Giants have rare Friday night off

Photo credit: bleacherreport.com

By Jeremy Kahn

With the San Francisco Giants being off on a Friday night, it is a rare sight for the Orange and Black.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, this first time that the Giants have been scheduled for a Friday night since April 9, 2004.

Just one night prior to the last Friday off, the Giants lost to the San Diego Padres 4-3 in 10 innings in the first ever game at Petco Park and the manager for the Padres on that night is current Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

That season, Barry Bonds won his fourth consecutive National League Most Valuable Player and seventh overall.

Bonds won the Batting title that season, as he batted .362, hit 45 home runs and drove in 120 runs. He also walked a major- league record 232 times, including a record 120 times intentionally.

In the Giants home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 12, 2004, Bonds tied his godfather Willie Mays for third place on the all-time home run with 660. The next night, Bonds passed his godfather with home run 661.

Five months later, on September 17, 2004, Bonds became the third player ever to hit 700 home runs, as he hit off of Padres pitcher Jake Peavy in a 4-1 Giants victory at SBC Park.

Pedro Feliz and Marquis Grissom each hit 22 home runs, while Ray Durham hit 17, Michael Tucker hit 13, while J.T. Snow hit 12 and Edgardo Alfonzo and A.J. Pierzynski added 11, as the Giants ended up with a grand total of 183 home runs on the season.

Jason Schmidt led the pitching staff with 18 wins, and current bullpen coach Matt Herges led the team with 23 saves.

The Giants season came to an unfortunate end, when Steve Finley hit a dramatic grand slam off of Wayne Franklin in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers the National League Western Division Championship with a 7-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.

The loss stopped the Giants streak of making the postseason at two, as they made the postseason three times in the first four years after the opening of their sparkling new home, then known as SBC Park. That was the first year that the ballpark at 24 Willie Mays Plaza was known at SBC Park after being named Pacific Bell Park.

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

Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shark is sharp, but Cubs sweep Giants with 1-0 win

Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Jeremy Harness

For the past couple of years, the jury has been out on Jeff Samardzija. However, on Thursday afternoon, it was the offense that let him down, less than 24 hour after scoring 11 runs.

Samardzija clearly pitched well enough to beat the Chicago Cubs and salvage a game from the three-game series, but the Giants could not bring a single run across, and that resulted in a hard-luck 1-0 loss at Wrigley Field.

As a result, they were swept right out of Chicago, in a series that would have gone a long way in continuing their push for the second wild-card spot in the National League.

The right-hander, who started his pro baseball career with the Cubs after starring in baseball as well as football for Notre Dame, went seven strong innings and gave up only a run on two hits, walking one and striking out four.

Meanwhile, the Giants had all kinds of trouble with Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks, who threw seven shutout innings at them, giving up only three hits – one of those coming off the bat of his pitching counterpart, Samardzija – and striking out seven and not walking anybody.

From there, the Giants managed only one hit off the Cubs’ relievers, as they flew away from Wrigley Field two games under .500. As expected, the National League as a whole has improved since the All-Star break, as the second wild-card spot holder, the St. Louis Cardinals, have a 68-58 mark at press time.

The Giants are now a full six games out of the wild card, and they clearly have a ton of work to do in this next month if they are going to have a chance to make a serious run at the postseason.

The Giants head to RingCentral Coliseum to take on the A’s for a two-game weekend series starting Saturday night at 6:07 p.m.

Giants fall in wild shootout against Cubs, 12-11

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants’ bats, which had been clearly identified as a problem for most of this year, was definitely not an issue Wednesday against the Cubs.

Their ability to get the Cubs out on a regular basis was.

As a result, despite a comeback in the late innings, the Giants fell to the Cubs, 12-11, at Wrigley Field, despite pounding out 13 hits, including four home runs.

The Giants trailed 6-2 after four innings, but they mounted a stellar comeback that saw them take the lead in the seventh inning, 11-10. However, reliever Reyes Moronta gave up a two-run homer to Kris Bryant, his 26th of the season, to put Chicago back on top in the bottom of the eighth.

From there, the Giants could not get anything going against Chicago closer Craig Kimbrel, who tossed a perfect ninth to nail down his 11th save of the year, after spending half of this 2019 campaign as an unclaimed free agent.

Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez had an outing to forget on Wednesday. After a stellar start in Arizona over the weekend, Rodriguez was shelled by the vaunted Cubs lineup, surrendering six runs on six hits over only four innings, including a pair of homers.

Yu Darvish, the Cubs’ starter, didn’t fare much better. He gave up seven runs and lasted only 5 1/3 innings, and four of his pitches left the ballpark.

Mike Yastrzemski continues to tear up major-league pitching. He has three hits on Wednesday, which included his 17th homer of the 2019 season, a two-run shot in the fifth inning that cut Chicago’s lead to 6-4.

Stephen Vogt, Alex Dickerson and Evan Longoria each had a pair of hots for the Giants.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Jimmy G says don’t worry, he’ll get it together; Raiders head to Canada undefeated for Thursday Night Football; plus more

Photo credit: businessinsider.com

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said he was a bit rusty after recovering from last season’s knee surgery then saw no play until camp opened up in July, and in his first preseason game, struggled against the Denver Broncos going 1-6 and zero yards.

#2 The Oakland Raiders are coming off two wins in preseason and play this Thursday night in Winnipeg against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. According to head coach Jon Gruden, Raiders quarterbacks have been on schedule with accomplishing what needs to be done — Derek Carr, Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman.

#3 The San Francisco Giants are on a current road trip in Wrigley Field in Chicago, which they opened up on Tuesday night. Wednesday night the Giants are starting Derek Rodriguez (5-6, 4.79 ERA), and for the Cubs, Yu Darvish (4-6, 4.21 ERA). The Giants are 3.5 games out of first for the wild card.

#4 The Oakland A’s are just one game out of first place for their wild card spot. The A’s host a very tough customer, the New York Yankees, at the Oakland Coliseum. Starting pitchers for Wednesday night: For the Yanks, JA Happ (10-7, 5.40 ERA), and for the A’s, Mike Fiers (11-3, 3.46 ERA).

#5 The San Jose Earthquakes playing their third road trip game tonight in Los Angeles at LAFC. The Quakes have not won in their last three games, which includes a tie. LAFC is in first in the MLS Western Conference at 18-4-3 and are expected to be a very tough customer against the Quakes tonight.

Join London for Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rizzo homers twice in Cubs’ 5-3 win

Photo credit: @BrianSandalow

By Jeremy Kahn

Coming off a series where they won three out of four from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants began another big series against a playoff contender.

Anthony Rizzo hit two home runs, helping the Chicago Cubs to a 5-3 victory over the Giants at Wrigley Field.

Rizzo put the Cubs into the lead in the bottom of the third inning, as he led off the frame with his 23rd home run of the season.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, the Giants tied it up in the top of the fourth inning, as Kevin Pillar hit his 18th home run of the season.

The Cubs took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth inning, as they were helped out by instant replay and that man Rizzo was instrumental on the play that turned everything around.

Javier Baez hit a ground ball that Brandon Belt fielded at first, and thinking Belt touched the bag, Rizzo headed back to first base with Baez chugging down the line from the batters box.

Both players ran into each other, and the umpires called it a double play, as Abiatal Avelino threw the ball back to Belt from second base; however, the Cubs saw it a different way and challenged the call that was eventually overturned and Baez was safe at first base.

Kyle Schwarber then walked, and then Jonathan Lucroy singled off of Belts glove at first base that scored Baez with the eventual game-winning run.

Cole Hamels gave up three runs on five hits, as he won for the first time since June 12 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Giants are now 3-2 on their nine-game road trip that will conclude with a two-game series in Oakland versus the As on Saturday and Sunday.

Austin Slater hit a two-run home run for the Giants that tied up the game in the top of the second inning.

Nicholas Castellanos gave the Cubs a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, as he hit his seventh home run, and then two batters later, Rizzo hit his first home run of the game.

Rizzo went 3-for-3, as he picked up his first multi-home run of the season and Castellanos hit his seventh home run since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers on July 31.

Tyler Beede went just four innings for the Giants, as he gave up three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out four; however, he gave up three home runs.

Fernando Abad took the loss, as he gave up the fateful hit to Schwarber in the bottom of the fifth inning. Abad went 1.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits, walked two and struck out one.

NOTES: Pablo Sandoval flew to Los Angeles to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache for a second opinion on his right elbow. Steven Duggar, who is out with a left shoulder sprain will not need surgery; however, he most likely miss the rest of the 2019 season.

Johnny Cueto pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits, walked one and struck out three. Cueto threw 60 pitches, 43 of them for strikes.

UP NEXT: Dereck Rodriguez will take the mound for the Giants on Wednesday night, while Yu Darvish will pitch for the Cubs.

Sportstalk remote podcast at Kinara Fusion and Lounge in downtown SF; Monday, August 19, 2019

yelp.com photo: Entrance of Kinara Fusion and Lounge now located at 607 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco.

Cast: Michael Duca (host), David Zizmor, Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Jeremy Kahn, Morris Phillips, and Lee Leonard (producer) podcasting from Kinara Fusion and Lounge at 607 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco. Our thanks to our hosts and owners of Kinara Fusion and Lounge Restaurant Rahil Patel, Shahil Patel and Jafar Patel.

Kinara Fusion and Lounge offers a wide variety of classic Italian pizza recipes along with exotic Indian and Mediterranean specialties. A full certified Halal menu also serving unique deserts guaranteed to satisfy your palate. Located in the heart of San Francisco, Kinara also offers relaxed seating for after hours hookah lounging. Located at 607 Geary Street at Jones in downtown San Francisco.

On today’s podcast: Discussion on the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s and their chase for a wild card spot, the Oakland Raiders get ready for Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers for Thursday Night Football Thursday, August 22nd at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg Canada. The San Francisco 49ers host the Denver Broncos for Monday Night Football at Mile High Stadium on Monday August 19th.

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

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

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

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

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

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

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

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

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

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s closing in on Astros in 4-game series; Giants still in the hunt for a wild card spot; plus more

photo from chron.com: Oakland Athletics’ Robbie Grossman watches his RBI single against the Houston Astros during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel:

1 Swingin’ A’s take first three games out of four with Houston, ½ game out of second in the AL Wild Card

2 Giants feasting on D-Backs’ pitching, still in NL Wild Card hunt

3 Christian Yelich, Aristides Aquino continue slugging ways

4 Yankees skipper makes case for mercy rule in MLB

5 Bill Walton calls White Sox-Angels game

Daniel Dullum does the MLB podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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