Yuck

LA 10  SF 3
That was no fun. Ty Blach gave up seven runs in his return to the majors. He relieved Drew Pomeranz who gave up three on a weird homer to RF by right-hander David Freese. It's a juiced ball, man! Anyway, the Giants got clobbered.

Madison Bumgarner tomorrow at 6:45 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants bounce back

SF 3  LA 2
Tonight the Giants got creative in the field and pulled off both a 5-6 putout and a 9-1 putout! I love that kind of stuff. I also like the way the Giants used Jeff Samardzija. He was excellent for five shutout innings and 79 pitches--and they yanked him. This third-time-through-the-lineup penalty is a real thing. No reason to subject a starter to that when there are quality bullpen options. It didn't quite work as the normally reliable Tony Watson gave up two runs in the 6th inning, but it was the right move. Fortunately the Giants rallied in the 7th and turned that 2-0 deficit into a 3-run lead behind a bases-clearing double from Evan Longoria. He pinch-hit for Pablo Sandoval who started at third. Sam Dyson bailed out Watson and covered the 7th, Reyes Moronta got the meat of the order in the 8th, and Will Smith closed the door.

After that wretched display against the Yankees it was nice to see the home squad deliver a better effort. It seems Derek Holland is the first casualty to what has mostly been a healthy start for the club. He goes on the IL and Ty Blach takes his spot. They expect Holland to miss one start.

Drew Pomeranz goes tomorrow at 6:45 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Bombers Bang Away

NYY 11  SF5
It was the same story today as yesterday. The Yankees had too much firepower for the Giants and the home squad had a late rally to make it a little less painful.

Dodgers tomorrow at 6:45 p.m. PDT.

--M.C.

Yanks Slam Giants

NYY 6  SF 4
Catcher Gary Sánchez hit a grand slam in a 5-run 5th and that spoiled starter Derek Holland's outing this afternoon in San Francisco. Behind 6-0 in the 9th the Giants rallied for four runs before succumbing to Aroldis Chapman. At least they showed some life and didn't get shut out. Yangervis Solarte and Erik Kratz hit the late homers. Trevor Gott and Travis Bergen each threw two scoreless innings in relief of Holland.

The Bombers are making the local lads look like a not-ready-for-prime-time outfit. It feels like the 70s when the Dodgers would come to Candlestick and slap the Giants around with impunity. Re-building is painful.

D-Rod gets the call tomorrow. He's right-handed, maybe that will improve the odds. 1:05 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Yanked

Remember how MLB sold us on interleague play with the promise that fans in any city would get to see all the other teams, at least within 3 years?   The last time the Yankees were in San Francisco, at what was then Pacific Bell Park, was just before the park-opening 2000 season for a couple of exhibition games.

They're back, and without their marquee sluggers, Stanton and Judge.  No matter, they still won by a score of 7 - 3.  Madison Bumgarner squared off against James Paxton, lefty against lefty.  Madison put us in a 2 run hole to lead off the first inning, again.  The Giants got 1 of those runs back, though in the bottom of the 1st.  That would make, if I am correct, the 2nd 1st inning run they have scored this year.  The Yankees added 1 in the 3rd, 1 in the 5th and 1 in the 6th.  That made it 5 - 1.  Madison pitched into the 6th, but after the score and a sacrifice to move runners, he was pulled for Nick Vincent.  Madison did not give up a home run, nor did he walk anyone, but he gave up 11 hits, and that's too many for 5 2/3 innings.  He struck out 5.  The Giants scored 2 in their half of the inning, but James Paxton was the better pitcher; 5 hits, 3 BB, 3 runs, 8K.   The Yanks got 2 more in the 9th with Melancon pitching, Luke Voit homering and scoring our old friend DJ LeMahieu.

Buster Posey had 2 rbi, Solarte had the other 1.  Buster is hitting .234.  That is the best average of any of the batters in the line-up for the Giants, except for Austin Tyler, who has only 17 at bats.  .234.  My god.

Three in a row

SF 4  TOR 0
The last time the Giants threw a shutout was on April 11th against the Rockies. Jeff Samardzija was the star that day and FNG Kevin Pillar provided all the offense with a solo homer in a 1-0 win. Today the star was FNG southpaw Drew Pomeranz who retired the first 13 batters he faced. He left after six innings (87 pitches) having allowed only two hits and two walks. Reyes Moronta took the 7th and Trevor Gott the 8th and 9th. Gott, impressively, delivered a six-up, six-down performance with three whiffs. The Giants showed some power with four doubles: Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, and Kevin Pillar. DH Pablo Sandoval hit a 112-mph homer from the left side off Clay Bucholz. That was the hardest hit ball by a Giants hitter this season. He then blasted a 111-mph liner, this time from the right side against Tim Mayza, but Jays SS Richard Urena made a nice play to turn it into an out. The Panda is 12-for-36 with seven doubles and two homers.

Outstanding effort by the lads today. The Yankees are coming to town on Friday and Madison Bumgarner gets the call against James Paxton.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants hit four homers!

SF 7  TOR 6
Evan Longoria, Joe Panik, Pablo Sandoval, and Brandon Belt all went deep for the Giants tonight in Toronto. It was just enough--a rare bullpen blip turned 7-2 to 7-6 in the 8th--and they held on to get their 10th win. Kevin Pillar got a rousing homecoming and responded by driving in the Giants first run in the 3rd. Jeff Samardzija delivered a typically Smarjy-style start and left after 5-1/3 having yielded two runs on five hits. Mark Melancon finished the inning. Sam Dyson pitched a scoreless 6th but loaded the bases in the 7th and was pulled for Tony Watson. The ace lefty shockingly allowed a grand slam to rookie slugger Rowdy Tellez (who is from Elk Grove) but finished the inning with the lead intact. Will Smith closed it out on 14 pitches.

Drew Pomeranz tomorrow at 1:07 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Required Reading!

Giants fans and all of us here at RMC should check out this piece from Tim Keown of ESPN. It is about Farhan Zaidi, the team's President of Baseball Operations. He's an interesting character and I think we are going to enjoy having him around.

--M.C.

Buster Busts Out!

After a disappointing rain-shortened 3-1 loss on Saturday the Giants bounced back this afternoon to edge the Pirates 3-2 and snap their four-game skid. Dereck Rodriguez allowed four hits in his 5-2/3 but one of them was a two-run homer from Josh Bell that put the Bucs up 2-0 in the 4th inning. Buster Posey responded in the very next frame with a three-run blast to straightaway center field off Chris Archer to give the Giants the lead. Reyes Moronta and Tony Watson held on through the 8th and turned it over to Will Smith in the 9th. He walked catcher Francisco Cervelli with one out and then induced a perfect double-play grounder from Jung Ho Kang to Brandon Crawford who, shockingly, bobbled it and only got the lead runner. Former Giants farmhand Brian Reynolds (part of the McCutchen deal) roped a double into the right field corner that looked like it would tie the game. But Steven Duggar and Joe Panik teamed up to get the ball to Buster who made the final putout on Kang trying to score from first and the Giants left town with a win. It was a little close for comfort but I think we'll take it. The Giants were 31-50 (.383) on the road last season, this year they are 4-9 (.308). Let's hope they pick up the pace.

Jeff Samardzija goes Tuesday in Toronto at 4:07 PDT.

--M.C.


p.s. D-Rod led off the 5th with a single and Duggar's bunt single put the two runners on that Buster brought home with his homer. Posey also doubled in the 3rd inning.

Bucs Beat Bum

Madison Bumgarner got two quick outs in the 1st and then gave up four runs and that was the ballgame. The Pirates didn't score again and the Giants eked out a run in the 8th on a Buster Posey base hit. The Mystic Zo is here with me tonight and neither of us were particularly excited about posting. After all, it was another goddamn feeble effort. Derek Holland tomorrow at 1:05 PDT.

--M.C.

Giants can't solve Corbin

WSN 4  SF 2
Patrick Corbin signed a big contract with the Nats in December after a breakout year with the Diamondbacks. Today he carried a one-hitter into the 8th and notched his first "W" in four starts. It was almost unfair against the Giants anemic attack. The best hitter in the lineup (.231/.342/.508) was called out on strikes twice, with the first resulting in a Boch ejection, and the second resulting in a Belt ejection. One of Belt's strengths as a hitter is his plate discipline and he will take close pitches and that means sometimes he gets burned. At least one of those two pitches ought to have been called a ball--those aren't bad odds so I'm not going to get upset at his approach. If you can't get a pitch to hammer be patient and maybe you can find another way to get on base.

Once again the Giants made some noise against the Washington bullpen scoring a run in the 9th off Sean Doolittle. Pittsburgh tomorrow at 4:05 PDT. MadBum is on the hill.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Nats Outslug Giants

WSN 9  SF 6
It never fails in baseball. If you talk a guy up he goes 0-for-4 the next day with three whiffs. If you praise a pitching staff they give up four homers and nine runs the next time out! It's part of the curse of being a fan. Just when you get excited you get your legs cut off. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. At least the Giants made it exciting at the end and the Nats had to scramble to get their closer in the game. That's another thing--I talked about how anemic the lineup has been and they respond with ten hits including two doubles and two homers. Is that all it takes? A little criticism? That ought to be easy!

The getaway game/rubber match is at 10:05 in the morning (PDT). Drew Pomeranz gets the call.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

1st inning: 8-10

SF 7  WSN 3
The Giants put on a stellar display tonight in Washington, powering past the Nationals for their eighth victory in their first eighteen games. The team has completed one seasonal inning: 1/9 of their 162-game schedule. Even Longoria, Steven Duggar, and Brandon Belt all homered off Stephen Strasburg to back Dereck Rodriguez who struggled early but finished strong. D-Rod needed 94 pitches to get through five innings but he held the Nats to just one run on five hits and three walks (he'd had only one in his previous 17-1/3 IP) while whiffing six. He left with a 4-1 lead. Reyes Moronta threw a dominating 6th and the Giants tacked on two more in the 7th. Sam Dyson gave up two in the bottom half to make it close--those two "insurance runs" gave the team a nice cushion, not something we've seen much of this season. They tacked on another in the 8th to make it 7-3, taking advantage of a struggling Nats bullpen. Tony Watson, Mark Melancon, and Will Smith wrapped things up.

I'm still reeling a bit from the three homers! We all know the Giants have been anemic offensively so tonight was a nice break from the torture. The pitching however has been very strong, and the fielders have delivered a lot of big plays, including tonight, as Buster Posey threw out two runners trying to steal. The outfield defense in particular has been a bright spot here in the early going. FanGraphs likes the Giants pitching staff, rating it fifth in WAR (2.7), fourth in FIP (3.43), and third in xFIP (3.83) out of the 30 teams. In 18 games (163 IP) they've allowed 58 runs or 3.22 per game, second-best behind the AL East-leading 13-4 Tampa Bay Rays, who sit at a paltry 2.50 rpg. The MLB average is 4.68 rpg.

Jeff Samardzija and Jeremy Hellickson tomorrow at 4:05 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. Not to spoil things with bad news, but the Giants number one prospect, catcher Joey Bart, broke his hand playing in A-ball. He'll miss 4-6 weeks.

One hit

COL 4  SF 0
That's all the Giants managed today. German Marquez is a good pitcher. He signed a 5-year, $43M extension with the Rockies earlier this month. I was really hoping for a clean sweep, 4-0 against Colorado, but I should be happy with 3 out of 4 and avoiding the cellar.

Game 18 is Tuesday in Washington at 4:05 Pacific. D-Rod gets to face Stephen Strasburg.

--M.C.

That's Three

The San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies played 18 innings of baseball last night.  In that game, the Giants used every available reliever (and even Derek Rodriguez got used as a pinch hitter).  So the one thing the Giants wanted was to have today's afternoon starter give them a good outing.  Who better than Madison Bumgarner, 50% stubborn ox anyway?

Madison did what he was asked, and did it well.  98 pitches got him through 7 innings.  He gave up 1 run in the 6th and 1 in the 7th after the Giants already had 3 on the board.  He gave up 6 hits,  struck out 7 and walked no one.  Although the Giants used every reliever last night, an number were only used for 1 inning; Moronta, Dyson, Watson, and Smith.  Madison came out to pitch the 7th, but the first batter, Chris Ianetta, landed on second base with what probably should have been cut off to hold him to a single.  Reyes Moronta was brought in, and did a fine job of striking out the next three batters.  Sam Dyson made it an uneventful 9th for the Giants third win in a row, and third over Colorado.  Given the way Colorado chewed up and spit out the Giants last year, I am surprised.  They, like the Giants, have had a lot of trouble putting runs on the board this year.  For example, Nolan Arenado has yet to hit a home run.  I expect that to change, but you need to jump on teams when they are down and the Giants haven't done nearly enough of that in the last couple years.

And speaking of runs, the Giants, after doing just enough the last couple nights, added on in the bottom of the 8th (sac flies from and Parra and Duggar) to make the final score Rockies 2, Giants 5.  Buster Posey picked up his first rbi of the season with a 3rd inning double, and Pillar got the other 2 rbi with a sac fly in the 3rd and a solo home run in the 5th.

But really:  pitching.  The Giants have held the Rockies to 4 runs in 36 innings.  The Giants are right up there with the best in the NL in pitching stats, along with Pittsburgh, and we'll see them on the road trip that starts after tomorrow's game.  But first, tomorrow.  Everyone's tired, but with a decent start out of Dutch, and with Watson and Smith having today off, anything (like a sweep) is possible. 

"Mr. 18th Inning"

SF 3  COL 2 (18)
Brandon Belt doubled to lead off the 18th inning and eventually scored on a grounder by Erik Kratz (who caught the entire game) and the Giants slipped past the Rockies to make it two in row. Yes, it reminded everyone of another 18-inning game!

The lineup managed only 8 hits and 5 walks (along with 17 strikeouts) so the accolades go to the pitching staff, and I mean staff. The entire bullpen was used and even starter Dereck Rodriguez had to pinch-hit (for Vincent in the 16th--K looking). Moronta-Dyson-Watson-Smith-Melancon-Gott-Vincent-Bergen combined for 13 shutout innings allowing five singles and two walks while punching out 19 batters. It was a spectacular effort especially from Travis Bergen who whiffed five in his two innings (the 17th and 18th!). Nick Vincent covered the three (14th, 15th, and 16th) before that--that was 1/3 of his season total so far! Even Mark Melancon, who dug himself into a hole in the 10th and the 11th, showed some moxie wriggling out both times.

Zo said he wanted a team with grit. Well, throw in some moxie and I'm behind that all the way!

That's back-to-back wins for the first time in 2019. Let's see if they can make it three in a row. MadBum takes the hill at 1:05 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Pillars of Strength

SF 1  COL 0
FNG-no-longer Kevin Pillar continued his heroics with a game-changing blast in the 7th inning. In a scoreless tie he hammered Jon Gray's first pitch of the frame over the left-centerfield wall to make it 1-0 for the home team. Add in a dominant start by Jeff Samardzija who fanned seven over seven allowing only three singles and one walk and the Giants prevailed. Excellent relief (Tony Watson in the 8th and Will Smith in the 9th) and slick fielding closed the door on the Rockies.

You could call a game like this "a scintillating pitchers duel" but there is nothing scintillating about the Giants offense. They did just enough, however, and I think we'll take it! Giants go to 5-9 and are now a game-and-a-half out of last place (Colorado is 3-10).

Let's keep the good times rolling. Drew Pomeranz tomorrow night at 7:15 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants can't get it done

SD 3  SF 1
The Giants waste a strong start from Dereck Rodriguez who faced 27 batters in his seven innings of work. He allowed only four hits and one walk and struck out five (101 pitches). One of the hits was a solo homer by Manny Machado. The offense managed seven hits (by seven guys) but scored just one run on a solo shot by Kevin Pillar. Reyes Moronta pitched a scoreless 8th and Will Smith gave up a run in the 9th.

The Rockies come to town for four games starting tomorrow. Both teams have scored a paltry 38 runs, but the Giants have given up 47 compared to the Rockies 69. That minus-31 difference is the worst in MLB. They have lost five in a row and are one-half game behind the Giants for last place. Jon Gray is listed for Colorado but the home team starter is still TBD on the website. It's Jeff Samardzija's turn as he last pitched on Saturday.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Pillar of Strength

SF 7  SD 2
For the second straight night FNG Kevin Pillar chipped in four RBIs, but this time it paid off in a big win. He gets the RMC FNG of the Week Award! He must have read the memo: How to Impress Your New Fanbase. But I'm burying the lede. The real hero tonight was southpaw starter Derek Holland who subdued a right-handed lineup for seven solid innings. Only two walks (and five hits) against NINE strikeouts and Dutch matches Bumgarner's opening day dominance but with some offensive support. Holland's only blemish was a solo shot from Hunter Renfroe with one out in the 7th and he responded with two strikeouts to end the inning. Trevor Gott gave up a run in the 8th and Mark Melancon closed out the 9th. A fine effort from the lads tonight.

D-Rod goes tomorrow afternoon, 12:45 PDT start time. Go Giants!

--M.C.

Salami Nolo Contendre

The fog rolled in about 3 pm today in my neighborhood, then got heavier and heavier until it was a drizzle.  By game time, it had let up enough, but was hardly dry.  The park looked the same, until the fog rolled back in again late in the game.

No matter, the ball seemed to jump from time to time.  The Giants scored in the bottom of the 4th, Brandon Crawford singled home FNG Austin Tyler for 1 run, and then scored himself along with Brandon Belt, Yangervis Solarte and the batter, Kevin Pillar, on a grand slam home run.  That will net you some fans at the new team.  It was the first grand slam the Giants have hit in 2 years and 1 day.  That, I think, is the result less of a paucity of home runs (although there's that, too) and more of a failure to put men on base - they haven't had many 3 run home runs or 2 run home runs either.  After a good 4th inning, the Giants followed up with - nothing.  A few chances wasted, but they were stuck on 5 and that was not good enough to win tonight.  Padres 6, Giants 5.

Madison Bumgarner on the mound, and the Giants got him 5 runs to work with after he had held the Padres hitless through 4.  Not runner-less, though, as he put Fernando Tatis Jr. on via a HBP.  That was the guy who came back in the 5th and hit a 2 run shot.  The kind of electric talent that we only wish we had.  Madbum gave up a solo shot to Wil Myers on a pitch after he thought he had struck Myers out, but according the the little box on the screen, it was clearly a ball.  Madbum pitched into the 7th, when he put Tatis Jr on again by the HBP.  He scored on a ground out after Francisco Meija (another youngster) doubled and he went to 3rd.  That made it Padres 4 and brought in Reyes Moronta.  With Meija on, Moronta gave up a no-doubter to Franmil Reyes (23 years old, like Meija) for the 5th and 6th runs.   For Madbum: 6 IP, 3 K, 4 hits, 1 BB, 5 runs and 2 HBP.  Moronta got the loss.

I like the new 6:45 start time, but am curious as to what the Giants think they'll accomplish.  If baseball has a "demographics" problem with its audience, an earlier start time is a move to attract seniors, like me.  You know, the kind that take advantage of the 4 pm dinner specials.  Punks, they're fine with being up late.  Sparse crowd, tough weather, and no win tonight.

Zilch

TB 3  SF 0
The Giants got five singles and two walks this afternoon, and also hit into a double play and struck out twelve times. Predictably, they were shut out by the Rays. Drew Pomeranz struggled through four innings (21 batters, 6 H, 4 BB, 1 HR, 94 pitches) and left with the team trailing 2-0. The bullpen allowed another run on a bizarre balk by Nick Vincent, who threw the ball to a surprised Evan Longoria in a pickoff attempt at third base. The problem was that Longoria was not on the base! Trevor Gott and Mark Melancon combined with Vincent for the final five innings. Anyway, the Giants got zilch today.

MadBum goes tomorrow night against the Padres. The new home start time is 6:45 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

First Home Win

SF 6  TB 4
The Giants scored SIX runs this afternoon in San Francisco and defeated the hot Tampa Bay Rays for their first win at Oracle Park. A stinky start by Jeff Samardzija (4-2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, and most regrettably giving up the lead in the 5th) couldn't spoil the fun. First- and second-place hitters Steven Duggar and Brandon Belt (3 H, 2 R and all six RBI) brought the big bats (Belt HR, Duggar 2B) and got some help at the bottom of the lineup from Joe Panik (2 BB, 2 R), Kevin Pillar (1 H, 1 R) and pinch-hitter Connor Joe (1 H, 1 R). The bullpen delivered 4-1/3 IP and yielded only one run.

FNG Pillar had a bunt hit and stolen base in the 3rd that led to a run and he made a dandy play in the field later to save at least a run. I thought it was interesting that the Giants bunted twice successfully in the 3rd, with Samardzija bunting Pillar to third base (he scored on Duggar's sac fly). In the 5th, with two on, Duggar faked a bunt and that brought in the defense and he wound up ripping a double past the first baseman. Was that a bit of game theory maneuvering from the skipper? Regardless, it was fun. Let's see if they can keep it up.

Drew Pomeranz tomorrow afternoon. Go Giants!

--M.C.

Rays Spoil Opener

TB 5  SF 2
Dereck Rodriguez got the first two outs in the 1st inning and then had a nightmare sequence: double, double, homer, homer. Suddenly it was 4-0 Rays and the home team never quite recovered. They did conjure up a couple of runs and had the bases loaded with no outs late in the game but responded with a strike out and double play to erase that chance. And so it goes.

Jeff Samardzija takes on Ryne Stanek at 1:05 Pacific tomorrow.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Dodgers Take Finale

LA 5  SF 3
One of the problems with bullpen-based baseball is that the bullpen has to be perfect. Tonight, it wasn't. Ace reliever Reyes Moronta gave up two hits, a walk, and two runs in the 7th with the big blow coming on two strikes with two outs. Nobody's perfect. It turned a 3-2 Giants lead into a 4-3 deficit. Tony Watson allowed a run in the 8th as well. Derek Holland had yielded two in the 1st but a solo shot by Steven Duggar and a two-run shot by Brandon Belt in the 4th reclaimed the lead. Speaking of Duggar, he was in right and FNG Kevin Pillar got the start in center.

Giants play their Home Opener on Friday at 1:35 Pacific. D-Rod gets the nod against the Rays.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Salami

I was all set to write a post about how the Giants couldn't (again) help out Madison Bumgarner with so much as a single run aside from those he generated himself, but then they showed some grit and actually made a game of it.  Pablo Sandoval hit into a double play to end the game with the tying run on 3rd.  Final score from LA: Giants 5, LA 6.

Madison on the mound, he went 6, threw 95 pitches, struck out 4, but gave up all 5 dogger runs in the 3rd.  They were not earned.  A throwing error by Maddy put the first runner on, he scored, then a couple of outs and then the big salami.  Had Russell Martin been thrown out, he could have gotten out of it with no runs.  But he didn't.

In the 6th, with Geraldo Parra on base, Madison went yard.  So at least I get to use that label.

The Giants made a game of it in the 9th.  At this point I was surprised, but I guess tonight the optimist had the better outlook, even with the eventual disappointment.  They looked like they might do it off of our old friend, Kenly Jansen, but after plating in 3 runs, Joe Panik struck out and then Pablo hit into the dp.  So it goes.  Grit's good though.  Grit makes for better games than, well, no grit.  I much prefer my Giants with grit.

Duck the Fodgers

SF 4  LA 2
The Giants battled back late in the game against the Dodgers in their first trip to LA. Drew Pomeranz gave up two solo shots, one to Chris Taylor and the other to pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo, to fall behind 2-0 in the bottom of the 5th inning. In the top of the 6th Brandon Belt greeted reliever Joe Kelly with a solo shot of his own to narrow the gap. In the 7th Yangervis Solarte opened things with an infield single and moved to third with two outs. Pablo Sandoval poked a dramatic two-strike single up the middle to tie the game. Steven Duggar then roped a double to set up the big blow by Belt who doubled off new pitcher Scott Alexander to score both runners. Suddenly it was 4-2 San Francisco with the entire stadium wondering what just happened!

Trevor Gott (6th), Mark Melancon (7th), and Tony Watson (8th) all pitched a scoreless frame in relief of Pomeranz who struck out six of the 21 batters he faced (90 pitches). Julio Urias held the Giants down for the first five innings with seven strikeouts and only three hits allowed.

Will Smith got the call for the 9th inning and he put a runner on with one out but whiffed two to end it. The red-hot slugging Dodgers got cooled off by the multi-headed monster that is the Giants pitching staff! The offense got to the magic number of four runs scored and it worked, just like they drew it up. After that terribly deflating trip to San Diego this feels like a big win. They played good baseball, especially in the field, and got some timely hits to back up the hurlers. Let's see some more of that.

Madison Bumgarner goes tomorrow night. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.