Tag: San Francisco Giants

Panik makes history in Giants’ 1-0 win over Dodgers

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

Just two days in the 2018 Major League season, San Francisco Giants second baseman Joe Panik made history.

Panik hit a solo home run off of Kenley Jansen in the top of the ninth inning, as the Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 at Dodger Stadium.

His home run was the only run of the game for the second game, as he became the first player in the 139-year history of Major League Baseball to hit home runs in back-to-back games with the final score of 1-0.

The Giants became the first team since the 1943 Cincinnati Reds to pick-up 1-0 wins in their first two games of the season, as they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 75 years ago.

Johnny Cueto retired the first 18 batters of the game until Chris Taylor led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single. That would be the only baserunner to reach base against Cueto on the evening.

Cueto walked no one and struck out four, as he went seven innings after he threw 97 pitches in his first start of the season.

Former Dodgers reliever Tony Watson struck out two in the bottom of the eighth inning, before giving way to Hunter Strickland, who retired the Dodgers in order that included getting Joc Pederson to pop out to Buster Posey on the first pitch he saw on from Strickland.

It was the second game in a row that Pederson made the final out of the game, as he grounded out to Brandon Crawford to end the opener on Thursday.

Through their first two games of the season, the reigning National League Champions have yet to score a run, while allowing just two runs to their longtime rivals from San Francisco.

If you thought Cueto pitched a great game, the guy across the diamond for the Dodgers was not too shabby either.

Alex Wood pitched eight innings, as he allowed just a base hit to Brandon Crawford in the top of the fifth inning and nothing else.

Wood struck out five and did not walk a batter like Cueto, but it was one pitch by the best reliever in the game that cost the Dodgers the game.

Logan Forsythe, playing at third base in place of the injured Justin Turner, who suffered a broken wrist during spring training, committed three of the four Dodgers errors on the night.

The four errors in a game by the Dodgers are their most in a game since they committed four on August 11, 2013 against the Tampa Bay Rays. In that game, like Forsythe, Dee Gordon committed three errors for the Dodgers.

NOTES: Derek Holland makes his Giants debut on Saturday night, as he takes the Dodger Stadium mound, while the Dodgers will send Kenta Maeda to the hill.

UP NEXT: These two teams face each other again Saturday night at 6:10 pm PST.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Blach has the stuff; four relievers and a shutout; Can SF keep it going?

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 The opening day performance by San Francisco Giants starter Ty Blach, who went five innings with three hits and three strikeouts. Blach put out a strong performance.

#2 A look at what pitches that were working for Blach.

#3 It took four relievers to come in to shut the door on the Los Angeles Dodgers. There were doubts about the Giants bullpen, but they really impressed on Opening Day.

#4 Dodgers starter Clayton Kernshaw pitched well enough to win, but he didn’t get any offensive support, throwing for one run, eight hits, walked two, struck out seven well enough to complete the game.

#5 Joe Panik, who got the game’s only run on a solo home run in the fifth, that turned out to be the difference maker.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcast Fridays and Morris Phillips on Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Blach outduels Kershaw; Giants take opener 1-0

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants appeared to have the look of a team that was basically up on a tee for the Dodgers to smack around, particularly on Opening Day.

Someone apparently forgot to tell Ty Blach and the rest of the pitching staff, which combined to shut down the Dodgers Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, 1-0.

Blach went five innings and gave up only three hits to a lineup that was only one game away from winning the World Series, while also striking out three and walking three. From that point, the Giants utilized four relievers, including fill-in closer Hunter Strickland, to keep Los Angeles off the scoreboard for four more innings.

“He’s got a great makeup about him,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We were very confident that he was going to give us a chance to win, which he did. That’s why we picked him to go on Opening Day.”

In the process, Blach got the best of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who gave up a run on eight hits, walking two and striking out seven.

Second baseman Joe Panik fired the shot that separated the two teams and provided the difference. In the fifth inning, he got an inside fastball from Kershaw and sent it into the seats beyond the short fence in right field for a solo homer.

“That’s what this game is about, it about competing,” Blach said. “I love the opportunity to go up against one of the best in the league. It’s a great opportunity, and I loved every minute of it.”

Giants’ season set to get underway in Los Angeles against the Dodgers

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

After the Giants concluded the annual pre-season Bay Bridge series with the A’s, the Giants had a day off Wednesday and are now preparing to face the Dodgers in Los Angeles to kick off the 2018 season on Thursday.

However, one thing will be glaringly different about the way the Giants look on the field for Opening Day. Madison Bumgarner has consistently been the team’s Opening Day starter, but due to his suffering a broken metacarpal on his left hand, he will not be out there Thursday.

Instead, it will be fellow lefty Ty Blach to take the hill for the Giants opposite Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw.

Blach earned the Opening Day start almost by default, as Jeff Samardzija suffered a pectoral strain and will miss his first scheduled start of the year. However, he is reportedly expected to test out the strain on Wednesday, to gauge how much time he expects to miss.

If that’s not enough, the Giants have another injury concern on the mound, and it surrounds closer Mark Melancon. He last pitched March 23, and there is growing concern that he’s not fully back from the forearm surgery that he had in September.

The rosters need to be turned in by 8:30 a.m. Thursday, sand there is a strong possibility that Melancon will be placed on the disabled list along with Bumgarner and Samardzija.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, don’t have nearly as many injury issues, but they do have one. Third baseman Justin Turner was hit by a pitch by A’s righty Kendall Graveman about a week ago and suffered a broken wrist as a result, and he will miss significant time.

Johnny Cueto will start Friday night for the Giants, as he goes up against Dodgers lefty Alex Wood.

Giants shutout A’s 3-0 to end the spring

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — In their final tuneup before the regular season begins in just two days, the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s faced off for the last time until their Bay Bridge Series in July.

Andrew McCutchen got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the first inning as he doubled in Joe Panik, who led off the inning with a single and the Giants would go on to defeat the A’s 3-0 before a crowd of 32,644 at AT&T Park.

Another newcomer to the Giants added a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Austin Jackson hit a two-run single that scored Evan Longoria and Hunter Pence.

As a team, the Giants were never set down in order by the A’s pitchers, as they picked up a hit off the A’s quartet of Andrew Triggs, Kyle Hendriks, Trevor Cahill and Frankie Montas.

It was a good final spring start for Chris Stratton, as he went five innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out three, as he finished the spring with a 1-1 record and the Giants ended the 2018 Spring season with a 15-17-1 record.

The Giants six-pack of pitchers did a fantastic job in their final dress rehearsal prior to Thursday, as Stratton, Josh Osich, Cory Gearrin, Sam Dyson, Pierre Johnson and Derek Law pitched nine innings, allowing just six hits, walking four and striking out four.

NOTES: Ty Blach will take the mound on Opening Day for the first time in his big-league career against the defending National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday afternoon, while the Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw to the mound and he will be making his eighth consecutive Opening Day start.

This will be the 12th time since the Giants and the Dodgers moved to the West Coast in 1958 that the two rivals will have faced each other on Opening Day. In the first 11 meetings, the Giants have a 6-5 lead.

Lefty Derek Holland gets an opportunity to resurrect his career in the SF Giant’s starting rotation

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2018 Major League Baseball Photo Day
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 20: Derek Holland #45 of the San Francisco Giants poses during Photo Day on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Robert Binder/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

from the cover athletic.com photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Derek Holland throws to the Oakland A’s during Monday’s pre season game at AT&T Park in the second game of the Bay Bridge Series

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Seven weeks after Derek Holland’s under-the-radar signing with the Giants as a non-roster invitee, the relationship between the club and the player has gotten quite serious.

Madison Bumgarner (and Jeff Samardzija) are on the shelf, and the 31-year old Holland is in the starting rotation. Given Holland’s recent history, this is quite a development, one the resurgent pitcher won’t take for granted.

“This is a great ballclub,” Holland said.  “And I’m glad to be a part of it.”

After a 14-loss season (in 26 starts) with the White Sox in 2017, Holland was released. Signing with the Giants, he hoped, would give him an opportunity to stay in the majors as a reliever.  But the Giants are plentiful in terms of options in their relief corps. Thanks to the imposing salary cap, all the opportunities–if any–would be in the club’s starting rotation. In fact, besides the still-too-green Tyler Beede and Chris Heston, nearly three years removed from his June 2015 no-hitter, the Giants possessed few options other than Holland.

So Holland took the ball and ran with it.  In five spring appearances, Holland won once and got his ERA under control after it hit 6.20 for 2017.  With 18 strikeouts in 15 innings, Holland earned a look for a rotation spot.  The Giants were forced to overlook Holland’s four homers allowed, and his 17 hits allowed in 15 innings didn’t seem so bad when compared to Matt Moore of 2017, or the possibility of signing aging, ageless one, Bartolo Colon.

So when Bumgarner’s bone in his hand was broken by a liner through the box, and Samardzija was declared out of at least the first two starts of his season, Holland got a spot.  But the Giants can’t be sure what they’re getting: Holland’s best year was 16 wins in 2011, and he missed most of both 2014 and 2015 with injuries.  The 31-year old stayed healthy in 2017, but his ERA soared.

“Despite getting released, I started off really well,” Holland explained.  “I  made every start.”

Last April, Holland won three games.  Then two in May, and only one win in June.  In June and July, the starter lost five games both months.  Then after a relief appearance in September, Holland was granted his unconditional release. A similiar start for the Giants would be nice, the rest of Holland’s 2017 would be too much of a reminder of what they got from Moore, who lost 15 times.

The difference? 2017 was rough on Moore psychologically, and it sometimes showed. Holland’s a much lighter personality, and the expectations for him aren’t as high.  That atmosphere could put the veteran in better position to succeed.  The Giants certainly hope so.

On Monday, in his final tune-up against the A’s, Holland pitched five innings and allowed four hits. Two of those four hits were solo shots for Mark Canha and Matt Chapman, but Moore kept the Giants in the game, and limited the traffic on the basepaths.

“He did a nice job,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I really think he’s set to go, and throw 100 pitches.”

 

Giants to start 2018 season with patchwork rotation

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Photo credit: @Starting9

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants spent a great deal of time–and money–upgrading their lineup in the field. Meanwhile, the once-vaunted rotation has begun to fall apart.

The most glaring absence is that of Madison Bumgarner, who suffered a fracture in his left hand after getting hit by a line drive Friday and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks as a result.

Enter Derek Holland, who started Monday’s game for the Giants and had his longest and overall best outing of the spring but was marred by a pair of solo home runs in a 9-2 loss to the A’s at AT&T Park.

Holland gave up only two runs on four hits over five innings and cruised through the first two innings without much issue. However, he made a huge location mistake in the third, and Matt Chapman made him pay for it immediately. He left a fastball over the plate waist-high, and Chapman drove it into the left-field seats to tie the game at 1-1.

Two innings later, he made the same mistake to Mark Canha, and the result was just as damaging. Holland could only watch as the ball disappeared into the seats in center field as the Giants fell behind, 2-1.

All in all, it has been a productive spring for Holland, who was a non-roster invitee to spring training who has been penciled in as part of the Giants’ starting rotation when the season starts. The former Ranger, who spent last season with the White Sox, had a 4.20 ERA entering Monday but showed very good command of the strike zone, which is what the Giants are looking for.

To make room for Holland on the roster, the Giants released outfielder Jarrett Parker.

He will take the mound for the Giants for Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, assuming the spot originally saved for Jeff Samardjiza, who has a strained pectoral muscle and will be out for the next 10 days, thus missing his first scheduled start of the year.

As the Giants head into Opening Day, the rotation is expected to look like this: right-hander Johnny Cueto, lefty Ty Blach, Holland and righty Chris Stratton.

After trailing by a run after seven innings, the Giants rallied in their half of the eighth and tied the game when Gorkys Hernandez sprinted home on a wild pitch.

The game eventually went into extra innings, but Oakland dropped a seven-spot in the 10th to even up this annual Bay Bridge series.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: A’s in the City to close out spring schedule; Cueto has good outing against Oakland; plus more

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On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Giants and A’s kicked off the 2018 Bay Bridge series at the Coliseum on Sunday, which could only mean the beginning of the regular season is just round the corner.

#2 It was an satisfying outing for Giants starter Johnny Cueto, who pitched the first Bay Bridge series game, going 5.1 innings, five hits, one run, one walk, six strikeouts in a 5-1 win over the A’s Sunday.

#3 Giants pitcher Ty Blach gets the start for opening day on Thursday in Los Angeles. In 2017, Blach had a 4.78 ERA and was 8-12.

#4 The Giants offense do present some pop in the line up for 2018 with hitters such as Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, and Andrew McCutchen.

#5 On an A’s note: The A’s played it safe and purchased land from the city of Oakland in order to secure the Oakland Coliseum area so no future developers might buy the land in the event the Howard Terminal idea falls through.

Morris Phillips is the San Francisco Giants beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cueto’s sharp in final start; Giants rout A’s 5-1

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Photo credit: @BerkeleyBrennan

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — It may be just an exhibition game, but whenever the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s get together, it is always a good time.

Buster Posey hit a two-run double in the top of the third inning that scored Gregor Blanco and Nick Hundley, as the Giants took the first game of the Bay Bridge Series with a 5-1 victory over the A’s before a crowd of 21,229 at the Coliseum.

The Giants added another run in the inning, as Joe Panik scored on a sacrifice fly by Pablo Sandoval.

Jed Lowrie got the A’s on the board in the bottom of the inning, as he singled to centerfield to score Dustin Fowler.

Stephen Duggar robbed Matt Joyce of a potential home run, as the center fielder went over the wall to bring the ball back into play.

Johnny Cueto looked great in his final preseason start, as he went five and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking one and striking out six.

Sandoval put the game out of reach in the top of the eighth inning, as he launched a Raul Alcantara offering onto the stairs in right field for his fourth home run of the spring.

NOTES: With the victory, the Giants improved to 14-16-2 this spring season.

When the Giants open the season on Thursday at Dodger Stadium, this will be the 31st meeting between the two rivals on Opening Day since 1900 and the records between to the two teams is 15-15.

Madison Bumgarner suffered a displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal on his left hand after getting hit by a Whit Merrifield line drive on Friday.

Jeff Samardzija was diagnosed with a strained pectoral muscle and will rest for 10 days before beginning to throw again.

UP NEXT: The Bay Bridge Series between the Giants and A’s will shift to AT&T Park Monday night at 7:15 pm PST.

River Cats hang on to defeat Giants 6-5

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By Jeremy Kahn

With the regular season starting in just five days, the San Francisco Giants have returned to Northern California after breaking camp in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Before their exhibition ending three-game series against the Oakland A’s beginning on Sunday at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the Giants headed 90 miles north to Sacramento, the state capital of California, to face the Sacramento Rivercats.

Shaun Anderson started the game for the Giants, as he went 3.2 innings, allowing three runs (two earned), not walking a batter and striking out four. However, he did not fare in the decision.

Jerry Sands hit a two-run home run off of Cory Gearrin in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Rivercats hung on to defeat the Giants 6-5 at Raley Field.

D.J. Snelten struck out the side in the top of the sixth inning to pick-up the victory for the Rivercats, who open the season on April 5 against the Tacoma Rainiers.

In his only inning of work, Gearrin gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and walked two, before giving way to Jose Valdez.

Despite giving up two hits in the top of the ninth inning, Reyes Moronta struck out the side to pick-up the save for the Rivercats.

The Giants played their regulars Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford, Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, Austin Jackson and Nick Hundley went a combined 7-for-23 against Rivercats pitching.

Kelby Tomilnson went 1-for-2, as did Jordan Arenado, the younger brother of Colorado Rockies star third baseman Nolan Arenado.

NOTES: Madison Bumgarner underwent surgery on his left pinkie, where pins were inserted into the hand. Bumgarner will miss six to eight weeks.

UP NEXT: The Giants and A’s begin their annual Bay Bridge Series on Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum, before heading across the Bay to finish the last two games at AT&T Park.