Burned

MIL 3  SF 1

Milwaukee starter Corbin Burnes shut down the Giants for six innings and his bullpen did the rest as the Brewers prevailed. Burnes also added an RBI hit. The best chance for the home squad came in the 7th when Brandon Belt doubled and scored on a single by Brandon Crawford to close the gap to 2-1. With two on and no outs they couldn't add on and pinch-hitter Darin Ruf's hard-hit liner ended the frame. It was a bullpen game and Jarlin Garcia's 3-2/3 IP with one hit, no walks, and four whiffs was the standout performance. John Brebbia, just called up, delivered a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.

Johnny Cueto was a late scratch but there's some hope he can be ready for tomorrow night (6:45 PT). Alex Wood tested positive for COVID and will go on the IL. Kevin Gausman and Logan Webb are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Blanked

ATL 9  SF 0

Giants get a dose of their own medicine as they get shut out in Atlanta and the Braves take the series. It was an ugly loss and there have not been many of those. In games decided by five or more runs the Giants are 26-8 this year. It's been a month since the Giants lost a series--the Pirates took two of three July 23-25. After a 6-3 trip the team comes home to face the Brewers for four games and then three with the Dodgers on the weekend.

Johnny Cueto gets the start tomorrow night at 6:45 PT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

15th team shutout

SF 5  ATL 0

Logan Webb continued his excellent pitching with seven scoreless innings tonight in Atlanta. Whenever he got in trouble he just conjured up another ground ball and got a double play. In the 6th a Wilmer Flores throwing error botched a potential double play, but Webb got a comebacker from the next hitter and turned that into two outs and all was well. He commanded his sinker, his fastball, and his slider and kept a powerful lineup in check. Tommy La Stella gave Webb a 1-0 lead in the 1st with a homer and his sacrifice fly in the 3rd made it 2-0. It stayed that way until a Mike Yastrzemski homer in the 7th made it 3-0. The Giants weren't done: they got a two-out RBI single from Darin Ruf in the 8th and Yaz followed with an RBI double to make it 5-0. That allowed Jay Jackson to take the 9th (Tyler Rogers handled the 8th) and he struck out the side.

Webb had a three-pitch 4th inning. He hit a batter, got a DP grounder, then a fly out on consecutive pitches. The last time a Giants pitcher had a three-pitch inning was Madison Bumgarner in 2010. Webb is 7-0 with a 1.48 ERA in his last 13 starts.

The series decider starts tomorrow morning at 10:20 Pacific. They have yet to list a starter but the expectation is that Anthony DeSclafani will be available.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Streak ends at five

ATL 6  SF 5

The Giants blew a late lead and lost in Atlanta. Tony Watson gave up a run in the 7th and left two on for Zack Littell who gave up a three-run bomb. It went from 4-2 ahead to 6-4 behind in the blink of an eye. Kevin Gausman was shaky early but looked much better in the last three innings His final line (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 W, 2 K) is encouraging. Wilmer Flores homered off Will Smith in the 9th to make it 6-5 and with two outs Tommy La Stella blasted a deep fly to right that looked like it might tie the game. But Joc Pederson made a miraculous catch to crush our hopes. It would have stayed in the park and been extra bases if Pederson had missed the catch. Buster Posey hit a two-run opposite-field homer of Max Fried in the 1st on his return to the lineup.

Logan Webb tomorrow, same start time 4:20 PT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Citi sweep

SF 3  NYM 2

Somehow the Giants held off the Mets for the second straight game and eked out a 3-2 win. Tonight the bullpen delivered 3-2/3 innings of high-leverage ass-kicking, highlighted by a huge bases-loaded whiff from Jose Alvarez and an eight-pitch save from Tyler Rogers. Kris Bryant gave Alex Wood a 2-0 lead in the 1st with a homer. Pete Alonso answered in the 6th with a two-run homer to tie it. The Mets got another great start, this one from Carlos Carrasco, but the Giants broke through in the 8th against reliever Seth Lugo. They should have had more--Aaron Loup cleaned up a bases-loaded no-out mess to keep it close.

The Giants travel to Atlanta and play tomorrow at 4:20 PT. Kevin Gausman gets the start.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

p.s. Yesterday was Game 126 and thus the end of the 7th seasonal inning. Check this out:

1st inning: 11-7

2nd inning: 11-7

3rd inning: 12-6

4th inning: 12-6

5th inning:  12-6

6th inning: 10-8

7th inning: 14-4

Wow. The Giants are 17-5 in August and 25-12 since the All-Star Break.

82nd win

SF 3  NYM 2

The Giants pulled off one of their more improbable victories tonight, edging the Mets in a weird and wacky contest. New York starter Tijuan Walker was overpowering, his only blemish a solo shot from Kris Bryant in the 4th, but was inexplicably pulled by manager Luis Rojas in the 7th with two on and two out. Brandon Crawford then roped an RBI double that scored both runners and gave the Giants the 3-2 lead they would not relinquish. It's not like they didn't try. Two muffed pop flies in the 9th brought Pete Alonso up with two outs and the bases loaded, but an unflappable Jake McGee got the final out.

Johnny Cueto got the start and looked like he'd get the final out of the 5th but a Bryant error extended the inning and ended his night. Tony Watson gave up a run in the 6th but otherwise the bullpen was superb, particularly Tyler Rogers in the 8th. McGee really had to dig deep after the fielding miscues and he got it done. The story in New York will be Rojas' quick hook--Walker had only thrown 74 pitches--but the story here is another great effort by the Giants. They turned five double plays! They only got four hits! BCraw's double off reliever Aaron Loup was the first extra-base hit he's allowed to a lefty hitter all season.

Alex Wood goes tomorrow at 4:10 PT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

 

p.s. That's win 82 which was my goal for this season. Good thing I like to revise and update my goals!

Giants go Long

SF 8  NYM 0

Sammy Long threw scoreless baseball for 5-1/3 innings tonight in New York City and the Giants backed him up with a barrage of homers and crushed the Mets. Jay Jackson finished the 6th, Jose Alvarez took the 7th, and Tyler Chatwood threw the final two frames for the team's 14th shutout. That's tied for second-best in MLB with the Braves, one behind the Brewers. Brandon Belt got it started with a solo shot in the 1st, Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-run monster shot in the 2nd, LaMonte Wade added his own two-run homer in the 4th, and that was followed by another solo shot from Belt. Four homers in the first four innings! The Giants had 15 hits overall and limited the Mets to a mere five. Superb effort from the rookie southpaw tonight--the best outing of his big-league career so far.

That's the team's 81st win which guarantees them a .500 record for 2021. There are 37 games left to play so I expect they'll win a few more, but that's a hell of an accomplishment nonetheless. The Giants last finished above .500 in 2016.

Johnny Cueto gets the call tomorrow. Same time, 4:10 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.