I got in the car this morning, and the radio was still set to the AM dial from yesterday's game. Too early for game-time, KNBR was on some sports talk show (I abhor sports talk radio). Before I could switch the channel, I hear some dickhead talking about how Madison Bumgarner would look great in a Yankees uniform.
Madison Bumgarner would not look great in a Yankees uniform. Madison Bumgarner in a Yankees uniform would be a fucking tragedy. Moreover, it would be a glaring indictment of how badly our former mis-management had let our farm system go to hell. We will soon, as the constant stream of commentary would have it, be trading away our best players. Think about that for a minute. Trading away your best players. Why? Because that is the corner we have been backed into, and nearly everyone else has a no-trade contract or has no value. Maybe back a few years we got a bit more out of some players coming up through the farm system than we should have (Tim Lincecum comes to mind). Maybe we got a bit less than we should have more recently (Mac Williamson, perhaps). But what is stunningly clear is that there was no plan to replenish our team with young talent from within or from outside the country. Instead we went with the "sign a name and hope the band-aid works" style of management and pissed away our future. As a result, our wonderful, wonderful core players; Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik, and yes, Madison Bumgarner are sure to never see another world series, at least not in a Giants uniform.
LA has a team with a 2016 Rookie of the Year, a 2017 RoY and NL MVP, and Walker Buehler, who debuted at the end of 2017 and pitched LA to their only victory in the 2018 World Series. The Giants rookies are 25 and 28 years old. The Giants lost 1 - 0 and are now 18 games behind.
Madison Bumgarner threw a great ball game. He was allowed to stay in for 7 innings (removed for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 7th with no one on and 2 outs. He threw only 86 pitches, struck out 5 and walked 1. He gave up 4 hits. Unfortunately, 1 of those was a home run to Max Muncy in the 1st inning. (Muncy's 13th. He is third on LA in home runs. The leading Giant is Belt with 9.) Walker Buehler pitched 8 innings, struck out 9 and allowed 5 hits and walked 1. The Giants were 0 for 7 with RISP, including the bottom of the 5th when they had a runner at 1st and 3rd with no outs.. Yesterday, they were 1 for 11.
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Friday, June 7, 2019
Giants Edge Kershaw, Dodgers
SF 2 LA 1
Clayton Kershaw is certainly the best pitcher against the San Francisco Giants in my lifetime. Before tonight this was his line against the boys in orange-&-black: 45 G, 44 S, 6 CG, 5 ShO, 323-1/3 IP, 229 H, 70 R, 46 BB, 333 K. That's a 22-10 record with a 1.70 ERA. Only 18 HR allowed and a ridiculous 0.851 WHIP. That's the picture of dominance, and that's over 12 seasons. The guy is absurd, and tonight he held the Giants to two runs over seven frames and the home team still prevailed. Brandon Belt got everything going with a great effort against his greatest nemesis in the 6th, working a walk and starting the two-run rally that proved to be the difference. Drew Pomeranz could have fallen apart in the 1st inning but whiffed two with the bases loaded and sported a filthy curveball that kept the Dodgers in the yard for five innings. Nice to see him bounce back from that stinker in Baltimore. Reyes Moronta handled the 6th on 13 pitches and Sam Dyson used 13 pitches for the 7th. Tony Watson gave up a solo shot in the 8th, but a superb 9th from Will Smith got it done.
Giants improve their home record to 11-18. They've scored 88 runs in those 29 games.
Jeff Samardzija and Rich Hill are the starters tomorrow, 4:15 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Clayton Kershaw is certainly the best pitcher against the San Francisco Giants in my lifetime. Before tonight this was his line against the boys in orange-&-black: 45 G, 44 S, 6 CG, 5 ShO, 323-1/3 IP, 229 H, 70 R, 46 BB, 333 K. That's a 22-10 record with a 1.70 ERA. Only 18 HR allowed and a ridiculous 0.851 WHIP. That's the picture of dominance, and that's over 12 seasons. The guy is absurd, and tonight he held the Giants to two runs over seven frames and the home team still prevailed. Brandon Belt got everything going with a great effort against his greatest nemesis in the 6th, working a walk and starting the two-run rally that proved to be the difference. Drew Pomeranz could have fallen apart in the 1st inning but whiffed two with the bases loaded and sported a filthy curveball that kept the Dodgers in the yard for five innings. Nice to see him bounce back from that stinker in Baltimore. Reyes Moronta handled the 6th on 13 pitches and Sam Dyson used 13 pitches for the 7th. Tony Watson gave up a solo shot in the 8th, but a superb 9th from Will Smith got it done.
Giants improve their home record to 11-18. They've scored 88 runs in those 29 games.
Jeff Samardzija and Rich Hill are the starters tomorrow, 4:15 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Coming home
NYM 7 SFG 0
NYM 7 SFG 3
The Giants end their road trip, which started promisingly, with a resounding thud. They got whipped by Jason Vargas on Wednesday night with rookie Tyler Beede getting knocked around. Today they played tough against Zack Wheeler and got a gritty effort from rookie Shaun Anderson but still lost. I thought it was a mistake to send Anderson out for the 7th inning. He had pitched five scoreless after being rocked for two homers in the 1st inning. With a 3-2 lead I thought they'd bring in Moronta to start the frame and go with Watson and Smith to close it out. Alas, Anderson walked the first guy and he scored the tying run after a fluky sequence which ended with Moronta giving up a bloop on a pitch well out of the zone. Watson got a double play to end the frame, and Mark Melancon got the 8th and he fell apart. Todd Frazier's homer to break the tie was one of those impossible hits, but the rest of the inning was a disaster.
Giants square off against the high-flying Dodgers this weekend in San Francisco. Friday night looks like a major mismatch with Drew Pomeranz facing Clayton Kershaw at 7:15 Pacific. Starters for Saturday (vs. Rich Hill) and Sunday (vs. Walker Buehler) are TBD. At least they don't have to face Hyun-Jin Ryu.
--M.C.
NYM 7 SFG 3
The Giants end their road trip, which started promisingly, with a resounding thud. They got whipped by Jason Vargas on Wednesday night with rookie Tyler Beede getting knocked around. Today they played tough against Zack Wheeler and got a gritty effort from rookie Shaun Anderson but still lost. I thought it was a mistake to send Anderson out for the 7th inning. He had pitched five scoreless after being rocked for two homers in the 1st inning. With a 3-2 lead I thought they'd bring in Moronta to start the frame and go with Watson and Smith to close it out. Alas, Anderson walked the first guy and he scored the tying run after a fluky sequence which ended with Moronta giving up a bloop on a pitch well out of the zone. Watson got a double play to end the frame, and Mark Melancon got the 8th and he fell apart. Todd Frazier's homer to break the tie was one of those impossible hits, but the rest of the inning was a disaster.
Giants square off against the high-flying Dodgers this weekend in San Francisco. Friday night looks like a major mismatch with Drew Pomeranz facing Clayton Kershaw at 7:15 Pacific. Starters for Saturday (vs. Rich Hill) and Sunday (vs. Walker Buehler) are TBD. At least they don't have to face Hyun-Jin Ryu.
--M.C.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Win One for the Skipper
A big one. The Giants notched their 1,000th win of Bruce Bochy's San Francisco Giants managerial career tonight over the New York Mets by a score of 9 - 3.
The game was not as lop-sided as the score would make it appear. The Giants needed 10 innings to win, and scored 6 in the 10th to make it happen. There were no home runs for the Giants. Those 6 runs were the result of keeping the line moving. RBI's for 6 different guys: Pablo, Duggar and Vogt had 2 each and Pillar, Yaz and Belt each had 1.
Madison Bumgarner had a role in this historic occasion. He was the starting pitcher, matched up against Noah Syndergaard and each starter gave up 3 in 6 innings (6 2/3 for Thor). Madison gave up 6 hits, including 2 home runs, struck out 5 and walked 4. He was not his best, but then, he kept the Giants in the game and they found a way to win. Mark Melancon pitched the 9th and picked up the W.
Bruce Bochy also has 951 wins for the San Diego Padres. The question is, can he get enough wins to retire with an even 2,000? That would mean 49 wins in 103 games. It seems like a stretch for the 2019 Giants, but, hey, it's a goal.
The game was not as lop-sided as the score would make it appear. The Giants needed 10 innings to win, and scored 6 in the 10th to make it happen. There were no home runs for the Giants. Those 6 runs were the result of keeping the line moving. RBI's for 6 different guys: Pablo, Duggar and Vogt had 2 each and Pillar, Yaz and Belt each had 1.
Madison Bumgarner had a role in this historic occasion. He was the starting pitcher, matched up against Noah Syndergaard and each starter gave up 3 in 6 innings (6 2/3 for Thor). Madison gave up 6 hits, including 2 home runs, struck out 5 and walked 4. He was not his best, but then, he kept the Giants in the game and they found a way to win. Mark Melancon pitched the 9th and picked up the W.
Bruce Bochy also has 951 wins for the San Diego Padres. The question is, can he get enough wins to retire with an even 2,000? That would mean 49 wins in 103 games. It seems like a stretch for the 2019 Giants, but, hey, it's a goal.
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
New Giants
Giants draft OF Hunter Bishop with the 10th pick and 1B Logan Wyatt with the 51st pick. I think the draft is an anachronism and should be abolished. Players should be free agents from the start. Perhaps with the growth of the international game and the larger "market" for baseball talent we will see an erosion of the owner-controlled model and more freedom and flexibility for players. The athletes have a very short window of productive seasons, it seems un-American to me to force them to sign away their earning power. I know: vox clamantis in deserto.
Regardless, welcome aboard Hunter and Logan!
--M.C.
Regardless, welcome aboard Hunter and Logan!
--M.C.
Sunday, June 2, 2019
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.
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.
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Giants Subdue Orioles
SF 8 BAL 2
Rookie Shaun Anderson had an outstanding effort today in Baltimore, notching his first big-league "W" with seven strong innings. Giants starters had a 7+ ERA for the month of May, and had not delivered a 21-out start since April 13. It really helps when the hitters get it going early and this afternoon the Giants scored two in the 1st, one in the 3rd, and four in the 5th (and another in the 9th) to support the young right-hander. Buster Posey had a homer and two walks, scoring three runs and rookie Mike Yastrzemski had a hit and a walk and scored two. Brandon Belt, hitting in the number five spot, had two two-RBI hits, one in the 1st and one in the 5th. A good day for the good guys. Mark Melancon and rookie Sam Coonrod finished up.
Anderson is supposed to pitch again on Thursday, bumping Drew Pomeranz. Jeff Samardzija gets the call tomorrow morning at 10:05 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Rookie Shaun Anderson had an outstanding effort today in Baltimore, notching his first big-league "W" with seven strong innings. Giants starters had a 7+ ERA for the month of May, and had not delivered a 21-out start since April 13. It really helps when the hitters get it going early and this afternoon the Giants scored two in the 1st, one in the 3rd, and four in the 5th (and another in the 9th) to support the young right-hander. Buster Posey had a homer and two walks, scoring three runs and rookie Mike Yastrzemski had a hit and a walk and scored two. Brandon Belt, hitting in the number five spot, had two two-RBI hits, one in the 1st and one in the 5th. A good day for the good guys. Mark Melancon and rookie Sam Coonrod finished up.
Anderson is supposed to pitch again on Thursday, bumping Drew Pomeranz. Jeff Samardzija gets the call tomorrow morning at 10:05 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
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