Giants Win Slugfest

 SF 10  LA 8  (11)

The San Francisco Giants have four wins against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that has lost only nine games. Last night the 3-4-5 hitters, Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt, and Donovan Solano, went 9-16 with 7 runs scored and 8 RBI while the rest of the lineup went 5-for-30 (three by Brandon Crawford) with 11 whiffs. The team was 3-for-22 with runners in scoring position! It was a crazy game: Giants used nine relievers after Johnny Cueto went four innings and overall the ten pitchers threw 199 pitches (122 strikes)!

It was more like a heavyweight boxing match with the Giants as the upstart contender and the Dodgers as the veteran champion. In fact, last night was merely the opening rounds of what promises to be a great three-game fight. In the opening frame, Max Muncy blasted a 3-run homer on a 3-0 pitch (I wonder if pitchers will stop grooving 3-0 pitches now that batters swing at them) but the Giants counter-punched with a 3-run homer of their own in the bottom half. That was the first of two for Brandon Belt, the other was a solo shot off Kenley Jansen that tied the game in the 9th! The Giants trailed in the 9th, 10th, and 11th but still won the game. Donovan Solano had just one hit but it was the game-winning two-run homer, only his second home run of the season.

Seven wins is a row. Kevin Gausman and Clayton Kershaw tonight at 6:45 p.m. PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Outs Above Average

Mike Petriello at mlb.com has a story about the new fielding metric called "Outs Above Average" or OAA. He links to a much more detailed background piece by Tom Tango on the MLB Tech blog. Both are long but are worth a look--there is a whole new world out there because of Statcast and we have to start learning about it. I should note that the articles are particular to the infield component of OAA, the outfield stuff is handled differently.

Since all batted balls are tracked (via radar) and the movements of all the players tracked as well (via stereo camera systems) the combination of the two technologies allows for the measurement of speed, direction, distance, and more on every play. Nowadays the "eye test" is not simply something a fan can do from his or her seat (at the game or in front of the TV) but an actual data record that can be revisited at MLB's clearinghouse site for Statcast data, Baseball Savant.

Fielding is a tough nut to crack and it is especially tough in this era because of infield shifts. Something like one-third of all pitches last season involved at least one shifted infielder! DRS and UZR have become part of the new saber-landscape but they will likely be supplanted by OAA simply because it is built on some of the things that the earlier stats relied on and is enhanced with real-game information. Not only that, it is a computer model which of course can be refined as new data come in and new problems with measurement and evaluation get solved (or at least improved upon).

The argument for OAA is that it is intuitive. We, as fans, naturally "compute the odds" as we watch a play unfold. We see the shortstop chase down a ball in the hole and think about the runner heading to first and "calculate" the probability that the throw will get there before him. When the runner is safe we wonder if perhaps the runner was faster than we expected, the fielder had a hitch in his throw, the ball was further into the outfield grass than we thought, etc. We've seen many many such plays and have a sense of what should work and when and thus we can be surprised by an unusually strong throw or quick feet by the fielder or dismayed by a failure to get what should have been an out.

OAA determines the likelihood of success for the fielder depending on how far he has to go to get the ball, how fast the ball was hit, and how quickly the runner gets down the line. Good fielders convert more "unlikely" chances and make the "routine" plays a higher percentage of the time. Like I said we do this in our heads anyway, without actual numbers but with a large history of observations. Would it surprise you that Javier Baez, Nolan Arenado, and Andrelton Simmons rate the best on this metric? Right now OAA can't include everything (like double plays, pitcher failing to cover a base, etc.) but it's a good start. I think we might have a real defensive stat emerging that we can rely on.

--M.C.


p.s. Do you want to know how Giants infielders were ranked in 2019? Go to the Statcast leaderboards and select Infield Outs Above Average from the pull-down menu and you'll find out. (Brandon Belt was 61st overall and 8th among first basemen, and Evan Longoria was 55th overall and 11th among third baseman, for example. Sadly, Brandon Crawford was 189th overall and 27th among shortstops. That seems to fit with what we watched. Every player has a specific profile that provides more granular information. Warning: major time sink!)

Longo Leads Giants

SF 5  OAK 4
Evan Longoria had two hits (one a homer) and three runs batted in to lead the offense in a comeback win over the Athletics in Oakland. It was an impressive weekend for the Boys in Black as they bounced back from a tough series in Wrigley and beat a very good team to get back to a .500 record (65-65). Longo tops 1000 RBI for his career--he came in to the game today with 999 and now has 1002. His next milestone will be his 300th homer, he has 293 of those so that might be next year, but he will certainly get to 3000 total bases next month as he currently sits at 2984. He's not the star player he once was, but he's playing his best baseball since 2016, and he's the team (non-pitcher) WAR leader. He's been a big contributor to the club's turnaround and subsequent level of improved play.

Speaking of improved, the bullpen work today was exceptional. Jandel Gustave relieved a beleagured Logan Webb and got a huge strikeout. He then put two on in the next frame but Sam Coonrod bailed him out (with some superb DP work from Solano and BCraw). Then we got the three-headed beast of Moronta, Watson, and Smith to close it out. Like I said, exceptional work. And like I said earlier, an impressive weekend.

Diamondbacks in San Francisco tomorrow night at 6:45 PDT. Tyler Beede gets the start.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Buster Slams Brewers

SF 10  MIL 7
Buster Posey launched the first pitch he saw in the 10th inning far over the center-field wall for a grand slam that punctuated a dramatic win for the Giants in Milwaukee. Buster's blast was the fifth round-tripper of the evening for the good guys against zero for the home squad. Tyler Austin hit a homer off the normally invincible Josh Hader in the 8th and for good measure Brandon Crawford tagged another one off him in the 9th. That gave the Giants a 6-5 lead but Christian Yelich led off the bottom of the 9th with a triple off Will Smith and eventually scored to spoil his perfect save record. But a tremendous rally in the top of the 10th to load the bases for Posey made that moot.

Starter Shaun Anderson lasted only five innings against the tough Brewers lineup but he "served notice" by striking out the aforementioned Yelich three times! The young righty has shown some real fortitude so far in his eleven starts. Giants scored two in the 5th and two in the 6th on homers by Austin Slater and by Evan Longoria turning a 2-0 deficit to a 4-2 lead. The Brewers chased Anderson in the 6th but the orange-and-black ultimately came back and got the win. Mark Melancon gave up a run in the 10th but struck out Lorenzo Cain to finish it off. Giants pitchers notched 14 strikeouts tonight.

That has to be the best win of the season. Giants complete Game 90, the fifth seasonal inning, with a sparkling 11-7 record including seven wins in the last eight games, not to mention 6-1 in July.

1st inning: 8-10
2nd inning: 8-10
3rd inning: 5-13
4th inning: 10-8
5th inning: 11-7 

That brings the team to 42-48, still in last place, but certainly in a better place than before.

Madison Bumgarner is healthy and ready to go tomorrow, 4:15 p.m. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Just enough!

SF 1  STL 0
The Cardinals promising young righty Jack Flaherty dazzled the Giants for six no-hit innings in San Francisco this afternoon, dominating what had been a hot-hitting club. Fortunately Jeff Samardzija matched him with six zeroes himself, and Kevin Pillar bailed out The Shark in the 7th with two big catches to keep the shutout intact. In the bottom half Evan Longoria launched a no-doubter and the Giants had a 1-0 lead in the final game before the All-Star Break. Sam Dyson whiffed three in the 8th and Will Smith made it 23-for-23 with only seven pitches in the 9th and the win was in the books. That's six victories in their last seven games, and a 5-1 record for July. Game 90 (end of the 5th seasonal inning) is the first game back, Friday night in Milwaukee.

Seems fitting that we get a soccer score today as the USWNT completed their World Cup quest with a convincing shutout win in France over The Netherlands. Good show, ladies!

The Giants are playing better quality, more entertaining baseball. Let's hope they keep it up when they come back.

--M.C.

Giants run past Padres

SF 6  SD 5
Tyler Beede gave up a homer with the first pitch of the game. He made a bigger mess but then wriggled out of it, notching a strikeout in the process. He then struck out two in the 2nd, two in the 3rd, and two in the 4th, looking for a stretch like a real major-leaguer. It crumbled in the 5th behind an onslaught of infield hits, but I took encouragement from his outing. If he can harness the stuff he threw last night he might just learn how to stick around and help the club.

Steven Duggar had put the Giants up 3-1 with a two-run homer in the 4th before the Padres chased Beede in the 5th. Down 4-3 the Giants fought back in the bottom of the 7th with an Evan Longoria triple that drove in two. Belt, pinch-hitting, led off with a walk and Panik's single sent him to third. Panik ran like a maniac from first on Longoria's triple into the left field corner and scored the go-ahead run. He probably should have been out by ten feet but the throw was off-line. Sometimes running like a maniac works out! Panda's sacrifice got Longoria home. Tony Watson gave up a solo shot to the ancient Ian Kinsler in the 8th and it finished 6-5 for the home team. It was a fun and interesting game and we haven't had many of those.

Shaun Anderson tonight, 6:45 Pacific. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Two in a row!

SF 8  BAL 1
Jeff Samardzija produced an outstanding effort after a worrisome start. He allowed a solo shot in--you guessed it--the 1st inning but put up five zeroes after that. Three hits, no walks, and six strikeouts for the Shark who threw 110 pitches to 21 batters in his six frames. The Giants scored in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th to dominate in Baltimore and make it two wins out of three over the hapless Orioles. Evan Longoria (three hits including a homer) and Brandon Crawford (two homers) delivered the thump. Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson (who struck out the side), and Will Smith finished up.

Travel day tomorrow then it is three against the Mets in New York. Madison Bumgarner against Noah Syndergaard on Tuesday, with Tyler Beede and Shaun Anderson on Wednesday and Thursday.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Springtime in the Rockies

2, 12, 2, 6, 4, 14.  Those are the runs scored in the Giants last 6 games.  Schizo, huh?

Coors Field in Denver.  The Giants have not won there in over 5 years, or at least, that's the way it seems.  Somehow, they shook off that curse, if only for 1 night.  14 friggin' runs!  Who'da thunk it?

Madison Bumgarner: a lead-off home run (given up, not hit), 6 innings pitched, 8 hits, 3 runs total, 1 walk and 8 K's.  And a W.  Why?  Because the Giants gave him 7 runs in those innings, after 2 or less in 8 of his previous 9.

The Mac is back, with an attack.  2 hits, 2 runs, 4 rbi (3 on a 4th inning home run).  Also: home runs for Pillar, Longoria.  Also: RBI's for Panik, Duggar, Crawford and Tyler Austin.  Also:  Williams Jerez pitched the 9th.  Not particularly well, but he allowed 0 runs.

I have to say, I like the looks of this outfield (Duggar, Pillar, Williamson) one hell of a lot better than whoever those chucklefucks were that we started the season with.

Tomorrow:  Anything could happen.  Like snow. 

Giants bounce back

SF 3  LA 2
Tonight the Giants got creative in the field and pulled off both a 5-6 putout and a 9-1 putout! I love that kind of stuff. I also like the way the Giants used Jeff Samardzija. He was excellent for five shutout innings and 79 pitches--and they yanked him. This third-time-through-the-lineup penalty is a real thing. No reason to subject a starter to that when there are quality bullpen options. It didn't quite work as the normally reliable Tony Watson gave up two runs in the 6th inning, but it was the right move. Fortunately the Giants rallied in the 7th and turned that 2-0 deficit into a 3-run lead behind a bases-clearing double from Evan Longoria. He pinch-hit for Pablo Sandoval who started at third. Sam Dyson bailed out Watson and covered the 7th, Reyes Moronta got the meat of the order in the 8th, and Will Smith closed the door.

After that wretched display against the Yankees it was nice to see the home squad deliver a better effort. It seems Derek Holland is the first casualty to what has mostly been a healthy start for the club. He goes on the IL and Ty Blach takes his spot. They expect Holland to miss one start.

Drew Pomeranz goes tomorrow at 6:45 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants hit four homers!

SF 7  TOR 6
Evan Longoria, Joe Panik, Pablo Sandoval, and Brandon Belt all went deep for the Giants tonight in Toronto. It was just enough--a rare bullpen blip turned 7-2 to 7-6 in the 8th--and they held on to get their 10th win. Kevin Pillar got a rousing homecoming and responded by driving in the Giants first run in the 3rd. Jeff Samardzija delivered a typically Smarjy-style start and left after 5-1/3 having yielded two runs on five hits. Mark Melancon finished the inning. Sam Dyson pitched a scoreless 6th but loaded the bases in the 7th and was pulled for Tony Watson. The ace lefty shockingly allowed a grand slam to rookie slugger Rowdy Tellez (who is from Elk Grove) but finished the inning with the lead intact. Will Smith closed it out on 14 pitches.

Drew Pomeranz tomorrow at 1:07 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Midwest Madbum Matchup

The St. Louis Cardinals came into tonight's game as the 2nd wild card team.  They're in decent shape to end the season in that position, but it's far from certain as the Story-less Rockies, coming off the losing end of a sweep by the doggers (damn it) are not far behind.  The Cardinals played like a team that has designs on playing in the post season.   And the Giants......gave it a pretty good effort themselves.  This was no give-away by the orange and black, but they came out on the losing end by a score of 5 - 3.

Madison Bumgarner on the mound.  He threw 98 pitches to get through 6 innings, and gave up 3 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk.  He struck out 5.  It seems to me like Madison is striking out fewer people per start this year, I'll check at the end of the season to see if that is true.  He still has the smooth, deceptive, sweeping lefty-handed delivery that we're used to, but maybe the league has caught on to him a bit.  At the end of 6, the Giants were behind, 3 - 1.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals' starter, John Gant, couldn't finish the 3rd inning, but they brought in Tyson Ross to get through the 5th.  The Cardinals used a total of 6 pitchers on the night, compared to the Giants' 5 (Okert and Moronta in the 7th, Melancon and Watson in the 8th).  The Giants scored 2 more in the 7th on a Blanco single and a Longoria ground-out to tie the score at 3 all, but Melancon gave up the game in the 8th on a 2-run double to Matt Adams.

The Giants struck out 16 times in this game.  Think about that.  16 times.  That's like coming to the plate with 2 outs per inning in every inning except 1.  Although the Cardinals struck out 8 times, so, like giving away 1 out in every inning except 1.   The announcers were saying something about how the Giants have a hard time hitting fastballs, Buster Posey and Alen Hanson excepted.  That doesn't make sense to me.  I always thought the one criteria for being in the major leagues was that you could hit a fastball, therefore pitchers always needed other pitches.  Is that not true for the Giants?  Evan Longoria had a good game, he is hot at the end of the season, so maybe his broken hand bothered him for a bit longer than his stint on the disabled list would indicate.  No one else had a notable offensive night.  And with this loss, the Giants cannot finish at .500.

A Win in a Lost Season

SF 4  SD 2
The Giants scored four runs tonight and snapped their streak of eleven consecutive games scoring three or fewer. That, and they were officially eliminated. It should not be overlooked that rookie lefty Andrew Suarez pitched a fine game (7-2/3, 4 H, 2 R). Homers by Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria provided the offense. Rookies Chris Shaw (3 hits), Austin Slater (a superb 9-6 outfield assist), and Aramis Garcia (RBI single) also contributed. At 71-80 the team could win all their remaining games and finish above .500! Even if you think they are a .500 club the probability of winning eleven coin flips is 1/2048 or less than 0.05%. So we won't worry about that.

Derek Holland tomorrow night. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants Eke Out Split

I heard on the radio that since June 20 (I'm pretty sure that was the date mentioned) the Giants have the best ERA, save Boston, of any team in the major leagues.   Obviously, Boston has been doing a lot more winning in that time frame.  Can that even be right?

Giants salvaged a split in Arizona, which gives them a win for their road trip (4 - 2).  That is their first winning road trip this year.  They won behind some good pitching from Derek Holland and a spate of relievers by a score of 3 - 2.  Nick Hundley got an rbi and Evan Longoria got 2, the second an 8th inning solo shot to give the Giants the lead.  Ray Black was on the mound in the 7th, so he was credited with the win.  Watson and Dyson pitched the 8th, and Will Smith the 9th.  (Also, Reyes Moronta pitched 2/3 of an inning after Holland was pulled after 5 1/3.)  The Giants scored 8 runs in the first game of this 4-game series, and 3 in each game thereafter, for a total of 17.  The snakes scored 18 total.

So if the Giants are now only 1 game over .500, but their pitching has been very good, I guess you can figure out why they aren't posting a better record.  We seem to be in pretty good shape as long as DRod, MadBum or Dutch is on the mound.  Maybe Andrew Suarez and Chris Stratton need nicknames.  Or maybe Blach needs to start a game, although he has been damn good as a reliever.  Maybe Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutcheon can carry a bit of the load until Crawford can get a bit more consistent at the plate and Belt comes back.  But the season's running along, the Giants need to improve if they are going to have any hope of an impact.  Buster Posey played at first, he went 1 for 3.  Houston up next at the Phone.  That's not going to be easy. 

Congratulations, Golden State Warriors

An awesome, awesome team.

And a good day for the Bay Area.  The Giants won, too.  If the Warriors had not won a championship, I would have titled the post, "Giants Go On Road, Bring Bats" because, you know, that is kind of unusual.  But they did!

Steven Strasburg on the mound for the Washington Nationals.  He didn't last long, only 2 innings by which time the Giants were ahead 3 - 0, thanks to an Andrew McCutcheon home run in the 1st and rbis from Alen Hanson and Hunter Pence in the 2nd.  Andrew Suarez on the mound for the Giants, following up his best performance so far (3 hits, no runs vs Philadelphia).  He got into trouble in the 5th, but not before we got to see a Suarez - Suero matchup (Wander Suero was the 3rd Nats pitcher).  By then it was 5 - 0 Giants (2 run Hanson home run in the 4th, solo shot from Gorkys in the 5th).  By the time Suarez was pulled, Washington had scored 4.  Moronta finished the 5th, Melancon gave up 1 in the 6th to make it 6 - 5 Giants, and the Giants tacked on 3 in the 7th to for a final score of 9 - 5. 

The 7th inning saw a bunch of hits.  Panik doubled, Posey singled, Crawford HBP, Sandoval singled for an rbi, Longoria sac flied for an rbi and Pence picked up his second rbi with a single.  That is the kind of hitting that can turn into a good road trip.  Suarez pitched fairly well, without the stellar result of his last outing - he gave up some ground balls that could have been outs on another day.   The Giants many-headed sort-of-monstrous relievers did their job (Moronta / Melancon / Watson / Dyson / Smith).  The Nats used 7 pitchers, maybe that will help the Giants tomorrow or Sunday.

Coors Win

SF 7 COL 4
The Giants grind out a getaway win in Colorado with some timely hits and a stalwart bullpen. Derek Holland wasn't great, but following M.C.'s Dictum, he was at least better than the other guy. Once the Giants relievers got a hold of things they put up four zeroes and sealed the deal. Holland got things going in the 1st by giving up a three-run homer to (who else?) Nolan Arenado. The Giants answered with two in the 2nd on hits by Brandon Crawford, Mac Williamson, and Pablo Sandoval with a Jon Gray wild pitch in between. The Rockies pushed it back to 4-2 right away but the Giants answered with two in both the 4th and the 5th with an Evan Longoria triple being the big blow. Buster Posey added an RBI single in the 8th to make it 7-4 and that's how it ended. Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, Sam Dyson, and Hunter Strickland did the relief work.

The Giants were 2-6 on the trip. They are off tomorrow and then home for six games. Jeff Samardzija goes on the DL and Tyler Beede gets called up. Chris Stratton starts on Friday against the Phillies and Andy Suarez gets Saturday. No word yet on Sunday's starter. There's a chance Madison Bumgarner could start against Arizona on Tuesday.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

The Giants are a .500 Ball Club

And that's good, because they are improving!  The Giants won against LA today, 4 - 2, to take the series 3 games of 4 and climb to .500.  That makes them 6 - 4 against the NL champions with 9 games remaining in the remaining 5/6  of the season.  Crazy to play one team so much at the beginning of the year, right?  But if LA gets in gear, which really hasn't happened yet, maybe it works in the Giants' favor.  Or maybe the Giants will turn out to be a pretty decent club.

That makes 3 series in a row.  Mark doesn't like to talk about last year, but I am still trying to purge last year's stain on my psyche, so I would note that the Giants actually won 3 series in a row last year, against Cincinnati, this team and St. Louis in May.  But they never won 4 series in a row.  BEAT the Padres!

Ty Blach vs Kenta Maeda.  Maeda gave up 3 to the Giants in the 1st - Posey doubled with 2 outs, Belt walked, and Evan Longoria homered.  The Giants added 1 in the 3rd, Posey scoring from 1st on a deep Brandon Belt double off the bricks in right center.  Ty Blach pitched much, much, much better than in his previous start.  He gave up a run in the 6th, and came out to pitch the 7th, but gave up a broken bat single so was pulled for Sam Dyson after 87 pitches.  A high bouncer to Dyson enabled Muncy to reach second because it took so long to come down and then a single to the outfield scored the doggers' 2nd run.  That run is charged to Blach, but it is an example of how unfair that can be.  It was a ball that was so punk that it put Muncy on base, then a double play ball that bounced too high to be playable at second.  Dyson then slammed the door on that comeback attempt, though, and Watson made quick work of the 8th.  Strickland seemed to lack control except with his fastball, but managed to finish the game without allowing a baserunner.

You see the wisdom of Bochy's use of pitchers (and the wisdom of yesterday evening's and today's starters to get us some innings).  We won 3 of the 4 games:
Game 1: Holland (3.1 IP), Johnson, Gearrin, Dyson, Watson, Strickland.
Game 2: Stratton (1.1 IP), Gomez, Law, Gearrin, Panda.
Game 3: Cueto (6 IP), Moronta, Dyson, Snelton, Strickland.
Game 4: Blach (6 IP), Dyson, Watson, Strickland.

Did I mention that we beat LA 3 of 4?  Johnny Cueto is leading the National League in ERA.  I'm feeling better about this club, and it starts with the bullpen.  The feeling of impending doom is gone.

GIANTS WIN!

SF 4 AZ 3 (10)
I was OK with leaving Chris Stratton in to pitch the 8th, it was the bottom of the lineup after all, and it's not like the Giants bullpen was necessarily a better bet. It didn't work out--he gave up two booming hits and a run. And then it did--Tony Watson miraculously got out of the inning with a 2-1 lead. And then it didn't--Hunter Strickland blew the save in the 9th. And then it did--Brandon Belt launched a two-run blast in the 10th to make it 4-2 Giants. It was Belt's 100th career homer. Cory Gearrin tried to blow the save in the bottom of the inning, but held on for a 4-3 win. Evan Longoria was the other half of the Giants offense, he hit a two-run homer in the 6th.

I'm happy that Stratton has looked very strong in his last two outings: 14 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 W, 12 K. Tonight was only his fourteenth ML start--he's yet to top 100 IP for his career. We are just starting to see what the former 1st-rounder is capable of, at age 27 (28 in August) he seems to be putting his game together. That bodes well for this season and beyond, I think.

Ty Blach matches up with Zack Greinke tomorrow. Go Giants!

--M.C.

Ty Blach's ERA is Blooming Like the Cherry Blossoms in San Francisco

Beautiful, aren't they?  Not so much the Giants home opener.  The Seattle Mariners scored 4 runs before Ty Blach and the Giants managed so much as an out.  The M's loaded the bases on an infield single, a bunt single and a walk, then BANG!  Single, Single, Single and there were 4 runs on the board before Kyle Seager was tagged out on the basepath.  Realistically, there was some bad luck in there, no really scalded balls, and in an alternate universe, some of the called balls could have probably been strikes.  But we're not in an alternate universe, we're in this one where the memory of 2017 is all too real.

The Giants scored 1 in the 4th.  It was another solo shot from Joe Panik.  It kind of made me want to send the Giants a note to remind them that there needs to be more offense than solo shots from Joe Panik.  So with the Giants behind 4 - 1, Ty Blach only made it 1 out into the 5th inning, where he put 2 more runners on base.  Reyes Moronta let those runners score but finished out the 5th, 6 - 1 Seattle.  Anyone would have been excused for leaving early, really, in the first inning.  But for those who stuck around, an actual ball game showed up.  Evan Longoria hit a home run over the cars in the 7th with Buster Posey on base to make the score 6 - 3, that chased Seattle starter Marco Gonzales from the game.   The Giants had their best chance in the 8th against former Rockie and dogger (among others) Juan Nicasio.  Gregor Blanco doubled, Kelby Thomlinson singled on a play close enough to require a replay review, and Blanco scored on an Austin Jackson sac fly.  That was it for the 8th inning though, and Seattle brought out their closer, Edwin Diaz.  He is supposedly the hardest thrower in the major leagues, although not always accurately.  Nevertheless, the final score was Seattle 6, San Francisco 4.

One other note.  I am already tired of hearing about exit velocity and launch angle.  I like the Giants announcers, but both of those terms are entirely meaningless in the context of a radio or tv broadcast.

Cutch

I've always coveted Andrew McCutchen. Now he is on the Giants! He's an outstanding player and even in the so-called "decline phase" of his career he's better than most. Same goes for Evan Longoria, although the Giants are committed to him for five seasons (through 2022 and an option for '23) which I'm still getting used to. Cutch is here for one year and then is a free agent. Figure the Giants to give him a qualifying offer this fall and if he goes that fattens up the draft picks. So a win right now--an improved club. And a win later--QO draft compensation.

I'm not sure how the Giants will use the veteran centerfielder. As it stands the team is better with him in CF than is was last season with Denard Span and Gorkys Hernandez. Ideally Cutch would move to RF and Hunter Pence would move to LF. Jarrett Parker backs up both corners and we get a defensive specialist for center. Is Hernandez still part of that plan? Is Steven Duggar ready for the majors (probably not, he's only had a month in AAA)? Regardless, the coaches will figure that stuff out in Spring Training. Right now the Giants have a new right-handed power bat to plug into the 3-4-5 part of the lineup and that's a huge boost. In fact, I'm starting to like this lineup. Considering how anemic the offense was last season that's something. Obviously healthy lefties like Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, and Brandon Crawford will go a long way to improving things. But Buster Posey finally gets some "protection" from two other accomplished career hitters (Longo and Cutch) and that has to help.

The Giants have not acted on the bullpen and in fact they had to let go of a promising young piece in Kyle Crick. But I think they believe the return of Will Smith and a full season of their shiny bauble from last season (closer Mark Melancon) will make a big impact on roles and outcomes. Sam Dyson was a nice pickup and complements guys like Hunter Strickland and Cory Gearrin very well. With Law/Okert/Osich/Blach/Moronta you've got some depth to build from. I'm not concerned with the pitching side as long as MadBum and JohnnyC are healthy and available all season long. And I do believe Longo and Cutch improve the team's fielding (the Giants infield looks really strong) and that of course will help the pitchers.

I did not expect another big move after Longo so getting Cutch is a nice surprise. I'm starting to feel a lot better about 2018.

--M.C.