Giants chase Kershaw

SF 5  LA 4

It's not often the Giants get the better of Clayton Kershaw but they did just that in LA tonight. In the 3rd inning Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski hit homers off the big lefty to make it 2-0 Giants. In the 5th, Slater hit another bomb and doubles by Donovan Solano and Yaz made it 4-0 and that was it for Kershaw. Meanwhile Johnny Cueto no-hit the Dodgers through five. In the top of the 6th, Hunter Pence got a hit (only his second of the season!) and came around to score later on a sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubon. That would be a crucial run. Pence blew a routine fly ball (lost in the lights?) to open the bottom of the 6th. It turned into a triple and the next batter drove in the run with a ground out. Cueto then lost it, walking the next two batters. He probably should have come out then (his pitch count was up to 90) but with a 5-1 lead and an over-worked bullpen Kap let him pitch to Justin Turner. A 400-foot 3-run homer ended Cueto's night but Tony Watson got the last out of the inning and the bullpen did the rest. Tyler Rogers got the next six outs and Trevor Gott held his nerve against the heart of the order in the 9th to get the save.

The Giants have had really poor starting pitching so far this year and it looked like JohnnyC was going to fix that problem. He did just that for five innings but the "third time through the lineup penalty" bit him on the ass. The unfortunate misplay by Pence that ended the no-hit bid was a gut punch and certainly did not help. But the walks have been an issue so far for Cueto (9 in 18-1/3 IP) and they hurt him tonight. He does appear to be getting stronger and starting to look more like his old self and that is certainly good news. Slater's emergence as a hitter is also good news. He's slashing .310/.394/.586 so far!

Kevin Gausman tomorrow afternoon (1:10 PDT).

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

That's not gonna work

LA 7  SF 2

Jeff Samardzija has started three games this season. He's faced 65 batters over the course of 13-2/3 innings and given up 18 hits and four walks and has hit two guys. One-third of the hits (6) have been homers! He's struck out only five guys. The 16 RA (15 earned) is good for a 9.88 (!) ERA, a 9.29 FIP, and -0.5 fWAR. Yup, you can have "negative" WAR. I don't know what the Giants are going to do about Shark.

Johnny Cueto today at 6:10 p.m.

Go Giants!

 --M.C.

Rockies prevail

COL 6  SF 4

Tyler Anderson was superb for five innings, allowing only two hits and no runs today in Colorado. They pulled him after 66 pitches, but apparently that is part of the plan. He's coming back from knee surgery and had yet to throw 50 pitches in an outing this season. (He only pitched in five games last year.) With the abbreviated spring it was probably too much to expect an extra inning or two from him, especially when you consider it would have been the third time through the order, and that lineup has some thump. He left with the game tied 0-0. Wandy Peralta gave up a solo homer in the 6th but the Giants responded with a two-out, three-run homer from Mauricio Dubon in the 7th. I was feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, carnage ensued with Rico Garcia and Caleb Baragar getting clobbered for five runs in the bottom of the frame and the Rockies came away winners. The Giants added a run in the 8th but the rally fizzled.

It would have been nice to see a split. They played better in the field today (Dubon made a nice catch in right-center) and they got eleven hits to back the good start by Tyler Anderson, but the 'pen couldn't keep the ball in the yard. Garcia and Baragar pitched on Monday, and the Rockies saw Baragar yesterday, so maybe Kap went to the well too many times. Then again Garcia had only faced one batter in that game and should have been sharper. I'm not going to quibble about managerial decisions. The Giants have a lot to work on and I want to focus on the good stuff. I'm glad that Anderson is progressing, it will be nice to see him get back to full health and be able to pitch deep into games. Dubon can handle, it seems, the multiple positions, now his bat needs to get hot. He had another hit later. Conner Menez pitched well.

Off to Los Angeles for the Dodgers tomorrow at 6:40 PDT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

p.s. Giants announce their starters: Samardzija Friday, Cueto Saturday, Gausman Sunday.

Belt Leads Giants

SF 4  COL 3 

Brandon Belt hit his first homer of the season, a 3-run shot, and later doubled and scored on Wilmer Flores' single and those four runs were all the Giants needed. They got a good start from Logan Webb who pitched into the 6th and only allowed two runs, and some fine bullpen work from Caleb Baragar (again!), Tyler Rogers, and Trevor Gott (who closed it out). Tony Watson gave up a solo shot to--who else?-- Nolan Arenado in the 7th, that's three homers in three games against the Giants. The team needed a win after two sloppy losses. Baragar retired David Dahl, Trevor Story, and Charlie Blackmon. He has yet to have an easy pitching assignment!

Tyler Anderson gets the start today at 12:10 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

p.s. rosters are reduced today to 28, that will be the new limit for the rest of the season, and the taxi squad will be increased to five players

p.p.s. Steven Duggar and Andrew Suarez sent down; they will join the taxi sqaud

Coors strikes again

COL 7  SF 6

Johnny Cueto came out to pitch the 6th inning with the Giants leading 4-1. He probably should not have. I get that Kap needs to stretch out his guys, the team can't rely on the bullpen every night. But Cueto got burned, predictably, on his third time facing the Rockies batting order. A Charlie Blackmon single and a Nolan Arenado homer made it 4-3 and that was it. He'd thrown 85 pitches to 22 batters, yielding five hits and three runs. Wandy Peralta came in and got a ground ball out, but the next batter hit a ball off the glove of Alex Dickerson and it went for a triple. A couple of hits followed and Dick made a throwing error that allowed two more to score. It was an ugly half inning! The Rockies added another in the 7th to make it 7-4, that final run making a difference, unfortunately. The Giants fought back in the 9th and scored two, and poor Dick got to make the last out. He had two hits in the game including a homer, but his fielding misplays were costly. It's been the story of the season so far--poor fielding. They need to tighten that up just like they need to get more innings out of their starters.

Tomorrow Colorado sends out German Marquez at 5:40 p.m. PDT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

p.s. Caleb Baragar continues to impress. The lefty had another good outing tonight, retiring Blackmon, Arenado, and Daniel Murphy.

Not today

TEX 9  SF 5
Jeff Samardzija became the first Giants starter to log five innings. Unfortunately he gave up two extra-base hits with men on base (a two-run double and a two-run homer), much like his last start (a two-run homer and a three-run homer), and the result was the same in both cases--the team lost. The Giants clawed their way back to a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the 6th, but the bullpen let them down in the 7th. Andrew Triggs, activated today when Drew Smyly went on the IL, walked three to open the frame. Tyler Anderson gave up a sacrifice fly and a three-run homer (Joey Gallo) and suddenly it was 9-5 Rangers. I have to like that the Giants battled back. And that Chadwick Tromp hit his first ML homer! The pitching stunk today and that ruined the chance for a sweep.

They go to Colorado for four starting tomorrow, and follow that with three in Los Angeles (Dodgers) and three in Houston. That's a tough ten-game stretch. They have an off-day on the 13th.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Two in a row!

SF 7  TEX 3
Drew Smyly looked like he might be the first Giants starter to get through five innings but a finger injury ended his night after four. It was a strong four, three hits and two walks, along with seven strikeouts. The Giants blew a rundown at third base with two out in the 1st and the next batter drove in two runs, otherwise Smyly would have had a clean slate. Catcher Tyler Heineman has only appeared in ten major league games, it's not surprising that he would make a mistake on a play like that. His brother Scott is an outfielder for Texas--Tyler got to tag out Scott later in the game! He also got his first extra-base hit, a double in the 8th.

The Giants managed seven hits but they also collected ELEVEN walks (four by Yaz). Donovan Solano and Evan Longoria had the big RBI blows. Solano, aka Donnie Barrels, leads MLB in RBI with 13!

Once again the bullpen had to put up a string of zeros and they delivered the goods. Shaun Anderson (2/3), Caleb Baragar (1/3), Rico Garcia (1), Tyler Rogers (1), and Trevor Gott (1) kept a lid on the Rangers. Sam Selman gave up a solo shot in the 9th but whiffed three. I don't know how long you can play this all-hands-on-deck style, it seems like it will come tumbling down soon if the starters and "bulk innings" guys can't get it done. But nothing is normal so I don't expect normal baseball. The Giants are doing what they have to do with the players they've got. Tonight, it worked.

Tomorrow they have a chance to sweep.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.