Swept out of Canada

The Blue Jays clobbered Justin Verlander on Friday, no surprise there, but they also clobbered the team's two best starting pitchers (Logan Webb and Robbie Ray) over the weekend. And they shut down the Giants offense, and when they didn't, they just scored more runs. It was a mismatch. Toronto looks like a real contender.

Coming out of the Break the Giants were looking for something better than a pratfall. The trade deadline is at the end of the month and I have been a "buyer" all season long but I'm questioning that. Not that I want the team to be "sellers." Not by any means. But if the team is still on the margins of the race I'm not sure that's enough reason to do more on the transaction side. The big move—Devers—hasn't moved the needle on the team's chances.

And the team's needs are too many. They have to beef up the bullpen and they probably need another starter. Perhaps it's best to look within and promote some deserving youngsters. And any additions to the lineup will have to come the same way, or at least nothing bigger than a waiver wire pickup. This team, short of a ten-game winning streak, isn't going anywhere. A playoff appearance would be great, of course, but they are going to need a change of luck and start seeing better outcomes real soon.

It's on to Atlanta. Hayden Birdsong gets the start, 4:15 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

At The Break

The 2025 Giants (52-45, .536) find themselves six games behind the Dodgers and a half-game behind the Padres. There are three Wild Card spots allotted to the NL and the Giants are a half-game behind that bunch. The Brewers and the Mets have the top two seeds right now. It will be hard for three NL West clubs to get in to the post-season. The Cardinals and Reds aren't far behind, either.

The team ended April with a 19-12 record. They had a nice opening to the season scoring 142 runs against 119 allowed in the 31 games. Since that high point they've been a .500 club (33-33).

FanGraphs projects the Giants to go 33-32 in their final 65 games for an 85-77 finish (tied with the Padres!). Currently the Giants score 4.11 runs per game and that's projected to go up a bit (4.28). The pitching, currently allowing 3.94 rpg, is projected to regress a bit (4.16). 85-77 would be their best record since 2021 but might not be enough for the playoffs.

Buster Posey took a big swing in the off-season to land Willy Adames and took an even bigger swing last month to get Rafael Devers. On one hand, the team is winning. On the other, neither player is contributing close to what was expected from them. Devers is injured. Is he hurt bad enough for the nuclear option? That is shut him down, get him fixed, and have him healthy for 2026? They did that with Robbie Ray after all—he was on the shelf when they acquired him. They were patient and now that he's fully healthy it's paying off. He's kicked ass all season.

We'll find out soon enough whether or not Devers can help in the stretch run. They could use another arm or two, especially a lefty reliever, and it wouldn't hurt to pick up a right-handed OF bat. Unless you think Luis Matos can play that role the rest of the way. It doesn't look like they'll get any help from Bryce Eldridge although we might see Carson Whisenhunt. Otherwise all the youth has already been promoted to the big squad.

They open the second half in Toronto on Friday afternoon (4:07 Pacific). The Blue Jays are a good team and lead the AL East by two games. It looks like Verlander-Ray-Webb for the weekend series.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Round Three: LA

LA 5  SF 2 (11)

The Giants could do nothing for eight innings and were trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th. It was another good pitching performance gone to waste. Then Luis Matos jacked a two-run homer to tie the game and the Giants had a pulse. In the 10th, the Dodgers failed to score the Manfred Man. It was a gift. Victory was within reach! But of course the Giants couldn't score, either. That was it. That was their chance. LA banged out three runs in the 11th and it was over.

Enjoy the Break!

--M.C. 

Round Two: LA

LA 2  SF 1

The Giants wasted a strong effort from Landen Roupp. The Dodgers made him work—seven hits and a walk in six frames—but he kept the lid on things, allowing just two runs (one earned) and whiffing eight. Alas, the lineup could only manage a mere three hits. Even with the big chance in the game, bases loaded with one out in the 8th, the team could only scratch across one run (Devers sac fly).

Robbie Ray gets the start today. He will miss the All-Star Game. Let's hope the team "has his back" and scores some goddamn runs!!

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Round One: SF

SF 8  LA 7

The Dodgers battered Logan Webb for six runs but he pitched better than the other guy. LA's starter Dustin May gave up seven runs! The Giants had an 8-2 lead at one point but had to hang on for the win. Camilo Doval got a double play grounder to end the game.

This is a big series. The Giants need to gain some ground in the West and they need to show that they can play with the big boys. I was happy to see that Willy Adames and Jung Hoo Lee both had big games. Those bats need to wake up! 

Just looking at the month so far, the Giants have played ten games in July and are 7-3, yet they've allowed 54 runs while scoring 45. There's been some rough patches with the pitching. Last night the team's two best hurlers (Webb and RandyRo) gave up nine hits and seven runs in seven frames. Granted, the Dodgers have a ridiculous lineup. But this team needs to pitch well to keep winning. I wonder if they'll look for some bullpen help (a lefty, perhaps?) before the deadline. Do you think they need another starter?

Landen Roupp gets the start this afternoon. Shohei Ohtani is listed as the opener for LA.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Miracle on Third Street

SF 4  PHI 3

The Giants were down 3-1 in the 9th and it looked for all the world that the Phillies would even the series. Instead the Giants battled and got the first two guys on base. Next batter Patrick Bailey crushed the first pitch he saw to right-centerfield and that probably should have been a game-ending three-run home run. Instead, it hit the top of the wall and and took a crazy carom back onto the field! It shot past the outfielders into no-man's land and suddenly everyone was thinking triple and a tie game. But Bailey kept running as the outfielders kept chasing the ball and then it was an inside-the-park homer. A walk-off winner!

That's the craziest ending to a game this season and one of the craziest endings to a Giants game EVER. Heliot Ramos got a Little League homer last year to win a game, he should have been thrown out twice! That was crazy, but this was even crazier.

So, the Giants stink against bad teams but win against good teams. Go figure. Today's game is at 12:45 and Justin Verlander tries for a win and a sweep.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

 

p.s. That's 37 one-run games for the Giants, they are 21-16 in those contests.

Giants edge Phils

SF 3  PHI 1

The Phillies have the best starters in baseball and the Giants had to face one of them last night, southpaw Christopher Sánchez. He dominated for seven frames, snuffing out every rally, only yielding one run on a ground ball from Luis Matos. Once he was out of the game the Giants rallied for two in the 8th and that was enough for the win. Landen Roupp started and labored through five but kept the Phillies lineup in check, allowing only one run. Great relief work once again made the win possible. Ryan Walker had an excellent 6th and Joey Lucchesi pitched the 7th, probably his highest-leverage appearance for the team so far. Tyler Rogers set it up in the 8th and Camilo Doval closed it out in the 9th.

Looks like the Giants will miss Ranger Suárez and Zack Wheeler. That's good news. Robbie Ray goes up against Taijuan Walker tonight at 6:45 PT.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Giants get out of Sac with a win

SF 6  ATH 2

Hayden Birdsong managed to avoid a meltdown and hung on to finish five frames on 90 pitches. He walked five but whiffed six and only allowed three hits and a run. The bullpen once again got it done.  Willy Adames had three RBI, it is nice to see his bat heating up. Luis Matos had a big two-RBI hit.

There was a stretch early in the game that featured 11 consecutive strikeouts. Seven by the Giants and four by the A's. It seems there is a visibility issue at the ballpark. Players complained of a glare that made it hard to pick up the ball. Well, that figures. Play ML games at a AAA park and you'll have some issues. That asshole who owns the A's should be publicly flogged. I wonder if they'll ever build that stupid park in Las Vegas.

The Giants have six more games at home before The Break. The Phillies come to town for three starting tonight (6:45 PT). Thursday's an off day and the Dodgers will be in town for the weekend. The Giants have had trouble with crappy teams. It will be interesting to see how they fare against two really strong clubs!

--M.C.

5th inning: 7-11

 1st inning: 13-5

2nd inning: 9-9

3rd inning: 9-9

4th inning: 10-8

5th inning: 7-11 

After Friday night's embarrassing drubbing the team really needed a win and they got one behind Logan Webb and 4 RBI from Willy Adames.

It hasn't been a good stretch for the ballclub. After 90 games (48-42, .533) they are tied with the Padres for second place, eight games behind LA (56-34). After this series they have six more home games before the All-Star Break. Three of those games are with the Dodgers.

The team is slashing .231/.311/.373 and the MLB average is .246/.316/.399. That's led to 375 runs (4.17 rpg), with the league averaging 390 (4.38 rpg). I think we know this team does not score enough!

The pitching has been very good despite some recent blips. They allow only 3.88 rpg, good for sixth-best behind TEX, HOU, KC, PIT, and DET. They are number two in ERA (3.45) behind the Rangers and number one in FIP (3.57). We know the bullpen is a big part of that, we saw last night that when Webb faltered in the 7th Randy Rodriguez took care of business. As far as All-Stars go, RandyRo is certainly deserving as is 8th-inning man Tyler Rogers. Starters Robbie Ray and Webb are no-brainers.

Fielding-wise the Giants aren't bad, but they aren't good, either. They are certainly better than last season. They have 51 errors which is pretty bad as the league average is 46. Funny thing is that there are 21 teams with fewer than 46 errors! The top teams really have a lot of errors and it skews the list. As far as defensive efficiency goes, that is, turning balls-in-play into outs, the Giants .694 mark is just below league average (.697). The Giants are above-average in putouts and assists but their 65 DP is just below the league mark of 67.

The trade deadline is July 31st. What will the Giants have to do to stay in the race?

 Hayden Birdsong at 7:05 tonight. Go Giants!

--M.C.

Ray dazzles, Giants cruise

SF 7  AZ 2

The Giants played one of their best games of the season and certainly their best game of the last several weeks. They jumped on Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt for two in the 1st and two more in the 3rd. He was gone after six. Meanwhile Robbie Ray mowed down the Arizona lineup with ease. He got through eight frames on a mere 78 pitches. The 9th was a challenge and he had to "dig deep" to finish the game. It was only the second CG of his career and the first for the Giants this year. Ray allowed only three hits, two were solo homers.

FNGs Willy Adames and Rafael Devers were hitting stars, the SS with three hits and three runs scored and the DH with three RBI. The lineup scored two more in the 7th and one more in the 9th and finished with 12 hits.

The Giants go to Sacramento to take on the Athletics this weekend. All three games are at 7:05 Pacific. It's way too hot to play day baseball there! We should see Verlander-Webb-Birdsong.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Giants snap skid

SF 6  AZ 5 (10) 

It's been pretty ugly. They tried their best to lose again last night but somehow conjured up a win. Since beating the Dodgers on June 13th they've gone 5-12.

Jung Hoo Lee had a nice game with three hits including a triple and a double. Let's see some more of that!

Robbie Ray tries to make it a two-game win streak at 6:40 tonight. 

Go Giants!

--M.C.