Beast Mode

SF 3  SD 1

Carlos Rodón channeled his inner beast this afternoon in San Diego. He dazzled the national TV audience with a blazing four-seamer and a wicked slider that the Padres could not touch. He got 27 swings-and-misses out of 79 total strikes thrown! It was the first complete game by a Giants pitcher since Anthony DeSclafani in July of last season and it came at a most opportune time. Friday night featured a great matchup with Joe Musgrove and Logan Webb, today Yu Darvish started for the Padres and dominated the Giants for seven innings. Both Darvish and Rodón were shaky early, putting runners on in the 2nd inning and giving up a run on an out. Both pitchers flirted with danger but wriggled out of it and then proceeded to mow down the opposing hitters.

In the 8th Padres manager and our old friend Bob Melvin decided Darvish's 101 pitches were enough and he summoned well-traveled veteran righty Luis García. He'd only allowed one homer in 32-2/3 IP but that didn't stop Wilmer Flores from jacking one to give the Giants the lead. Joc Pederson walked with one out and Wilmer showed off all of his veteran savvy clutchness by waiting on a big breaking ball and launching it over the LF wall. Wilmer had hit the same pitch earlier in the at-bat for a long foul homer and you could see him get that "if he throws it again I'm gonna smack it" look and sure enough that's what happened.

Rodón came out for the 9th at 99 pitches and took care of the first two batters quickly. Jake Cronenworth whiffed on four pitches and Manny Machado grounded out to short on the second pitch, a beautiful curve ball that had him out in front. Machado had already struck out three times against Rodón, waving at fastballs and sliders well out of the zone. He saved that curve for when he really needed it! Rodón then walked Luke Voit on four pitches but got Jorge Alfaro 1-2-3 on pure 98-mph gas. It was his 12th strikeout.

The Giants get their 42nd win and avoid the ignominy of falling below .500 for the season. It was the kind of game that gives you hope they are going to turn things around and start playing better baseball. I was saying that this team needed a spark and a performance like we saw today--Beast Mode--could be just the thing.

Alex Wood gets the ball in the final with a chance to even the series tomorrow at 1:10 Pacific. Mackenzie Gore goes for the Padres.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Halfway

SD 2  SF 1 (10)

It was a tight pitching contest between two really great young arms that got decided by the bullpens in extras. Logan Webb allowed only a solo shot to Manny Machado in eight innings. Joe Musgrove allowed only one hit and no runs in his seven frames. FanGraphs has them neck-and-neck in WAR, Musgrove 13th at 2.4 and Webb 14th at 2.3. Only Sandy Alcantara (56.5%) and the ridiculous Framber Valdez (66.9%) are better than Webb (56.0%) at inducing ground balls. Last night Logan had 10 outs on the ground and 10 from fly balls.

Trailing 1-0 in the 9th the Giants got a big two-out hit from Brandon Crawford off Taylor Rogers to tie the game. Mauricio Llovera dazzled in the bottom of the inning to send it to the 10th but the Giants couldn't get anything going and the Padres walked off against Jarlín Garcia in their half.

The Giants are 41-40 at the halfway point in the season. 81 games remain. After a 13-5 start they've gone 28-35 (.444). Here's an interesting look at the team's struggles: they've allowed 358 runs which is exactly league average at 4.42 rpg, but their team ERA is 4.04 and the team FIP is 3.43, fourth-best in MLB. So the pitchers are throwing strikes, suppressing homers and walks, and getting ground balls, but it's not working. They are only league average at getting strikeouts and they are really bad at turning balls in play into outs. We've all seen the fielding lapses and so the gap between runs and earned runs isn't too hard to fathom. FIP is almost a run lower than the results which also suggests the fielders are (mostly) the culprits.

The lineup gets a lot of walks (304, 3rd-most in MLB) but there's not enough thump to turn base runners into runs scored. And there are too many holes. Injuries keep taking out the hottest hitters and too many of the regulars are performing well below expectations. The trade deadline is August 2nd and I'm sure the fans expect some movement from the front office to shore things up. The problem is I don't see an impact player out there that will move the needle enough for this team. They unfortunately just have to play better baseball! And by the end of this month the team could be sellers instead of buyers but I don't really want to think about that.

Right now they've got three more games in San Diego and they need to win some of them. Sam Long opens tonight at 6:40 PT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants snap streak

SF 7  ARI 5

The Giants came from behind to win their first game in the month of July! Whew. The losing streak ends at six (that's the second six-game losing streak of the season). Tonight's game against the Padres in San Diego (6:40 PT) marks the half-way point--game 81. Logan Webb matches up with Joe Musgrove.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Bumbling Giants Swept Away

The Chicago White Sox feasted on the Giants this weekend and almost got themselves back to a .500 record. Meanwhile the Giants are watching their season slip slowly away. That is if they don't get their act together soon.

A taut 1-0 loss on Friday night was just more frustration at a weakened-to-the-point-of-ineffectiveness lineup. At least Alex Cobb had a decent start. A 5-3 loss on Saturday was a waste of an effective Logan Webb. The fielding could be blamed for at least three and maybe all of the runs allowed. Webb's pitching is a highlight in a season with few individual standouts.Today it was almost as if the Giants didn't show up at all. (Sorry, Ron!) A 13-4 pasting completed the sweep. It was a bad look on a Sunday, don't you think?

It's a patchwork club. Too many guys are out (Anthony DeSclafani is having surgery) and the ones back in just aren't performing well enough. And the depth guys aren't picking up the slack, something we didn't see last season. Every single spot had a competent major-leaguer in 2021 and it looks like that's not true in 2022.

This team needs a spark. The half-way point--game 81--is on Thursday and of course the All-Star Break is nigh (July 18). Someone needs to step up. Make that someones. They need to to get their mojo back.

Tomorrow's game is in Arizona and starts at 3:10 Pacific. Carlos Rodón faces off with our old friend Madison Bumgarner. Rodón has pitched really well overall and has been in a good place lately so let's hope that continues.

Go Giants! Happy Fourth!

--M.C.