Giants score early and hang on

SF 4  SDP 3

Casey Schmitt made two errors on the same play in the 7th inning and that led to three runs and Robbie Ray being chased from the game. Fortunately the bullpen—Ryan Walker and Randy Rodriguez— came through and saved the win. Ray finished with 6-2/3 IP, 3 H, 1BB, 6 K and three unearned runs for his 10th win.

Heliot Ramos led off the game with a homer and Rafael Devers followed with one of his own. Wilmer Flores added a two-run shot in the inning. The 4-0 lead was just enough for the team's second win in a row. The Giants are now 3-7 against the Padres and have three still to play. Teng, Roupp, and Verlander are scheduled, tonight's game is at 6:40 PT.

 Go Giants!

--M.C.

Webb dominates, Giants win

SF 7  TBR 1

There's been quite a lot of bad baseball lately. We don't have to dwell on things like "historically worst" homestands and whatnot. After seven losses in a row fans could be forgiven for tuning out. When the Giants did their face plant after the Break and Buster decided the team would "sell" the team's losing ways spiraled out of control and they fell two spots in the standings. Now they are duking it out with Arizona for fourth place!

Fortunately they won a ballgame today. Logan Webb pitched like an ace. He's had a rough patch lately and it was good to see him back in form (13 groundballs!). The lineup produced 11 hits including two doubles and two homers. FNG Drew Gilbert had two hits and one of the home runs. Jung Hoo Lee hit his 28th double. Webb (11-9, 3.19 ERA) went seven scoreless with three hits, seven whiffs, and no walks on 86 pitches. Beck and Winn finished up.

I realize that PoBO Posey picked up BoMel's option for 2026. It was widely covered as a "vote of confidence." That's nice. Any other manager would be on the chopping block for a team-wide collapse like this one. I'm not voting for dumping Melvin by any means. He hasn't yet finished his second season at the helm! Changing the deck chairs on the Titanic never helps. But I'm not a fan, really. I'm not sure what Bob brings to the team other than he's a local boy and has that "old school" vibe. He's quite the un-Kapler, that's for sure. But maybe it's time for the Giants to look for young managerial talent (BoMel is 63) to groom for the future. First-base coach Mark Hallberg for example, is only 39. Maybe there are some other young bucks in the system that deserve a look.

The Giants go on the road for seven games against San Diego (4) and Milwaukee (3). The Brewers have the best record in MLB. Tomorrow night it is Robbie Ray at 6:40 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Naught for Nats

SF 5  WSN 0

The Giants shut out an opponent for only the sixth time this season. It's a good way to win a ballgame, right? Don't let the other guy get any? Yeah, Washington has six team shutouts as well and they are a lousy team. The league average is eleven and the league-leading Padres have 15. The Giants are still a good pitching team as their 4.04 runs allowed per game is well below the MLB mean of 4.42 rpg.

Last night Bob Melvin did something clever by using opener Matt Gage before calling on Kai-Wei Teng. Teng hurled five scoreless and nabbed his first W. Nice work from the last three guys (Joey Lucchesi, José Buttó, Tristan Beck) who each got three outs. Teng gave up 17 runs in his previous 14-2/3 IP of MLB time. He had success in the low minors but has struggled at the higher levels until this season at AAA. He has a huge arsenal of pitches and has double-digit K/9 numbers in over 150 games (seven seasons). Let's hope he can harness his stuff and help the club.

The Giants got a clutch homer from Casey Schmitt in the 6th to make a 2-0 game a 4-0 game. Nice! Schmitt is slashing a pretty solid .249/.321/.412 in 197 PA (55 G). Every little bit helps.

The next two games are in the afternoon, 1:05 Pacific. Carson Whisenhunt today.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Clutch!

SF 4  PIT 2

The Giants had to come from behind to win today and that showed some real grit and moxie. Of course it was the lowly Pirates but grit and moxie have been in short supply so we'll take it. And we all know the lowly Pirates have kicked the Giants ass this season so it was great to see the lads rally and take the series. Jerar Encarnacion tied the game in the 5th with a homer. He's back from the IL and has already bopped two big ones. The Pirates got another one against Robbie Ray (6 IP, 2 R, 8 K) to take the lead, but Matt Chapman flashed some VSC grit and tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the 8th.

The 9th featured a one-out double from Jung Hoo Lee. That's his 27th two-bagger which ties him with Rafael Devers and Pete Alonso for 11th-best in MLB. He's struggled this season but he's still got the skills and he's doing a lot better lately. That hit sparked a moxie-fest: pinch-hitter Dominic Smith doubled and then Patrick Bailey singled making it 4-2 Giants. Randy Rodriguez, fresh off his ugly blown save, came on for the 9th and closed it out. José Buttó and Ryan Walker each threw a scoreless frame after Ray. This is the new-look bullpen.

I should mention that Dom Smith has appeared in all six games in August (as 1B, DH, and PH) and has six hits, one in each game, with three runs scored and seven batted in. He's 6-for-20 with a double and a homer. Solid!

Tomorrow is Thursday and we know what that means—no baseball. They come home to play the Nationals this weekend. Friday night's game is at 7:15 Pacific. It looks like Kai-Wei Teng, Carson Whisenhunt, and Justin Verlander will get their turns.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Team effort

SF 8  PIT 1

Logan Webb notched his 10th win and that makes it five seasons in a row with double-digit "W's" for the Rocklin righty. He had a terrible month of July but he seems to be getting past that funk. Teams have been racking up the hits against him and he's racked up more strikeouts than ever before so the pitch counts have gotten him in trouble. Tonight he finished six frames on 110 pitches.

He was backed by eleven hits. All nine hitters notched at least one and Heliot Ramos and Willy Adames had two. Every hitter but one scored one run. Matt Chapman was the only one not to cross the plate.

32-year old lefty Matt Gage pitched two scoreless in relief of Webb. Gage was originally drafted by the Giants in 2014 but was released a few years later. He bounced around, logging 32-2/3 IP in the majors over three seasons with three teams. He also pitched in Mexico. He was with the Tigers earlier this year. The Giants needed a lefty arm when Scott Alexander was let go. Tristan Beck finished the game.

Robbie Ray takes the ball tomorrow morning: 9:35 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants win a series!

SF 12  NYM 4

After yesterday's pasting the Giants owed the Mets one and, much to my surprise, they delivered a sound thrashing today in NYC. Carson Whisenhunt got his first big league "W" with a solid 5-1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R performance. That's a big stage against a good club and the kid did okay. Let's see some more of that! Big days for Rafael Devers (3 H, 1 W, 4 RBI) who hit a 3-run homer in the 3rd to get it all going, and Jung Hoo Lee (4 H, 1 W, 2 R) who has been hitting much better lately. Casey Schmitt had a 3-run homer of his own in the 9th to make it a laugher. Solid relief work from FNG José Buttó (1-2/3 IP, 3 K) really sealed the deal.

Who are these guys? And why can't they play like this more often? Questions only the baseball gods can answer, I suppose. Anyway, I'm happy to see Whiz get it going. (I'm not typing "Whisenhunt" every time!) And perhaps after the scolding from the Boss and some blood spilled on the roster the boys are getting their heads outta their asses and playing some better ball.

It's off to Pittsburgh for a 3:40 Pacific game tomorrow. It looks like Verlander-Webb-Ray for the three games.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

A win!

SF 4  NYM 3 (10)

New closer Randy Rodriguez got tested right away but he whiffed his way out of a bases-loaded jam and saved the win for the Giants. They are 1-0 in August! FNG Jose Butto worked 2/3 of an inning and got a blown save for his efforts. Grant McCray was called up an struck out twice. Wilmer had two hits.So did Bailey. It was a very Giants-y win. Not a lot of scoring (3-for-14 RISP, 11 LOB) but a great start from Robbie Ray.

They are back to .500 for the season. Let's hope they can get back to winning ways. The Trade Deadline sucks but I definitely prefer it earlier in the season to later. Unfortunately it makes the rest of the year a lot less interesting. I think Buster is not afraid to send a message to the players. Farhan Zaidi did not have the "street cred" to make a bold statement like that. What's interesting, in the end, is did Buster actually weaken the current squad? For the final third of the season, can Doval, Rogers, and Yaz be replaced? Probably. This team might wind up finishing in about the same place!

The last few years the Giants have hung around the periphery of the race until the end. There's nothing a ten-game winning streak couldn't cure for this club. I keep rooting for one of those! I noticed that they also called up Kai-Wei Teng. He's been lights-out (14.3 K/9) at AAA, I wonder if he gets the start tonight (6:05 PT).

Go Giants!

--M.C.