Tag: San Francisco Giants

Bumgarner’s strong performance helps lead Giants to 5-2 victory over Rockies

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Photo credit: @KleinschmidtJD

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — After going thru their entire bullpen on Friday night, the last thing Bruce Bochy wanted was a short start from Madison Bumgarner.

Well, Bumgarner did not disappoint his manager, as he went seven innings, allowing just two runs on six hits, walking no and striking out seven and the San Francisco Giants clinched their first series win of the 2019 season with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies before a crowd of 32,607 at Oracle Park.

The Rockies have lost eight in a row and 12 out of their last 13. The 3-12 start by the Rockies is the worst start thru 15 games.

The Giants got on the board courtesy of the hottest player on the team, as Kevin Pillar hit a sacrifice fly that scored Gerardo Parra, after he led off the third inning with a double off of Kyle Freeland.

Buster Posey then lengthened the lead up to 2-0, as he doubled to right field that scored Steven Duggar from third base.

The Posey double was the 250th of his career, moving him into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time San Francisco Giants list, trailing Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.

When Duggar crossed the plate to give the Giants a 2-0 lead, it was the first run batted in of the season for Posey.

Pillar then his fourth home run of the season, a solo blast with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Rockies began to chip away at the Giants lead in the top of the sixth inning, as Garrett Hampson doubled and went to third on a Parra throwing error that allowed Charlie Blackmon to score from first base. Blackmon reached on a fielders choice that erased Chris Iannetta, who singled and put a stop to a streak that saw him strike out in his previous five plate appearances.

Mark Reynolds cut the Giants lead down to one in the top of the seventh inning, as Reynolds hit his second home run of the season.

Kyle Freeland went five innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, walking just one and striking out five and saw his record fall to 1-3 on the young season.

Pablo Sandoval picked up his sixth double of the season, and his six doubles are the third-most in the National League. During the 2018 season, Sandoval had just 10 doubles.

Bumgarner gave up a leadoff double to Iannetta in the top of the eighth inning, and that would be all for Bumgarner, as Reyes Moronta came on to replace the left-hander. Moronta got the Giants out of the jam, as he struck out Raimel Tapia, Blackmon and Hampson to end the threat and the inning.

Moronta has struck out 13 out of the last 31 batters faced.

Sam Dyson pitched a perfect ninth inning, as he picked up his first save of the season. It was the first save for Dyson since June 26, 2018, also against the Rockies.

NOTES: Erik Kratz became the first player to catch at least 18 innings and get the game-winning RBI in the same game since Bob Boone did it for the California Angels against the Seattle Mariners on April 13, 1982, this according to Stats, LLC.

The last time that the Giants won a game that lasted 18 innings or more was on June 11, 1985, when the Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-4 at Fulton County Stadium. Bob Brenly came up with the game-winning hit, while Duane Kuiper picked up a sacrifice bunt in the 11th inning and Mike Krukow started the game and went 5.0 innings, allowing four runs and five hits.

As for the last time that the Giants walked off a game that lasted 18 innings or more came on July 2, 1933, when the New York Giants shutout the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 on a hit by Hughie Critz. Giants Hall of Fame Pitcher Carl Hubbell threw a complete game shutout, as he went all 18.0 innings.

UP NEXT: Derek Holland goes to the mound, as the Giants look for the four-game sweep and end the home stand with a 6-4 mark, while the Rockies will send German Marquez to the mound.

San Francisco Giants Friday game wrap: Kratz wins it in the 18th on a Fielder’s Choice

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photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt, left, slides to score behind Colorado Rockies’ Chris Iannetta in the 18th inning of a baseball game Friday night, in San Francisco.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Erik Kratz came up with the biggest hit of the night at 12:50 A.M. for the San Francisco Giants.

Kratz hit into a fielders choice that scored Brandon Belt from third base, as the Giants came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 before a crowd of 33,616 at Oracle Park.

Belt led off the inning with a double off of DJ Johnson, then intentionally walked Brandon Crawford, then Kevin Pillar flew out for the first out of the inning and Belt went to third.

Johnson then walked former Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra to load the bases to get to Kratz, who after falling behind 0-2 to Johnson, hit a ball to Ian Desmond, who was the fifth infielder for the Rockies.

Desmond made a diving stab at the ball, got up and threw the ball to Chris Ianetta at home plate; however, Ianetta was unable to keep his foot on home plate and Belt was called safe by home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor; however, Rockies manager Bud Black challenged the call at the plate and the call was eventually upheld and the Giants escaped with a hard-fought win.

Kratz, who caught the whole game jokingly said that he got his second wind in the 17th inning. This was the first career walk-off for Kratz, who is playing for his ninth team in his 10-year career.

It was the second time in Kratzs career that he caught an 18-inning game, the first time came as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The first time came on July 17, 2016, when the Pirates defeated the Washington Nationals 2-1 in 18 innings at Nationals Park.

Mark Melancon was unable to close out the 1-0 victory, as he gave up a two-out game-tying home run to current Rockies infielder Daniel Murphy; however, Starling Marte hit a home run in the top of the 18th inning to give the Pirates the lead and eventually the win, as Jon Niese won the game for the Pirates.

Travis Bergen pitched the final two innings for the Giants to get his second win of the home stand, and his career.

If Kratz was unable to come through, Bergen was on deck and his last at-bat was a check swing groundout in high school in 2012, according to Bergen.

The Giants bullpen of Reyes Moronta, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson, Will Smith, Mark Melancon, Trevor Gott, Nick Vincent and Bergen combined to go 12 innings, allowing seven hits, walking just two and striking out 19.

The Rockies got on the board in the top of the fourth inning when Garrett Hampson tripled into the right-center field quadrant known as Triples Alley and then scored the Rockies first run of the game when Pomeranz balked in Hampson.

Story got a second chance at the plate, as it looked like Pomeranz was going to escape the inning unscathed, when Belt made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch that would have ended the inning; however, Pomeranz was called for a balk that scored Hampson with the Rockies first run of the series.

Following the balk that scored Hampson, Story then singled and then scored on a Desmond double.

Chad Bettis went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four, as he did not fare in the decision.

Evan Longoria got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Steven Duggar led off the inning with a walk, went to third on a Joe Panik single and then scored on an Evan Longoria double play.

Pomeranz went five innings, allowing two runs on just four hits, walking just one and striking out five, as he did not fare in the decision.

The Rockies blew an opportunity to tack on another run in the top of the sixth inning, as Nolan Arenado reached on a throwing error by Longoria, stole second then went to third on the second error of the inning, when Kratzs throw went into centerfield. Reyes Moronta, who came on to replace Pomeranz when the inning began, then struck out Story and then Desmond flew out to Duggar to end the inning.

The Giants tied up the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as pinch hitter Pablo Sandoval doubled down the left field line, went to third on a Duggar infield hit and then scored the tying run, when Panik hit a sacrifice fly.

NOTES: Pablo Sandoval picked up his fifth pinch-hit of the season in 12 at bats, and his five pinch-hits lead the major leagues.

The 24 strikeouts by the Giants are the most in the San Francisco era, breaking the record of 22 that was set on May 31, 1964, when the Giants defeated the New York Mets 8-6 in 23 innings in the second game of a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.

That doubleheader is the longest doubleheader in major league history, as the two games went a combined nine hours and 52 minutes. The second game went seven hours and 23 minutes, after the first game went a quick two hours and 29 minutes.

This game matched the longest in Oracle Park history, tying the May 29, 2001 1-0 loss to the eventual World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks, when Erubiel Durazo hit a double that scored Steve Finley. The losing pitcher in that game was none other than Ryan Vogelsong.

UP NEXT: Madison Bumgarner will take the mound for the Giants on Saturday afternoon, as he looks for that elusive first win and the Rockies will send Kyle Freeland to the mound.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Gray and Samardzija matchup for great pitching duel

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The Giants had a great pitching duel going with the Colorado Rockies Thursday night. Rockies starter Jon Gray threw shutout ball and the Giants starter Jeff Samardzija likewise throw shutout ball in what some say was masterpiece pitching.

#2 You won’t see pitchers throwing nine innings, but both Gray and Samardjiza threw like the could have pitched nine.

#3 The Giants have had a number of games where hitting had been suspect other than Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford in Thursday’s starting lineup. No one is hitting above .250

#4 You can see at the beginning of the game that Samardzija and Gray were throwing those off balance-breaking balls and were not missing by very much. It was the bottom of the seventh when the Giants centerfielder Kevin Pillar took Gray deep to left center field for his third home run of 2019 to break the deadlock.

#5 Miguel takes a look at Friday night’s starters for Colorado Chad Bettis (0-2, 11.88 ERA) and for the Giants, Drew Pomeranz (0-1, 4.00 ERA).

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

Samardzija shuts down Rox 1-0

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Photo credit: @sfgiants_fanly

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Looks like “Shark” has his bite back.

Giants starter Jeff Samardzija has been off to a fantastic start this season and he only accelerated that Thursday night. A guy who is known for going deep into games and eating up innings did not do that nearly enough in 2018, but he has seemed to reverse that trend this season, although it has only been two starts.

He threw seven shutout innings and gave up three hits in getting his first win of the year, struck out seven batters and walked only one. He allowed only one guy to get as far as second base all night, using up only 90 pitches in the process.

It has been a far cry from a 2018 campaign that saw him struggle with his command as well as dealing with assorted injuries that further damaged his effectiveness. He has shown no remnants of that for the first two weeks of this season, and Colorado found that out the hard way.

“He was on top of his game, which you have to do against that lineup,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He just did a beautiful job of pitching. It was fun to watch. He’s been throwing the ball well.”

“It was a long road that he had to come back from. He was a warrior through all that, trying to pitch, and we shouldn’t have had him out there a few times that we let him pitch. He was battling a lot of pain, probably more than what he was telling us. But he put in a lot of hard work this winter, and you can see.”

As locked in as Samardzija was, however, Colorado Jon Gray was just as good. The two hurlers traded zeroes for the first six innings, and it appeared that the Giants could not catch a break at the plate despite garnering some early momentum.

Kevin Pillar changed that with one swing of the bat in the seventh inning.

It’s said that the first pitch is the best one a batter will see during the entire at-bat, and Pillar took advantage of that. He led off the seventh by nailing the first pitch he saw from Gray, sending it over the Bank of America sign in center field to give the Giants a 1-0 lead and make Samardzija eligible for the win.

“It’s great to do your job and throw a quality start, but there’s nothing like getting a win,” Bochy said. “I was really happy that he got the win tonight, with the effort he gave us.

“We needed some help (in the outfield),” he said of Pillar. “We got not just an outfielder, but an elite center fielder, a guy with some pop. This park is more of a pitcher’s park, but he’s shown that if you square up on it, it will go out. On a cold night, that’s pretty impressive.”

The Giants had a couple of chances earlier against Gray but could not cash in. Second baseman Joe Panik lined a two-out double over left fielder Raimel Tapia’s head, but the rally was short-lived as Buster Posey – who otherwise had a very nice night at the plate with a single and a pair of walks – whiffed to end the inning.

They really had something going in the fourth, when Brandon Belt led off the inning with a double and Brandon Crawford advanced him over to third with a well-placed grounder to the right side of the infield.

However, Pablo Sandoval’s groundout back to the pitcher put a serious dent in the rally, which was officially put to death when Pillar grounded out to third.

The Giants had an opportunity to expand the lead in the eighth, after getting the first two batters on via the base on balls. With Belt up, a pitch got past Colorado catcher Tony Wolters and momentarily allowed both runners to advance with nobody out.

However, what TV replays clearly showed as a passed ball that bounced off Wolters’ mitt was actually ruled as a foul tip by home plate umpire C.B Bucknor, as he determined that the ball had struck Belt’s bat as he checked his swing. The play was non-reviewable, and both runners were forced to go back to first and second, respectively.

Belt ended up striking out, and the two ensuing batters, Sandoval and Crawford, each grounded out softly to first, one of which would have brought a runner home had the passed ball been correctly called.

Fortunately for the Giants, that did not become a turning point, as Will Smith came in and pitched a perfect ninth, thanks to a sparkling play by Panik to rob Charlie Blackmon of a hit.

The Giants next play the Rockies on Friday night at 7:15 pm.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Virginia Tech Cavaliers shock the country; Will ankle problems plague Curry in postseason?; Sharks on ice for game one tonight; plus more

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photo from yahoosports.com: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) trips as New Orleans Pelicans guard Elfrid Payton (4) looks on during the first quarter at the Smoothie King Center. photo Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

On the Headline Sports podcast with London Marq:

#1 The Virginia Cavaliers are the college basketball champs of the NCAA. How surprising, what expectations, were as surprised and a game which the Cavs won it in overtime?

#2 It’s the ankle again. The Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry, who hurt his ankle before turned his ankle on Tuesday night in New Orleans in the Warriors’ 112-103 win over the Pelicans. Head coach Steve Kerr says Curry should be alright for game one of the playoffs.

#3 The San Jose Sharks are coming off three wins of their last five games. The Sharks’ Erik Karlsson returned from his injury and Evander Kane looks like he’s got that old spark again. How do the Sharks look going into game one of the playoffs on Wednesday night?

#4 StubHub has announced that tickets could be had for as low as $6 in the lower stands at Oracle Park. The Giants are assured that their attendance would not drop no lower than 26,000 because they have sold season tickets to guarantee that crowd number. The Giants drew 28,000 their smallest crowd in recent memory against the Padres on Monday night. Lastly, it should be noted the Giants didn’t lay an egg on Tuesday night, getting six runs in the bottom of the second and a large lead to get past the Padres to pull within four games of .500. The Giants dropped Wednesday’s game 3-1 and fell five games below .500 at 4-9.

#5 The San Jose Earthquakes were able to pull off a huge win in a 3-0 shutout over the Portland Timbers on Saturday at Avaya Stadium. It was the Quakes first win of 2019 and our very own London Marq was there.

London does the Headline Sports podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Holland and Pillar come up big in Giants’ 7-2 win over Padres

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — On back-to-back nights, the San Francisco Giants jumped out to a big lead on the lead; however, this time they won the game.

The first five Giants in the second inning got on base, and Evan Longoria drove in Buster Posey and Yangervis Solarte doubled in Brandon Crawford, Gerardo Parra then singled and after a Derek Holland strikeout, Kevin Pillar cleared the bases with a double, then newly acquired rounded out the scoring in the frame, as he singled in Pillar and the Giants would go on to defeat the San Diego Padres 7-2 before a crowd of just 28,506 at Oracle Park.

Holland took advantage of the run support, as he went seven innings, allowing one runs on five hits, walking two and striking out nine, as he won for the first time this season.

The nine strikeouts for Holland are his most since he struck out 11 for the Texas Rangers in a shutout against the Baltimore Orioles on August 30, 2015. The 11 strikeouts in that game tied a career high, Holland also struck out 11 on September 7, 2012 against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Despite allowing two singles and a walk in the top of the first inning, Holland received help from his defense.

Wil Myers singled with one out, but was thrown out trying to steal second base by Posey and then after a Manny Machado walk, Franmil Reyes singled off the left field wall; however, Brandon Belt made a perfect throw to Crawford, who threw to Solarte to end the inning and the Padres failed to score.

“You know, I was thinking about that when I was out there: I’m quickly becoming one of the best outfielders in the game,” said Belt.

Joey Lucchesi was shelled in his second start of the season against the Giants, as he went just four innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out four and lost for the first time this season after opening the season with two straight wins.

Pillar drove in his fourth run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Parra, who doubled to lead off the inning.

He is the first Giants player to have four runs batted in back-to-back games since Barry Bonds on April 2 and 3, 2002. During that two-game stretch, Bonds drove in nine runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Parra picked up hits in his first two at-bats, and scored both times before grounding out in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Padres finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as Hunter Renfroe smashed a solo home run that landed approximately ¾ of the way into the left field bleachers and was measured at 423 feet.

Myers drove in the second run of the game for the Padres in the top of the eighth inning, as he hit a long double off of Trevor Gott to Greg Garcia.

The lone downfall to the game was the fact that the Giants in the first inning could not get it going, as they went down in order and are now 2-for-38 (.052) thru their first 12 games of the season in the opening frame.

NOTES: With the victory, the Giants have a chance to win the series on Wednesday. The last time the Giants lost their first four series of a season was in 1983, when they lost series to the Padres, the Philadelphia Phillies, at the Padres and the Cincinnati Reds.

Despite the no-decision on Monday night, Madison Bumgarner did move up on the all-time San Francisco Giants strikeout list, as he passed Gaylord Perry for fourth place on the San Francisco Giants list and is now seventh all-time in Giants history. In his career, Bumgarner has 1,607 strikeouts.

Posey tied Will Clark for fourth place on the San Francisco Giants list in doubles with 249 career doubles. He trails only Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.

The six run second inning by the Giants was their season high, and the most they have scored in an inning since also scoring six in the bottom of the eighth inning against the New York Mets on August 31, 2018.

UP NEXT: Dereck Rodriguez makes his second start of the homestand on Wednesday night, while Nick Margevicius takes the mound for the Padres.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: Do the Giants have a shot at being viable this season?; Puig tries to take on the whole Pirates team in brawl; plus more

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Photo credit: @BruceBochy

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez:

#1 It’s early in the season, but do the San Francisco Giants (4-8) have the players it takes to get out of the cellar and make this a viable season?

#2 The Cincinnati Reds’ Yasiel Puig wasted no time making things happen between himself and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. After Chris Archer Pirates pitcher hit the Reds’ Derek Dietrich in the backside, Dietrich took exception to getting hit and started jawing at Archer at that point both benches emptied and Reds star Yasiel Puig tried to take on the entire Pirates team.

#3 Talk about the Kyrie Irving-Kevin Durant paring at the New York Knicks for next season. How will this important would a tandem like this be for the Knicks and how will it impact Golden State?

#4 The Oakland A’s, who won three of four from the Boston Red Sox, went out on the road and got swept in three games from the Houston Astros. The A’s still made the third game competitive with a one run loss. The Astros played catch up ball in order to win. The A’s lost the first game 12-4 of the four game series in Baltimore. In game two the A’s got a 13-2 win on Tuesday night.

#5 Oracle Arena is the home of many memories for fans, reporters, players and coaches Sunday. Was the last regular season game for Golden State what did you take away from 47 years of sports events at the arena in Oakland?

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez, who does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants getting the pitching, but hitting stays quiet

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photo from sfgate.com: Tampa Bay Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier, center, scores a run past San Francisco Giants catcher Erik Kratz, left, as umpire Tripp Gibson, right, watches during the fourth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, April 7, 2019.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Giants pitching have kept what some say the Giants in some games from being a blowout.

#2 Giants pitcher Derek Rodriguez gave up two home runs early in this last start. Was this a matter of just having a rough start or do you think the hitters have picked up on how to hit him?

#3 The Giants have lost seven of their last ten games this hasn’t been much of a surprise knowing their offense average would be down.

#4 Giants first baseman Brandon Belt says the offense hasn’t clicked yet, but it’s a good opportunity for the offense to click and to look forward to.

#5 Giants starter Drew Pomeranz gave up six hits, two runs, three walks, and five strikeouts in the 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay Sunday,

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

Chirinos and Diaz set tone in Rays’ 3-0 win over Giants

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Photo credit: @RaysBaseball

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Yandy Diaz must have liked coming to Oracle Park for the first time in his major-league career.

Diaz, who homered in the opener of the series, hit his second home run of the series in the top of the first inning and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-0 before a crowd of 31,574 at Oracle Park.

The Diaz home run was originally ruled a single; however, Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged the call and after a brief review, the call was reversed and Diaz picked up his third home run of the season and first career leadoff home run.

Yonny Chirinos went five innings, allowing two hits, walking just one and striking out five and he raised his record to 2-0 on the season.

This is the first time since the 2007 season in Bruce Bochys first season as manager that the Giants have lost their first three series in a season. That season, the Giants lost two out of three against the San Diego Padres, were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers and then lost two out of three against the Padres at Petco Park.

Chirinos did not give up a hit until Eric Kratz blooped a single just out of the reach of Rays second baseman Daniel Robertson.

Kratz was thrown out at second base attempting steal to end the bottom of the third for the Giants.

Tommy Pham did it again, as he reached base for the 42nd straight game, extending his own record. Pham singled in the top of the first inning, and then walked in the top of the third inning.

Evan Longoria singled off of Chirinos in the bottom of the fourth inning, and then Brandon Crawford walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth for the only Giants runners off of Chirinos in his five innings of work.

Drew Pomeranz went four innings in his Oracle Park debut for the Giants, as he gave up two runs on six hits, walking three and striking out five and lost for the first time this season.

Joe Panik barely missed a chance to reach in the bottom of the first inning, as he was originally called safe on a groundball hit to Willy Adames; however, Cash challenged the call and it was reversed after just 27 seconds.

The Rays pulled off some bizarre defensive shifts in the bottom of the seventh, as Adam Kolarek began the inning on the mound for what was to be his second inning; however, Cash moved to Diaz to third base and then Kolarek to first base and Chaz Roe went to the mound.

After a few batters, Kolarek went back to the mound, Diaz to first base and Brandon Lowe went to third base.

This was not the first time that the Rays have done this trick, as Cash and the Rays did twice last season.

Closer Jose Alvarado did it last season on June 26 against the Washington Nationals, and then former Giants closer Sergio Romo participated in the routine on July 25 against the New York Yankees. Both Alvarado and Romo moved to third base before returning to the mound.

In all, Kolarek went 1.1 innings, allowing two hits and striking out two, while Rowe went 0.1 innings, striking out one.

The Rays tacked on a run in the top of the eighth inning, as Kevin Kiermaier scored on a balk by Nick Vincent.

Kiermaier tripled to right field off Vincent with one out in the inning.

NOTES: Over the past nine seasons, the quartet of Brandon Belt, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey have played for Bruce Bochy during that entire time.

According to STATS, LLC., this quartet is tied with the 1982-1990 Detroit Tigers (Sparky Anderson, Chet Lemon, Jack Morris, Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker) and the 1981-1989 Los Angeles Dodgers (Tommy Lasorda, Mike Marshall, Alejandro Pena, Mike Scioscia and Fernando Valenzuela).

These three teams are behind the 11 years together of the New York Yankees (Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams).

After going down in order in the bottom of the first inning, the Giants are now 1-for-31 (.032) with a hit by a pitch.

Crawford extended his hitting streak up to eight games, when he singled in the bottom of the seventh inning. During the streak, Crawford is 9-for-27 (.333).

UP NEXT: Madison Bumgarner makes his 2019 home debut on Monday night, as he looks for his first win of the season, while Eric Lauer looks for his second win of the season, as he takes the mound for the San Diego Padres.

Bergen gets first win and Joe gets first hit in Giants’ 6-4 win over Rays

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — With another loss looming on the horizon, Brandon Belt put a stop to that with one swing of the bat.

Belt hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays before a crowd of 31,828 at Oracle Park.

In their first nine games this season, seven of the nine games have been decided two runs or less.

The big fifth inning made a winner out of Travis Bergen, who faced one batter in the top of the fifth inning.

It was the first major league victory for Bergen, in his fifth major league appearance out of the bullpen.

Not only did Belt make a big play with his bat, but he also made one with his glove in the top of the sixth inning, as he made diving stab on a Daniel Robertson hit ball that Belt snared and threw to Sam Dyson, who ran over to cover at first base.

That was the second best defensive play of the day, as Kevin Pillar made a diving catch in the top of the fifth inning that saved a run.

Joe Panik got the eventual game-winning rally started in the bottom of the fifth inning, then Connor Joe picked up his major league hit and then Steven Duggar hit a two-run double that gave the Giants the lead for good.

Following the Duggar double, Belt launched a two-run home run to the opposite field for his third home run of the season.

The Rays got on the board in the top of the first inning, as Ji-Man Choi doubled in Tommy Pham, who walked with one out in the inning.

Duggar tied up the game in the bottom of the third inning , when he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Pillar and then Belt singled in Panik.

Giants starter Jeff Samardzija went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out four.

Rays opener Ryne Stanek went two innings, and striking out two before giving way to Jalen Beeks, who also pitched two innings.

Ryan Yarbrough pitched three innings, allowing four runs on four hits, walking one and striking two.

NOTES: This was the smallest crowd to see a Giants game at home since September 1, 2010, when the Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies 2-1 before just 31,186.

Also, it was the smallest crowd at a Giants game in the month of April since April 27, 2010 against the Philadelphia Phillies, a game that the Giants won 6-2 in front of 31,792.

The Giants are now 8-6 all-time versus the Rays, and 3-2 at Oracle Park. This is the Rays first trip to San Francisco since the 2002 season, when the Giants swept the Rays.

As for the Rays, this was the 1,700th road game in team history, and they are now 718-982 all-time away from Tropicana Field since the team was founded in 1998.

UP NEXT: Drew Pomeranz makes his Giants debut as a starter at Oracle Park on Sunday afternoon, while the Rays will send Yonny Chirinos to the bump in the series finale.