Tag: San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani seen here pitching in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix Sun Jul 4, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

On the same day that Buster Posey discovered that he would have two teammates joining him at the All-Star Game at Coors Field, he was forced to leave the final game of the road trip early.

Posey, who was elected to the start in the annual midsummer classic was hit on his glove hand in the bottom of the sixth inning after he took a bat to the hand, with fellow catcher Daulton Varsho at the plate.

Manager Gabe Kapler and trainer Dave Groeschner immediately ran to the side of Posey, who said that he was okay; however, after Varsho struck out, Posey left the game and was replaced by Curt Casali. X-Rays on Poseys thumb were taken at Chase Field, and they came back negative.

Posey drove the first run of the game, as he singled in Austin Slater in the top of the first inning and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 at Chase Field.

That was not the only run of the inning by the Giants, as Darin Ruf doubled to center field and Posey scored easily from first base.

Anthony DeSclafani pitched a tremendous game, as he went 8.2 innings. DeSclafani allowed two runs, on six hits, walking two and striking out seven and he saw his record improve to 9-3 on the season.

DeSclafani, who was one out away from his third complete game of the season gave up a long single to Christian Walker with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that scored David Peralta, who singled and then went to second on defensive indifference with two outs.

Tyler Rogers walked Pavin Smith, but then got Josh Reddick to groundout to Donovan Solano at second base, as he picked up his 10th save in 14 chances on the season.

With the victory, the Giants maintained their one-half game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have nine games in a row since they were no-hit by the Chicago Cubs on June 24 at Dodger Stadium.

After starting the road trip by getting swept against the Dodgers, the Giants came back to finish the road trip at 3-3 and won three out of four in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. The Giants also are now 9-1 on the season against the Diamondbacks.

Slater, who the game-winning two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning on Saturday night was at it again on Sunday, as he hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning for his ninth home run of the season.

Ruf got in the home run act in the top of the sixth inning, as he hit a two-run home run that gave the Giants a 5-0 lead.

Reddick drove in the Diamondbacks first run of the night in the bottom of the seventh inning, as he singled to centerfield that scored Asdrubal Cabrera; however, on the play, Reddick was thrown out at second base by Casali, when he tried to advance after Duggar threw home.

Caleb Smith went six innings, allowing five runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out five and he lost for the fifth time on the season.

NOTES: Brandon Crawford and Kevin Gausman will join C Posey in representing the Giants in this year’s All- Star Game in Colorado. It is the third career All-Star appearance for Crawford, who also to the midsummer classic in 2015 and 2018, and this is the first for Gausman, who grew up in the Denver area.

Crawford ranks among the NL leaders in home runs (17, T-10th), RBI (52, T-7th), SLG (.537, 8th) and OPS (.885, 9th). Gausman sports the second-lowest ERA in the Majors (1.68) behind NYM’s Jacob deGrom and has also thrown 101.2 innings, tied for the ninth-most in MLB while his eight wins are tied for seventh-most in MLB.
The last time that the Giants had at least three representatives in the game was 2016 when Brandon Belt, Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Posey all were All-Stars in the game at Petco Park in San Diego.

This was the first time that the Giants have played on July 4 since the 2018 season, as they were off in 2019 and did not play in 2020 due to Covid-19.

With the victory over the Diamondbacks, this was the first time since the 2016 season that the Giants won on July 4 (Colorado Rockies) and now are 24-39-1 on fourth since moving to California in 1958.

UP NEXT: Gausman takes the mound on Monday afternoon, as he looks for his ninth win of the season and the Giants return home to face the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park. The Cardinals will send left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim to the mound, as he looks for his third win of the season.

The San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski gets congratulations from Thairo Estrada after hitting a third inning home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sat Jul 3, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

Austin Slater came up with the biggest hit of the game when the San Francisco Giants so desperately needed it.

Slater launched a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, as the Giants came back to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 at Chase Field. The Giants are now 8-1 versus the Diamondbacks this season, as they have scored 70 runs in those eight games, while the Diamondbacks have 38 runs in those games.

The Slater home run was originally measured at 482 feet that would have been the longest home run by a Giants player since STATCAST began back in 2015, breaking the record of Alex Dickerson, who hit a 480-foot home run earlier this season against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field; however, it was eventually measured at 463 feet.

Entering the at-bat that gave the Giants the victory, Slater was mired in a 4-for-41 slump and that all ended with that one swing of the bat.

The Giants jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning, as Mike Yastrzemski hit his 12th home run of the season, then Brandon Crawford tripled in Dickerson that made it 3-0 and then Donovan Solano drove in the final run of the frame that scored Crawford. It that inning, the Giants as a team hit for the cycle.

Unfortunately, the Giants and Sammy Long were unable to hold on to the lead, as the Diamondbacks cut the lead in half, when Asdrubal Cabrera singled to centerfield that scored Jake Faria and then Christian Walker singled to score Nick Ahmed for the second run of the inning.

Ahmed tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit his second home run of the season that also scored Andrew Young.

The usual Giants defense faltered in the bottom of the fifth inning, as LaMonte Wade, Jr., was unable to field the ball, when the ball hit by Pavin Smith went through his legs that sent Cabrerat to third and Smith up to second.

Following the Wade error, Jose Alvarez replaced Zack Littell, who came on to start the inning in place of Long.

David Peralta greeted Alvarez rudely, as he singled to score Cabrera that gave the Diamondbacks the lead. Alvarez was able to regroup, as he struck out Josh Reddick and then got Daulton Varsho on a great play by Crawford, who threw to Darin Ruf to end the inning.

That would be the score up until Slater hit that two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning that gave the Giants the lead for good.

Long went four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking one and struck out six on the evening.

The quintet of Littell, Alvarez, Dominic Leone, Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee went the final five innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits, walking one and striking out seven. Leone pitched the seventh inning, his only inning of work, as he allowed a hit and struck out one, ended up the getting his second win of the season.

Rogers came on in the top of the eighth inning, where he gave up a hit and struck out that then bridged into closer Jake McGee, who struck out one and picked up his 16th save of the season.

Faria went four innings for the Diamondbacks, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out three.

Thairo Estrada, who hit a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning on Friday night made a huge mistake on the bases just prior to the Yastrzemski walk and the Slater home run. Estrada walked with one out; however, he was picked off at first base by pitcher Ryan Buchter that was challenged by Gabe Kapler, but the call was upheld.

Crawford picked up three hits on the evening, including a double that gave him 616 in his career, passing J.T. Snow for ninth-most since the Giants moved to California in 1958.

NOTES: Prior to the game, as the Giants reached the halfway point of the season, the Giants were 51-30 (.630) at the halfway point of the 2021 campaign and the .630 mark is tied for the third-best winning percentage in the SF-era (1958-present) at the halfway point of the season and only the 1993 Giants (53-28, .654) and the 1962 club (52-29, .642) were better.

When Estrada hit his first career grand slam in last night’s win, it was the fifth grand slam by the Giants this season,
which is third-most in the Majors behind the
Braves and Dodgers, who each have seven
apiece entering play today…Estrada became
the sixth Giant since at least 1900 to hit a HR in
his first start with the team…the last to do it was
OF Alex Dickerson, who also did it here in Arizona on June 21, 2019.

Estrada joins Crawford, Brian Dallimore, Alberto Castillo and Bobby Bonds as the only players to hit a grand slam in their first ever game with the Giants.

UP NEXT: Anthony DeSclafani goes for his ninth win of the season on Sunday evening, as the Giants close out the series, while the Diamondbacks will send left-hander Caleb Smith to the hill, as he looks for his third win of the season.

The San Francisco Giants Thairo Estrada belts out a ninth inning grand slam against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix on Fri Jul 2, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

If the San Francisco Giants (51-30) wanted to get out of their recent rut, they needed a change in their lineup and they may have found it in Thairo Estrada.

All the youngster did was go three-for-five, including a 431-foot grand slam in the top of the ninth inning and the Giants put an end to a season-high four-game losing streak with a 11-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks (23-61) at Chase Field. This was the seventh win in eight games for the Giants over the Diamondbacks this season.

The Estrada grand slam broke open a close game, helping Alex Wood to his eighth win of the season for the Giants, who maintained their half-game over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, after the Dodgers defeated the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park by the final score of 10-5.

Estradas grand slam came with two outs after Buster Posey walked, then Austin Slater grounded into a double play and then the Giants way to break the game wide open began. Brandon Crawford drew a walk, then Wilmer Flores reached on a throwing error by Nick Ahmed that allowed Crawford advance to third base, after a walk to Steven Duggar that loaded the bases, Estrada launched a J.B. Bukauskas pitch deep into the left field seats.

Wood went the required five innings, as he allowed two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out eight before giving way to the bullpen.

It was a tough night for the Diamondbacks pitching staff, as their starter Zach Gallen was forced to leave the game in the top of the third inning with a strained hamstring and then manager Torrey Lovullo was forced to use his bullpen for the rest of the game.

Prior to leaving, Gallen went two innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking three and struck out three, as he saw his record fall to 1-4 on the season and the Diamondbacks lost for the 25th time in their last 28 games.

Crawford, like Estrada also picked up a three-hit game in four at-bats and scored twice in the big win for the Giants, who continue to have the best record in the National League.

Lamonte Wade, Jr., who was surprisingly sent down to Sacramento a few weeks back continues his hot hitting, as he went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three runs batted in that included his seventh home run of the season.

Wade drove in the first run of the game, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Flores and then Mike Yastrzemski drove in the second run of the inning with a single that scored Duggar.

Alex Dickerson then added to the Giants lead, as he hit a solo home run deep into the Phoenix night, as it landed 415 feet away from home plate.

After the Diamondbacks began to cut into the Giants lead, Wade hit a two-run home run to give the Giants a 7-2 lead and they needed those runs, as the Diamondbacks began to comeback.

Edwin Escobar and Pavin Smith each hit solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off of Jimmy Sherfy that saw Jake McGee get up at the end of the inning, as he was getting ready to come on to close the game; however, that all changed when Estrada hit the grand slam the put the game away for the Giants.

NOTES: Buster Posey was officially selected to his seventh All-Star Game. Posey won the fan vote at catcher and has been selected to start the game by the fans for the fifth time in his career (first time since 2017). With five fan elections, he joins Barry Bonds (12 fan selections) as the only players in Giants history to be voted in by the fans at least five times and Posey joins Hall of Famers Johnny Bench (10), Gary Carter (8) and Mike Piazza (11) as the only NL backstops with at least five fan elections.

The Estrada grand slam was the fifth of the season, for the Giants, joining Brandon Belt, Duggar, Mike Tauchman and Yastrzemski.

Since the 2019 season, the Giants are 12-5 in their 17 games at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks and have hit 17 home runs during this time and have also outscored the Diamondbacks 100-71 in those 17 games.

UP NEXT: Sammy Long will go for his second win of the season, as he takes the mound on Saturday night, while the Diamondbacks will start Jake Faria, who is 0-0 on the season.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Alex Wood seen here throwing against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Mon Jun 14, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco will start against the Diamondback on Fri Jul 2, 2021 at Chase Field in Phoenix (AP file photo)

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The San Francisco Giants (50-29) who opened a four game series on Thursday night at Chase Field in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks (22-60) are hoping that they can put more games between them and the Los Angeles Dodgers (49-31) can they do it?

#2 After the Dodgers series in LA Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seems to have a lot of confidence that the Dodgers can catch the Giants not only after sweeping them but they have the horses and experience to win the west is that a fair assessment by Roberts.

#3 After the loss on Tuesday in the brief two game series Giants manager Gabe Kapler said “No real explanation other than we’re going to have to do a better job against the best teams in baseball, including the Dodgers, in those big spots,”

#4 Giants outfielder Mike Tauchman suffered a mile contusion after making an outstanding catch on Tuesday night he ironically was filling in for Mike Yastrzemski who was also out with a contusion. Tauchman had an MRI on Wednesday and talk about Yastrzemski’s progress.

#5 Taking a look at tonight’s starting pitchers for the Giants Alex Wood (6-3 ERA 3.91) and for the Diamondbacks Zac Gallen (1-3 ERA 3.69) Michael tell us how you see this match in game 2 of this series for tonight.

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

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly throws to the San Francisco Giants line up in the first inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Thu Jul 1, 2021 (AP News photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

PHOENIX—What a difference a start made for Merrill Kelly.

The Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher pitched seven strong innings and drove in a run on his first hit of the season in helping his team defeat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 in the first game of a weekend four-game series on Thursday evening at Chase Field.

San Francisco have lost a season worst four-games in a row and their lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers has shrunk to just a half game. Arizona snapped its own four-game losing streak and are just 3-9 after losing 17 games in a row.

Kelly gave up seven hits with three earned runs while striking out seven and did not allow a single walk on the evening.

Kelly, who came into the game with out having a hit, hit a bloop into left field for his first hit and RBI of the season to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 in the second inning.

“I think he was just giving us different looks,” said Giants catcher Buster Posey about Kelly command tonight. “He didn’t really stay in one spot. He’s able to throw four pitches at different parts of the plate and that’s usually a recipe for success.”

The second inning for Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto is one he would like to forget. After coming off his best outing against the Oakland A’s last Friday, Cueto came into this start feeling under the weather. He finished the inning throwing 32 pitches and he looked fatigued and was not sharp on the mound.

“Yeah it was a long inning,” said Cueto if he had ran out of gas after the second inning. “I tried to have a lot of energy, I tried to install energy in the game but I just didn’t have it. I tried to go deep into the game as long as I could but again I just couldn’t do it.”

Cueto gutted out a five inning performance giving up all five runs on six hits, while striking out five batter and issued two walks.

Mike Yastrzemski drew first blood in the first inning when he hit a 418-foot home run to right field, his 11th of the season, to get San Francisco (50-30) on the board.

Arizona (23-60) responded with its two-out rally in the second. Back to back doubles to Josh Reddick and Josh VanMeter in the bottom of the second inning to even the score at one apiece before Kelly’s go ahead single. It was VanMeter’s 10th RBI on the season.

Wilmer Flores smashed a 429-foot two-run homer to left field after a one out single by Branden Crawford, his eighth of the season, in the fourth inning to give the Giants a brief 3-2 lead.

Once again the Diamondbacks regained the lead in the bottom half of the fourth and this time for good. Reddick hit a two-run homer that just cleared the fence in right fielder for his first home run in a Diamondback uniform to give Arizona a 4-3 lead.

Pavin Smith added an insurance run in the fifth inning for Arizona with his sixth home run of the season, a deep shot into the right field seats, to complete the game’s scoring.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler said there’s no need to hit the panic button right now despite his offense’s current slump.

“I don’t think we need a rally the troops kind of speech. We’re not that kind of team,” Kapler said.

Joakim Soria pitched an eventful, but scoreless ninth inning to preserve the win to earn his first save of the season.

GAME NOTES: Outfielder Mike Tauchman was placed on the 10-day IL list (retroactive to June 30th) with a right knee sprain. The Giants recalled outfielder Jaylin Davis as he returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Posey will be the starting catcher for the National League at the All-Star Game in Denver, Colorado on July 13th as he finished first in the fan voting. It will be his seventh of his career, giving him one more selection to the National League squad than Willie McCovey and Will Clark earned in their storied Giants tenures.

UP NEXT: The Giants and D-Backs continue their four-game series on Friday 7/2 at 6:40pm at Chase Field.