Tag: San Francisco Giants

Giants win marathon game over Marlins 6-3, but lose Longoria

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

Thursday afternoon’s game at Marlins Park looked eerily similar to the one played the day before.

The San Francisco Giants jumped out to an early lead, only to watch the Miami Marlins rally in the late innings and tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. This time, however, the Giants did not succumb , and as a result, they were able to salvage the final contest of a four-game series, outlasting the Marlins, 6-3, in 16 innings.

After the Marlins tied it up off closer Hunter Strickland, the Giants called on usual starter Ty Blach to come in and save the bullpen, and he more than held up his end of the bargain. He went 6 2/3 innings and kept Miami off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.

He got the well-earned win when Pablo Sandoval singled in a pair of runs in the top of the 16th inning while Gorkys Hernandez threw in some insurance with a sac fly to give the Giants a 6-3 lead.

Sam Dyson was able to nail down the final out to earn his first save of the season.

For the second straight game, Andrew McCutchen launched a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Giants an early 2-0 lead, this time off Marlins starter Dan Straily.

Mac Williamson added a solo homer in the second, but the Marlins, as was the case on Wednesday, were able to make their way back into the game and make things mighty interesting.

The Marlins chipped away at the lead, starting with a solo homer by J.T Riddle in the fifth. Bryan Holaday’s run scoring single in the seventh made it a one-run game, and lewis Brinson’s sac fly in the ninth tied it.

McCutchen had three hits for the Giants and boosted his batting average to .267 in the process, while Alen Hanson also had three hits. Henson took over at third for Even Longoria, who was hit on the left hand with a pitch in the fourth inning.

Longoria is reported to have fractured the fifth metacarpal of his left hand, the same injury that Madison Bumgarner suffered in spring training. A decision regarding possible surgery is expected within the next few days, but he is expected to miss considerable time, likely the same amount of time that Bumgarner did, in the neighborhood of six to eight weeks.

The Giants take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles for a three-game set that starts on Friday night at 7:10 pm PDT.

Marlins’ walk-off sends Giants to third straight loss, 5-4

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

So much for that positive momentum to start off the month of June.

The San Francisco Giants got off to a great start to the month, even getting their record to above .500 at one point. However, that has momentarily disappeared in one week in South Florida.

The Miami Marlins have sent the Giants reeling, as they have now lost three straight games, the latest coming in a dramatic 5-4 loss at Marlins Park on Wednesday.

The Giants led for most of the game, but Miami kept hanging around and kept themselves in the game before eventually overtaking the visiting team in the bottom of the ninth, as Brian Anderson’s sac fly brought in the winning run.

Andrew McCutchen started things off with a two-run homer to straightaway center field, before the Marlins tied the game up in the fourth with a pair of run-scoring singles. From that point on, the two teams traded runs until Miami got the final say in the bottom of the ninth.

Andrew Suarez got the start for the Giants and had a solid performance. He went five innings and gave up a pair of runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three. It was an improvement from his last outing, when he gave up four runs over only 4 1/3 innings at Washington last Friday.

Meanwhile, Caleb Smith went 6 1/3 innings for Miami, surrendering three runs on eight hits, striking out four and not walking a single batter.

Neither pitcher factored in the decision.

McCutchen had two hits, including the opening-inning home run, while Buster Posey cranked out three hits and crossed the plate twice.

The Giants and Marlins will conclude their series on Thursday at 9:10 pm PDT.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: Giants drop two straight to last place Marlins; Marlins staffed with lots of unknowns

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Miami Marlins pitcher Trevor Richards pitches during the second inning of a Major League Baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Marlins Park on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. David Santiago dsantiago@miamiherald.com

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael and Morris:

You could have predicted that the San Francisco Giants would have gone into Miami playing in front of nobody, playing a bunch of guys they’ve never faced before. It seems to be a characteristic of this franchise back to the days of former Giants pitcher Charlie Lea–guys who haven’t beat anybody manage to notch their first Major League wins against the Giants.

It happened with the Miami Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Richards, a 25-year-old right hander. The Marlins were 0-3 coming into the game. Richards walks the first two batters. Obviously, Richards is nervous if he walks the first two guys and gives up a run in the first inning without allowing a hit. Richards goes on to allowing just two hits, struck out three and walked two batters to win the ball game.

Morris and Michael do the SF Giants podcasts weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Richards allows two hits in Marlins’ 3-1 win over Giants

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

If you were looking for the San Francisco Giants’ offense, well it disappeared after the first inning against the Miami Marlins.

Trevor Richards went six innings, allowing one run on just two hits, walking two and striking out three and the Marlins defeated the Giants 3-1 at Marlins Park on Tuesday.

It was a memorable night for Richards, who picked up his first major league win in his seventh major league start.

Brandon Crawford drove in the only run of the game in the top of the first inning, as he grounded out to score Joe Panik, who led off the game with a walk against Richards.

Things were looking good for the Giants, as they got both Panik and Buster Posey on via walks versus Stratton, but then Andrew McCutchen struck out and then Crawford grounded out for the second out; however, it scored Panik with what proved to be the only run of the game for the Giants.

It was a tough loss for Chris Stratton, who went seven innings, as he gave up three runs and scattered four hits.

The only bad inning for the Giants was the third inning, as the Marlins scored all of their runs in that frame.

Starlin Castro tied up the game with a single that scored Derek Dietrich, and then JT Riddle hit what proved to be the game-winning runs, as he doubled to right field to score Dietrich and Brian Anderson.

The inning could have gotten worse, but the defensive play of the game was made by Stratton, as he snared a Miguel Rojas line drive that Stratton caught and Stratton then threw to Evan Longoria to get Castro at third base for the final out of the inning.

Following that third inning, that saw the Marlins scored all of their runs, Stratton settled down and retired the final 13 batters he faced.

The Marlins tried to break open the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Cory Gearrin came on to replace Stratton; however, Gearrin gave up two hits and that was the end of the night for Gearrin. Will Smith came on to replace Gearrin, and he responded by striking out the side to end the inning

Kyle Barraclough came on in the top of the ninth inning for the second straight night, and for the second game in a row, Barraclough closed out the game and notched his fourth save in six opportunities this season.

NOTES: Andrew Suarez will make his second start on the road trip, and this will be a homecoming for the left-hander, as he went to Christopher Columbus High School in Miami before heading to the University of Miami, where he pitched for the Hurricanes. Suarez, who will have many members of his family and friends in the stands will be opposed by Caleb Smith, who is 5-6 on the season.

Brandon Belt, who underwent an emergency appendectomy on June 2 will join the team in Los Angeles, when the Giants head there to face the Dodgers beginning on Friday night.

Jeff Samardzija is expected to join the Sacramento Rivercats on Friday, and will make a rehab start against the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers Triple-A team) at Dell Diamond.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Marlins continue their series with Game 3 on Wednesday at 4:10 pm PDT.

Crawford goes 4-for-4 in Giants’ 2-0 shutout over the Nationals

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

What a day it was for Brandon Crawford in the series finale for the San Francisco Giants against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals.

Crawford picked up three hits in his three at-bats versus Scherzer, including a two-run home run off of Scherzer in the top of the fourth and the Giants defeated the Nationals 2-0 at Nationals Park on Sunday.

On the afternoon, the hot hitting Crawford ended up going four-for-four, as the Giants took the series two games to one, and more important, took the season series four games to two.

Crawford singled in the top of the first inning, then smashed a two-run home run into the second deck that proved to be the only runs of the game for both teams. Crawford then doubled in the top of the sixth inning, and with a chance for the cycle, Crawford doubled down the left field line to complete his four-hit day.

It was the eighth home run of the season for Crawford, and his 29th and 30 runs batted in on the season.

Crawford, who struggled thru the month of April, as he batted .189 thru the first month of the season, is now hitting .338.

Since May 1, Crawford is hitting .439, as he is 58-for-132 during that stretch. His .338 batting average is just three points behind Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves, who is batting .341.

Derek Holland went the minimum five innings to pick up the victory for the Giants, who are now 2-1 on their three-city, 10 game road trip thru Washington, Miami and Los Angeles.

Holland gave up three hits, walking two and striking out four, as he improved to 4-6 on the season.

Bruce Bochy turned the game over to his bullpen, and they performed in an outstanding manner, as former Nationals closer Mark Melancon pitched the sixth inning, walking one, then Sam Dyson walked and struck out a batter in the seventh inning, then Tony Watson pitched a perfect eighth.

Hunter Strickland came on in the bottom of the ninth, who got Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Matt Adams, who came on to pinch hit for Mark Reynolds to pick up his 13thsave of the season.

Strickland, who in their last meeting hit Harper that led to a bench clearing brawl got Harper to ground out to Crawford for the first out. Rendon then followed it up with a ground ball with a ground ball to Crawford and then Strickland got Adams to strikeout swinging to end the game.

Scherzer went seven innings, allowing two runs, while scattering four hits, walking three and striking out nine, as he saw his record on the season fall to 10-2 and his earned run average increase from 1.95 to 2.00. This was the first loss for Scherzer since April 4, breaking his nine-game winning streak.

NOTES: Madison Bumgarner will make his second start of the season on Monday evening, as the Giants continue their road trip against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park, who will send Wei-Yen Chen, who is 1-3 with a 5.86 ERA on the season.

In his season debut on Tuesday night, Bumgarner went six innings, allowing two runs, walking no one and struck out three after missing the first two months of the season with a broken left pinkie.

This was the first series win for the Giants against the Nationals in Washington since July 9-11, 2010, the year that the Giants won the first of their three World Championships in a five-year period.

Crawford is the first Giants batter to ever get three hits in the same game off of Scherzer.

UP NEXT: The Giants will head to Miami to take on the Marlins for a four-game set. Game 1 is set for Monday at 4:10 pm PDT.

Harper hits his 19th home run in Nationals’ 7-5 win over Giants

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Photo credit: sports.yahoo.com

By Jeremy Kahn

On the day that the Washington Capitals brought the newly won Stanley Cup to Nationals Park and Alexander Ovechkin threw out the first pitch, it was the Washington Nationals superstar that provided the big blast against the San Francisoo Giants.

Bryce Harper hit his National League-leading 19th home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, as the Nationals defeated the Giants 7-5 in an early Saturday matinee at Nationals Park.

In his first game since being activated from the 60-day disabled list, Adam Eaton scored two runs to help even the weekend series with the Giants.

Eaton, who missed 52 games with a left ankle bruise, was hit by a pitch, as he led off the bottom of the first inning.

Anthony Rendon drove in Eaton with a single that gave the Nationals a quick 1-0 lead, and then in the next inning, he scored again and the Nationals took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.

Dereck Rodriguez lasted just 2.2 innings, as he gave up five runs just six days after his first major league start and win over the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park.

Rodriguez, who is the son of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, pitched in front of his father for the first time as a major leaguer, and will do so again on Thursday, when he pitches in his hometown of Miami against the Marlins.

Nick Hundley got the Giants back in it in the top of the third inning, as he hit a three-run home run off of Gio Gonzalez to get the Giants within 5-3.

The Giants rally continued in the top of the fourth inning, as the Giants loaded the bases and were only able to manage one run, as Andrew McCutchen hit a sacrifice fly.

Gonzalez, who like Rodriguez saw his pitch count elevate and was unable to get out of the fourth inning.

Justin Miller picked up his third win of the season, as he retired all five batters he faced.

Hundley got the Giants within one run in the top of the seventh inning, as he doubled in a run; however, the Nationals put the game away in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Spence Kieboom hit a RBI double of his own.

NOTES: Derek Holland will take the mound in the series finale on Sunday, while the Nationals will send Max Scherzer to the mound, as he looks to improve to 11-1 on the season.

This will be the first time that Holland will face the Nationals in his 10-year career, while Scherzer looks to go to 2-0 against the Giants this season. On April 25, Scherzer went six innings and struck out 10 in a 15-2 victory for the Nationals, as they salvaged the series finale.

Brandon Crawford was out of the lineup for the first time since May 16 against the Cincinnati Reds. Crawford struck out as a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh inning.

Ovechkin’s first pitch to Scherzer went over the pitcher’s head, and the Conn Smythe Award Winner asked for another one and it was granted.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Nats conclude their series on Sunday at 1:05 pm PDT.

Road trip begins on a high note as Giants defeat Nationals 9-5

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

What a nice start to a three-city, 10 game road trip for the San Francisco Giants against a tough Washington Nationals team.

Andrew McCutchen got the offense going in the first inning, as he hit his third home run of the week that matched his season total and the Giants defeated the Nationals 9-5 at Nationals Park on Friday night.

Andrew Suarez did not go the minimum five innings, as he was pulled from the game with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning after the Nationals cut the Giants once 6-2 lead down to 6-4.

Suarez went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking one and striking out five, before way to Reyes Moronta.

The Giants extended the lead to 3-0 in the top of the second inning, as Alen Hanson continues his hot hitting since coming off the disabled list, as he singled to right field that scored Pablo Sandoval. Hunter Pence then extended the lead, as he doubled in Hanson.

Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg lasted just two innings before he was forced to leave the game with inflammation in his shoulder, and will undergo an MRI on Saturday. Strasburg gave up three runs on five hits, walking no one and striking out two, as he fell to 6-6 on the season.

Gorkys Hernandez continues his hot hitting, as he hit a two-run two run home run in the top of the fourth inning that gave the Giants a 5-0 lead.

The Nationals finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Suarez gave up a two-run home run to Juan Soto that landed in the Giants bullpen just out of the reach of Pence, who attempted to make a home run saving catch.

Brandon Crawford remains hot, as he doubled to left field that scored McCutchen to give the Giants a 6-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

Wilmer Difo began the Nationals comeback in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he singled to lead off the inning against Suarez. After Pedro Severino flew out for the first out of the inning, Adrian Sanchez singled and then Trea Turner walked to load the bases for Bryce Harper, who was the tying run.

Harper singled to right field to score both Difo and Sanchez, which marked the end of the night for Suarez.

Reyes Moronta replaced Suarez, and was able to get Anthony Rendon to fly out to Hernandez in centerfield and then Mark Reynolds fouled out to Hanson at third base to end the threat. That was it for Moronta, who picked up his second win of the season.

Matt Adams got the Nationals within one run in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he singled off of former Nationals reliever Mark Melancon.

The Giants broke the game wide open in the top of the seventh inning, as Sandoval singled in Joe Panik, who doubled to right field to lead off the inning. Following the Panik double, Buster Posey singled and then after McCutchen made the first out of the inning, Crawford was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases.

Sandoval then followed Crawford to the plate, and singled to centerfield to score Panik from third base. Evan Longoria, who did not start, came off the bench to pinch hit for Hanson and hit a sacrifice fly that scored Posey and then Hunter Pence put the finishing touches on the scoring, when singled to right field to score Crawford.

NOTES: Dereck Rodriguez will make his second major league start on Saturday, as he takes on Gio Gonzalez.

Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija both threw in the bullpen prior to the game. Samardzija, who is out with right shoulder tightness will throw one more bullpen session and then throw to hitters or make a rehab start. Cueto is likely to throw two more bullpen sessions and then a batting practice before returning from inflammation in his right elbow.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Nationals meet again Saturday at 9:05 am PDT.

Surging Giants face tough road test

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants had a fantastic first week of June, and they have used that momentum to get themselves right back into the National League West race.

Now comes the hard part.

The Giants have won five of their last six games, all of them played inside of AT&T Park, and as a direct result, the Giants are back to .500 and are only 1 ½ games behind the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, the team they just took two of three from this week.

Now the Giants will hit the road for a 10-day trip that starts tomorrow in Washington, a city that is buzzing from the NHL’s Capitals winning the Stanley Cup on Thursday. Meanwhile, its baseball team, the Nationals, isn’t playing too bad, either.

The Nationals currently own a 35-25 record and are in a tie atop the National League East with the Atlanta Braves. They have won seven of their last 10 games, but those three losses came against the Braves in a four-game series played last week. They rebounded nicely, however, by sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in a two-game series.

The Giants will start the series on Friday at Nationals Park with Andrew Suarez (2-4) on the mound against Washington righty Stephen Strasburg (6-5).

Dereck Rodriguez (1-0) picked up his first major-league win on Sunday, giving up a single run to the Phillies in a 6-1 victory, but he will have a daunting task on Saturday when he goes up against Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez (6-2).

To cap off the series, southpaw Derek Holland (3-6) will most certainly have his hands full as he faces righty Max Scherzer (10-1).

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Bochy on Crawford, “You couldn’t ask for a better hitter”

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sfgate.com file photo: San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford had a break out month of May and has started out June with an extra innings game winning base hit on Wednesday afternoon against the Arizona Diamondbacks

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael:

The Giants’ run of six wins out of their last seven shows the team has come together like no other time of the season. Giants’ shortstop Brandon Crawford has had a great month of May and continues with a game-winning hit on Wednesday a 10th inning RBI single.

Manager Bruce Bochy said of Crawford, “We couldn’t have asked for a better hitter up there.” The Giants head on a nine-game road trip starting tonight in Washington. The Giants have a road record 12-20 and are looking to improve their record. With what’s happened lately, can the Giants do it?

Hunter Pence made his return on Wednesday with a hit in one at-bat. How much of an impact will he make now that he has returned?

Giants podcasts with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips are heard every week during the Giants season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rodriguez impresses in first MLB start, Giants beat Phillies 6-1 to complete sweep

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Photo credit: @BruceBochy

By: Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Things were looking bleak for the San Francisco Giants, especially with the way Jake Arrieta was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies.

That all changed in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Giants exploded for five runs off of Arrieta and the Giants came back to defeat the Phillies by the final score of 6-1 before a crowd of 40,491 at AT&T Park on Sunday afternoon.

The win not only completed the three-game sweep for the Giants, but gave Dereck Rodriguez his first major league win in his first major league start. In the three-game sweep, the Giants outscored the Phillies 12-1.

This was the first three-game sweep by the Giants over the Phillies since July 10-12 of 2015.

Rodriguez went six innings, allowing only one run on five hits, walking one and striking out six. The one run that allowed was a home run to Arrieta that gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

“He’s got a nice feel out there for pitching,” said Bruce Bochy. “He’s not afraid to throw secondary pitches at any time. Commands the ball well. He does the little things.”

The right-hander, who converted from an everyday player to a pitcher just five years ago is the first Giants rookie to win his first major league start since Joe Martinez on August 5, 2009 against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

It’s awesome, it’s a great feeling,” Rodríguez said. “We battled out there and in that sixth inning, the guys really pulled together and put up a five spot.”

Ryan Sadowski was the last Giants pitcher to win his major- league debut, and that came on June 28, 2009 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Arrieta was cruising into the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Giants finally got to Arrieta and erupted for five runs.

Gorkys Hernandez got the rally started, as he singled off of Arrieta, following get knocked down by a Arrieta pitch, then Alen Hanson then singled and then Joe Panik tied up the game with a single to right-center field. Buster Posey then drove in Hanson for the eventual game-winning run, and then Andrew McCutchen put the second pitch he saw from Arrieta in the at-bat onto the arcade for his fourth home run of the season.

McCutchen broke a 159-plate appearance streak since his last home run, the longest such streak of his career. His home run to right field was the first by a right-handed batter at AT&T Park since Nick Hundley did it on May 2 against Clayton Richard of the San Diego Padres.

In all, Arrieta also went six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out four. With the loss, Arrieta fell to 5-3 on the season.

The five runs that Arrieta allowed in the bottom of the sixth inning, matched the total amount of runs that he allowed in the month of May (three earned) in 30 innings of work. His streak of 33.0 innings of not allowing a home run ended on the McCutchen home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, where the Giants scored five of their six runs.

Mark Melancon made his season debut in the top of the seventh inning, and struck out the side before giving way to Will Smith.

“It’s been a long time,” Melancon said. “So, it’s a really good feeling to be back and help these guys out and it was fun. A lot of fun.”

Buster Posey put the finishing touches on the scoring, as he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was the fourth home run of the season for Posey. Last season, Neris hit Posey, and accused Neris of hitting him on purpose.

“I don’t know, I was just trying to go about the at-bat and fortunately, it turned out in my favor,” Posey said.

Since his return from the disabled list, Joe Panik picked up multiple hit games in all three games, and prior to his stint on the disabled list, Panik had only one multi hit game in his last eight games.

NOTES: Derek Holland looks to extends the Giants winning streak to four games, as the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks head to town and send Zack Godley to the mound.

The Phillies are the first team in major league history to score one run in a three-game series and their only run coming on a home run by their pitcher, according to STATS, LLC.

Rodriguez is the fifth Giants rookie this season to pick-up a win for the team, joining Reyes Moronta, Andrew Suarez, Pierce Johnson and Roberto Gomez.

UP NEXT: The Giants will host the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game series starting Monday night at 7:15 pm PST.