SF 6 CIN 5
Brandon Crawford hit his first homer of the year in the 9th inning to lead the Giants to a come-from behind win in Cincinnati. Buster Posey had a big game as well with a double and a three-run homer. Starter Jeff Samardzija gave up three homers in a row in the 1st inning but then put together four scoreless and turned it over the the 'pen. The A-Team of Trevor Gott, Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, and Will Smith shut the door and the Giants had their fourth win in their last six games.
They've one more in Cincy tomorrow morning (9:35 PDT) with Drew Pomeranz getting the call. It's on to Denver Tuesday with Madison Bumgarner.
--M.C.
p.s. Giants claimed RH starting pitcher Andrew Moore off waivers, he was with the Rays (and came up though the Mariners system). Breyvic Valera was DFAd to make a spot on the 40-man. Breyvic was a favorite for the All-Name Team, I'll be sorry to see him go.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Not-wow
CIN 9 SF 2
The Reds pounded another Giants starter--this time Dereck Rodriguez--and took an 8-1 lead in the 5th inning. This time there was no miraculous comeback. Kevin Pillar made a superb leaping grab to rob a homer from Nick Senzel. Steven Duggar is hitting better. Jeff Samardzija goes tomorrow at 1:10 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
The Reds pounded another Giants starter--this time Dereck Rodriguez--and took an 8-1 lead in the 5th inning. This time there was no miraculous comeback. Kevin Pillar made a superb leaping grab to rob a homer from Nick Senzel. Steven Duggar is hitting better. Jeff Samardzija goes tomorrow at 1:10 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Friday, May 3, 2019
WOW!
SF 12 CIN 11 (11)
You saw that one coming, eh? The Giants fell behind 8-0 after three innings but battled back to win 12-11 in extra innings. Crazy! The Reds have a really bad offense, much like the Giants, but they clobbered poor Tyler Beede who was just called up from AAA. The Reds, like the Giants, have a strong pitching staff. Not that the Giants noticed as they scored in the 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 11th innings, pounding out 17 hits including two doubles and three homers. FNG Stephen Vogt, now the backup catcher in place of Erik Kratz, had three hits and three runs scored. His homer in the 9th kept the Giants alive. Vogt was recovering from surgery and the Giants had him stashed in the minors until they could activate him. Looks like a good move.
In another roster move the Giants finally gave up on Gerardo Parra. His nifty glove work could not make up for a .198/.278/.267 slash line. Mike Gerber got the start in LF tonight and had a hit and a walk. He was claimed off waivers in December and was posted to Sacramento after spring training where he hit .357/.402/.655 in 21 games.
Same two teams tomorrow at 4:10 PDT, D-Rod v. Tanner Roark.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
p.s. this is the win probability chart from FanGraphs:
You saw that one coming, eh? The Giants fell behind 8-0 after three innings but battled back to win 12-11 in extra innings. Crazy! The Reds have a really bad offense, much like the Giants, but they clobbered poor Tyler Beede who was just called up from AAA. The Reds, like the Giants, have a strong pitching staff. Not that the Giants noticed as they scored in the 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 11th innings, pounding out 17 hits including two doubles and three homers. FNG Stephen Vogt, now the backup catcher in place of Erik Kratz, had three hits and three runs scored. His homer in the 9th kept the Giants alive. Vogt was recovering from surgery and the Giants had him stashed in the minors until they could activate him. Looks like a good move.
In another roster move the Giants finally gave up on Gerardo Parra. His nifty glove work could not make up for a .198/.278/.267 slash line. Mike Gerber got the start in LF tonight and had a hit and a walk. He was claimed off waivers in December and was posted to Sacramento after spring training where he hit .357/.402/.655 in 21 games.
Same two teams tomorrow at 4:10 PDT, D-Rod v. Tanner Roark.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
p.s. this is the win probability chart from FanGraphs:
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
First and Last
This was a game that reminds us cynics of why we were baseball fans. It reminds us that baseball is, perhaps, the most human of sports. The Giants scored in the 1st inning, a Belt sacrifice that scored Steve Duggar. He hit it to triples alley, deep towards the 421 sign, but it was an out. It would be a shame not to see that next year, even if it does give Belt a few more home runs. Hyun-Jin Ryu, on the mound for LA, quickly found his groove and the Giants were pretty much shut down for the rest of his 8 innings.
Madison Bumgarner pitched the best he has this year. That was the opinion of one authority, Buster Posey on the post-game show, and confirmed by the radio and tv announcers. His fastball had the best velocity of the year, and he used it the most he has this year. His slider had some snap, too. Madison struck out 8 in 6 IP, threw 114 pitches and walked 2. He gave up 4 hits and 1 run. That run came in the 6th, Kike Hernandez doubled, then Bum got the next two batters out, then Bellinger hit what might have been the 3rd out, an infield dribble. It would have probably required either a slower runner or a faster pitcher, Madbum didn't cover 1st, and it probably wouldn't have mattered. Meanwhile, Kike Hernandez scored from 2nd on what was a ballsy running play. But it tied the game.
Madbum batted in the bottom of the 6th, which gives you an idea of what the Giants offense is like, but did not pitch the 7th. That meant that Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, and Will Smith had to hold LA to 0 runs, and that is not easy. Reyes put 2 runners on (1 hit and 1 error on Brandon Crawford), Watson had a 1-2-3, and Will Smith then put another 2 doggers on before getting out of the inning unscathed.
Then came the 9th. A groundout by the Panda hitting in the pitcher's spot. Then Duggar, the only guy on the Giants who could be called a speedster, got his 3rd hit of the night off of Julio Urias. Parra singled him to 2nd before Brandon Belt struck out. LA brought in Pedro Baez to face Buster Posey and Buster, on a 3 - 1 count, lined to left. It had to have been Buster, and anyone but Duggar would have had to stop at 3rd or been thrown out, the line drive just wasn't deep enough. The Giants scored on a Buster Posey walk-off single, beating LA by a score of 2 - 1. Oh yeah, Bochy got tossed somewhere mid-game.
So here we are. We beat LA 2 of the 3 games on what was looking like a real dumpster fire of a homestand. We got some measure of redemption on what is sure to be a season to try men's and women's souls. Why can't we summon that intensity against anyone else? The doggers score tons of runs and we held them to 1. And scored twice.
Tyler Beede is slated to start in Cincinnati Friday.
Madison Bumgarner pitched the best he has this year. That was the opinion of one authority, Buster Posey on the post-game show, and confirmed by the radio and tv announcers. His fastball had the best velocity of the year, and he used it the most he has this year. His slider had some snap, too. Madison struck out 8 in 6 IP, threw 114 pitches and walked 2. He gave up 4 hits and 1 run. That run came in the 6th, Kike Hernandez doubled, then Bum got the next two batters out, then Bellinger hit what might have been the 3rd out, an infield dribble. It would have probably required either a slower runner or a faster pitcher, Madbum didn't cover 1st, and it probably wouldn't have mattered. Meanwhile, Kike Hernandez scored from 2nd on what was a ballsy running play. But it tied the game.
Madbum batted in the bottom of the 6th, which gives you an idea of what the Giants offense is like, but did not pitch the 7th. That meant that Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, and Will Smith had to hold LA to 0 runs, and that is not easy. Reyes put 2 runners on (1 hit and 1 error on Brandon Crawford), Watson had a 1-2-3, and Will Smith then put another 2 doggers on before getting out of the inning unscathed.
Then came the 9th. A groundout by the Panda hitting in the pitcher's spot. Then Duggar, the only guy on the Giants who could be called a speedster, got his 3rd hit of the night off of Julio Urias. Parra singled him to 2nd before Brandon Belt struck out. LA brought in Pedro Baez to face Buster Posey and Buster, on a 3 - 1 count, lined to left. It had to have been Buster, and anyone but Duggar would have had to stop at 3rd or been thrown out, the line drive just wasn't deep enough. The Giants scored on a Buster Posey walk-off single, beating LA by a score of 2 - 1. Oh yeah, Bochy got tossed somewhere mid-game.
So here we are. We beat LA 2 of the 3 games on what was looking like a real dumpster fire of a homestand. We got some measure of redemption on what is sure to be a season to try men's and women's souls. Why can't we summon that intensity against anyone else? The doggers score tons of runs and we held them to 1. And scored twice.
Tyler Beede is slated to start in Cincinnati Friday.
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