Looking forward to returning home to AT&T Park where the Giants had done most of their winning this year, Buster Posey and company would begin a 10-game home stand by hosting the visiting St. Louis Cardinals for a four-game series. Even more exciting would be the return of hurler Johnny Cueto who would return to a big league mound for the first time since April 28. But unlike his first five outings of the season as he dazzled to an MLB-best 0.84 ERA, Cueto who had allowed only three runs all year up to that point, would be forced to shake off the cobwebs since his elbow injury and would be welcomed back rather rudely as St. Louis scratched five runs across the board thru the first two innings. It would only get uglier from there as the Giants were trounced by a final of 11-2. After splitting each of the next two games, San Francisco would get a big game from backup third baseman Pablo Sandoval who logged his third career 5 RBI game and first since September 4, 2013, as the Giants pulled away with the 13-8 victory to split the four-game set. Boston fans have got to be scratching their heads as Sandoval who was acquired by the Giants after being released by the Red Sox a year ago, did not have more than 3 RBI in a single game during his 161-game stint in a Boston uniform. Not to mention the team is still paying him.
As soon as the Giants appeared to be righting the ship in time for the All-Star break, they would square off with their bay area rivals -- the Oakland A's. And with a new Battle of the Bay trophy debuting and on the line for the winner of the season series between the two clubs, Game 1 would go to the Giants without any issue by way of a 7-1 final. But with the Athletics entering the series with a 53-41 record on the year, the series would prove to be no easy task as Oakland took each of the next two games to hand San Francisco their first series loss at home since April. Making matters worse, pitcher Jeff Samardzija would be placed on the disabled-list for the second time of the season just before the All-Star break. As for the All-Star Game itself, the Giants would see two of their own named to the Mid-Summer Classic roster as shortstop Brandon Crawford made his second career All-Star appearance after being named a starter for the first time in his career. Crawford would be joined by Buster Posey who although he would elect to sit out from participating in any All-Star festivities while nursing an injured hip, would be named to the All-Star team for the sixth time in his career.
A short two-game trip to Seattle's Safeco Field would see the Giants and Mariners split before the Giants returned home for a four-game series against the playoff hopeful Milwaukee Brewers. After dropping the first two to Milwaukee, the Giants would fall below the .500 mark for the first time in over a month. One guy doing most of the damage for the Brewers was outfielder Christian Yelich who went berserk against Giants pitching by going 9-for-17 in the series with a pair of homers, five RBI and six runs scored. And though he would collect two hits in the series finale, the Giants managed to bypass Yelich's hot hitting and avoid the four-game sweep by salvaging game 4. With the victory, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy logged his 1,906th career victory, helping him surpass Casey Stengel and move into 11th place on baseball's all-time wins list among managers. Oddly enough, Bochy wouldn't even be present as he moved up the list of all-time winningest managers as he was in Cooperstown, New York, attending the Hall of Fame enshrinement for his former player while managing the San Diego Padres -- Trevor Hoffman. Instead, bench coach Hensley Meulens would fill-in for the absent Bochy.
But before the Giants would even touch the field in August, their month would get off to a rocky start as it was confirmed on August 1, that Johnny Cueto would need season-ending Tommy John surgery which he'll undergo on Aug. 2, sidelining him for approximately one year. It would be an unfortunate end to what began as a stellar season for Cueto who looked like the best pitcher in all of baseball before the injury, pitching to the tune of a 3-0 record and 0.84 ERA in five starts. After the injury, Cueto looked like one of the worst, going 0-2 and posting an ERA of 6.86 in the four starts following his return. A day and night difference for the 32-year old Dominican pitcher who team officials were fearing may need to undergo the season-ending procedure before a follow up confirmed it.
San Francisco will have a chance to gain some ground on Arizona as they pay Chase Field a visit for the first time since their sweep at the end of July. However, the D-Backs who have begun playing winning baseball again, having won 7 of their last 10, will look to exact revenge from the recent sweep. Pittsburgh is suddenly right back in the thick of things after pulling off an 11-game winning-streak and are now back in the Wild Card hunt, trailing by 3.5 games. Houston seems to be slumping after showing some ill-effects by playing without their star middle infield as both Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve are on the shelf with injuries, but still have an impressive record of 69-41 despite dropping 6 of their last 10 games. And then there's the Dodgers who will look to showoff their new toy in All-Star third baseman Manny Machado who was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles. August will also feature the number retirement of Barry Bonds when the Giants host Pittsburgh, the team the 7-time MVP burst onto the scene with before becoming baseball's all-time home run leader.
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