G-men subdue M's

SF 6  SEA 5 

The Giants had to take on a team much like themselves and it turned out to be an epic battle. The Mariners, like the Giants, didn't move the needle on anyone's meter this pre-season and both teams were laughably--all too predictably--bad in the early going. But both teams hit a hot streak when all seemed lost and fought back to respectability. In Seattle's case, it was passing two teams to claim third place. For the local lads, it was getting to a .500 record.

Luis Basabe made his Giants debut tonight and made a great catch, just what he was supposed to do. I've been curious about this fellow since we picked him up so let's get some more Basabe-ball! Speaking of doing things to the ball, the Giants hit three homers to claw back from a big deficit and put a hurt on Seattle's winning vibe. Alex Dickerson, Darin Ruf, and Mauricio Dubon (!) were the dinger dudes tonight, but a nice one-two combo by Donovan Solano and Brandon Belt also accounted for some big runs.

Logan Webb gave up five runs in the first three innings but managed to last two more and put up zeros in each. The bullpen then had to deliver and they put up four scoreless to seal the deal. This time it was Caleb Baragar (6th), Tyler Rogers (7th), Jarlin Garcia (8th), and Tony Watson (9th). It was another fine all-around effort! The Giants continue to play better in the field as well and that makes for a winning formula. It would be nice to see them knock a half-run or so off the team ERA, but it is also nice to see them make do with what they have. This team is competitive and puts up a fight in every game and you have to like that.

They are now 22-21 (.512) and in third place in the NL West. Tyler Anderson tomorrow at 6:45 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Back to .500

SF 4  AZ 2

Arizona starter Zac Gallen sliced through the Giants lineup with seeming effortlessness for five scoreless innings. But in the 6th, the cagiest of the cagey vets, Pablo Sandoval, of all things, worked a walk to start the fateful frame. Down 1-0, the Giants needed a spark, and Joey Bart followed the Panda with a sharp line drive single. It was one of the only hard-hit balls of the night against Gallen. Maurico Dubon also walked, a wild pitch followed, and Mike Yastrzemski hit a single that scored pinch-runner Daniel Robertson. Singles by Darin Ruf (filling in for Alex Dickerson who fouled a ball off his knee in the 4th) and Donovan Solano along with a walk to Brandon Belt scored three more runs. Suddenly the Giants had the lead and the Diamondbacks were calling on the bullpen.

Meanwhile Kevin Gausman was pitching an outstanding game of his own, allowing only two hits and the one run in his six innings, while striking out nine. The Diamondbacks threatened against the Giants bullpen, but a solo homer off Sam Coonrod in the 9th was the only blemish.

The Giants finish the season series 8-2 against Arizona. The Seattle Mariners come to town for two games, Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. They are surging right now, having won six in a row to bring their record to 19-22 and pass both the Rangers and Angels to claim third place in the AL West. The Giants get to .500 (21-21) after winning 13 of their last 18 games.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

20 wins!

SF 4  AZ 2

Johnny Cueto had to work hard this afternoon, throwing 109 pitches to 26 batters to get through 5-2/3 innings. He gave up two runs right away in the top of the 1st but kept the Arizona hitters off the board into the 6th. He left with the bases loaded but Caleb Baragar got the final out. The Giants got two in the bottom half of the 6th on a homer by Donovan Solano to take the lead and the bullpen did the rest. Jarlin Garcia loaded the bases in the 7th but struck out two to escape unscathed. Tony Watson (8th) and Tyler Rogers (9th) each struck out two in their brisk, dominant frames to finish off the Diamondbacks. Chadwick Tromp hit a solo shot in the 3rd but otherwise lefty Alex Young frustrated the Giants until Solano's big hit. Brandon Belt, pinch-hitting for Tromp in the 7th, added a solo shot off Yoan Lopez to make it 4-2 and that's how it finished.

The Giants get their 20th victory in their 41st game with some excellent defense, timely bombs, and superb relief work. Cueto deserves a nod for his veteran savvy clutchness, getting some big strikeouts (he had seven overall) against a patient lineup, and keeping the lid on things when it seemed ready to fly off.

Kevin Gausman takes the hill tomorrow against Zac Gallen at 5:05 p.m. PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

2/3 of the season

SF 4  AZ 3

The Giants played a much better game tonight and it was just enough to prevail over the Diamondbacks. Madison Bumgarner was on the mound for Arizona and Giants hitters made him work (72 p in 4 IP) but he gave up only three hits. Fortunately for the home team two of them were homers! Evan Longoria and Darin Ruf went back-to-back to lead off the 2nd and that turned a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 lead. The Giants got back-to-back triples (how often does that happen?) by Joey Bart and Mauricio Dubon after Brandon Belt walked in the 6th to make it a 4-1 lead. The triples were the first by both Bart and Dubon--how often has that happened? The Diamondbacks tagged Trevor Gott for a homer in the 7th and added a run off Tyler Rogers in the 8th but Tony Watson threw a 13-pitch 9th to seal the win.

Trevor Cahill had to leave in the 3rd with an injury but some solid work by Caleb Baragar, Sam Coonrod, and Jarlin Garcia (3-2/3 IP, 5 K) kept the lid on things and gave the lineup a chance to add runs later.

Tonight was the 40th game of the season. We are two-thirds of the way through the 60-game schedule. Here's the story so far:

1st third (Games 1-20): 8-12

2nd third (Games 21-40): 11-9

Overall: 19-21, .475, fourth-place in the NL West, 1/2 game behind Colorado (19-20) and four games ahead of Arizona (15-25). Johnny Cueto goes tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

D-Backs Double Up Giants

AZ 6  SF 5

The Giants put a lot of guys on base last night and had lots of chances to score but hit into four double plays and could not get the big run-scoring hit to get past Arizona. They fought back from an early deficit and had the bases loaded with no outs in the 8th, down by a run, but failed to get it done. Mauricio Dubon made a Little League mistake on the bases and turned a pop out by Alex Dickerson into a double play and that took the momentum out of that potential rally. Steven Duggar was at third base and feinted toward home (the fly ball was too shallow to score on) to draw the throw, unfortunately all he did was deke his teammate! Dubon broke for third and got hung up when the ball came back to the cutoff man. Dubon made a poor decision on a throw from centerfield earlier in the game that contributed to a run by the Diamonbacks. He looks good as an outfielder and seems to have the range and athleticism for the position but he is still really raw as a player.

Tyler Anderson gave up four runs in his four innings and Sam Coonrod got lit up for two more in his 1/3 inning of relief and that was enough. The 'pen did fine the rest of the way with Sam Selman delivering a very sharp six-out stint that gave the home squad a fighting chance. Five runs ought to be enough for a win but the lack of consistent pitching keeps the Giants struggling to reach a .500 record.

Brandon Belt was hitting .128/.227/.231 on August 15th. He got three hits the next day and has gone on a tear since and is now slashing .341/.429/.659 for a 1.088 OPS! FanGraphs rates him at 1.3 WAR and Baseball-Reference says 1.2, in either case he's second on the team to Mike Yastrzemski (2.4f, 2.2b).

Madison Bumgarner faces his old team at 6:15 tonight. Trevor Cahill gets the call.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Missed opportunity

COL 9  SF 6

I have a near-religious belief that a team must score at least eight runs in order to be competitive in Coors Field. I have seen too many leads evaporate in that park over the years. Today the Giants jumped to an early lead, 6-1 in the 4th, but the Colorado bullpen suddenly stiffened and threw five consecutive scoreless innings. Meanwhile the Giants bullpen had an epic meltdown. Logan Webb was solid through five, allowing only two runs, and with a low pitch count manager Gabe Kapler let him start the 6th. He got Charlie Blackmon with a strikeout, but gave up a single to Kevin Pillar* and a bunt single to Trevor Story. Kap replaced Webb with Jarlin Garcia who allowed both runners to score on a single and a sacrifice fly. Sam Coonrod came out for the 7th with a 6-4 lead but retired no one, giving up three runs on three hits and a walk. Tyler Rogers finally put the fire out but not before three more hits (including a homer) and two more runs. The Rockies flipped the game over and went to the 8th with a 9-6 lead and that's how it ended.

I was really hoping the Giants would take both games and come home with a .500 record. I felt like the early runs were only going to work if the Giants could tack on a couple more in the final third of the game. I figured the Rockies to chip away at the 'pen but I did not expect a five-spot, especially with the way Coonrod and Rogers had performed lately. A frustrating loss, to be sure. The Giants are 2-4 against the Rockies and have four more games with them (at home) in the final week of the season. I would really like to see the Giants pass these guys in the standings!

Off-day tomorrow. Arizona comes to San Francisco for four starting Friday night. The Diamondbacks are the team the Giants have beat up on the most this year, with the good guys taking five of six. Let's hope that continues.

--M.C.

 

*Pillar was picked up at the deadline by the Rockies from the Red Sox. He was in last night's game and was 0-for-3 but had two hits (including a 2-run triple) against his old team this afternoon. His current .274/.323/.476 slash line (over 30 G and 134 PA) is the best mark of his career.

Dick's Big Stick Leads Giants

SF 23  COL 5

Alex Dickerson hit THREE home runs--the first multi-homer game of his career--and the Giants clobbered the Rockies tonight in Coors Field. It was a sustained multi-hitter attack as the lineup scored at least one run in each of the first eight innings! Dickerson wound up with five hits (the others were doubles, one a booming near-homer), a walk, five runs scored, and six runs batted in. He tied a club record with 16 total bases (held by Willie Mays). Naturally, with 27 hits and 23 runs, there were hitting stars up and down the lineup but it is worth noting that young Joey Bart had three hits, two runs scored, and a run batted in. Donovan Solano and Brandon Crawford both had six RBI nights, and Mike Yastrzemski made another great catch. It was one of those nutty games but a hell of a lot of fun. The Rockies "only" used six pitchers (one was catcher Drew Butera) and they threw a combined 228 pitches!

Kevin Gausman allowed just two hits, both solo shots, and both by shortstop Garrett Hampson. Hampson would probably be the story on another night, but not tonight. Gausman was pulled after five innings and 87 pitches (5 K, 1 BB) and that was probably smart. Pitching in Denver is more "quit while you're ahead" than "go get a few more outs." Andrew Suarez pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th but came out after yielding two runs in the 8th. Wandy Peralta got the final five outs, giving up a run in the 9th.

Dickerson's first homer was a 480-foot moonshot, the longest by a Giants hitter since a 475-footer by Brandon Belt in 2015. That's when Statcast started tracking such things. Trevor Story is credited with a 505-foot satellite launch against the Giants two years ago, that's #1 on the Statcast list, but anything over 450 feet is prodigious. Dick is a big part of the team's plans but he's had a slow start to this abbreviated season. He had four hits in the two wins in Anaheim but still came into tonight's contest slashing an ugly .221/.299/.355 line, well below expectations. We know he's talented, but can he stay healthy and be a consistent, productive hitter? I sure hope so.

Infielder Daniel Robertson made his Giants debut and had a hit and a run scored subbing in the 7th for Evan Longoria (who had two hits). Robertson was on the taxi squad and was acquired for "cash considerations" from the Rays last month. He replaced OF Joey Rickard (60-day IL) on the roster and is a right-handed hitter who plays mostly second base but also has experience at third and short.

Logan Webb gets the start tomorrow (12:10 Pacific). The Rockies counter with lefty Kyle Freeland.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

p.s. Three teammates in the same game each getting six runs batted in is a first since 1920 when the RBI became an official statistic.