Giants Month in Review: May 2018

After closing out the month of April on a four-game winning streak and having won three consecutive series, the San Francisco Giants continued their winning ways into May. With a rubber-match victory over the Padres to take the series and finish the nine-game homestand with a 7-2 record, the Giants took to the road where they would complete their first road sweep of the season by stopping a red-hot Braves team in their tracks, which had won five straight before welcoming the G-Men to town. The Giants made themselves feel right at home by erupting for big innings in each of the first two games of the series, scoring early and often, outscoring Atlanta 20 to 6 with a 9-4 victory and a 11-2 victory before squeaking out a 4-3 win in the series finale and claiming their fifth consecutive series win. But their fun on the road trip would end there as the Giants headed to the City of Brotherly Love where they were embarrassed in four games and were shown no love by the Phillies.

The Fightin' Phils served up an 11-0 shellacking in the series-opener, putting a screeching halt to San Francisco's four-game win streak. And though the margin of victory would decrease in the next three games, the Giants would see the same outcome as they were outscored by Philly 32-8 in the series. The nightmarish series would mark Philadelphia's first four-game sweep of the Giants in Philly in 36 years, dating back to 1982. Thankfully the series-finale, a 6-3 loss, was only seen by fans who logged onto Facebook as the game was not shown on television and limited to only those who use the social media app. Phillies first baseman Carlos Santana who was signed as a free-agent during the offseason, provided a good portion of the offense in the series against the Giants, homering in three of the four games and collecting a whopping 13 RBIs. And as quiet as the Giants were on offense considering the bandbox stadium the Phillies call home, Philadelphia's pitching was exceptionally well, stymieing San Francisco's offense to the tune of a 1.46 ERA in 24 2/3 innings and striking out 40.

Just when the Giants couldn't get out of Philly fast enough, they would have to go from one side of Pennsylvania to the other as their road trip concluded in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. And San Francisco's luck wouldn't be much better there either after being handed an 11-2 beat down in the series-opener. The Giants would drop the first two games of the series before salvaging game 3 with a 5-0 victory on Mother's Day to snap the six-game skid, avoid the sweep and at least closeout the losing road trip (4-6) on a positive note. But the series versus the Pirates will be most remembered for Andrew McCutchen returning to Pittsburgh for the first time since being traded in the offseason after nine memorable seasons in a Bucs uniform. Receiving a standing ovation in each game, it's safe to say McCutchen is still very much loved in the Steel City. Despite the losing road trip, the Giants received a nice jolt on offense from backup second baseman Alen Hanson who filled in quite nicely for the injured Joe Panik, before landing on the disabled-list himself with a hamstring injury. Playing in nine of the ten games on the road before being shelved, Hanson clubbed three homers, drove in nine RBIs and hit .316 for the month of May.

Returning home for seven games, the Giants would play host to the Reds for a three game set, opening with a 10-7 victory. It would be this game that would feature hit No. 1,500 in the career of Andrew McCutchen, this coming a little over a week after Evan Longoria collected his 1,500th career hit, making them the 41st and 42nd players to record their 1,500th career hit while wearing a Giants uniform, the most of any franchise in all of baseball. It would be in this game that the Giants would also tie the mark for the most doubles hit in a game this season, collecting seven two-baggers, a feat that only the Cubs, Blue Jays and Tigers have matched so far in 2018. Another impressive feat would be that of Giants first baseman Brandon Belt who continued to feast off of Cincinnati pitching as he homered in all three games of the series, making it five consecutive games in which Belt has homered against the Reds dating back to May 13, 2007, giving him 12 career long balls versus Cincy, tied for the most he's hit against a single opponent (Arizona the other). His solid series against the Reds would help the Giants take the series two games to one, as well as earn him NL Player of the Week honors as he went 12-for-27 (.444 avg) with 5 HR, 11 RBI and 8 runs scored. For Belt who is on pace for a career year which will hopefully see him eclipse the 18 HR mark which he's reached twice in his career, it would be his second time receiving POTW honors and first since August 11, 2013.

With the Rockies in town for the first time in 2018, the Giants would host Colorado in a four-game series which they would eventually split after dropping each of the first two games. In the series-finale, Giants catcher Buster Posey would log his first triple since September 10, 2016, as the Giants won 9-5. Speaking of rare feats, a two-game trip to Houston to face the reigning World Series Champion Astros would witness a pair of relatives and former College teammates facing off against one another between Giants second baseman Brandon Crawford and Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole. With family in attendance, Cole who is married to Crawford's sister, would serve up a 2-run home run to his brother-in-law as Crawford provided the only offense the Giants would muster up in the series-opener. But Cole would get the last laugh, pitching a gem to get the win and becoming the fastest Astros pitcher to 100 strikeouts by innings pitched (67 IP). That would be all the excitement we would see from the Giants in this series as Houston pulled off the two-game sweep, outscoring SF 15-3.

A trip to the friendly confines to face the Cubs would prove to be not so friendly as San Francisco's woes at Wrigley Field continued. Having lost 9 of their last 11 games on the north side of Chicago entering the series, the Giants would drop two of three to the Cubbies before heading to the Mile High city and losing two of three to the Rockies. Finishing 2-6 on the road trip, the Giants were again able to end their woeful time away from home with a win, avoiding the sweep with a 7-4 victory, just their second win in the last 14 games at Coors Field. In the Colorado series, pitcher Jeff Samardzija who's had a forgetful 2018 season thus far after starting the year on the disabled-list and missing Spring Training, would be pulled from his start against the Rockies after pitching just one inning, allowing a pair of runs. Experiencing tightness in his throwing shoulder, Samardzija who has an ERA of over 6.50 this year and has been placed on the disabled-list, was none too pleased after being shutdown and was seen breaking a bat over his knee in frustration in the Giants dugout. The early exit for Samardzija would call for an appearance by pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. Making his Major League debut, Rodriguez would toss 3.1 innings while also logging his first career hit, an RBI double in the 5th. He would allow 5 hits and a walk, surrendering a run, but also showed potential by collecting 4 K's. Giants third baseman Evan Logoria would log the 18th multi-homer game of his career, going yard twice in a losing effort in Game 2 for the first time since July 17, 2016 when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Despite the sub-part month of May which saw San Francisco finish 11-16, the Giants managed to gain ground in the standings, which puts into perspective just how poor teams like the Diamondbacks and Dodgers have been over the last month. Entering June, the Giants currently trail the division-leading Rockies by four games, a number they hope to shed with the return of ace Madison Bumgarner on the horizon. Expected to make his long awaited season debut in the first week of June, MadBum who has pitched 8 1/3 innings worth of rehab outings, allowing only 3 hits, 1 run and striking out 15 batters. The Giants are hoping the addition of Bumgarner as well as Joe Panik, Hunter Pence and Mark Melancon who've all been on the disabled-list and are also expected to return in early June, will help right the ship in the city by the bay. These familiar faces as well as the hot hitting by guys like Brandon Crawford who hit .412 in the month of May (9 doubles, 4 home runs and 21 RBIs) to help raise his batting average from under .190 to .307 and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez are sure to make manager Bruce Bochy excited moving forward. Hernandez who's been swinging a hot stick and is hitting .300 on the year, has suddenly found some thump in his bat, having launched six home runs this season (five in May) after totaling eight homers combined in his previous four years in the Bigs.

The Giants will begin the month of June with a six-game homestand in which they'll open by hosting the Philadelphia Phillies who San Francisco will look to exact revenge against after being swept in Philly. After welcoming the D-Backs to town, the G-Men will see trips to the nation's capital, Miami and Dodger Stadium before returning home to face the Marlins, Padres and Rockies before finishing the month on the road in the desert.


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