pick last year, is only 19 years old. Getting to Triple-A at that age is quite an accomplishment.

Now, the question is how much of Eldridge we will see with the Giants next season.

Brewers rally late to shutout Giants 3-0; Montas blanks SF for six innings; Chourio goes deep

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Milwaukee Brewers Jackson Chourio belts a two run home run in the top of the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu Sep 12, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024

Milwaukee used an unearned run and a late home run to blank San Francisco 3-0 Thursday at Oracle Park in a contest that was scoreless through six innings.

The Brewers (84-62), who lead the NL Central by nine games, broke the scoreless deadlock when Giants reliever Camilo Doval (5-2)walked Willy Adames, who advanced to second, third and home on three wild pitches by Doval.

In the Milwaukee ninth, Spencer Bivens, who replaced Doval, gave up a one-out infield single to Brice Turang, followed by a two-run home run by Jackson Chourio.

The Giants (72-75) threatened in the bottom of the ninth, facing Brewers reliever Devin Williams. After Matt Chapman struck out, Mark Canha singled and advanced to third on a double by Jerar Encarnacion. Williams struck out Grant McCray and pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey grounded out to end the game.

It was Williams’ 11th save of the season, while lowering his earned run average to 1.62. Frankie Montas (7-10) struck out eight, walked two and gave up two hits in six innings to earn the win. Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megan earned holds.

Giants starter Hayden Birdsong gave up two hits, struck out four and walked one in five innings. Eric Miller threw a scoreless inning before Doval surrendered the go-ahead run. Bivens gave up two runs on two hits while getting a strike out and a walk in two innings.

Chourio’s home run was his 20th of the season, giving him 71 RBI. Encarnacion was 2-for-4 as the San Francisco DH, and the Giants had a runner in scoring position six times and came up empty.

The Giants reported that right-hander Robbie Ray is expected to join the club for warmups prior to Friday’s game to evaluate his ongoing left hamstring issues. Also, Tyler Fitzgerald left Thursday’s game with lower back tightness.

The Giants host San Diego for a weekend series that starts Friday. Dylan Chase (12-11, 3.71 ERA) is the Padres’ Friday starter, while the Giants are waiting to name their starter.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Giants open up 3 game set with Brew Crew Tuesday night at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants Curt Casali gets congratulations from teammates in the Giants dugout after hitting a top of the fourth inning home run against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on Sun Sep 8, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 Matt Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos all hit a home run each off of San Diego Padres starter Joe Musgrove on Sunday as the Giants combined for a six run fourth inning and ended up defeating the Padres 7-6 at Petco Park in San Diego.

#2 The win by the Giants wins the series over the Padres two out of three games and ends their short three game road trip in San Diego.

#3 The Giants had leads of 6-0 and 7-1 but the pitching let down and the Padres were able to pull within one run and it was hair raising for manager Bob Melvin who had to go into strategy mode in preventing a loss.

#4 The Padres added three runs in the seventh due to a wild pitch by the Giants Tyler Rogers allowing a run, Tyler Roger’s wild pitch allowed a run, shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald’s miscue dropping the ball at shortstop who ran into second baseman Marco Luciano. Luciano dropped a pop up hit by the Padres Jurickson Profar that allowed the third run.

#5 The Giants open up against the NL Central’s first place Milwaukee Brewers. This Brewers team has given that Championship vibe not since felt since 1982 when the were an American League team and faced off against the St Louis Cardinals. This Brewers team has it all, pitching, hitting, speed, fielding, and a keen sense of avoiding errors. The Brewers come into Oracle with starting pitcher Aaron Civale (5-8, 4.62) the Giants Hayden Birdsong (3-5, 5.19) will be the starter for Tuesday night. First pitch 6:45pm PT.

Marko Ukalovic does the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants hold off Padres in 7-6 slugfest; Four SF homers help in win

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San Francisco Giants Luis Matos thanks the good Lord for connecting for a home run in the top of the fourth inning as San Diego Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka looks on at Petco Park in San Diego on Sun Sep 8, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Despite a late comeback by San Diego, San Francisco used home run power early and held on for a 7-6 win Sunday at Petco Park.

San Diego (81-64) remains in second place in the NL West, trailing the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by six games, while the Giants (71-73) remain in fourth place.

The Giants tagged San Diego starter Joe Musgrove (5-5) for three home runs in the top of the fourth inning – a two-run shot by Matt Chapman, a three-run homer by Jerar Encarnacion that was followed by a solo shot by Luis Matos – giving San Francisco a 6-0 lead.

Chapman had two of San Francisco’s seven hits. Luis Arraez led the Padres with three hits.

San Diego got on the board with Jackson Merrill’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the Giants lead to 6-1. San Francisco responded with a one-out solo home run by Curt Casall, extending the Giants lead to 7-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Padres began their comeback after San Francisco made two pitching changes, the latter from Taylor Rogers to Tyler Rogers. Merrill, who walked off Taylor Rogers, later scored on a wild pitch by Tyler Rogers. Jurickson Profar then reached on Tyler Ferguson’s throwing error, allowing Arraez (who singled) and Donovan Solano (who walked) to score. The Giants lead was cut to 7-4.

Camilo Doval took the mound for San Francisco to start the bottom of the eighth. After Jake Cronenworth singled, Xander Bogaerts drove a two-run home run to left-center, pulling the Padres to within 7-6.

Two batters later, Ryan Walker replaced Doval and diffused the rally, then retired the Padres in order in the ninth to end the game.

Erik Miller (4-5), who replaced starter Spencer Givens, worked 1 2/3 innings to get the win. Doval was credited with his third hold, and Walker threw a scoreless 1 2/3 innings for his seventh save.

Musgrove struck out seven and walked one, but also gave up six earned runs in his 4 1/3 innings.

After taking Monday off, the Giants host Milwaukee on Tuesday at Oracle Park. Aaron Civale (5-8, 4.62) starts for the Brewers, while Hayden Birdsong (3-5, 5.19) is on the mound for the Giants. Game time is 6:45 p.m PT.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Stephen Ruderman: Webb has been stand up all season long; Picked up 12th win Saturday

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb seen here pitching at a previous game at Oracle Park held the San Diego Padres to ten hits and three runs in six innings for the win at Petco Park in San Diego on Sat Sep 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

SF Giants podcast with Stephen Ruderman:

San Francisco Giants Grant McCray celebrates his three run home run in the top of the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on Sat Sep 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Stephen:

#1 San Francisco Giants rookie Grant McCray hit two homers and had five RBIs in a 6-3 win in San Diego Saturday.

#2 McCray has been a big part of the offense since coming debuting with the Giants August 14.

#3 It was McCray’s rightfield home run that put the Giants ahead in the second inning 3-2 and he proved to be the key player in the line up on Saturday.

#4 Giants starter Logan Webb pitched six innings allowed ten hits, and three runs. Tell us about the kind of job that Webb has done all season as he’s been the key for this rotation.

#5 Spencer Bivens (3-1, 2.86) gets the start for the Giants and for the Padres starter Joe Musgrove (5-4, 4.09) both competitors tell us how you see this match Sunday?

Stephen Ruderman is a podcast contributor and a Giants beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: McCray does it all in Giants 6-3 win Saturday; Giants-Padres wrap up series Sunday at Petco

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San Francisco Giants Grant McCray celebrates his three run home run in the top of the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on Sat Sep 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 San Francisco Giants rookie Grant McCray hit two homers and had five RBIs in a 6-3 win in San Diego Saturday.

#2 McCray has been a big part of the offense since coming debuting with the Giants August 14.

#3 It was McCray’s rightfield home run that put the Giants ahead in the second inning 3-2 and he proved to be the key player in the line up on Saturday.

#4 Giants starter Logan Webb pitched six innings allowed ten hits, and three runs. Tell us about the kind of job that Webb has done all season as he’s been the key for this rotation.

#5 Spencer Bivens (3-1, 2.86) gets the start for the Giants and for the Padres starter Joe Musgrove (5-4, 4.09) both competitors tell us how you see this match Sunday?

Morris Phillips is podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com