Tag: Washington Nationals

Rally falls short in Giants’ 5-3 loss to Nationals

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @TSN_Sports

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — On the same day when they designated one of their most popular players for assignment, the San Francisco Giants still are unable to get a win.

Kurt Suzuki singled in Anthony Rendon with the only run that the Washington Nationals would need in the top of the first inning on their way to a 5-3 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 31,628 at Oracle Park.

Suzuki broke the game wide open in the top of the third inning, as he slammed a two-run home run that also scored former Giants outfielder Gerardo Parra, who singled right after Trea Turner led off the inning with a walk and went to third on the Parra single. Turner then scored when Rendon hit a sacrifice fly to Kevin Pillar.

Turner slammed his 10th home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning that helped the Nationals to their second win of the series, and secured the series win.

Anibal Sanchez pitched a great game, as he went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out three on his way to raising his record to 7-6 on the season.

Conner Menez made his second major league start, and this one was not like his major-league debut on July 21 against the New York Mets. In this outing, Menez went six innings, allowing five runs on six hits, walking three and striking out four and lost for the first time in his major-league career.

Brandon Crawford drove in the Giants first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning, as he grounded out to first base that scored Pillar from third. Pillar got to third after he singled to lead off the inning, and raced to third on a throwing error by Sanchez.

Brandon Belt got the Giants a run closer in the bottom of the sixth inning, as his single to right field scored Pablo Sandoval, who came off the bench to pinch-hit for Menez and doubled to lead off the inning.

Sandoval seemed to be a spark for the Giants in the latter parts of the game, as he doubled again in the bottom of the seventh inning that scored Pillar.

Jandel Gustave continues impress the team, as he once again went two innings for the third time since joining the team. In his three appearances, Gustave scattered four hits, walked two and struck out one.

Pillar went 3-for-4 on the night, and it was the fourth time this season he picked up at least three hits in a game.

Joe Panik, who was part of the 2014 World Series Champion Giants team was designated for assignment to make for Menez.

Panik, who will be best remembered for that dazzling diving stop of an Eric Hosmer hit in Game Seven of the 2014 World Series that eventually turned into a double play saw his playing time diminish with the recent acquisition of Scooter Gennett and the improvement at the plate of Donovan Solano.

“Nothing has driven me more than winning here in San Francisco,” Panik said in a statement. “I am forever grateful for the Giants taking the chance on me and allowing me to live out my life long dream. It is time for me to start the next chapter in my career. But in my heart I will always be a Giant.”

Bruce Bochy got a little emotional when talking about Panik prior to the game, as “one of the most difficult conversations I had in my life.”

Panik also came up big in the opening weekend at Dodger Stadium in 2018, when he hit home runs in the first two games of the season off of Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen that led to back-to-back wins for the Giants.

NOTES: Sandovals 17 pinch hits are the most in the major leagues and is now tied with Candy Maldonado with the second most in San Francisco Giants history.

His eight pinch-hit doubles breaks the season record he shared with Fred Lewis in the San Francisco era.

Sam Selman optioned to Sacramento after Mondays loss and Menez along with Williams Jerez were recalled from Sacramento.

Three Giants players throughout the minor leagues took home Player of the Month Awards for the month of July. Jaylin Davis, Seth Corry and Franklin Labour.

UP NEXT: Shaun Anderson will look to end the Giants three-game losing streak on Wednesday afternoon, as he takes the mound against Joe Ross, who is the younger brother of former Oakland As pitcher Tyson Ross and like his brother, went to Bishop O’Dowd High in Oakland.

MLB podcast with Daniel Dullum: SF’s Bumgarner x-rays prove negative; Cleveland’s Carrasco diagnosed with leukemia; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

sfgate.com photo: Madison Bumgarner exits in the third inning against St. Louis. The back of his left arm was hit by a liner in the first inning.

On the MLB podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 MadBum hit by line drive, X-rays negative

2 Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco reveals leukemia diagnosis; Angels mourn loss of Tyler Skaggs

3 Throwback Expos Day divides Montrealers and Nats fans

4 Phillies’ Odubel Herrera suspended for season, violated MLB domestic violence policy

5 Nationals’ Max Scherzer won’t be pitching in the All-Star Game, replaced by … ex-A’s ace, the Reds’ Sonny Gray

Daniel is on for the MLB podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Durant and Leonard could be signed with a new team by next week; Baseball epidemic, nets needed to protect fans; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSBoston

On Headline Sports with Tony Renteria:

#1 The Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant and the Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard are going free agency to see if they can get the maximum for their buck.

#2 Some of the teams that most likely will show interest in Durant and Leonard are the LA Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. It’s very likely everyone should learn either by Sunday night or Monday morning where they’ll be going.

#3 The Houston Rockets are shopping center Clint Capela, guard Eric Gordon, and forward PJ Tucker in their bid to get Philadelphia 76ers star Jimmy Butler. The Rockets are to trying to solidify themselves after failing to make the NBA Finals in the last two seasons.

#4 In the game of baseball, fans come many sit as close to the action as they can. After some serious injuries to fans last season, the MLB thought they got it covered with all the netting they possibly muster up to protect the fans. Last Sunday, a young girl was hit in the eye with a bullet hit by the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger, and on May 29th, a two-year-old girl was hit by a foul ball hit by the Chicago Cubs’ Albert Almora Jr. that fractured her skull at Houston’s Minute Maid Park leaving her with injuries that she will have to battle with for years to come. The Dodgers, Nationals, and White Sox have said during the All-Star Break, they’ll be netting their entire stadiums from foul pole to foul pole.

#5 The San Francisco Giants’ lineup has been noted for having the worst offense in baseball and possibly the worst in their franchise history. The Giants do not have a batter hitting over .300 in their lineup and have lost nine of their last 12 games.

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Check the Ball? On Pace for 6,513 Home Runs

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SportmaniaM

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

It used to be the Home Run was the most exciting play in the game of baseball, but at this pace, the 2019 MLB season is becoming so much of a routine event that it’s like “an intoxication of eating too much candy”. Last season, there was a total of 5,585 home runs hit among all 30 teams, but that is not the record for a single season. The record for a single season was established in 2017 with 6,105. Today, we are on a pace for 6,514 or more.

On Sunday, the Washington Nationals hit four straight home runs off of pitcher Craig Stammen. It was the ninth time in MLB history a team has hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers. On Monday, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies hit 13 home runs at Citizens Bank Park. The D-Backs finished with eight home runs while the Phillies hit five for the new major league record.

A major league ball is supposed to weight between 5 and 5 1/4 ounces. Nowadays, pitchers throw harder than ever, and hitters have the launch angle mode, which is the perfect storm as managers really do not have to use a lot of strategies. It is all about Earl Weaver’s favorite play, the three-run homer. The game has changed and the ball has also “changed”.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants struggle with Nats; Hope to turn it around in Pittsburgh

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from msnsports.com: Washington Nationals Wilmer Difo takes San Francisco Giants pitcher Drew Pomeranz deep in the fourth inning for his first home run of the season at Nationals Park in Washington DC.

On the SF Giants podcast with Miguel:

#1 The Giants dropped two out of three to the Washington Nationals. On Thursday, Nats pitchers Patrick Corbin and Sean Doolittle both gave up just one run apiece for the 4-2 win.

#2 The Giants scored a run in the eighth and ninth innings. It wasn’t a rally, but it seemed like they came on late in games and Wednesday night wasn’t an exception either when they scored four runs in the top of the ninth, but came up short as well.

#3 Giants starter Drew Pomeranz threw for 4.2 innings, six hits, four runs, three walks and seven strikeouts. He pitched well, but dropped his record to 0-2.

#4 On the other hand, the Nats got some pitching from starter Patrick Corbin, who threw a distance 7.2 innings, one run, two hits, and nine strikeouts. Talk about his body of work.

#5 The Giants open up a series next against the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night at PNC Park. It’ll be Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (1-2 3.12 ERA) against the Bucs’ Jordan Lyles (1-0 0.82 ERA). Can the Giants score off a starter who has an ERA lower than 1.00?

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

Giants back to the skids, lose 4-2 to the Nats

Published on by jeremy2878Leave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

After a promising start to this road trip, the Giants are back to a way of losing that has gripped them over the past year.

They surprised the Washington Nationals in the series opener on Tuesday, but were bombed out of Nationals Park on Wednesday and came out flat again on Thursday, losing by a count of 4-2 to drop the three-game series.

The Nationals scored the first four runs, the last one coming in the bottom of the fifth, when starter Drew Pomeranz walked in a run, after which he was pulled from the game in favor of reliever Trevor Gott.

Gott, along with Sam Dyson, Travis Bergen and Mark Melancon, combined to shut out Washington the rest of the way, but the damage was already done and the Giants bats could not bring them back.

Catcher Erik Kratz doubled in a run in the eighth, and Evan Longoria singled in a run in the ninth, But it was not nearly enough.

Frustration appeared to have boiled over in the fourth, as Brandon Belt was called out on strikes, on a pitch that looked like it was more than a few inches off the plate. As a result, Belt slammed his helmet down and flipped his bat to the side, because of which he was thrown out by home plate umpire Ryan Additon.

On the bright side, the once-maligned Melancon pitched a perfect ninth on Thursday while striking out two, keeping his ERA at 0.00 with nine innings pitched this year. Sure, it is a small sample size thus far, but it is a far cry from his 2018 campaign.

The Giants open a three-game series in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. Their series opener has been set for Friday at 4:05 pm PT.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Will Clippers come up with any more surprises in Game 3?; Giants get 4 runs in 9th, but still lose; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @ESPNStatsInfo

On the Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 The Golden State Warriors tip off in Los Angeles Thursday night at Staples Center against the Clippers in a series that’s tied 1-1. The Warriors are coming off a loss in which the Clippers made a 31-point comeback. The Warriors are without an injured DeMarcus Cousins. Will the Warriors regroup, jell and win this one like going through butter or will the Clippers take advantage of the home floor and try to repeat a win like they did in Game 2?

#2 In Game 3 tonight, is there a possibility that the Clippers will take full advantage of the home floor and maybe have some inspiration from the Game 2 comeback? Also, it doesn’t seem like the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley is getting in the Warriors’ Kevin Durant’s head?

#3 The Giants lost a tough one on Wednesday night to the Washington Nationals 9-6 at Nationals Park on Wednesday night. The Giants got home run help from Steven Duggar and Geraldo Parra and tried to rally in ninth inning for four runs, but wound up short losing by three runs.

#4 For the first time in five games, the Oakland A’s finally got a win over the mighty Houston Astros. It was pitching that stopped the Astros’ lineup as A’s starter Frankie Montas went six and third, three hits on one earned run, and six strikeouts in the 2-1 win.

#5 The Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving scored 37 points to lead the Boston Celtics past the Indiana Pacers 99-91. Irving could end up as a free agent after the NBA Championship. Could Irving end up in Los Angeles and join former teammate LeBron James?

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Nats’ 4 HR’s sink Giants 9-6

Published on by jeremy2878Leave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

Jeff Samardzija was in complete control of his pitches all night last Thursday, and it resulted in the best outing he has had in quite some time.

By the end of the first inning Wednesday night, it was clear that it was not going to be a repeat of that performance. He surrendered three runs in the opening stanza, coming from a pair of homers that were off of mistake pitches out over the plate, which sparked the San Francisco Giants’ 9-6 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Samardzija only lasted five innings and gave up a total of four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out seven, as his record fell to 1-1.

The Giants made their way back in the game in the fourth inning with a pair of runs, but the Nats distanced themselves in the seventh with a pair of homers, a two-run shot to go along with a three-run dinger that gave them a seven-run lead.

The Giants made yet another valiant effort in the ninth, as Gerardo Parra and Steven Duggar, who went 2-for-5 and has been slowly working his batting average up to his current mark of .247, each hit two-run homers. However, they simple ran out of outs, and the series was squared up at a game apiece.

Nats starter Jeremy Hellickson didn’t last much longer than Samardzija, but he did earn the win by surrendering only a pair of runs on five hits while walking four batters, running his mark to 2-0.

The Giants and Nats wrap up their series with a finale Thursday at 10:05 pm PT.

Three home runs by the Giants get a huge 7-3 win over the Nats

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

Maybe what the San Francisco Giants needed was a trip outside the state of California for the first time this season.

Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt and Steven Duggar each hit home runs off of Stephen Strasburg, as the Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 7-3 at Nationals Park.

Entering the game, the Giants hit only 10 games in 17 games, only the Detroit Tigers, who hit seven in their first 15 games have hit fewer.

With the victory, the Giants have won four out of their last five, that included a fantastic performance on the mound by Dereck Rodriguez.

He went five innings, allowing just one run on five hits, walking three and striking out six, as he improved to 2-2 on the young season.

Longoria led off the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run that tied up the game, and then after a single, Duggar launched a 92 mile per hour Strasburg over the left-center field wall to give the Giants the lead for good.

Belt hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning, for his fourth home run of the season.

The Giants closed out their scoring in the top of the seventh inning, as Nationals reliever Matt Grace was charged with an error, as he was unable to cover a bunt and then committed another error, when he jumped in the way of a teammate at first base.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected by home plate umpire Tony Randazzo for arguing called third strikes against Brian Dozier and Anthony Rendon.

Strasburg may have been saddled with the loss, but he did pickup his first extra-base hit since the 2016 season.

In all, Strasburg went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, not walking a batter and striking out eight; however, his one downfall was the three home runs that he allowed and lsot for the first time this season against one win.

Once again, the Giants bullpen fared good, as the quintet of Reyes Moronta, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson, Mark Melancon and Will Smith went a combined four innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out four.

NOTES: Tyler Austin (right elbow) should not have to go on the injured list, and may start the series finale at first base on Thursday.

The news is not good for 2018 first-round pick Joey Bart, who will miss the next four to six weeks after a fracturing his left hand after getting hit by a pitch on Monday night.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija takes the mound, as he looks to back up his fantastic seven inning performance on Thursday night against the Colorado Rockies, as he faces right-hander Jeremy Hellickson.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giant hitters really kept off balance by Rockies’ Marquez

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Rockies

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 German Marquez, the Colorado Rockies starter, went through the San Francisco Giants lineup like butter on Sunday, throwing a one hitter in a 4-0 win. Giants third baseman Evan Longoria hit one just past Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado for the Giants’ only hit of the game.

#2 Marquez pitched a gem, going nine innings, giving up one hit, hitting a batter, striking out nine and going one over the minimum.

#3 The win was Colorado’s fourth win of the season (4-12) and it snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Rox.

#4 It was a tough loss Sunday for San Francisco, but Giant pitcher Derek Holland had a good outing, going six innings, four runs and four hits, walking four and striking out six batters.

#5 The Giants have the day off Monday. They will travel to Washington to face the Nationals. Morris talks about how they’ll match up with the Nats starting on Tuesday. It’ll be Derek Rodriguez (1-2, 4.15 ERA) for the Giants vs. the Nats Stephen Strausburg (1-0, 5.40 ERA) for Tuesday night.

Join Morris for the Giants day off report and podcast from the Diplomat Steakhouse in downtown Sacramento on Monday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com