Giants Month in Review - April 2016

With Baseball season in full swing and the month of April coming to a close, that's one month in the books already for the San Francisco Giants. Entering the season with high hopes following the acquisitions of two of the most coveted arms in free agency in starting pitchers Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija as well as outfielder Denard Span, Giants fans have had a lot to be excited about. Not to mention it's an even year. And while things got off to a great start for the G-Men, Bruce Bochy's ball club has also had their fair share of letdowns in the opening month of the season.

Opening the season on the road for a three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the newest members on the Giants wasted little time to make his presence felt as Denard Span became the first Giant to record 5 RBI's on Opening Day since a guy named Barry Bonds did it in 2002 against the rival Dodgers. Span sparked a trio of home runs in the eighth inning as Joe Panik and Buster Posey joined him in hitting back to back to back home runs, the first time the Giants had connected for three consecutive home runs in a game since July 20, 2006 when Bonds, Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz did so versus the Padres. Not since 1997 had a team accomplished the feat on Opening Day, however, as the Padres recorded back to back to back jacks against the Mets. San Francisco would go on to win the season-opener by a final of 12-3, the most runs on Opening Day by a Giants team in over 30 years, as Matt Duffy who was in the running for NL Rookie of the Year a season ago, added a homer of his own to bring the Giants within one HR shy of tying an Opening Day franchise mark set back in 1964 against the Milwaukee Braves. The Giants would end up taking 2 of 3 in Milwaukee as they failed to complete the sweep by dropping the series finale.

The Giants would kickoff their Home Opener much like they did the season opener, by scoring 12 runs in a 12-6 win over their bitter rivals -- the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hunter Pence's 8th inning Grand Slam put a damper on L.A's comeback attempt. San Francisco would end up taking three of four against L.A. to improve to 5-2. The Giants would set a franchise record for the most games with a home run to start a season with seven. The streak would continue heading into a 3-game set at Coors Field where the Rockies served the Giants some more home runs to add to their streak, while also handing them a pair of losses as the Giants were only able to win one of three games in Denver. In the lone win against the Rockies, the Giants would get a great outing from newcomer Jeff Samardzija who went 8 strong innings, allowing only 2 runs. Rookie catcher Trevor Brown also shined, hitting a pair of home runs, making him the first Giants rookie to hit home runs in his first three games of the season since Bobby Thompson (1947).

The Giants' streak of consecutive games with a homer to start a season would eventually reach 10 before ending at Dodger Stadium. And just like they did in Colorado, the Giants would drop 2 of 3 in L.A. While the 6-game road trip would come to an end for the Giants, unfortunately, their struggles would continue. With four games against the Arizona Diamondbacks to begin a 10-game home stand, the Giants would fall victim to a rare four-game sweep at home, only the second of its kind since the Giants moved to AT&T Park in 2000. In one of those losses, the Giants met a familiar foe in a different uniform as San Francisco faced off with Zack Greinke who was targeted by the Giants before signing a massive contract with the D-Backs during the offseason. Owning a record of 7-0 in 10 career starts against the Giants entering the meeting, the former Cy Young Award winner who struggled in his first two outings of the year and was tagged with a pair of losses before receiving a no-decision against the Padres, bounced back and continued his dominance against SF. Out-dueling Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, Greinke picked up his first win of the year with a 2-1 victory over the Giants. In the finale, Johnny Cueto had a chance to become the first Giants pitcher since Bill Swift in 1992 to win his first four starts. And while he would allow only 3 runs in the outing against Arizona, he would still be handed the loss as the Diamondbacks completed the sweep, handing the Giants their fifth straight loss and 8 of their last 9.

Looking forward to putting the dreadful AZ series behind them, the Giants welcomed the Miami Marlins who brought with them a familiar face that Giants fans would never forget -- Barry Bonds. Bonds who was hired by Miami skipper Don Mattingly to be the Marlins hitting coach, was welcomed back to AT&T Park with a standing ovation as a video tribute was played on the jumbo screen out in center field. It's possible that Bonds' presence helped wake the Giants bats as they took two of three against the Miami. Finishing the homestand with three games against the San Diego Padres, the Giants would string together their first sweep of the season with a pair of 1-run wins before erupting for 13-runs in the series finale. In game 2 of the three-game set, Johnny Cueto would go the distance to pitch a complete-game shutout, striking out 11 Padres batters and out-dueling James Shields in the 1-0 victory. For Cueto, the win would also be the 100th victory of his career as he became only the 12th Dominican-born pitcher to log 100 career wins. Having gone at least 7 innings in each of his five starts this season, Cueto has fit in quite nicely with his new ball club and seems to be back on track after a disappointing second half to the season after being traded to the Royals in 2015.

With an off-day to travel across the country to visit the New York Mets, the Giants seemed to have left their bats at home as they were greeted by the reigning National League champs with a 13-1 shellacking in the series-opener. Coming off his best outing of the season after three rough starts, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy couldn't get past the third inning as the Mets erupted for a franchise-record 12 runs in the third inning. Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes highlighted the scoring spree with a Grand Slam after Peavy was chased, having allowed 6 runs in the frame himself. The Mets wouldn't need to add anymore runs in the game but they did anyway, answering the Giants' only run (a solo home run from Angel Pagan) in the 7th inning with a run of their own. Hoping to bounce back in Game 2, the Giants put up a better fight in their second go around but saw their starting pitching struggle once again. This time it would be starter Matt Cain who ran into early trouble and was tagged for 4-runs in the first two frames before departing having allowed six runs thru six innings. The Giants would threaten the Mets late in the game as the New York bullpen allowed a pair of runs in the 8th before hanging onto the 6-5 win to closeout the month of April riding an 8-game winning-streak as Cain fell to 0-3 on the year. The Giants will have a chance to salvage the third and final game of the series on Sunday when ace Madison Bumgarner faces Mets fire-baller Noah Syndergaard.

The Giants finished the month of April with a record of 12-13 and remain in a tie for first place of the NL West with the Dodgers who are enduring some struggles of their own having lost six straight. With the highlight of the Giants season thus far belonging to Johnny Cueto who's been nothing short of remarkable in his first five starts with the team, the former All-Star pitcher for the Reds will make his next start on the road in Cincinnati as the Giants continue their current road trip with a stop in the Queen City. The month of May will also see the Giants make trips to Arizona and San Diego for the first time this season before visiting the Braves at Turner Field for the final time as Atlanta plans to open their new stadium in Cobb County in 2017. As for their home games, the Giants will welcome the Rockies, Padres and Cubs as well as a rare visit from the Toronto Blue Jays. GO GIANTS! 


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