I was happy at nine

 SF 14  OAK 2

The Giants saved up all their runs for today and gave the Athletics a good pasting. This team really can pile it on and I'm not used to that. San Francisco certainly owed it to their Oakland neighbors as they had been on the opposite end of a streak of pastings, a streak finally snapped this afternoon. That ends the season series, a lopsided 1-5 in the six (three home, three away) games.

Tyler Anderson pitched well, giving up a couple of runs in the 6th with an 8-0 lead, certainly an encouraging performance from the lefty. The inning started with a rare error from first baseman Brandon Belt and the runs were unearned. Shaun Anderson, Caleb Baragar, and Wandy Peralta put together a scoreless 3-1/3 to finish things. The Giants were able to take advantage of a good start unlike yesterday when they squandered Kevin Gausman's excellent effort.

The big bopper was Brandon Crawford with a double and a homer, a grand slam that "broke the game open" as they like to say. Joey Bart got a day off (he needed it!) and Chadwick Tromp responded with three hits including a two-run homer. Darin Ruf, after two misplays in left field yesterday, bounced back with two hits and four runs batted in, one of the hits a two-run homer. There were lots of highlights!

The Rockies come to town tomorrow evening at 6:45 Pacific. Johnny Cueto, scratched from the start today, gets the call.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Just score nine runs and it will all work out

SF 9  SEA 3

The San Francisco Giants 2020 pitching staff gives up, on average, five runs per game. Tonight they walked eight guys and hit two for ten free baserunners. That's a lot of free baserunners! The Seattle Mariners were kind enough to score only three runs despite the ten free runners (and their six hits). Other teams might take more advantage of the Giants generosity. Teams that are over .500, for example. It has been a lot of fun watching the ballclub this season but not because of the pitching. In fact, my Mom and I were watching the last part of the game tonight and she kept asking "who's that guy?" Oh, I'd say, that's Sam Selman, or Sam Coonrod, or Rico Garcia, or Jarlin Garcia, or what-have-you. When she asked me "who started?" I said "Drew Smyly" and of course she said "who?" She's a good fan but you really do need a damn scorecard this year.

But I'm not here to bemoan the state of Giants pitching. After all, they did get the job done tonight and it was a big win. After losing three in a row, getting back to .500 (24-24) is a big deal. They did that by scoring eight runs in the first four frames. You do that and more often than not you will win even if your pitchers throw 182 pitches!

The Giants lineup cracked 15 hits tonight. Fifteen! You do that you can win some ballgames. After the goofiness of the weekend with the COVID cancellation and the goofy re-locating of the Seattle series to San Francisco the hitters responded with an inspired collective effort to snap a three-game skid. By the way the M's were the home team and batted last but the G-men wore their home unis. Goofy!

Tomorrow the game is at 1:10 PDT and Tyler Anderson gets the start.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Five in a row!

SF 10  SEA 1

The Giants had another great night at the plate, rapping out 12 hits and 10 runs to overwhelm the Seattle Mariners and claim their fifth straight win. Tyler Anderson bounced back from a couple of poor outings to throw six scoreless innings and give the home squad a chance to wave their big sticks. Which they did, with Yaz yanking a three-run bomb, Longo driving in three, Wilmer getting two hits and scoring two, and Bart rapping out two hits with an RBI and a run scored.

It's been a little rocky for the veteran southpaw in 2020. On August 22nd Anderson threw his best start ever, a three-hit, one-run (unearned) complete game win against the Diamondbacks. The next two starts, also against Arizona (thanks to the goofy schedule), resulted in eleven runs allowed in 8-2/3 IP. Tonight Anderson put a man on in the 1st on an error by Solano, but then picked him off. He kept them at bay after that. Trevor Gott handled the 7th, and Rico Garcia gave up a run in the 8th but pitched a clean 9th to finish it off.

The Giants will face a stern test on this next road trip, their last one of the season, starting tomorrow with four against the Padres. San Diego (28-17) is the second-best team in the NL, four games behind the Dodgers, and in fact lead all of baseball in runs scored.

6:10 p.m. PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

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.

Giants Snap Skid

 SF 5  AZ 2

The Giants put a quick hurt on the Diamondbacks, taking a 4-0 lead after three innings, but had a setback when starter Trevor Cahill had to leave in the 4th with a hip injury. He had a physical issue in the 3rd but Kap and the trainers felt he was OK for another go-round but after yielding a two-run homer discretion got the better part of valor. The 4-2 lead was agonizing for Giants fans as the lineup had repeated chances to break the game open but could not deliver the big hit. Good thing the bullpen was up to the task and kept the lid on the Arizona hitters the rest of the way. Wilmer Flores added a solo shot in the 9th to make it easier for Tyler Rogers to close it out. Jarlin Garcia got five outs in relief of Cahill, Sam Coonrod popped 100 mph on the gun in the 6th, Trevor Gott handled the 7th, and Tony Watson got the 8th in front of Rogers.

I missed Friday night's loss as I was in a kayak on a nearby mountain lake as part of a (socially-distanced) surprise birthday celebration for a friend. Nutty, I know, but it sure broke up the routine and provided a nice diversion from everything. A good time was had by all.

The Giants snap their three-game losing streak! It was a surprisingly hard-fought victory as it really felt like they should have put up seven or eight runs. But the team got the job done and that's what matters. I'd really like to see them kick some butt tomorrow (1:10 Pacific) and take the series. Johnny Cueto gets the start against righty Taylor Clarke.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

p.s. You might be interested in "Giants More Likely to Buy Than Sell" by TC Zencka at MLBTR. There's also this tweet by notorious rumor-monger Jon Heyman that the Giants are interested in Jackie Bradley, Jr. I don't put too much stock in these things, these guys have to talk about something now that we are so close to the trade deadline. I have to say I'm much more interested in talking about what the Giants actually do as opposed to what they could or should do!

Complete Game!

SF 5  AZ 1

Southpaw Tyler Anderson pitched his best game of the season so far, and in fact his best game in years, perhaps his best ever. Tonight's three-hitter was his first career complete game in his 76th career start. He pitched the best game of the season so far for the Giants, that's for sure. The Giants had one complete game last season, a five-inning rain-shortened outing from Derek Holland which they lost 3-1 to the Pirates. The last time they had a real complete game was in 2018 when Chris Stratton threw a two-hitter and beat (believe it or not) Tyler Anderson and the Rockies 2-0.

Anderson took a one-hitter into the 7th with the Giants up 1-0, but a throwing error by Brandon Crawford put Ketel Marte on and he eventually scored the tying run. It was a frustrating moment as Arizona starter Zac Gallen was putting up zeroes of his own. Gallen walked the first three batters he faced but got a double play grounder from Brandon Belt (that scored a run) and then struck out Evan Longoria. You know those blown chances always come back to hurt the team. But Belt got a big hit in the bottom of the 7th in a weird inning that saw the Giants grind out four runs, the highlight a booming double by Joey Bart that was almost a homer.

Gabe Kapler deserves a lot of credit for sticking with Anderson in the 9th. The first batter hit a double (Ketel Marte again) but Kap stayed in the dugout and let his starter go. Anderson finished with 103 pitches so he'd worked efficiently all game long. Kap also started Chadwick Tromp at catcher and he obviously got in a good groove with Anderson and even got a base hit. Bart pinch-hit in that crucial 7th and that paid off, he also wound up scoring, and of course he caught the final six outs. Mauricio Dubon also pinch-hit in that inning and walked and scored, then took over center field from Steven Duggar (who was 1-for-2). So, a couple of smaller moves worked as well, it seems that Kap is getting into a better rhythm with his players and his substitutions.

But it all goes back to Tyler Anderson who really performed superbly tonight and that meant the Giants could be patient and wear down the other side, which they did with another fine team effort. Despite the BCraw error the Giants also got excellent defense with a great catch by Mike Yastrzemski in RF and a fine play from Alex Dickerson in LF. This lineup is showing a lot of patience (8 walks, 148 pitches) and fortitude lately, and I keep thinking "who are these guys?"

They are the San Francisco Giants, that's who, winners of five in a row. Tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. PDT it is Trevor Cahill with a rested bullpen and an off-day on Monday.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Three in a row!

SF 10  LAA 5

The Giants jumped on the Angels young lefty starter (Jose Suarez) for two runs in the 1st and then piled on four more in the 2nd off him and reliever Matt Andriese. The Giants added two more in the 3rd, one in the 4th, and another in the 6th off Julio Teheran. Wilmer Flores had three of the lineup's 12 hits and drove in four runs. Austin Slater had two hits and two runs scored as did Brandon Crawford who is looking better every day. Joey Bart was 1-for-4 with a double in his debut. Gabe Kapler pinch-hit Alex Dickerson for Darin Ruf in the 2nd inning (he was 0-for-1) to get a platoon advantage with the bases loaded and it worked as Dick walked to drive in a run. He drove in another with a sac fly in the 6th.

Kevin Gausman was charged with four runs in his 5-1/3 but struck out eight with only one walk. Sam Selman finished the 6th. Shaun Anderson made a bunch of new friends by throwing high heat to Mike Trout to open the 7th. Angels manager Joe Maddon flipped out after Anderson's pitch and you could hear him drop the f-bomb on the radio. The umpires issued the warnings and Trout promptly tripled, just missing a homer. He wound up scoring after Anderson loaded the bases with two outs and Wandy Peralta walked him in. That was the tensest the game got. Peralta got the strikeout to end the frame and then pitched a clean 8th. Jarlin Garcia threw 11 pitches (9 strikes) to close it out.

Just another routine Giants victory! 11-16 (.407) may not look like much but its better than the Royals, the Tigers, the Red Sox, the Angels, the Mariners, and the Pirates. The Arizona Diamondbacks come to San Francisco for three games, tomorrow night is at 6:45 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

 

p.s. Logan Webb, Tyler Anderson, and Trevor Cahill this weekend.

Kicking Ass, part two

SF 7  LAA 2

The Giants played another outstanding ballgame tonight, besting the Angels behind some formidable pitching (13 strikeouts!) and a relentless attack (10 hits, two homers, two doubles). Johnny Cueto had to work hard (112 pitches) for his 17 outs, yielding four hits, a walk, and two runs, but he also whiffed eight. Andrew Suarez allowed the hit that drove in the second run, and Caleb Baragar had to come in to finish the 6th which he did with a strikeout. He added a clean 7th and Tyler Rogers struck out both Mike Trout and Albert Pujols to take care of the 8th while Tony Watson closed out the 9th on 13 pitches.

Wilmer Flores was the hitting star, Kap sat Brandon Belt to get the righty in against the lefty starter (Patrick Sandoval) and it paid off with two hits (one a 3-run homer) and four RBI. Austin Slater is not 100% and can't play the field so he led off tonight as the DH and chipped in two hits (one a two-run homer) and two runs scored. I especially enjoyed the late rally with the meat of the lineup (Solano/Yaz/Longo/Flores) carving out two runs in the 7th to make it 7-2 and take the pressure off the bullpen.

Kevin Gausman goes tomorrow at 6:45 p.m. Angels beat reporter Rhett Bollinger tweets that their starter for tomorrow is lefty Jose Suarez (that fact was re-tweeted by Andrew Baggarly, which was in the sidebar, which is why I have that feature there). The Giants came into tonight's game with a .268/.331/.455 line against southpaw starters and then they racked up six hits and five runs against another one! So, I think they like facing lefties.

--M.C.

Giants Kick Ass

 SF 8  LAA 2

Wow! A win! The Giants prove that the world has not yet ended by winning a baseball game. I've talked about it before--when your team is on a losing streak it can feel like it might never stop. That they'll never win again. Mostly, it is an irrational thought. Not with this team, though. After the last few games I think any Giants fan who thought they might finish the season stuck at eight wins (with 52 losses!) was at least semi-rational.

That notion was buried today by a superb team effort. I like to say it's not how bad you get knocked on your ass, it's how well you pick yourself up off the canvas and answer the bell for the next round. The Giants did that today. There were a lot of good things this afternoon: a Yaz leadoff homer, a Panda blast in the next inning that put the Giants up for good, a big two-out, two-run hit from BCraw, a four-inning hit-less, scoreless bullpen beast (Baragar/Selman/Peralta/Garcia), three straight doubles (Belt, Longo, Panda) for two runs in the top of the 9th, and best of all a bottom of the 9th inning that featured all three outs.

Shaun Anderson got the call in the 9th with an 8-1 lead. He walked Mike Trout. Anthony Rendon got a hit. A wild pitch moved up the runners. Shohei Ohtani drove in a run with a ground out. Brian Goodwin popped out and Jo Adell struck out to end it. If you freaked out a bit after the first run scored it's OK.

Anderson had a couple of wayward pitches buzz Trout who gave the kid a WTF look after the second one. Angels manager Joe Maddon didn't see intent and instead said "that's just a young man not ready to be here." Ouch. Yes, the Giants have some young and inexperienced pitchers! The Angels fall to 8-16 which shows that even a talented club with an accomplished veteran manager can fall flat on its face.

Good work today, Giants. It was especially gratifying to beat Dylan Bundy who came into the game arguably the hottest pitcher in baseball.

Johnny Cueto gets the ball at home tomorrow night at 6:45 p.m. against these same Angels.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants get gut-punched

OAK 8  SF 7 

The Giants got a great start from Johnny Cueto and slugged past the A's lefty starter Jesus Lazardo to the tune of a 7-2 lead in the 9th inning. Alas, Trevor Gott finally lost his mojo and blew the save big time. The Oakland lineup scored five runs off him--a solo homer and a grand slam--to crush the Giants hopes of an easy win. The sequence was particularly galling: a walk, a fielder's choice that got no one out (a mental gaffe by Wilmer Flores), and a hit batter before the slam. Tyler Rogers came in to get the final two outs and almost gave it away before getting it done. It was really too bad as they had played a clean, strong game until that point. But the A's have a really good team and have been playing well so giving them extra chances in the 9th was a recipe for disaster.

Besides the fine work by Cueto (7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 104 pitches, 26 BF) the lineup showed some spunk with 13 hits, at least one by every starter except DH Pablo Sandoval (0-for-5 with 2 K). Mike Yastrzemski was 0-for-his-first-4 before connecting for a solo shot in the 8th off lefty reliever T.J. McFarland.

Jarlin Garcia got the call in the 10th and the A's pushed their magic runner across for an 8-7 lead. The Giants had Austin Slater on in their half but were overpowered by Liam Hendricks who struck out three to end the game. It was a brutal loss. Let's hope they can do better tomorrow.

Kevin Gausman gets the start against Frankie Montas at 4:07 p.m. PDT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Comeback!

 SF 7  HOU 6 (10)

I almost titled this one "Gabe Kapler's a Genius" but that would be a bit much. The skipper does deserve a nod for getting Hunter Pence into the game against rookie lefty Blake Taylor in the 7th. The three-run pinch-homer turned an apparent 6-2 rout into a 6-5 nail-biter. Pence raised his average to .118 with another big hit in the 9th that set up Darin Ruf's game-tying hit. Ruf came in as a pinch-hitter in the 7th like Pence. The Giants got a "magic runner" in the 10th and got him home to make it 7-6 but were feeling like they should have scored more. In another Kap-move, Tyler Rogers was tasked with the save. He struck out Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker to end it. Can you imagine the heat Kapler would have taken if Rogers had blown it again? And he has stuck with Pence despite the horrid start--they need the vets (BCraw, Belt, Longo, Panda) to step up.

Tyler Anderson started and gave up four runs in five innings, but the real hurt was Rico Garcia giving up two more in the next frame. After that the 'pen was tough, allowing no hits but yielding four walks, and of course no runs. Shaun Anderson got a little help when Tyler Heineman threw out a runner at third to end the 8th. The Giants have hurt themselves in the field this season so it is good when they can execute and get a big out.

It's been a very tough road trip but the Giants can at least say they won a game in each park. Tomorrow they face Zack Greinke at 4:10 p.m. PDT.

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.

Giants Clobber Red Sox

SF 11  BOS 3
It's 2000 managerial wins for Bruce Bochy, certainly a great milestone. To do anything uninterrupted for 25 years is pretty impressive, to do it in the big leagues is remarkable. So few managers have been able to keep a job for multiple seasons, but Boch managed in San Diego for 12 straight years and followed that with 13 in San Francisco. To be that competitive and that accomplished and yet remain humble is a great personal quality. I also like that he never threw anyone under the bus. He didn't point fingers or blame people when things went bad. In fact, he's gone out of his way to praise others and spread the credit around. Boch always stayed calm and even-keeled in the most trying of circumstances, and maintained his relentless optimism and positive energy day after day. No wonder players loved him! We got to see him at his best in the championship years, his tactical boldness and skilled poker-playing making other talented managers look over-matched, but all the other seasons, especially the losing ones, showcased his abilities as a leader, teacher, and communicator. We were certainly lucky to have him around!

It was a laugher tonight in Fenway. The lineup jumped on Jhoulys Chacin right away and handed Jeff Samardzija the early lead. The Shark was the very definition of "effectively wild" and held the Sox hitless into the 6th inning. The fastball was lively and had a lot of movement and once he started hitting the corners it was tough for them to get anything going. Everyone in the starting lineup got at least one hit and six of the nine scored at least one run. Boston got a couple of late runs to make it feel tight but then their 'pen gave up seven runs in the final two frames and we all got to relax.

This Giants team is, well, bi-polar. You just don't know which version you are going to get on any given night! The getaway game starts at 10:05 Pacific tomorrow morning with Madison Bumgarner on the mound. Ten games left in the season.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Double-digits

SF 11  AZ 6
For the second straight night in Arizona the Giants rapped out double-digit hits (18) and double-digit runs (11). They scored in five different innings. Brandon Belt got the rout started with a grand slam in the 2nd inning. He added RBIs in the 3rd and the 8th to finish with six. Kevin Pillar had five hits in five at-bats and scored three runs. Scooter Gennett also scored three runs. Austin Slater had a good night with two hits and some fine work in right field. It was another nutty offensive outburst by a team that has struggled to score runs for much of the season. That's three wins in a row over the D-Backs and five wins in the last six games. The Giants are now 8-8 in August and back to two games over .500 (63-61) with 38 games to play.

Rookie Logan Webb ran into trouble in the 1st inning but then settled down and delivered four scoreless after that. He induced double-play grounders to end both the 4th and the 5th. The youngster threw 94 pitches to 21 batters, whiffing seven and walking one, allowing only two runs on five hits. He kept the ball in the yard, something that neither Andrew Suarez nor Travis Bergen could pull off in their relief stints. That can be tough to do in a homer-happy ballpark in a homer-happy season. Jandel Gustave got the final four outs. The game ended most unusually when Eduardo Escobar tried to stretch his two-out, bases-empty 9th-inning double into a triple and was gunned down at third base (Slater to Gennett to Solano). That's crazy, man.

Madison Bumgarner gets the start tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 Pacific. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Yaz Hammers Three

SF 10  AZ 9 (11)
The Giants and Diamondbacks combined for TWELVE home runs in an extra-inning slugfest that featured 28 hits and 19 runs scored. Mike Yastrzemski outdid everyone with a sensational three-homer display that included the eventual game-winner in the 11th inning. The not-so-young rookie has "served notice" that he's a power threat to be reckoned with. Currently he sports a .548 slugging percentage, the highest on the team by far, and one of only two Giants above .500 in that metric. The league slugs .437 overall, and the team .404, the fourth-worst in baseball.

Two spectacular bullpen meltdowns were featured, with Tony Watson and Sam Coonrod blowing a five-run lead in the 8th, and Will Smith blowing a two-run lead in the 10th, but the Giants kept fighting back and eventually prevailed. The D-Backs hit six homers, one in the 1st, three in the 8th, and two in the 10th. Brandon Belt hit the first of the Giants six bombs in the 3rd, then Yaz added his first, Kevin Pillar hit one in the 4th, Yaz did it again in the 7th, Pillar again in the 10th, and then Yaz finished things in the 11th with his third. It was a wild night in Arizona.

The Giants are now 7-8 in August and 62-61 overall, a game ahead of the D-Backs for second place in the NL West. 22-year old righthander Logan Webb will make his debut tonight at 5:10 Pacific. Webb is from Rocklin, CA and was signed with the team right out of high school. He has 60 starts in the minors, mostly at A and AA level. In his one start with the AAA River Cats he threw seven scoreless. Webb had to serve an 80-game suspension earlier this year because of a positive PED test. MLB Pipeline rates Webb as the team's number-five prospect.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

D-Rod Dazzles D-Backs

SF 7  AZ 0
The Giants have seen a lot of ups and downs from their young pitchers. Literally. Dereck Rodriguez has bounced back-and-forth from AAA this season, trying to find the success he had last season. He opened the season as a starter but was demoted to the bullpen. Tonight he delivered a sensational performance, stifling the Arizona lineup for seven innings, allowing only three hits, one walk, and zero runs. After rookie Tyler Beede had another meltdown yesterday it was nice to see a big effort by a young starter. The team really needs some consistency from the starters not named Madison Bumgarner (and lately Jeff Samardzija) in order to compete the rest of the way.

The lineup supported the young righty with thirteen hits and seven runs. Evan Longoria was the big stud with three hits and four batted in. Donovan Solano hit leadoff and had two hits and scored two, and Austin Slater, batting second, had three hits, two walks, and two runs scored. Kevin Pillar made another great diving catch. Two hits and an RBI from Buster, and a double and an RBI from Belt, it was a real team effort. Sam Coonrod and FNG Fernando Abad finished up.

The Shark takes on Mike Leake tomorrow at 6:40 p.m. PDT. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Thrilla Over Phila!

SF 9  PHI 6
The Giants played a remarkable and memorable game this afternoon in San Francisco and took three of four from the Phillies with a come-from-behind win. Eight Giants pitchers gave up ten hits and walked eleven guys but prevailed behind a resurgent offense. Rookie Conner Menez was staked to a two-run lead but was out of the game in the next inning for fellow rookie Jandel Gustave and suddenly it was 5-2 Phils. Andrew Suarez and Trevor Gott righted the ship and the lineup battled back to take a 6-5 lead. Reyes Moronta and Williams Jerez held on but Tony Watson gave up the tying run in the 8th. Will Smith was called in to get the long save, which he did, but in the meantime got a two-RBI single during the Giants winning rally! It was crazy but in the end the Giants won a thrilling game on national TV. Mike Yastrezemski, Evan Longoria, Scooter Gennett, and Kevin Pillar were the hitting heroes.

The boys are off tomorrow and then the Athletics come to town for two. Madison Bumgarner matches up with Brett Anderson Tuesday night at 6:45 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. The Giants retired Will Clark's number--22--in a pre-game ceremony honoring the 1989 pennant-winning club. He's certainly worthy. But I can't help but think of another Clark--Jack--also number 22, who could really rake and played over a thousand ballgames in a Giants uniform. Jack rates about 30 WAR in his tenure in orange-and-black, with Will about 35.

Giants keep it rolling

SF 5  CHC 4
The Giants keep up the thrills with a big 8th-inning comeback against the Central Division-leading Cubs. Down 4-2, Panda led off with a double. After Stephen Vogt struck out BCraw singled in the run. Kevin Pillar hit into a force play but an Austin Slater double and a Joe Panik double gave the Giants the lead. Sam Dyson, giving Will Smith a rest, got the save.

Shaun Anderson worked hard in his five innings but kept it together, allowing three runs but also striking out five. Drew Pomeranz came on in relief and whiffed four in his two innings. Trevor Gott gave up a run in the 8th to make it 4-2, and that felt like the killer "insurance run" good teams get on their way to a win. And the Cubs are a good team. But the Giants rallied off Pedro Strop and had another fabulous win. They are 10-2 since the Break and 15-3 in July. And tied for second place (51-50) with Arizona!

Should be a good matchup tomorrow: Madison Bumgarner and Yu Darvish. Both pitchers are looking strong lately. Bum is coming off his best start of the year and Darvish has allowed only four hits and two runs in his last 12 IP.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Red-hot Giants blast past Rockies

SF 11  COL 8
The Giants pounded out 18 hits today and continued this crazy, wonderful hot streak by completing the sweep in Coors Field. Savor that! Four wins in four games in Denver. Wow! This team is playing exceptional baseball. Starter Shaun Anderson got rocked a bit but made it to the 5th where Derek Holland took over. He handed it to Reyes Moronta who passed it to Andrew Suarez who was just recalled from AAA. Suarez pitched a great 8th but could not finish the 9th and Mark Melancon got the final out.

All eight starters in the lineup had at least one hit today (Donovan Solano had four and Brandon Belt three). Mike Yastrzemski was the only one not to score a run, but he had two hits and one RBI. The Giants scored three in the 1st, two in the 5th, one in the 6th, two in the 7th and three in the 8th. They took an early lead, lost it, got it back, piled on more runs, then held off a late charge by the Rockies. In short, it was a great game.

Giants have won 12 of their last 14 and come home to face the Mets for four starting tomorrow night at 6:45 Pacific. It should be a great matchup: Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Wild, wild life

SF 8  COL 4 (10)
The Giants continue to play utterly relentless baseball. They took a 2-0 lead in the 1st and stretched it to a 4-1 lead in the 9th. Then Mr. Automatic, Will Smith, gave up two homers in the bottom of the 9th and the Rockies tied the game and sent it to extras. Oh, no problem. The Giants ripped out another four runs and took an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the 10th. Mark Melancon then finished it off.

It's a wild, wild life.

Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson went 7-for-10 with four runs scored and five runs batted in. Kevin Pillar continues to make superb plays in the field to rob hits and save runs. I don't care if his OBP is under .300, man. That's 11 wins in the last 13 games.

Shaun Anderson goes tomorrow at 12:10 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.