Tag: San Francisco Giants

Pirates storm back, but Giants hold on for 13-10 win on Orange Friday

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By: Ana Kieu

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — In a nutshell, the San Francisco Giants got on the board with a three-run first inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates stormed back in an attempt to tie the ballgame, but the Orange and Black held on for the 13-10 win at AT&T Park on an Orange Friday type of night.

The Giants didn’t waste any time in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew McCutchen homered to right field for his 13th home run of the season and a 1-0 lead. Austin Slater’s RBI single made it a 2-0 game. Alec Hanson drove in Brandon Crawford for a 3-0 lead.

The Pirates finally got on the board in the top of the second inning as Jordy Mercer hit a line drive single to score David Freese. The score, 3-1, was still in favor of the Giants.

The Giants certainly came on down in the bottom of the third inning. McCutchen’s bases-loaded walk scored Slater, who got his team ahead 4-1. Buster Posey and Evan Longoria added line drive singles. The score was 7-1 Giants after three innings.

Mercer scored the Pirates’ second run of the game, a line drive double that scored Steven Duggar, but the Giants still led 7-2 in the top of the fourth inning.

Not only that, San Francisco continued to pour in the runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Steven Duggar went down the line for a two-run double and Posey got an RBI single. The Giants were up 10-2 after four innings. A lot of fans thought the Pirates were done for the night, but that wasn’t the case tonight.

Freese singled on a sharp line drive to bring the Pirates within seven–a 10-3 lead–in the top of the fifth inning. But, the Giants weren’t too nervous, as Alec Hanson brought home Crawford to up San Francisco’s score to 11-3 over Pittsburgh in the bottom of the fifth inning.

It was all good vibes for the Giants until the Pirates’ Francisco Cervelli hit a grand slam to left center field to pull his team within five in the bottom of the seventh inning. The score was 12-7 Giants after seven innings.

The Pirates got even closer in the top of the eighth inning when Colin Moran tripled on a sharp line drive to score Jordan Luplow. Also, Cervelli’s line drive single, and in the top of the ninth inning, Adeiny Hechavarria’s fly ball homer–his fourth of the season–capped off the scoring for Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s last run of the night came from Slater, who hit a line drive single to score McCutchen in the bottom of the eighth inning. That was arguably an insurance run, but the Giants had the game regardless.

The Giants held on for the 13-10 win over the Pirates in game one of the series.

Notes

Up Next
The Giants and Pirates will meet again Saturday night at 6:05 pm PDT.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants injuries, errors, lack of offense mounting drop third straight home game

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USA Today file photo: Pittsburgh Pirates starter Trevor Williams hands his father a signed ball as Williams starts against the Giants tonight at AT&T Park in game two of the four game series this weekend

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

The San Francisco Giants who got dumped by the Houston Astros got a taste of what the Pittsburgh Pirates were all about on Thursday night in a five run 10-5 loss. The loss drops SF to seven games below in the Wild Card and the NL West. The Giants starter Andrew Saurez got rocked in the second inning surrendering two consecutive homers.

For Saurez’ pitching line, three runs, two homers, five innnings, seven hits, three earned runs, for his eighth loss. The defense Saurez didn’t help much committing three errors by Joe Panik, Evan Longoria, and Hunter Pence. The Giants will try it all over again tonight at AT&T Park Trevor Williams gets the call 9-8 and for the Giants Derek Holland 5-8.

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

 

Bonds gets highest team honor with No. 25 being retired

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Photo credit: @YawkeyWayReport

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds will someday become a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but in the meantime, he will receive an honor reserved for Hall of Famers with the New York/San Francisco Giants.

This Saturday Night, prior to the Giants game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team that Bonds was drafted by with the 7thpick in the 1985 Amateur Draft, the Giants will retire Bonds’ number 25.

Bonds will be the first member to have his number retired that is not a member of the Hall of Fame.

The power-hitting left fielder, who hit a Major League record 762 home runs in his career from 1986-2007 will join 10 others with their numbers retired, and another four honored by the team, as they did not have uniform numbers.

Bonds’ godfather Willie Mays was the first player to have his number retired by the team, as his number 24 was retired in 1972 after he was traded to the New York Mets.

After he retired as a member of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in 1975, Juan Marichal received the highest honor from the Giants, as is number 27 was retired that same year, 1975.

Playing in his last season in the majors, Willie McCovey was honored with his number 44 being retired on September 20, 1980.

Just one day later, the Giants honored two of their heroes from their days in New York, as they retired 4 in honor of Mel Ott and number 11 for Carl Hubbell on September 21.

New York Giants first baseman/manager Bill Terry was honored with his number 3 being retired on April 5, 1983.

Two of the greatest New York Giants were honored on August 17, 1986, as both Manager John McGraw and Christy Mathewson were honored by the team with the letters NY, as neither wore a number while a member of the Giants.

Despite the fact that he never played for the Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers player Jackie Robinson number 42 was retired by all major-league teams on April 15, 1997. Robinson retired in 1956 after just 10 years in the major leagues, as he was traded to the Giants from the Dodgers for Dick Littlefield, but he went to work for Chock Full O’nuts as a Vice President instead of joining the Giants.

Orlando Cepeda received the greatest honor from the organization, as his number 30 was placed on the wall at Candlestick Park in its final season on July 11, 1999.

Gaylord Perry became the first player to get his number retired at AT&T Park, as his number 36 revealed on the Club Level on July 23, 2005.

That same season, the broadcasting duo of Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons were honored with microphones on the Club Level.

Monte Irvin was the last player to get his number 20 honored, as his number was unveiled on June 26, 2010.

The next retired number after Bonds’ is up in the air, but it could be Will Clark’s number 22 and current players Madison Bumgarner and his number 40 and Buster Posey with his number 28.

Giants and Pirates to face off in crucial weekend series starting Thursday night

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Photo credit: gamblingsites.org

By Daniel Dullum

The San Francisco Giants had Wednesday off following their brief interleague series with the Houston Astros, which saw them drop both games and fall below the .500 mark as they struggle to stay in the NL West race.

Up next is the Giants’ four-game series at AT&T Park, hosting the Pirates. Back in May, San Francisco (57-58) dropped two of three to Pittsburgh. The Giants haven’t fared much better at home against the Bucs, dropping 12 of their last 17 games to Pittsburgh.

The Pirates (59-56) come in needed these games as much as the Giants and do so after a 4-3 win Wednesday at Colorado. A hot streak around the All-Star break put Pittsburgh on the fringe of the NL playoff chase, along with Atlanta, Arizona, Colorado, St. Louis, and Washington.

Thursday’s pitching matchup has the Giants’ left-hander Andrew Suarez (4-7) facing Pittsburgh right-hander Ivan Nova (6-6). On Friday, lefty Derek Holland (5-8) goes for San Francisco against the Pirates’ righty Trevor Williams (9-8).

While righty Joe Musgrove is slated to start for Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Giants haven’t announced a probable starter. Dereck Rodriguez is expected to start for the Black and Orange on Sunday.

Saturday’s starter won’t be Jeff Samardzija, who could begin a rehab assignment next week. He’s been on the DL since July 15 with right shoulder inflammation. Johnny Cueto, of course, is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on August 2. This is worth noting, as both were counted on at the start of the season to avoid this dilemma.

One glaring area the Giants must improve upon, and manager Bruce Bochy has addressed it more than once–clutch hitting. The Giants are hitting .204 with runners in scoring position and two outs this season, lowest in the NL and third-lowest in the Majors, trailing Texas (.189) and Baltimore (.191).

Another area is simply playing better at home. The Giants have won seven of their last eight games at AT&T Park.

Good news is that Evan Longoria continues to swing a hot bat, hitting .359 over a nine-game stretch with six extra-base hits. Andrew McCutchen’s bat has heated up as well of late, hitting .387 with a double, two homers and three RBIs in the eight games going into Tuesday.

Despite taking a precautionary day off (suspected concussion symptoms–passed all testing), Buster Posey is hitting .452 over an eight-game stretch, and .343 over 17 games.

While both teams have a slim shot at the postseason, whoever loses this series is likely out of the 2018 playoff picture for good.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: After running into brick wall Astros, Giants hope to win series with Bucs

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Photo credit: mccoveychronicles.com

On the Giants podcast with Marko:

The San Francisco Giants know after winning two out of four in Arizona. They’d have their work cut out for them with the Astros dropping in and the Giants got swept in a two-game series losing 2-1 on Tuesday. The Giants’ reliever Will Smith on Monday night gave up a three-run homer to Marwin Gonzalez and Giants reliever Ray Black gave up a home run to the Astros their back to give the Astros a one-run lead.

The Astros own the Giants the sweep on Monday and Tuesday makes it four in a row as Houston beat San Francisco back in May at Minute Maid Park. The Giants’ Chase d’Arnaud got the Giants only run with a single in the second inning to score Brandon Crawford.

The Giants open a four game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Starting pitchers for Thursday night at AT&T Park for the Pirates Ivan Nova (6-6) and for the Giants Andrew Saurez (4-7).

Marko Ukalovic does the Giants podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Giants experience another close finish in 2-1 loss to Astros

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — It seems that the San Francisco Giants starters have been snake bitten over the past two games versus the Houston Astros at AT&T Park.

Giants’ closer Will Smith was unable to hold on to a 1-0 lead on Monday night, and then Ray Black did the same in the series finale.

Black gave up his first hit since July 8 to Monday’s hero Marwin Gonzalez and then after striking out Yuli Gurriel, Tyler White hit a Black pitch into the left field seats and the Astros came back for the second straight day to defeat the Giants 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 41,613 at AT&T Park on Tuesday.

The win by the Astros gave them the season sweep four games to zero, as they also swept the Giants in May at Minute Maid Park.

This was the seventh loss in the last eight home games for the Giants, who are now 32-24 at AT&T Park this season.

One pitch prior to the White home run, Black threw a 96-mph high and tight, but then White hit the next pitch clocked at 99-mph into the seats.

Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out seven.

Chase d’Arnaud supplied the only offense that Bumgarner would get, as he lashed an opposite field single to right field to score Brandon Crawford from second base in the bottom of the second inning. Crawford led off the inning with a long double, and was able to score the early run, as he made a great headfirst slide around Astros catcher Max Stassi.

The day did not end well for d’Arnaud, as he was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he took a foul ball off the knee. d’Arnaud attempted to stay in the game, but the pain in his left leg was too painful, and Alen Hanson came to bat for d’Arnaud and struck out; however, the at-bat was charged to d’Arnaud instead of Hanson.

d’Arnaud suffered a left knee contusion on the foul ball, and Hanson eventually replaced d’Arnaud at second base.

Dallas Keuchel went six innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walked two and struck out five, as he did not fare in the decision.

The defensive plays of the game came in the top of the sixth inning, as White tripled to lead off the inning, but then on a ground ball hit by Josh Reddick down to Buster Posey at first base, Posey threw home to get White at the plate for the first out of the inning.

With Max Stassi at the plate, Reddick went to second on a Bumgarner wild pitch and then stole third base and then the bigger play than the force out at home came when Bumgarner’s pitch got away from Nick Hundley, but he was able to regroup and throw to Bumgarner, who tagged Reddick for the third out of the inning.

NOTES: Despite the fact that the Giants are one game under the .500 mark, they have spent 67 days either one game below .500, even at .500, or one game over .500, the most by any team in the major leagues this season. This is the third most days by the team since they moved to San Francisco in 1958, this according to STATS, LLC., and it is the most by the team since they spent 81 days hovering around that mark in 2006.

White’s home run was the 106th allowed by Giants’ pitchers, the second fewest of any team this season, with 44 coming at AT&T Park. The Cardinals’ pitching staff have allowed the fewest with 102 home runs.

The Giants’ first-round pick in the 2018 Amateur Draft, Joey Bart was named the Northwest League Player of the Month for July, as he hit .333 and led the NWL with nine home runs and 24 RBIs. Bart also picked up 18 extra base hits, 65 total bases, a slugging percentage of .747, an on-base percentage of 1.126 and also added a 10-game hitting streak from July 8-19.

This was the first time that the Giants lost consecutive games to the Astros since May 14 and 15, 2008.

Bumgarner allowed two triples for the first time in his career. Josh Reddick was the first left-handed batter to get a triple off of Bumgarner since Ender Inciarte of the Atlanta Braves on August 28, 2016.

UP NEXT: After a much-needed day off on Wednesday, the Giants begin a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, as Giants’ Andrew Suarez will take the mound in the opener and the Pirates will send Ivan Nova to the hill. Game one is set for Thursday at 7:15 pm PDT.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Game one of the preseason kicks off Thursday with Cowboys; Dallas’ Prescott will be asked about his anthem remarks

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Photo credit: @wfaa

On the 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

Game one of the preseason kicks off this Thursday for the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott has been a central focus this last week on NFL talk shows. Prescott spoke out against players taking a knee during the national anthem and has got a lot of national flak for his comments, saying “it takes away from the joy and the love that football brings to a lot of people.”

Will the statements of Prescott bring divisiveness to the Cowboys’ dressing room? Will there be resentment for what Prescott said? Will there be even more players taking a knee on the Cowboys? Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he has warned his players against taking a knee and Prescott could have fueled the players to take a knee even more. Ironically, if some of the Cowboys players take a knee on Thursday night, it will be in the stadium where it all got started–Levi’s Stadium, where former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick founded the movement.

David Zizmor who does the 49ers podcasts each Tuesday and Joe is the 49ers beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s proving to be buyers, getting Kelly and Fiers; Halos’ Trout out day-to-day with wrist injury; Willie Mac takes the plunge at 80

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 The Oakland A’s are loading up proving that their buyers and they’re trying to seal the deal for the post season as they acquired pitchers from the Washington Nationals, Sean Kelly, and from the Detroit Tigers, Mike Fiers, this past week.

#2 The Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout is suffering from a right wrist contusion after an awkward slide last Wednesday to avoid a tag from the Tampa Bay Rays’ third baseman Matt Duffy. Trout will be day-to-day, according to Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia.

#3 Former San Francisco Giant first baseman and Hall of Fame legend Willie McCovey got married for the second time–his first marriage in the 1960s–with his longtime girlfriend Estela last week. McCovey had a great career and he was the other fence buster with his former teammate Willie Mays during the great ’60s.

#4 The Chicago Cubs’ Javier Baez hit a curve ball in the sixth inning in Monday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals for his 25th home run of the season. Baez now has three home runs in his last four games.

#5 The Houston Astros are on pace to win 100 games as they came back in the top of the ninth down 1-0 and got a three-run home run from Marwin Gonzalez for the 3-1 win at AT&T Park over the San Francisco Giants. There are three teams in MLB on the 100-win pace: the Boston Red Sox (113 wins), the New York Yankees (100 wins), and the Astros (101 wins).

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play announcer, the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum Hall of Fame, and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Coming off a split with the Diamondbacks, the chase is on for first place as Giants open series with Astros at AT&T tonight

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photo by mercurynews.com: Giants third baseman Evan Longoria (10) gets a pat on the helmet from his teammates on Sunday at Chase Field after hitting the go ahead home run in the eventual win for San Francisco 3-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

The Giants come back tonight at AT&T Park after winning five out seven games. In Arizona, they got a split against the Arizona Diamondbacks, so keeping pace to climb in the standings continues in their chase to catch the two first place teams the D-backs and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Big fly helps the Giants get the win in Arizona on Sunday as Giants’ third baseman Evan Longoria hit an eighth inning home run to break a 2-2 deadlock for the 3-2 win. The Giants’ first baseman Buster Posey returned after passing concussion tests and played at first on Sunday. Posey will be assuming his catching duties during this current homestand.

The Giants open against a tough customer, the Houston Astros, on Monday night. The Astros can hear the Oakland A’s footsteps as the A’s are now just four games behind the Astros in the AL West standings. So the Astros will be battling to keep pace as well as the Giants, who are in the hunt for first place.

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

Longoria, bullpen lifts Giants past D-backs 3-2 to earn series split

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By Daniel Dullum

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Evan Longoria’s tie-breaking solo home run in the top of the eighth inning lifted the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field Sunday, salvaging a split of the four-game weekend series.

While San Francisco remains five games back in the NL West race, Arizona fell into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place. The Colorado Rockies are in third place, two games behind.

The win gives the Giants a 4-2 road trip mark as they head home to host the Houston Astros in a two-game interleague series starting Monday.

“It was a well-pitched game by us,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “(Derek) Holland did a great job, the bullpen did a great job, and it made for a good road trip. It’s been a while for us to have some success on the road.”

Longoria was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double while extending his hitting streak to eight games. Andrew McCutchen was 1-for-2 with two walks.

“Cutch had a great series, Buster is swinging the bat well,” Bochy said. “That’s what it’s going to take. We scored enough runs, but (D-Backs starter Robbie Ray) was tough too. We found a way to get some runs.”

On Longoria’s recent success, Bochy said, “He seems more balanced up there. It looks like he’s seeing the ball well. … He’s a good hitter and it’s good to see him come back off the rehab and find his swing.”

The reconstituted bullpen got the job done for San Francisco. Ray Black (1-0) threw a 1-2-3 seventh and picked up the win. Tony Watson and Sam Dyson each logged a scoreless inning, and closer Will Smith struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the ninth to earn his seventh save.

“(The bullpen) all did a great job,” Bochy said. “Dyson came in with a tough situation and found a way to get out of it. Our pitching was there and we needed it.”

“We were sitting pretty good with the bullpen today. Those guys got some needed rest after getting worked pretty hard in that San Diego series. They were all fresh.

With one out in the eighth, Longoria sent a 2-ball, 2-strike delivery from Archie Bradley (3-3) over the left-center field fence near the 413-foot marker for his 12th home run of the season, breaking the 2-2 deadlock.

In the bottom of the eighth, the D-backs loaded the bases on a single by pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso, a walk to Paul Goldschmidt and Steven Souza was hit by Dyson pitch. With two out, Ketel Marte flied out to left, ending the D-Backs’ rally.

Steven Souza’s third home run of the season opened the scoring for Arizona in the second inning. San Francisco tied the game at 1-1 in the third when Andrew McCutchen singled with two out and scored on Evan Longoria’s single to center.

Arizona took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Eduardo Escobar hit a leadoff double and scored on Marte’s base hit. But the Giants tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth when Longoria doubled and scored when Nick Hundley tried to stretch a single and was thrown out at second.

Both starters went 5 1/3 innings. The Giants’ Derek Holland struck out six, walked two and gave up two earned runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Robbie Ray struck out eight and walked four while giving up seven hits.

“This is a tight race and we have to get things going,” Holland said. “It’s a great division and this is going to be a great race.

“But we really have to focus on ourselves. We’re playing great ball right now and keep playing our game every day from here on out.”

GIANTS JOTTINGS: The Athletic reports that the Astros will be without Jose Altuve, who will not be activated from the 10-day disabled list (sore right knee). … Attendance on Sunday was 27,884.

UP NEXT: The Giants will return home to host the Astros Monday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

San Francisco will start right-hander Dereck Rodriguez (5-1, 2.59) against Houston’s Charlie Morton (12-2, 2.90) on Monday, and left-hander Madison Bumgarner (4-4, 2.97) on Tuesday against Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel (9-9, 3.61).