Tag: San Francisco Giants

Mac attack: Rookie Williamson’s home run the difference in Giants’ 2-1 win over the Red Sox

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Mac attack

By Morris Phillips

Equal parts effective advertising, beginner’s luck and the result of a rare, poorly executed pitch from David Price, a guy who dealt for most of the evening, Mac Williamson’s first major league home run was both memorable and surprising.

It also was the difference in the Giants’ 2-1 win over the Red Sox, a critical win for a first place club that for the first time in a while hasn’t seen the desired results in the last week. For Williamson, the result trumped the importance of the act.

“To have it be a meaningful home run and help the team win—especially at this point in the season—is really special,” Williamson said.

The clash of the fabulously wealthy Price, making his 226th big league start, and Williamson, a guy who’s done almost nothing of note at the major league level, got off to a predictable start. The veteran struck out the rookie swinging in the third, then looking in the fifth. Price would go on to say it was his best outing of his 13 for Boston, allowing just three hits while throwing his first complete game of the year.

But despite the vast difference between the two in experience, scouting and preparation had both Williamson and Price on somewhat equal footing. Price knew he had to bust Williamson in, not let him extend his arms, and the rookie knew the veteran would offer few mistakes, and he needed to be ready if one was thrown. Afterwards, Williamson said he expected the cutter inside, the same one that Price had struck him out on twice, and Price was looking to execute the game plan for a third time.

“0-0. I want to get ahead,” Price said. “If it’s a little bit more in, it’s probably a little bit of a better pitch in that situation. (Williamson) put a good swing on it. That was a big hit for them.”

Williamson’s undercut of a swing gave the ball a majestic arch. But it barely cleared the fence, and left fielder Chris Young was in good position, yet overmatched. Perfectly placed, Williamson’s homer went directly over the first of the three Chevron cartoon cars, an advertisement that gives the fence an additional couple of feet of height in just that one location.

“It went over the wall where the wall kind of juts up, where you can’t get any kind of clearance up there. I don’t think I was even close to it,” Young said.

Williamson’s previous 49 major-league at-bats featured one double this season, and a triple last season. After striking out in his first two at-bats of the evening, the 25-year old rookie was hitting .184.

Williamson significantly upped his game in the absence of the injured Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence and Buster Posey, who missed a third straight game with a thumb injury.  It was the first time in 23 seasons that a Giant hit his first career homer to give the team a lead in the eighth inning or later.

After his heroics, Williamson didn’t sail into the sunset. Instead, he flubbed Hanley Ramirez’ fly ball to the gap leading off the ninth, allowing it to glance off his poorly-angled glove, putting closer Santiago Casilla and starter Madison Bumgarner—seeking his seventh straight win–in jeopardy.

But manager Bruce Bochy took it from there, allowing Casilla to face one more batter, Jackie Bradley Jr. who he struck out looking. Then Casilla gave way to lefty specialist Javier Lopez, who walked the dangerous David Ortiz, but recovered to strike out Travis Shaw–another left-handed hitter–with the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Bochy then tabbed Hunter Strickland, who induced a game-ending ground ball off the bat of Marco Hernandez on his first pitch.

With the win, the Giants increased their lead in the NL West to four games over the Dodgers, who were shutout at home by the Rockies. The Dodgers visit AT&T Park for a three-game series over the weekend in a matchup of the top two teams in the division.

Bumgarner pitched as effectively as Price in a matchup of power lefties, but departed after six innings after throwing 101 pitches. The Giants have now won each of their ace’s last nine starts dating back to April 25. In that span, Bum has improved his record to an All-Star worthy 8-2.

On Friday, the Giants open their big series with an even more compelling pitching matchup than Wednesday’s when Clayton Kershaw faces Johnny Cueto at 7:15pm.

 

San Francisco Giants Friday game wrap: Brown, Crawford Go Deep To Down Dodgers In A Wild Comeback Win

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: No hitter going? That’s all for you, as Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts takes Dodger starter Ross Stripling out in the eighth inning despite pitching a no hitter vs. San Francisco Giants

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-After nearly being on the receiving end of a historic no-hitter, the San Francisco Giants’ bats came alive late in the game to launch two home runs that would give the home team 2-0 series advantage over their rivals from the south.

After mustering just three baserunners through seven innings-all on walks- Trevor Brown’s homer in the eighth and Brandon Crawford’s long ball in the 10th would send the rain AT&T Park crowd home on a high note after the hometown squad would take both a no-hitter and a win away from the Dodgers on Saturday for a 3-2 victory.

Dodger rookie Ross Stripling put on a dazzling display of offspeed pitches mixed with solid fastball location that looked to put the Giants on the wrong side of a century old record for being no-hit by a debut pitcher.

But after completing 7 1/3 with a no-hitter in tact, a questionable move by manager Dave Roberts to pull the streaking youngster would lead another rookie to the spotlight instead.

The Giants first hit of the game would prove to be a crucial one, as C Trevor Brown’s first career home run would not only break up the Dodgers’ impending no-hitter, but would look to breathe new life into a stagnant Giants offense and send the game into 2-2 tie in the 8th inning.

Crawford would follow up the rookie’s display with an opposite shot of his own to lead off the 10th inning, launching his second career walk-off home run into the left field bleachers to hand his team the win.

The combination of home runs would see a Los Angeles kid in Brown hurt his hometown team, and a Bay Area native deal the finishing blow to his long-standing rival.

Lost in the fray of home runs and near no-hitters was Matt Cain’s impressive return to the mound. After a pair of injury marred seasons that saw the former ace hit the disabled list, the workhorse made a triumphant comeback in his first start of the season, surrendering just six hits over six innings of work while giving up just two runs.

The back of the rotation for both clubs saw strong outings from the returning ace in Cain and the newcomer Stripling. Both pitchers worked through the opposing lineups masterfully, while holding each team to just three runners in scoring position through the first five innings.

The duel was an encouraging sign for both clubs, as the former ace in Cain looked to rebound from injury-marred and ineffective seasons for the Giants, while Stripling looked to add some back-of-the-rotation punch for the Dodgers. But the Dodgers gained the advantage after five innings, as an RBI single from catcher A.J Ellis ended Cain’s scoreless streak after Joc Pederson came around to score following a leadoff double.

The Dodger’s young shortstop Corey Seager would pile on the damage with a two-out RBI single up the gut to make it a 2-0 deficit for Cain before he would escape the inning with a flyout to Justin Turner.

Meanwhile, Stripling continued his strong effort by mixing using an effective mix of offspeed pitches and fastball control to keep Giants runners off the base path, with just  two runners coming on consecutive walks through six innings.

The 26-year old looked to run into trouble heading into the 7th inning after issuing a leadoff walk to Hunter Pence, only to fall behind to Brandon Belt 0-3. But the Texas native rebounded by inducing a double-play ball from Belt, which was followed by a weak grounder from Matt Duffy to keep the no-hitter in tact.

Stripling looked to continue his quest to become the first rookie to throw a no-hitter in over a century during his debut, but after issuing a one-out walk to Angel Pagan, new Dodgers manager showed his short leash by yanking the youngster after an impressive debut.

The questionable move by manager Dave Roberts would come back to haunt the Dodgers, as Brown-who got his first start of the young season- would launch a two run home run off of RP Chris Hatcher to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th just moments after Stripling’s departure.

The Giants would work another runner into scoring position, before Hatcher would end the threat. But not before Brown’s longball would breathe new life into the ballgame.

Just as they had done the day before, the Giants would complete their comeback with a dagger of a homerun, as Crawford would connect with a 1-0 pitch from reliever Joe Blanton to secure the second straight win for the Giants against their NL West rivals.

The Giants look to make it three straight over the Dodgers tomorrow, as aces Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw square off in an afternoon start.

A Pitcher in the Home Run Derby? Why Madison Bumgarner Should Have Been Considered

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

Monday night, the annual tradition of launching baseballs into the atmosphere like NASA satellites will commence once again, as the MLB’s greatest current sluggers converge at Target Field in Minnesota for the 2014 Home Run Derby, a rocket launch to the 2014 All-Star Game Festivities in the Twin Cities.

Sure, Jose Bautista, Giancarlo Stanton and Yoenis Cespedes are going to put on a show, launch tape measure bombs and make Chris Berman yell “Back, back, back!” more times than a construction foreman guiding a reversing dump truck. Absolutely the field is filled with deserving candidates worthy of the honor to compete for the superfluous, superlative title of home run champion. The only problem is, National League captain missed a great opportunity to invite an unexpected participant; San Francisco Giants 2014 All-Star Madison Bumgarner.

With Bumgarner having pitched in Sunday’s first-half finale, he won’t be available to perform his duties in the Mid-Summer Classic Tuesday night, he’ll instead be replaced by teammate Tim Hudson. It’d certainly free him up for Monday Night’s fireworks display though, and here’s why he should be included.

Consider this blind sample:

Batter A – 13.33 at-bats per home run
Batter B – 16.81 at-bats per home run
Batter C – 27.46 at-bats per home run
Batter D – 14.76 at-bats per home run
Batter E – 19.05 at-bats per home run
Batter F – 28.58 at-bats per home run

The figures for batters B though F are this year’s National League Entrants in the home run derby Giancarlo Stanton, Justin Morneau, Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Frazier and Yasiel Puig in that order. Subject A, the leader in long ball frequency amongst the above sample group, is Bumgarner. Over 40 at-bats this season, he has exited the park three times.

There are no doubts that Tulowitzki, NL leader in home runs (21, tied with Stanton) selected an entertaining senior circuit squad. Justin Morneau represents the veteran savvy, having won the 2008 Derby at Yankee Stadium after hitting four balls out of AT&T Park in the previous iteration. While other players were still adjusting to another season on April fourth, Stanton already showed his penchant for the tape-measure poke, launching the longest NL home run of the season an astounding 484 feet. Puig brings the flair, ranking fourth in the Majors in average distance per homer (417.3 feet) while Frazier brings the backstory. Tulowitzki selected Frazier based off a leadoff home run the Reds third basemen hit…for New Jersey in the Little League World Series. Surely, the Colorado shortstop couldn’t be accused of not bringing the best to Minneapolis.

That being said, Despite playing in the very homer-unfriendly AT&T Park (ranked 6th in the NL in home runs hit this season), Bumgarner has excelled at the big fly at home in 2014. Following Sunday’s grand slam, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 387-footer off starter Matt Stites, the Giants All-star collected all three of his first-half dinger on the banks of McCovey Cove this season. None came cheap, with the average distance for MadBum blasts measuring in at 402 feet. That matches or is better than Morneau (402), Frazier (398.6) and Tulowitzki (398.4). Sure, it’s a small sample size, but it’s an impressive one no less, and one that started the train of though to invite the lefty-throwing, righty-hitting starter.

If a small statistical pool is troublesome, let’s shed some light on what Bumgarner has done with the bat in comparison to some of his teammates. The Hickory, NC native currently sits in seventh place amongst Giants hitters in offensive wins above replacement, ranking above Brandon Belt, Tyler Colvin and Brandon Hicks as well as five other position players with more at-bats than Bumgarner. In only 1/5th the numbers of opportunities of many of his teammates, Bumgarner and his .275 batting average and 12 runs batted in have proven he’s no slouch with the stick. Throw in that he’s pitched brilliantly, going 10-7 with a 3.47 earned run average and 127 punchouts over 128 innings.

While selecting a pitcher in the home run derby sounds outlandish in theory, in practice it would create quite a buzz for the event. No pitcher has ever participated in the event, a far more significant first than the change in format implemented this year. A move to segregated league brackets that will culminate in an AL bracket-winner vs NL bracket-winner final sounds mildly interesting for the sake of it being something new, but it still represents the same old Derby concept of mashers pummeling baseballs ad nauseum till someone emerges a victor.

Inserting a starting pitcher as a combatant into the fray would draw buzz. Fans would tune in, if not to watch with intrigue of what the seldom offensively-gifted could do, at least for the train wreck aspect. The fun of watching the Derby for some isn’t the amount of success the participants have, but rather the lack there of. Who didn’t have a laugh when Robinson Cano couldn’t clear the fence even once amidst a rousing round of jeers from those in attendance at Kauffman Stadium in the summer of 2012?

There are plenty of hurdles to even considering a pitcher for the annual laser show. First and foremost is the production from the position. Bumgarner is one of only seven NL pitchers with a homerun, and only Chicago’s Travis Wood has multiple jacks to join Madison. Bumgarner is also the only hurler with more than 10 RBIs this season meaning there’s a severe lack of offensive output league-wide from the NL’s ninth spot in the order. So forgive Tulo or any other future captain for not tabbing a starter to the team.

Dim positional offensive positivity aside, imagine the resistance a general manager and manager would offer. It’s hard enough to convince star hitters to take part for fear of ruining their swing for the second half. Now picture the long list of pitchers who have injured themselves over the years taken hacks at the plate. No front office would want to see their pitcher, whom they have invested millions of dollars in, injured in a meaningless exhibition for a skillset none to prevalent at the position with no consequence other than a hollow title.

But the All-star game isn’t about managers, or GMs, or the players to some degree. It’s about the fans, rewarding them with a chance to watch the best of the best, to dream about what an All-World outfield of Mike Trout, Bautista and Adam Jones. It’s about seeing the never-before-seen, the never-to-be-seen-again. Hopefully, one day, it’ll be about seeing a starting pitcher take his long ball hacks with the best of them in the Home Run Derby.

Reds Steal One From San Francisco; Giants’ Woes Continue

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By: Joe Lami

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–The Cincinnati Reds stole a game from the San Francisco Giants on Saturday Night at AT&T, as they beat the Giants 7-2 in 11innings.  Cincinnati was trailing 1-0 going into the ninth inning, when Brandon Phillips hit a two-run homerun to put the Reds ahead.  A Giants rally capped off by a RBI double from Buster Posey in the ninth would force extra innings, but the Reds were too strong in the 11th for the Giants to come back.

The Giants continue to slump, as they are now 4-14 in the last 18 games.  The Giants have had one bright spot in that span, with Tim Lincecum’s No Hitter this past Wednesday against the Padres, but before then the Giants haven’t won a game at home since June 12, where they hammered the Nationals 7-1.

San Francisco was led by a strong pitching performance from Matt Cain, who hasn’t been himself this season going into Saturday.  Cain entered Saturday with a 1-6 record and a 4.82 ERA in 12 games.  Cain looked like the pitcher we have known though on Saturday, as he pitched seven scoreless innings, while giving up six hits, two walks and striking out four.  Saturday also marks the first time since September 26, 2012 in which Cain pitched at least seven scoreless innings.  However, the great performance goes for not, as Cain is given the no decision.

“It was a tough one, Cain pitched his heart out,” said Giants’ Skipper, Bruce Bochy after game.

Alfredo Simon was great on the other side as he surrendered one run on three hits.  Simon has been stellar for the Reds on the season boasting a 10-3 record with a 2.92 ERA, heading into Saturday night, and it continued to show, as he getsa no decision.

The Giants started the night with a bang, as Gregor Blanco led off with a base hit.  However, the Giants would have to wait until the fifth inning, until they got their next one.  The only Giant to get on base between the first and fifth inning was Pablo Sandoval in the fourth inning, when he hit a grounder and it was misplayed by Zack Cozart for an error.  Brandon Crawford recorded the second hit of the evening on his bobblehead night with a single.  Adam Duvall followed up by doubling into the left field corner sending Crawford to third.  With one out in the inning, it sent Joe Panik up to the plate.  Panik would knock in the only run for the Giants of the night, as he hammered one right up the middle but, it was knocked down by Simon and Brandon Phillips made the throw to first.  Matt Cain ended the fifth on a bunt for hit attempt to get the second run in, by he was thrown out at first.

San Francisco led the game into the top of the ninth, when Sergio Romo came into the game.  Romo started the shaky inning with a walk to Joey Votto, bringing Phillips up to the plate.  Phillips entered the at bat 0 for 3 on the evening, but made the difference in the ninth when he shot a hanging a slider deep into left field to give the Reds the 2-1 lead.  Romo was forced to finish the inning, but had trouble doing it as both Devin Mesoraco and Ryan Ludwick would hit it to the warning track before being gloved down by Juan Perez.

The Reds entered the ninth inning with the lead and one of the most dangerous closers in the game coming in, Aroldis Chapman.  Chapman entered the game 16 for 16 in saves situations, and pitching his fourth day straight.  The Giants would be the first team to break Chapman on the season as they started the ninth inning with a Hunter Pence single to right.  The turning point was an amazing ten-pitch walk forced by Sandoval putting runners on first and second.  Buster Posey was the pinch hitter and drove a 101 MPH fastball to left to bring home the tying run on the no-out double.  Runners were at second and third with no outs, and the Giants looked like they had the win in the bag, however Chapman buckled down and forced two ground outs and then struck out Duvall to end the ninth.

The Reds would strike again in the 11th inning scoring two runs off of Cozart single, that brought in Votto; who doubled to start the inning, and Phillips who was intentionally walked to set up the double play ball.  Cincinnati would put the nail in the coffin when Chris Heisey knocked two more in with a triple to right to put the Reds up 6-2.  The bleeding would continue for the Giants when Billy Hamiliton doubled to right to bring in Heisey to make it 7-2.  The Giants would get one back in the bottom half to make it 7-3.

Jonathan Broxton earns the win for Cincinnati to up his record to 3-0.  Javy Lopez gets the loss, dropping his record to 1-1. The Reds take a 3-0 series advantage this weekend, as they will go for the sweep tomorrow with a pitching matchup of Homer Bailey vs. Tim Hudson.

Bullpen saves day as Giants take series

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By Jeremy Harness

 

SAN FRANCISCO – This one wasn’t nearly as long, but it was every bit as dramatic. It’s the sort of thing you would expect when the Giants and Dodgers hook up.

 

The first two contests of this three-game series at AT&T Park has had a strong postseason feel to it, with each game being decided by a single run and being played between two eternal rivals. Thus far in this young season, the Giants have seized control, as they followed up a 12-inning victory by again turning away the Dodgers, 2-1, Wednesday night.

 

Pablo Sandoval, who entered the game hitting only .164, broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning by singling off Dodgers reliever J.P Howell. However, it was the bullpen that saved the Giants’ bacon to give Sandoval a chance to be the offensive hero.

 

The Giants were backed into a corner in the top of that inning, as starter Ryan Vogelsong hit Hanley Ramirez and gave up a single to Adrian Gonzalez to start the inning before being chased from the game.

 

Vogelsong went six-plus innings and gave up only a run on four hits, walking two and striking out another two.

 

Enter Jean Machi, who has been sensational this season, to right the ship. He started off by striking out Kemp but then surrendered an infield hit to Andre Ethier to load the bases. He then forced Juan Uribe into a grounder right back to him. He got the first out at home before Buster Posey threw to first in time to get Uribe and keep the game tied and bring much of the crowd at AT&T Park to its feet.

 

That set the stage for the bottom half of the inning, as Sandoval lined a two-out single up the middle. Joaquin Arias, who walked to lead off the inning, motored home from second to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.

 

From there, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and closer Sergio Romo combined to shut down the Dodgers’ vaunted lineup, as Romo struck out both Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp – who had a game to forget – to seal this series for the Giants.

 

Defensively, the teams showed up on opposite ends of the spectrum in the first inning. On one side, Arias made a beautiful stop of a hot grounder by Ramirez while second baseman Brandon Hicks fired to first to finish off an inning-ending double play.

 

Meanwhile, Kemp wasn’t quite as skillful in center field. He hauled in a fly ball at the warning track by Hunter Pence, only to have it pop out of his glove as he looked up at the sky. Pence wound up at second on the play, but the Giants were unable to advance him.

 

Kemp’s woes then shifted to the basepaths. After drawing a two-out walk in the second, he was quickly picked off by Vogelsong. The Dodgers challenged the play, but after nearly five minutes of review, the call was upheld.

 

The Giants got on the board in the third, as Buster Posey’s single brought Pence home from second.

 

Vogelsong, who had been cruising right along for five innings, was just about out of the sixth until he gave up a two-out walk to Paul Maholm, his pitching counterpart, and that ended up costing the Giants in a big way.

 

The next batter, second baseman Dee Gordon, lined one over Pence’s head in right center for a triple that scored Maholm and tied the game.

 

Notes: Ramirez was hit on the left hald, which forced him to leave the game for a pinch runner. X-rays taken on the injured hand were negative, according to the Dodgers.

Giants want wins in final week

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123According to the Giants, you can’t start 2014 on fire if you finish 2013 in a funk.

With six games remaining this season, the Giants desire a winning finish even if means going without seeing more from rookies like Juan Perez or Ehire Andrianza. Of course, Andrianza and Perez aren’t chopped liver. Andrianza’s solo shot in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Yankees in New York got the Giants on the board.

But the Dodgers come to town on Tuesday, and manager Bruce Bochy is likely to tab his veterans to fight the NL West champs. The Dodgers need some wins to gain home stadium advantage in the first and second rounds of the playoffs, and the Giants wouldn’t mind seeing them go without those wins. Also, the momentum built by winning three of four in Dodgers Stadium last week is something the Giants would love to build on.

The series with Los Angeles, with Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum making starts, also offers the prelude to the off-season’s most prominent question: Are the Giants potentially good enough to knock off the billionaire Dodgers? These games provide a glimpse into the answer of that vital question.

Also, the Giants have individual goals as well. Buster Posey (.295) and Marco Scutaro (.297) want to finish with .300 batting averages, Bumgarner wants a 200th strikeout, and Hunter Pence wants to hit 26 home runs in a season for the first time. Look for those guys to get their opportunities to achieve their goals, especially in the next three games.

The Giants remain a 1 ½ games ahead of last place Colorado in an attempt to avoid being the first team since the 1998 Marlins to finish last in the season following a win in the World Series. Winning the series against the Dodgers might be enough to keep the Giants from gaining that distinction, especially since the Rockies have just five games remaining, and only two of those at home.

Cain and Hyun-Jin Ryu are the starting pitchers for the series opener on Tuesday at 7:15pm.

A-Rod’s grand slam puts Yanks on top of Giants

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By Pearl Allison Lo

Behind in the count with two outs , Alex Rodriguez changed the game and also passed Lou Gehrig for most grand slams with 24, as New York beat San Francisco 5-1 Friday.

Giants’ starter Tim Lincecum was lifted in favor of George Kontos after 121 pitches and the bases loaded.  Rodriguez entered the inning just 1 for his last 25 and was behind 2-1 when his hit landed with the spectators in deep right field, leading to a much needed win for his team.

It was a tie game since early on in the matchup.

The Yankees’ Alfonso Soriano hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first to make the score 1-0.

The Giants tied the game the following inning.  Brandon Crawford was issued a leadoff walk.  One out later, rookie Juan Perez doubled Crawford back to home plate to make it 1-1.

Rodriguez’s grand slam set up came in the bottom of the seventh.  Eduardo Nunez led off with a single and stole second after one out. Brendan Ryan was then hit by a pitch and a fielder’s choice left runners on first and second once again.  Ichiro Suzuki then walked to load the bases.

Sabathia was lifted in the top of the eighth after 107 pitches and issuing a leadoff single in the game that featured two former Cy Young winners .

Lincecum threw two wild pitches in addition to his two walks in his first game playing against New York

San Francisco had a one out, runners on the corners scoring opportunity in the top of the first.

The Yankees also had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the third.

Game notes: During the game, Lincecum became the first Giants pitcher with 1,500 strikeouts since  Gaylord Perry in 1971.  Both teams get right back to playing Saturday at 10:05 am with two morning games in a row.