Sweep drops Giants to fourth

The Giants got overpowered by Corbin Burnes in the opener (2-1) of yesterday's doubleheader and there's no shame in that. Last year's Cy Young Award winner allowed only three hits and struck out 14. David Villar got a ground ball single in the top of the 8th in an attempt at a last-gasp rally but Luis González hit into a double play to quash that notion. González was the only player in the lineup who had not struck out against Burnes. The highlight of the day for the Giants was the excellent work from Jakob Junis who gave up three hits and two runs in his six frames. Scott Alexander opened with a scoreless inning and Tyler Rogers pitched a scoreless 8th.

In the nightcap (4-2) the Giants had no excuses. Opener Alex Young gave up three runs in the 1st and had to exit with only two outs. Rookie Sean Hjelle pitched five innings in relief, giving up three hits and one run while striking out six. That was the highlight for the Giants. Hjelle, like Villar, is part of the 2018 draft class. The lineup could only manage four hits (one a homer by Joc Pederson) and the team went down quietly.

They are looking up at the Diamondbacks who have slipped into third place by a half game. Today Carlos Rodón takes the hill in Chicago at 1:05 Pacific. The 57-80 Cubs would be in last place (behind the Rockies) in the NL West. They are currently third (behind Milwaukee and St. Louis) in the NL Central.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Villar homers twice in loss

LA 7  SF 3

The Giants lost their 70th game to some familiar nemeses--Clayton Kershaw, Justin Turner, and Max Muncy--but managed to find a silver lining to the series. Rookie David Villar was 6-for-9 in the three games scoring eight runs and driving in five. He hit a homer in Monday's win and hit two more yesterday. Villar's first blast was a two-run shot off Kershaw in the 5th to open the scoring. After Turner's three-run homer gave LA the lead in the bottom half, Villar tied the game in the 7th off Justin Bruihl. It gave us hope and we started to dream of a win but those notions were cruelly dashed by Max Muncy's three-run homer in the 8th. Nonetheless the young infielder made his mark. If you want to impress the fans (and the brass) then get big hits against the Dodgers!

Villar got his first taste of the majors when he was called up in July. He had two hits in his debut on July 4th but struggled to hit .200 and was sent down in early August. He was called back at the start of September and went 0-for-7 in the three games at home against the Phillies before breaking out The Big Stick in LA. His AAA slash line (.275/.404/.617) and pop (27 HR, 19 2B) in 84 games suggests he's done in the minor leagues. Let's hope he emerges as a legit infield option for the 2023 club.

It's a doubleheader in Milwaukee today against the Brewers starting at 1:10 PT. Lefty Scott Alexander gets the start against Corbin Burnes. We have not seen much of Alexander, he was picked up in May after spending a few years in LA as an effective reliever. He's from Santa Rosa and was drafted in 2010 and came up with the Royals.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Streak snapped

LA 6  SF 3

The Giants hit two more homers but the Dodgers hit three and that ended the win streak at four games. Lewis Brinson hit the first pitch he saw for a long blast to LF but LA countered in the 2nd when Joey Gallo hit a three-run shot off Jarlín García. Max Muncy hit one in the next inning and he added another in the 6th off Dominic Leone. Tyler Anderson gave up eight hits in seven frames but got his 14th win. The Giants opened with John Brebbia who pitched a scoreless 1st. García followed (1-2/3 IP), Tyler Rogers delivered 2-1/3 IP without a run, Leone (2 IP) was next and Zack Littel finished up with a scoreless 8th. Brandon Crawford hit the other homer, a two-run shot in the 6th. Rookie David Villar had two hits. Villar is 25 and was an 11th-round pick in 2018. Joey Bart was the #2 pick overall that year. Villar hit really well at Richmond (AA) last season and was tearing it up at Sacramento (AAA) this year. He's from Atlanta and played ball at the University of South Florida.

Alex Cobb and Clayton Kershaw go this afternoon at 1:10 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Big bombs beat Bums

SF 7  LA 4

The Giants hit five home runs to back a quality start from Logan Webb and they beat the Dodgers to up their win streak to four games. And they snapped their eight-game losing streak against LA. After an error in the 1st by Evan Longoria that put a man on Webb gave up a two-run shot to Freddie Freeman. FNG Lewis Brinson, in the lead off spot against lefty Andrew Heaney, smacked a game-tying two-run blast in the 3rd. J.D. Davis followed with his own homer to make it 3-2 San Francisco. The Giants tacked on three more in the 4th behind homers from Thairo Estrada and a David Villar. Webb gave up another run in the bottom half but then added two more scoreless frames to notch his 12th win. His ERA is 2.89, just under Carlos Rodón's 2.92, and those are good for 15th- and 16th-best in MLB.

Brinson added another homer in the 9th off lefty reliever Justin Bruihl. Brinson is there for his RH power bat so let's hope we see more thump from him. His career stats are underwhelming but he does have a .421 slugging percentage and 13 HR and 16 2B in 352 AB vs. southpaws. Yunior Marte and Scott Alexander handled the 7th and 8th and Camilo Doval had an easy 9th for his 20th save.

I'm not sure I've said this before but I thought we'd see the club deliver more performances like this one. It was nice to see the team bounce back from the early deficit. Last year they hit 241 HR which was good for second in MLB. This year they have 151 and are in the middle of the pack (13th).

Austin Slater goes to the IL for his dislocated pinky finger. Joey Bart should return tonight. Game time 7:10 PT.

Go Giants! Beat LA!

--M.C.