Giants get back their Ace but can't shake Struggles in July

At the start of the 2017 MLB season, San Francisco Giants fans and team officials entered the year hopeful that they had a team that would compete with the best in the National League. Those fans would be sadly mistaken as a handful of injuries and a number of under-performers would spell the exact opposite as we would witness the franchise's worst record through the season's first 100 games since 1956 when the ball club still called New York its home. After entering the month on a 4-game win streak and starting July off by completing a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates to give them six straight victories in the Steel City for the first time since 1953, the Giants would limp into the All-Star break after dropping two of three on the road in Detroit and being swept at home by Miami.

After being voted to his fifth career All-Star game, catcher Buster Posey would be the Giants' only representative as he became the first catcher to start in three consecutive Mid-Summer Classic's since the 1990's when Mike Piazza got the nod in six straight. Slotted to bat fourth in the lineup, it would also mark the first time a Giants hitter would bat cleanup in an All-Star Game since Barry Bonds did so in 2003. Posey would finish 0-for-1 in the game while also drawing a walk in what would eventually be a 2-1 victory in extra-innings for the American League. Following the All-Star break, the Giants would get back a key cog in their rotation that they've desperately missed since the opening month of the season, as ace Madison Bumgarner returned to the playing field after missing nearly three months due to a dirt-bike accident on April 20. Though he wouldn't factor in the decision in his first start since April 19, surrendering 3 earned runs over 7 innings, his return alone would mark the ultimate highlight of the month. And in his last two starts he would resemble the Bumgarner of old by notching his first win of the season and allowing only 1 earned run over 12 innings pitched, including 7 shutout innings in L.A. against the archrival Dodgers.

Unfortunately, the return of MadBum alone wouldn't sprout any signs of a comeback from the Giants this season as their struggles against division foes would only get worse. Losses in two of three in San Diego and in three of four at home to the Padres would give the Friars victories in 16 of the 22 meetings between the two clubs as San Diego has turned the tide against the Giants who've had the Padres number in the past. As for the division-leading Dodgers, a three-game sweep of the Giants would give them an MLB-leading 34.5 game advantage over San Francisco in the NL West, dropping the Giants to 17-30 against the division this season. Surprisingly, the Giants would claim series victories over the visiting Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates during the club's 10 game homestand, their longest of 2017. The Giants' ugly display of baseball this season also resulted in the team's home sellout streak coming to an end as the series-opener against the visiting Indians marked the first non-sellout for the Giants in seven years, a streak of 555 consecutive games (including Postseason). The streak is the longest in National League history and is second-most all-time, behind only Boston's streak of 820 consecutive sellouts from 2003-2013.

But San Francisco's sellout streak wouldn't be the only thing that came to an end in July as the tenure of third baseman Eduardo Nunez also ended. After being acquired from the Minnesota Twins near the trade deadline almost a year ago, the 30-year old found himself on the move once again in a deadline deal that lands him with a team looking to make a Postseason push. Primarily a third baseman with the Giants while also spending time in the outfield, Nunez, who reached base safely in 40 of his last 42 games in a Giants uniform, looks to help the Red Sox any way he can in a crowded but banged up infield. Upon receiving news that he had been dealt mid-game, cameras caught Nunez heading to the clubhouse where he exchanged handshakes and hugs with his Giants teammates who he described as his, "family." While Nunez had nothing but kind words to say regarding his time with the Giants, manager Bruce Bochy felt the same way about his now former player and both sides mentioned a possible return to the Giants in the future. The move would come just days after Boston released Pablo Sandoval who would eventually end up signing a Minor League contract to return to the Giants organization.

One chip the Giants were at least hoping to kick the tires on as a possible trade candidate was right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto who has a player option after 2017 and is likely to opt out of his contract. Any possibility of dealing Cueto before the July 31 trade deadline would be halted by an injury he sustained during a July 14 outing in which he exited after only four innings against the Padres. What would be labeled as "hot spots" or blisters in the three middle fingers of his throwing hand would ultimately result in Cueto heading to the disabled-list and down to Class A San Jose where he would pitch a rehab start on the final day of the month. In a season where everything that could go wrong for the Giants pretty much has, Cueto's outing would be added to that list as the former All-Star and team-leader in wins for the Giants a season ago (18-5) pitched just three innings and threw 34 of the targeted 70 pitches before departing the game with tightness in his forearm. Though Cueto will be evaluated in the coming days, it's likely he'll need more time to recover than initially expected before returning to the big club.

With the month of July coming to a close, the Giants who finished the month with 9-wins and 16-losses, currently stand at 40-67 on the season, dead last in the National League West. Though San Francisco has one more win than the Philadelphia Phillies (39-64), they own the worst winning percentage in all of baseball at .374 and are on pace to lose 100 games for only the second time in franchise history (1985). Hoping to finish the season strong and steer clear of that dubious mark of 100-losses will be a tough task, especially considering three of the Giants' first four opponents in August will be the Diamondbacks (60-45), Cubs (56-48) and Nationals (63-41), all of whom are either atop their respected division or leading the Wild Card race (Arizona).


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