Giants take two from Tigers

SF 3  DET 2

Friday night went according to plan--FNG local boy Mark Canha had the game-winning RBI in his home debut. Alas, closer Camilo Doval was sent to AAA. It's not a surprise. He's been walking too many guys and giving up too many hard-hit balls. Seems like he can't command his pitches. I hope they can fix him!

SF 3  DET 1

Saturday featured Logan Webb. He fashioned another fine ace-like start: 7 IP. 4 H, 1 R, 1 W, 8 K. Number nine hitter Brett "Maverick" Wisely got the big hit, a two-RBI double in the 5th that proved to be the difference. Tyler Rogers had a quick 8th, getting the side on 11 pitches. Ryan Walker put two on in the 9th but got the save by whiffing the last two hitters.

The Giants are now 61-58 after a nice 7-2 August surge. This is the time. This is the moment. If this club wants to play in the post-season they need to keep winning. There's one more against the Tigers tomorrow (1:05 PT) and rookie Hayden Birdsong gets the ball. Then it's four against the Braves before on off-day Friday.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Winning ways

SF 9  WSH 5 (10)

The Giants got a big win yesterday on the road and in the rain. They have a winning record (59-58, .504) for the first time since the end of May.

In other news, I'm happy to be posting. My ancient (2010) desktop finally crashed! I'm not really set up to run the blog from my laptop so future posting will be compromised. I'll do my best. Meanwhile, does anyone have a spare 475W PSU for a Dell XPS 9000?

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Home runs lift Giants

SF 7  WSH 4

Blake Snell delivered a quality start on the heels of his no-hitter and the Giants bats awakened and powered past the Nationals to get the team back to a .500 record. Camilo Doval loaded the bases with one out in the 9th but got a double play to earn the save and seal the win. The Giants really need to beat up on teams like Washington and tonight they scored in four straight frames. They pounded out ten hits with five going for extra bases. Mike Yastrzemski had a triple and a homer, Matt Chapman had a double and a homer, and Heliot Ramos had a homer.

The getaway game tomorrow is at 9:05 a.m. Pacific. Kyle Harrison takes the hill.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

.500

SF 4  WSH 1

Tyler Fitzgerald led off the game with a homer and Matt Chapman hit a 3-run dinger in the 3rd and that was enough to edge the Nationals. Logan Webb cruised through the first five but ran out of gas in the 6th after a spirited 13-pitch plate appearance from Keibert Ruiz that resulted in a walk. A balk and two hits later a run was in and Webb was out. Ryan Walker finished the inning and put up a scoreless 7th. Taylor and Tyler Rogers managed the 8th, and Camilo Doval struck out the side in the 9th for the save.

The Giants had men on second and third with no outs in the 8th with a 4-1 lead and failed to add on. In the bottom half the Nationals pulled off the same routine, failing to score with runners on second and third and no outs. The Giants wound up with a 1-for-7 mark hitting with RISP and left five men on base. Washington's lineup fared worse, going 1-for-8 with RISP and stranding nine. Patrick Corbin went six, fanning six against one walk, but gave up the two homers. Webb walked three and whiffed four in his 5-2/3, allowing just the one run.

The team gets back to .500 (57-57) for the season. The last time was May 31st (29-29). The website still lists Birdsong as the starter tomorrow (3:45 PT).

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants thump Reds

SF 8  CIN 2

It seems that August will be the make-or-break month for this 2024 Giants ballclub. Today's win gave them a series victory and starts the month with a winning record. There was a solid start by Robbie Ray, great bullpen work, and a superb offensive explosion (3 doubles and 3 homers) with a late-inning rally, all the ingredients for a big win. If the Giants are to make a move in the Wild Card race they'll need to do more stuff like that over the remaining 48 games.

This is a poor road team: 23-34 (.404) after today. They are 33-23 (.589) in San Francisco. There are four more away games on this trip, all against the Nationals, before they return home. Washington ought to be a team they can beat up on. The rotation looks like Webb-Birdsong-Snell-Harrison. Monday's game is 3:45 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Snell says NO!

SF 3  CIN 0

Blake Snell had four starts in July and ran out a nice looking line: 24 IP, 8 H. 2 R, 5 W, 30 K. The Giants won three of those games. Tonight against the Reds he surpassed all of that with a no-hitter. That's right, a complete game shutout without allowing a hit. It's the third no-no in MLB this season and the 18th in Giants history. Even better: it's the first complete game of Snell's career! Obviously it's also his first no-hitter and his first shutout. In fact he had never gone eight full frames--7-2/3 IP was his career high.

Snell threw 103 pitches in his last start where he struck out 15 in six innings. Tonight he reached 114 with 11 whiffs. He got nine fly ball outs and two on the ground. All this after the game's start was delayed by an hour due to rain.

The lineup struck out 14 times but the rookies saved the day. Homers by Tyler Fitzgerald (who also had an RBI double) and Casey Schmitt backed up Snell.

Back-to-back shutouts by the team's aces are a good way to "serve notice" to the rest of the league. Congratulations to Blake Snell for an historic accomplishment. And a pat on the back to the ball club for pulling out the win. Let's get some more! 4:15 PT tomorrow.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Lucky 13

SF 1  OAK 0

Logan Webb threw a complete game shutout and the Giants edged the A's to split the series. The Giants have six total shutouts this season but this was their first by one guy. It's the 13th complete game shutout in MLB this season (there have been 210 team shutouts). It was Webb's third complete game in his career and his second shutout.

Greg Maddux (1986-2008) had 109 CGs and 35 were shutouts. Baseball's active CG leaders are Justin Verlander (26) and Clayton Kershaw (25). They are also the active shutout leaders, Kershaw with 15 and Verlander with 9.

Webb leads MLB in innings pitched with 144-1/3.

The team travels to Cincinnati today for a weekend three-game set. Friday is 4:10 PT. The starters have not been listed but it looks like Harrison-Snell-Birdsong.

Go Giants!

--M.C.