Koss is boss

SF 10  AZ 6

The Giants finally broke out of their scoring doldrums and put up some big innings against the Snakes. Rookie Christian Koss hit his first MLB homer—a grand slam—in the 3rd to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead. They added three more in the 5th and three more in the 8th to make it a rout. Robbie Ray started and got knocked around in the 1st but followed that with five strong scoreless frames, logging a quality start and his sixth win.

Jordan Hicks goes today (12:45 PT) in the rubber match. He's had some poor results but there are some good signs. His ground ball rate (58.5%) is up there with stalwarts like Tyler Rogers (61.5%) and Logan Webb (54.9%). His strikeouts are up from last year and his walks are down and he doesn't allow a lot of homers. FIP (3.17) loves him and even xFIP (3.56) and xERA (3.55) say he should have better outcomes. FanGraphs even gives him a positive WAR (0.8)! Currently he's giving up too many hits (.344 BABIP) and when guys get on base against him they score too frequently, that is, he's not stranding runners. Maybe his luck will turn and his big heat and nasty stuff will start to work better.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Corbin Carroll 2, Giants 1

The Giants scoring woes continued in a 2-1 loss to division rivals Arizona. The Diamondbacks star outfielder hit two solo shots off Justin Verlander and that was enough to send the good guys to their fourth straight defeat.

Catcher and first base are black holes and with Tyler Fitzgerald out so is second base. Willy Adames, our new shortstop, is sporting a .218/.296/.339 line. Matt Chapman is delivering his usual stellar fielding and solid hitting. The offense is all in the outfield with strong performances so far from Heliot Ramos, Jung Hoo Lee, and Mike Yastrzemski. The Giants 192 runs scored is 12th in MLB and their 4.57 rpg is a tick above the 4.36 league average.

On the pitching side fine work from Logan Webb and Robbie Ray gives the team a nice tandem at the top of the rotation. The rest is still a work-in-progress. The bullpen has been excellent overall, especially Tyler Rogers, Randy Rodriguez, Erik Miller, and Camilo Doval. They've also gotten good stuff from Hayden Birdsong and Spencer Bivens and now they've added Kyle Harrison to the mix. The team has allowed 158 runs which is the 8th-best in MLB. They are over half a run (3.76 rpg) below the league average (4.36). FIP likes the Giants staff (their 3.41 is second to the Mets 3.24) because they limit homers (32, 2nd-fewest), bases on balls (130, 11th-fewest), and have good strikeout numbers (368, 7th-best).

It's one-fourth of the way through the season. There are two more games with Arizona (tonight at 6:45 and tomorrow at 12:45) before an off-day Thursday. Then there's six more games on the homestand before another off-day followed by a three-city road trip to finish the month of May.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Wilmer, Wade deliver

SF 3  CHC 1

A tremendous team-wide pitching effort shut down the powerful Cubs offense on a blustery afternoon at Wrigley Field. Robbie Ray allowed just three hits—two were wind-aided—and two walks and just one run in his six innings of work. It took him 98 pitches to get it done, but get it done he did with eight ground ball outs, three fly ball outs, and five whiffs facing 23 batters. Superb relief work from Camilo Doval (2 K in the 6th), Tyler Rogers (a six-pitch 7th), and Ryan Walker (game-ending DP) sealed the deal.

The Giants had 34 at-bats in the game and 17 of them came with runners in scoring position. It's almost impossible to believe. They had nine hits and five walks and the Cubs made an error. They were 4-for-17 with RISP which is why they scored a mere three runs. They had a comical number of chances to blow the game open but were content to play a nail-biter! Good thing the pitching was excellent. Wilmer Flores had three hits, one an RBI single in the 1st. LaMonte Wade, Jr. had two hits and drove in the run in the 4th. Christian Koss followed that with an RBI hit but a great throw from Pete Crow-Armstrong got the trailing runner at the plate. The 3-1 lead was just enough.

The 24-14 Giants head to Minnesota to take on the Twins this weekend. Tomorrow is an off-day. The games are at 5:10 p.m. (Fri), 4:15 p.m. (Sat), and 11:10 a.m. (Sun), all times Pacific. The rotation will be Hicks-Webb-Roupp.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Sixteen hits subdue South-siders

SF 14  CHC 5  (11)

Baseball is crazy. After an ugly 9-2 whuppin' by the Cubs yesterday the Giants responded with a 9-run inning today at Wrigley Field. Cubbies fans were streaming for the exits in the top of the 11th after the Giants piled on with an improbable outburst against Ryan Pressly. Heliot Ramos led off with a double but the Manfred Man Christian Koss failed to read the play and didn't score. A Patrick Bailey single broke the 5-5 deadlock. Brett "Maverick" Wisely bunted, scoring Ramos, and was safe at first after the attempt at the plate. Mike Yastrzemski walked, Willy Adames was hit by a pitch, and then Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman, and Wilmer Flores all hit singles. It was 12-5 when Pressly was pulled for Caleb Thielbar. Koss made an out, Ramos doubled for the second time in the inning, Bailey hit a sac fly, and David Villar, pinch-hitting for Wisely, made the last out.

That nuttiness erased an ugly 9th where Ryan Walker and Erik Miller failed to hold a 5-3 lead. But the Giants didn't fold, Miller got it done in the 10th, and the lineup took advantage in the 11th. Justin Verlander started and went five, allowing three runs. Randy Rodriguez, Camilo Doval, and Tyler Rogers each had a scoreless frame. Lee and Chapman were hitting stars with six hits and five RBI between them in the three-four spots, that was matched by Ramos and Bailey in the seven-eight slots. A good night for the club!

The rubber match of the three-game set is tomorrow at 11:20 Pacific. Robbie Ray gets the call.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

 

p.s. I neglected to do a "second inning" post after yesterday which was Game 36. My bad. Here's how things look:

1st inning: 13-5

2nd inning:  9-9

As you can see things got a little tougher. 22-14 (.611) put the Giants 2-1/2 back and in third place. Tonight's big win gains them a game on the NL West leaders as both LA (24-12) and SD (23-12) lose. The 23-14 Giants are now 1-1/2 back.

Back on track

The Giants lost three straight for the first time in 2025, getting whipped twice in San Diego and then falling flat on Thursday night against the lowly Rockies. That game featured Tyler Rogers giving up two runs in the 8th that ultimately decided things. Rogers gave up only one run across 16 appearances (15-1/3 IP, 55 TBF) in the month of April! He's been mostly Mr. Automatic and a big part of the bullpen's contributions to the Giants excellent opening month.

The team bounced back over the weekend with a clean sweep of the three games. Friday showcased a great start (7  2  0  0  2  8) from Robbie Ray in a 4-0 win. That's two really strong efforts from him back-to-back. It seems like it is all about walks for him. If he cuts those down he gets better results. When Ray pitches like that you can see why Farhan Zaidi could think he'd be a nice lefty complement to Logan Webb. (Speaking of Webb, he had a great start today.) On Saturday Matt Chapman's grand slam in the 5-run 6th punctuated the 6-3 win.

This afternoon in San Francisco Willy Adames had his best day with two big bombs and an RBI double. That last one chased German Marquez in the 5th. The Giants piled on in the 7th and finished the 9-3 win with 13 hits and a 6-for-12 mark with RISP. That made it easy for Webb (7  6  1  1  2  6) who got eight ground balls and two double plays.

It's off to Chicago to face the 21-14 Cubs. Game time 4:40 Pacific, Landen Roupp starts.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants whiff in SD

The lineup posted 26 strikeouts in the two-game set. But it was the pitching that let them down. The Padres scored 12 runs, battering both Logan Webb and Landen Roupp. Tonight Justin Verlander gets a shot at the Rockies. Colorado is in town for four, tonight's game is at 6:45 PT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.