BCraw walks it off!

SF 2  ARI 1

With one out in the 9th and the Giants trailing 1-0 Mike Yastrzemski launched a homer bid that fell just short in left-center for the second out. Thairo Estrada, Sunday's walk-off hero, blasted his own homer bid, only to watch it fall agonizingly short. His, though, turned out to be a triple off the bricks in right. That meant Brandon Crawford would get a shot and he delivered a long fly that cleared the center field fence for the game-winner. What a finish!

The Giants banged out a handful of extra-base hits but could not score against Merrill Kelly. Fortunately Jakob Junis pitched beautifully as well, going a full seven innings and allowing only a solo shot. It looked like another tough loss but a miraculous bottom of the 9th snatched a win from the jaws of defeat. Good relief work from Alex Young (8th) and John Brebbia (9th) backed up Junis' great effort.

Carlos Rodón gets the ball tonight at 6:45 and will try to push the win streak to six.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Four in a row

SF 6  ARI 1

Alex Cobb struggled in the 1st inning but ultimately wriggled free of his mess without giving up a run. He then threw four more scoreless frames and was only touched in the 6th on a solo homer.  Meanwhile the Giants tagged their old teammate Madison Bumgarner for six runs in his six innings and that was the difference. Tyler Rogers had a bad time in relief in the 7th but FNG lefty Alex Young got a strikeout to end the thing and the Giants cruised after that. Joey Bart had three hits and two runs batted in, J.D. Davis had two hits and scored two, and Evan Longoria smacked a two-run homer. This is a good time for the Giants to beat up on a weaker team--let's hope they get that memo.

Tonight it is a tougher test with Merrill Kelly going for the Diamondbacks. Jacob Junis gets the call for the home team (6:45 PDT).

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Thairo Saves the Day

SF 8  PIT 7

The Giants looked set for a comfortable win this afternoon but baseball stuff got in the way. The lowly Pirates got a big inning against starter Alex Wood in the 5th to turn a 5-0 lead to a more modest 5-3. When John Brebbia took the hill in the 7th he put two on and gave up a three-run homer to make it 6-5 in favor of the visitors. It looked bleak but an error gifted the Giants the tying run in the bottom half. In the 9th the Giants gifted the Pirates a run on an error and nearly a second but for a nifty play at the plate by Joey Bart on a throw from Wilmer Flores.

Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the 9th the home squad was all set for a disappointing face plant in front of 36,000+ fans. But Evan Longoria (he of the error) singled. Mike Yastrzemski almost doubled him up (it was J.D. Davis pinch-running) but instead got to first on the force out. Thairo Estrada then hit the first pitch for a game-winning two-run homer.

It's the Giants sixth walk-off win of the season and their sixth win in the month of August to even their record at 6-6. They sweep Pittsburgh to get back to .500 at 57-57.

Alex Cobb takes the hill tomorrow night in San Francisco at 6:45 Pacific to open a four-game set against the Diamondbacks.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Webb's a gem

SF 2  PIT 0

Logan Webb threw 148-1/3 innings last season. He gave up 128 hits and 53 runs and walked 36 while striking out 158. He allowed only 9 homers and finished with an 11-3 record and a 3.03 ERA (136 ERA+ and 2.72 FIP). FanGraphs gave him 4.1 WAR and Baseball-Reference gave him 3.8.

Logan Webb has thrown 150 innings this season. He's given up 131 hits and 54 runs and walked 39 while striking out 124. He's allowed only 10 homers and is sporting an 11-5 record and a 3.00 ERA (135 ERA+ and 3.23 FIP). FanGraphs rates him at 2.6 WAR and Baseball-Reference says 4.3.

Last night the Giants celebrated the 10th anniversary of that marvelous 2012 World Series championship team. Logan Webb then threw eight scoreless innings allowing only five hits and two walks while striking out nine. It was arguably his best start of the year. The Giants got just enough to eke out a win. Not much has gone right for the Giants this season mostly because players have not performed anywhere close to what they did last season. The exception is Webb, of course. He's delivered exactly what the Giants were hoping he would after his breakout performances last fall.

Alex Wood goes this afternoon (1:05 Pacific) with a chance for a sweep.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants Win!

SF 5  PIT 3

It was a workmanlike game, the kind we thought we'd see more of this season. Rodón was effective and a couple of lefty bats (Yaz and LuGone) got big extra-base hits when they were needed. FNG southpaw Thomas Szapucki (acquired with J.D. Davis and two others in the Ruf deal) gave up a homer to the first batter he saw which seems a fitting intro to his Giants tenure, at least for this season. He's given up 16 runs in 5-1/3 MLB IP which calculates to a 27.00 ERA! (A bunch of those were against the Giants.) But he just turned 26 and is noted for a big-spin curveball, a low-slot release, and a 92-94 mph fastball. Given the volatility we've seen in reliever performances it's easy to believe Szapucki's tools can be put to use in a middle-inning role. I hope so. The bullpen needs shoring up.

On a fun note, yesterday was Giants prospect Kyle Harrison's 21st birthday. Here's what MLBTR had to say about the San Jose-born, De La Salle-prep wunderkind:

The late Dick Tidrow supposedly spotted this kid and pushed the Giants to sign him. (His was a big loss to the organization.) Harrison was committed to UCLA but opted to take a draft bonus instead. It's not hard to be believe that the young lefty could get a cup of coffee this season. I fully expect to see him at camp next spring and possibly stick with the big club.

If you have not clicked on the link to Harrison's B-R page, you must. But since you won't, I'll tell you: he has 300 strikeouts in 185 innings pitched.

It's Logan Webb tonight (6:05 Pacific). He faces off against former Giants first-rounder (2011) Tyler Beede. Should be interesting.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

6th inning: 6-12

Sunday's 6-4 win over the Athletics in Oakland was the Giants 108th game. Thus completes the sixth seasonal inning. It's not a pretty picture:

1st inning: 13-5

2nd inning: 9-9

3rd inning: 7-11

4th inning: 10-8

5th inning: 8-10

6th inning: 6-12 

After Sunday the Giants were 53-55 and I had visions of .500 grandeur. And the Giants pulled off a stirring 1-0 win on Monday against the Padres in San Diego to whet my appetite. Alas, they lost 7-4 on Tuesday night on a walk-off, wasting a 9th-inning comeback. They lost again this afternoon, getting clobbered 13-7 despite an early lead and a second-chance 6th-inning comeback.

The Giants aren't very exciting, that's for sure. A good way to drop out of a pennant race is to play .333 baseball and that's just what they've done, winning just 7 of their last 21 games. They went 11-17 in July and are 3-6 in August (6-13 since the All-Star Break). After 111 games the team is 54-57 (.486). I'm still dreaming of a .500 finish but they'll obviously have to play better baseball.

We've had some excitement around here with the McKinney Fire. You never know what the weather gods will do but the containment looks solid. Regardless, we keep our bags packed!

I'm back at my keyboard but it is going slowly. I have an ugly wound with two dozen stitches (those come out next week) and I'm a long way from a normal range of motion but I feel good overall. I needed to get the work done on my hand and now I just have to be patient and let it heal. I have to wear a brace at night for the next six weeks.

There's an off-day tomorrow and the Giants open a weekend series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night at 7:15 Pacific. They have not listed a starter but Carlos Rodón pitched Saturday and it should be his turn.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Smoked

 I'll take Mark's hopefully brief absence to chime in.  I've been travelling lately, mostly my baseball watching was confined to checking box scores.  I did tune in on an app not long ago, 6th inning against LA, saw Joey Bart hit an infield single to load the bases with no outs and the Giants one run behind, and......you know what happened.  And that seems a microcosm of where the Giants are right now.   But if I had a wish to wish, I wouldn't waste it on the Giants, they seem like pretty much a lost cause this year to me.  I'd wish that the McKinney Fire that is burning right outside Mark's door doesn't get any closer, and no more harm is done.  I'm sure things are anything but pleasant, I'm wondering if some of the haze I saw in the middle of Nevada the other day was from there (or maybe the Oak Fire, which is getting under control.

Blame the Giant's losses however you want - they are not playing baseball that compels one to watch right now.  I found the trade deadline news depressing, and to me it further indicates that Major League Baseball is becoming a small squadron of upper tier (read: big money) teams and a bunch of feeder teams that exist to develop talent and then watch it leave.  The Giants are stuck somewhere in between.  They are a low budget team and one can only assume that the owners want it that way.  Their plan, to build from within, is a fine plan, but meanwhile they are getting steamrolled and their building blocks look like cheap imitation Legos.  Really, Logan Webb and Thairo Estrada (currently IL) are about it, one home grown and one found.  Ruf was traded, he might see a world series, but he was hardly setting the world on fire here, and he was no worse than most of the remaining players.  Crawford, Longoria - hurt.  Pederson, DeScalfani - hurt.  They're about to drop further behind in the "wild card race."  They are "in it" now only because of a hot start.  But, it could be worse.  The 2022 Giants are, at best, a mid-tier team, although those won't exist much longer if the current trends continue, but consider the alternative.  Would you be a fan of Pittsburg?  How about the Nationals?  They won the 2019 World Series.  Everyone knew Scherzer was a mercenary and would leave, but then they watched Rendon walk, and they threw in Trea Turner to be extra nice to the doggers, and now Juan Soto is a Padre.  The team is for sale but they are doing their best to decrease it's sale value.  It's like putting your house up for sale and then going around and breaking all the windows.  It's hard for me to separate my disappointment with the Giants, although I don't blame them for not bankrupting the system for a rental player, with my disappointment at seeing the Padres, and Yankees, and Braves, and you know whom else, just stockpile wealth.  We already know who is going to be in the playoffs, why watch the rest of the season?  You can argue that it's always been this way, or whatever, but really, the sport is becoming less and less watchable by the day.