Tag: San Francisco Giants

Shut Out On South Beach: Giants can’t solve Alcantara in 3-0 loss to the Marlins

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By Morris Phillips

The Marlins with their sub .500 records overall and at home haven’t moved the meter thus far in 2022, but the Miami pitching has. Pablo Lopez and Sandy Alcantara are the headliners with near-100 mph four-seam fastballs, and Alcantara got his chance to make an impression on the reigning NL West champion Giants on Thursday.

Let’s just say mission accomplished.

The 26-year old right hander was electric, throwing 111 pitches with the best of those coming late, in a 3-0 shutout win over the Giants. Alcantara allowed three hits, walked two, struck out eight and kept the Giants off balance by starting 17 of the 25 batters he faced with strikes, and inducing 24 swings and misses. Knowing they were entering a battle, Giants’ hitters got the majority of Alcantara’s pitches out early with several, lengthy at-bats. But the response was simple: as the game wore on, Alcantara became highly efficient, dispatching Giants’ hitters quickly and quietly.

“If it were up to me, I would have stayed until the ninth, but I respect the manager’s decision,” Alcantara said through an interpreter.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly lifted his ace after seven innings, but rightfully termed the process of Alcantara finishing better than he starts by saying, “he finally got that groove that we talk about where it’s like he’s going 75 mph on the highway.”

So ingrained is the process, Mattingly actually delivered the previous quote after Alcantara’s previous start in Atlanta in which he struck out a career-best 14 in eight innings of work.

The timing of Alcantara’s start couldn’t have been better for the Marlins, who played two games in Denver against the Rockies on Thursday before returning home. The Giants, who got an early start in Philadelphia to conclude their series with the Phillies looked like the far more sluggish team as the hosts got RBI hits from Jacob Stallings (second inning), Jesus Aguilar and Miguel Rojas (both in the sixth) to create breathing room for Alcantara.

The Giants dropped their second straight after a pair of wins in Philadelphia. Their lineup was thin with Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria dealing with bumps and bruises along with Darin Ruf away on the bereavement list following the death of his father. The Giants are also missing Lamonte Wade Jr., Brandon Belt and Austin Slater, who took batting practice and could make his way into the lineup on Friday night.

The poorly-situationed Alex Wood didn’t pitch poorly for the Giants. Wood worked into the sixth inning, allowing two runs on four hits. Wood has dropped three, consecutive starts and his record is 3-5.

“Any time you face a guy like Sandy, he’s pretty good, so there’s no going to be a whole lot of room for error,” Wood said afterwards.

The announced pitchers for the second game of the series are the Giants’ Alex Cobb and Miami’s Elieser Hernandez.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants end three game win streak; SF opens four game set in Miami tonight

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Philadelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber took San Francisco Giants pitcher Jarlin Garcia (pictured) deep in the bottom of the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Wed Jun 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The Philadelphia Phillies (22-29) ended a four game losing streak to the San Francisco Giants (27-22) and the Giants ended a three game win streak on Wednesday with a 5-4 win.

#2 The Phillies Kyle Schwarber and Nick Maton both hit home runs and the Phillies picked up four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie up the ball game at 5-5. Giants bullpen just couldn’t hold it together?

#3 The Phillies had scratched star hitter Bryce Harper before the game with right forearm soreness and Jean Segura was out with a fractured index finger on his right hand. Segura will be out for three months. As it turned out the Phillies were able to scratch a win even with Harper out of the line up.

#4 Michael, talk about the Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores’ three run home run big fly but still the Giants fall one run short. Talk about the Flores home run and how he’s been seeing the ball of late?

#5 The Giants head to Miami to face off with Miami Marlins starting pitcher for the Giants Alex Wood (3-4, 4.81) and going for the Marlins Sandy Alcantara (5-2, 2.00) a 6:40 pm PDT for tonight’s game, how do you see this series and talk about Wood’s most recent performances?

Join Michael for Giant podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sixth Inning of Separation: Giants rally, and get beat in the same inning of a 6-5 loss to the struggling Phillies

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By Morris Phillips

One inning on Wednesday said it all about the Giants’ current situation. They may be the best right now at wiping out deficits late, but it appears their bullpen’s developed a leak.

Nine runs were scored in the sixth inning of the Giants’ 6-5 loss to the Phillies, but four of those–on two, big home runs–belonged to the hosts, who halted a tough string of losses in the process. The Giants saw their rally to go from down 2-0 to up 5-2 wind up as a footnote, as the Phillies quickly put up four of their own to halt a five-game losing streak.

Jarlin Garcia–arguably the most effective setup man in baseball this season (through 17 appearances) finally had a hiccup, allowing his first earned runs and home runs of the season. Nick Maton and Kyle Schwarber both connected with men on base against Garcia with Schwarber’s giving Philadelphia the lead. The cozy dimensions of Citizens Bank Park were in play with Schwarber’s home run, which probably would have been a flyball out at a lot of parks including San Francisco’s. Garcia’s poor outing also took a possible win away from starter Carlos Rodon who pitched the game’s first five innings.

Manager Gabe Kapler tried to make sense of the situation in which two of the team’s best arm talents couldn’t get it done.

“The most important thing we can do is protect our starters,” Kapler said. “Carlos is a guy we have to treat with that level of respect. When he’s super efficient … of course we’re going to give him that opportunity. Today wasn’t that day, and it wasn’t close. … You could point to any number of spots in the game where there were a couple additional pitches. Certainly we weren’t perfect on defense, and that hurt his chances to pitch deeper into the game.”

The Giants rallied in both of the previous games in the series and made it stick with a pair of victories. Their sixth inning rally in this one brought out the boo birds–predictably–but those same fans had to change their tune when three relievers shut down the Giants in the game’s final three innings.

The Phillies had dropped five in a row, and got worse news before the game when versatile infielder Jean Segura was declared out for at least two months with a broken bone in his index finger, and Bryce Harper was ruled out for the game with a forearm issue.

The Giants–experiencing issues of their own in winning ballgames–looked to pounce by sweeping the series, but it all crumbled with Maton and Schwarber’s home runs. Maton just joined the club, after a call-up from Triple A Lehigh Valley.

Aaron Nola pitched the first six innings for the Phillies, allowing all five Giants’ runs on five hits while notching five strikeouts.

“These guys have been grinding,” Phillies’ manager Joe Girardi said. “A lot of guys have played every day in this 16-day run. We get an off day and we get an off day Monday. Hopefully that refreshes our guys. But I think we really needed (a win) bad.”

The Giants open a four-game set in Miami on Thursday against the Phillies.

Giants pull out 7-4 11-inning win over Phils

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The San Francisco Giants Joc Pederson runs the bases after hitting an 11th inning two run homer against third baseman Alex Bohm (left) and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Tue May 31, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

In a game that lasted four hours and 52 minutes, San Francisco used an 11th inning rally to beat Philadelphia 7-4 at Citizens Bank Park.

Donovan Walton’s run-scoring double broke a 4-4 tie, and Joc Pederson iced it with a two-run homer, driving in Walton. Walton drove in Joey Bart, who was placed at second.

Jose Alvarez (2-1), the eighth pitcher to enter the game for the Giants, struck out two and walked two over the last 1 1/3 innings to get the win.

Andrew Bellatti (1-2) surrendered all three San Francisco runs in the top of the 11th. In the Phillies’ 11th, after Odubel Herrera was placed on second base, Johan Camargo fouled out to first, Kyle Schwarber walked, Bryson Stott struck out, and Bryce Harper was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Alvarez struck out Roman Quinn swinging to end the game.

San Francisco had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th when Wilmer Flores scored on a fielding error. The Phillies extended the game in the bottom of the 10th on a two-out RBI single by Alec Bohm.

The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run double to right by Luis Gonzalez, and Mike Yastrzemski’s sacrifice fly to center. Philadelphia came up with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 3-3. J.T. Realmuto had an run-scoring single, and Rhys Hoskins (who singled) scored when Herrera grounded into a double play.

Gonzalez was 4-for-5, leading the Giants’ 12-hit attack. San Francisco starter Jakob Junis went 4 1/3 innings, giving up an earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out three. Jarlin Garcia, John Brebbia, Jake McGee, Tyler Rogers, Dominic Leone and Camilo Duval also saw action out of the Giants’ bullpen.

Phillies starter Ranger Suarez lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out five.

Carlos Rodon (4-4, 3.60) starts for the Giants on Wednesday, facing the Phillies’ Aaron Nola (2-4, 3.56); first pitch is at 2:05 PDT.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Kapler takes anthem protests one game at a time; Can A’s improve attendance as Astros and Red Sox pay a visit to Coliseum

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San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler takes a stroll to the Giants dugout after making a pitching change in the top of the eighth inning against the New York Mets on Mon May 23, 2022 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Gabe Kapler San Francisco Giants manager made headlines when he said he would not be on the field for the national anthem but made an exception for the Memorial Day game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

#2 The Oakland A’s continue to suffer at the gate their draws have been around 8,000 plus tops and bottoming out around 3,000 on a Thursday night against the Texas Rangers.

#3 What a week for the Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani on Sunday Ohtani homered twice, but the Angels lost by just a run in a slugfest against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Big A in Anaheim 11-10 in a back and forth game. No doubt Ohtani is doing it all this season for the Halos.

#4 There is no doubt Amaury that the Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham who returned from his three day suspension on Monday and San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson as strange as that situation is Pham felt that Pederson cheated in Fantasy Football and Pham said there was a lot of money at stake and hence the bad blood between the two. How dangerous is a situation like this when there is money lost between players and they have to play together professionally.

#5 Amaury, talk about the warm pitched that bounced that was thrown by Los Angeles Angels pitcher Michael Lorenzen one of the warm up pitches went up and hit teammate catcher Kurt Suzuki in the neck. Suzuki was helped off the field but once in the dugout passed out on Saturday night. Suzuki went to the hospital and a few hours later returned to the ballpark and said he was available to play the next day in Sunday’s game.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s lead play by play announcer heard on Le Grande 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Home Run Giants: Long ball propels SF past the Phillies, 5-4 in 10 innings

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By Morris Phillips

The part of the Giants’ season where Evan Longoria hits the ball over the fence everyday is starting to gain some appeal.

Longoria’s ninth inning home run gave the Giants the lead for the first time all afternoon and they went on to beat the Phillies 5-4 in 10 innings at Citizens Bank Park on Memorial Day.

Manager Gabe Kapler suspended his National Anthem protest for a day, as the pressing issues for both clubs took center stage.

“While I believe strongly in the right to protest and the importance of doing so, I also believe strongly in honoring and mourning our country’s service men and women who fought and died for that right,” Kapler wrote in a statement issued before the game.

The Phillies came up short in the late innings for the second straight day, ratcheting up the pressure on manager Joe Girardi, who has seen his club drop 11 of their last 15 games. Longoria’s home run off Corey Knebel, then Curt Casali’s two-run homer off Andrew Bellatti in the tenth had the familiar Philly boo birds in full effect.

“Everyone in that room and in this room has gone through tough times in your life and you get to the other side,” Girardi said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in this room.”

The Giants’ rough times continued the first two days in Cincinnati, but Longoria’s exploits have the club on a modest two-game win streak after losses in 16 of their previous 27 games.

Longoria started the season on the injured list to recover from a surgically repaired finger. He made his debut on May 11 and went his first 11 appearances without a home run. But he’s homered five times in the last five games, with Giants winning three of the five.

Casali credited his home run to Giants’ starter Logan Webb, who had his very best stuff marred by a trio of home runs, including Kyle Schwarber’s that pushed the game to extras.

“I didn’t care who did it, honestly. You want to win every game, but I wanted to win that game so bad,” said Casali. “Just what (Webb) did and being able to come out for the ninth and have that heartbreak ending to his day. Man, he pitched well today. That’s vintage Logan Webb. He had everything going.”

Webb pitched eight plus allowing four hits and the three, solo homers. What stood out for Webb was his 10 strikeouts, no walks and a bundle of swings and misses.

“I had thrown the first eight,” Webb said. “We were up, and I wanted to win. It sucks I couldn’t finish it.”

Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez and Jakob Junis are the announced pitchers for Tuesday’s second game of the series.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Longoria delivers long ball for Giants in comeback win over Reds 6-4

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The San Francisco Giants Evan Longoria celebrates his three run home run in the top of the eighth in the Giants dugout against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Sun May 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris very little doubt that the San Francisco Giants (25-21) Evan Longoria is in a very good place hitting four home runs in his last four games.

#2 Longoria’s home runs were crucial as the Giants wanted to avoid getting swept by the Cincinnati Reds (16-31) with a 6-4 win on Sunday morning. The Giants took some tough defeats on Friday 5-1 and 3-2 on Saturday.

#3 The Reds were in the drivers seat for awhile with a 2-0 lead and Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle throwing seven innings of no hit ball before Longoria and the Giants made their comeback.

#4 Alex Cobb Giants starting pitcher threw well in his own right allowing just two runs, four hits, eight strikeouts.

#5 The Giants are in Philadelphia for a three game series and Logan Webb (5-1, 3.54) and the Phillies (21-26) will start Kyle Gibson (3-2, 3.94) a 4:05 pm PDT start.

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

SF’s Eighth Inning Surge Beats Reds 6-4; Giants avoid getting swept

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San Francisco Giant Evan Longoria circles the bases after hitting a three run homer in the eighth inning to help defeat the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Sun May 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

Eighth Inning Surge Beats Reds 6-4

By Barbara Mason

It has been a tough start for the San Francisco Giants (25-21)on this most current road trip. Dropping two games in a row to the Cincinnati Reds (16-31) was a bit of a shocker to most. The Reds are simply not a good team: they are a club that the Giants should be able to handle.

The second game of this series was a tough loss for San Francisco with some curious decisions made in the ninth inning which may have cost them the game although they had numerous opportunities to come away with this contest. It was a team effort in this loss with 11 runners left stranded when all was said and done.

San Francisco took on the Reds in game three hoping to avoid the sweep. It was not looking good for the Giants until the eighth inning. The Reds again took the early lead in the second inning. Kyle Farmer scored off a Albert Almora Jr. single for the early 1-0 lead.

In the sixth inning the Reds extended their lead. Tyler Naquin doubled driving in Joey Votto for a 2-0 lead and this game was looking like more of the same.

The Giants broke this game wide open in the eighth inning. They saved the best for last. Tommy LaStella scored off a Pederson single followed by a home run by Evan Longoria driving in Wilmner Flores and Joc Pederson taking a 4-2 lead.

San Francisco was not finished: Luis Gonzalez would double driving in Thairo Estrada and Brandon Crawford for a 6-2 lead.

The Reds made some noise in the ninth inning when Albert Almora Jr. hit a home run and Farmer scored but that was it for the Reds and the Giants avoided the sweep. The Giants managed to win this game but again the Reds had more hits than San Francisco but the good new was that the Giants were back on the winning track.

Monday the Giants will take on the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Logan Webb (3-1, 3.54) will take the mound for San Francisco. For Philadelphia Kyle Gibson (3-2, 3.94) will get the nod. First Pitch is scheduled for 1:05 at Citizens Bank Ballpark.

Giants Drop A Second Game to the Reds 3-2; Pham suspended three games for pre game slap on Pederson

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The Cincinnati Reds Kyle Farmer (17) high fives teammate Tyler Stevenson after hitting a first inning three run home run at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Sat May 28, 2022 (AP News photo)

Giants Drop A Second Game to the Reds 3-2

By Barbara Mason

Saturday afternoon the San Francisco Giants (24-21) took on the Reds (16-30) in Cincinnati. After losing Friday’s game 5-1, the Giants were looking to bounce back against a team that quite frankly is not a very good one. They couldn’t pull it off losing by a run 3-2 at Great American Park in Cincinnati.

The Reds got on the board in the first inning when Kyle Farmer hit a home run driving in Brandon Drury and Tyler Stephenson for an early 3-0 lead.

The Giants loaded the bases in the second inning but came up empty. In the third inning Yastrzemski would score on a Joc Pederson double for their first run of the game.

San Francisco scored in the sixth inning when Evan Longoria hit a solo home run still trailing 3-2. The Giants had 12 hits to the Reds 5. They had many opportunities in this game but failed to capitalize. One of the most glaring downfalls for the team were the 11 runners on base that failed to score.

The most disappointing inning in this game was the ninth. Curt Casali singled and Yastrzemski walked. With two outs, Wilmer Flores singled and the Giants had the chance to load the bases yet again in this game. Pinch runner Joey Bart was waved home and thrown out at the plate and that was the ball game.

Right fielder Aristides Aquino made a magnificent throw to catcher Tyler Stephenson for the out and the win for Cincinnati in a surprising move by San Francisco.

Post game notes: Major League Baseball announced before Saturday’s game that the Reds outfielder Tommy Pham had been suspended three games Fri-Sun for slapping San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson in the face before Friday night’s game.

The slapping by Pham stemmed by a Fantasy Football League dispute in the off season. Pham took exception to what Pederson had wrote in explaining that he did not stash players while one of his players was on the IL.

Pham said that Pederson’s comments were disrespectful and there is a code to follow in Fantasy Football, “We had too much money on the line, so I look at it like there’s a code,” and that Pederson was “messing with my money.”

Pham who was with the San Diego Padres last season and Pederson who was with the Atlanta Braves showed a screen shot of what he sent to the Padres joking about the Padres struggle in the final months of the season.

Pham wrote to Pederson saying that Pederson did not know Pham that much to be joking about the Padres struggles like that. Pederson said he knew four or five of the guys on the Padres at the time and it was a joke and for laughs.

Pham however didn’t take it that way and confronted Pederson on Friday and slapped him in the face during batting practice. Pederson said it was a lighthearted joke he knew some of the guys over at the Padres and Pederson said he meant no harm.

But since the slap there might be some unspoken bad blood with Pederson’s teammates who didn’t appreciate Pham slapping their teammate before Friday’s game and they just might be waiting on Pham when the Reds come to San Francisco Jun 24-26 at Oracle Park.

Tomorrow the Giants will take on the Reds in game three of this series. They will try to avoid being swept in this final game. Alex Cobb (3-2, 6.25) will take the mound for San Francisco. For the Reds Tyler Mahle (2-5, 6.32) will get the nod. First pitch is 8:35 AM.

Reds beat Giants 5-1, real fireworks preceded the game

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The Cincinnati Reds Tommy Pham (left) was taken out of the line up before Fri May 27, 2022 game at Great American Ball Park for slapping San Francisco Giants Joc Pederson (right) in the face during batting practice (file photos from TULANEFML)

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, May 27, 2022

All of the action in Cincinnati seemed to take place before the Reds hosted the San Francisco Giants on Friday.

After the game had been delayed for two hours due to inclement weather in the Cincinnati area, the lowly Reds eventually prevailed 5-1.

Joc Pederson, who was in the middle of a pregame dispute with Cincinnati’s Tommy Pham, drove in the only San Francisco run while going 1-for-3.

Giants starter Carlos Rodon (4-4) took his third straight loss, walking three and striking out two while giving up three earned runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Graham Ashcraft (1-0) got the win, while Art Warren earned his third save.

Off the field, Pederson got into a pregame disagreement with Pham, leaving Pham as a pregame scratch from the Cincinnati lineup. Pederson, meanwhile, remained in the Giants’ lineup.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that during pregame batting practice, Pham got into an argument with Pederson. The incident ran its course quickly, and Cincinnati manager David Bell stayed in the outfield to speak with Pham after both teams resumed their warmup activities.

Reportedly, according to The Athletic, Pham slapped Pederson over a disagreement involving their fantasy football league. Pham claims that Pederson was the instigator. The two players have never been teammates.

MLB is investigating the incident.

Before the game, Giants manager Gabe Kapler released a statement explaining his decision to discontinue participating on the field for the playing of the national anthem in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed 21 lives.

Kapler said, in part, that he would only start coming out for the Star-Spangled Banner if he “felt better about the direction of our country.” He also criticized “police officers who had weapons and who receive nearly 40 percent of the city’s funding” for failing to stop the shooter for an hour after parents asked the police to intervene.

Kapler also criticized politicians for their suggestion that ‘locked doors and armed teachers’ would provide a solution. In his online blog, Kapler wrote, ‘Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self-congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place.

“On Wednesday, I walked out onto the field, I listened to the announcement as we honored the victims in Uvalde,” Kapler continued. “I bowed my head. I stood for the national anthem. My brain said drop to a knee, my body didn’t listen. I wanted to walk back inside; instead, I froze. I felt like a coward.”

Adding to the strangeness of the day, the Giants tried to bring in pitcher Jake McGee, who had just been activated from the injured list. But McGee wasn’t on the lineup card given to the Reds and the umpires. So, McGee wasn’t allowed to pitch, and Jose Alvarez came in to pitch instead, giving up two more runs.

Because of the nearly two-hour rain delay, the Reds held a pregame fireworks show to honor local noise ordinances.

On Saturday, Alex Wood (3-3, 4.82) starts for the Giants, while Vladimir Gutierrez (0-6, 8.70) is on the mound for Cincinnati. Game time is 12:10 PDT.