Giants continue to Roll behind Crawford, Gausman

Now 61 games into the Major League Baseball regular season and the San Francisco Giants are still sitting pretty atop the National League Western Division, and quite frankly atop all of baseball as they currently own a league-best record of 38-23 and .623 winning percentage. Expected by most pundits around the game of baseball to have fizzled out by now after their red-hot start in April and May, the Giants have instead managed to turn things up a notch and have actually gotten better as the season has progressed. Even after suffering a walk-off loss on the road at the hands of the Texas Rangers in 11-innings on Wednesday, the Giants still claimed the season-series over the Rangers, three games to 1 and departed the lone star state with a split in a short two-game series, as the G-Men continue to embark on their 6-game road trip with a visit to the nation's capital for a four-game set against the Nats next on their itinerary. 

With a 2-game lead in the division over the archrival Dodgers and a 2.5-game lead over third place San Diego, the Giants have enjoyed their time at the top, but do not plan on relinquishing their position atop that mountain just yet. With a legitimate ace leading their pitching staff in Kevin Gausman, the 30-year old righty who is in his 9th year in the bigs, has proven that last year's surprising success wasn't a fluke as he's done himself one better in 2021. Named NL Pitcher of the Month for May, Gausman is a leading candidate to start the All-Star Game and has made a name for himself as a serious Cy Young contender. Sporting an ERA of 0.62 in 58 innings pitched, 75 strikeouts to just 11 walks and a record of 7-0 in his last 9 starts, the Giants ace ranks among the top 10 in all of baseball in ERA (2nd), Opponents slugging percentage (4th), WHIP (5th), home runs allowed per 9 innings (6th) and Opponents batting average (7th). Another Giant who is enjoying success this year and has made history is Giants longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford. 

The bay area native who grew up rooting for the Giants, now holds his place in Giants lore after passing Hall of Famer Travis Jackson for the most games played at shortstop in franchise history (1,326). On the night of his record-setting feat, Crawford cranked two home runs in San Francisco's 9-4 win over the Rangers on Tuesday, and has already matched his home run numbers from the past five seasons with a team-leading 14 HR on the year, and is currently on pace to surpass his career-high of 21 long balls hit back in 2015. With Crawford's help, the Giants have slugged the third most team home runs in Giants history through 60 games with 88, falling just one shy of their 2001 mark and five short of the 93 home runs in 2000. After being humbled by the Dodgers in their first meeting of the season which saw L.A. take a broom to the orange and black with a three-game sweep at Oracle Park, the G-Men virtually returned the favor by taking three of four and winning three straight at Dodger Stadium. Even more impressive, the Giants have managed to not only stay afloat, but remain at the top with a league-leading 16 players on the Injured List, three more than the next closest team (Seattle Mariners). Even if injuries were to get the best of skipper Gabe Kapler's team and they were unable to maintain a stranglehold on the division over the much more talented rosters of the Padres and Dodgers, there's no reason the Giants shouldn't contend for an NL Wild Card spot at the very least, which would again surpass the expectations of this ball club coming into Spring Training. 

That said, the question on the tip of everyone's tongue becomes whether or not Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi makes the team buyers at the trade deadline. 

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Giants Month in Review: July 2018

Closing out the month of July strong, the Giants kick started August with a win over the rival Diamondbacks to complete their three-game sweep in the desert. Slated to visit the Mile High City to conclude their six-game road trip with a trio of games against the Colorado Rockies, the Giants were hoping to keep that momentum rolling into Denver where the baseball gods have been none too kind lately to the team from San Francisco. Instead, Bruce Bochy's ball club would suffer much of the same fate that has recently hurt them in the past as the Giants were swept after scoring a measly three runs all series, a franchise-worst for a three-game series at the usually hitter-friendly Coors Field where the Giants have now lost 14 of 16 games. It would also mark the lowest output in a three-game series for the Giants since June 12-14, 2015, at Arizona. The series-finale, an 8-1 loss, was only the seventh game in franchise history in which the Giants failed to log a single extra-base hit at Coors Field and the first since May 19, 2013.

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.

Following their series with St. Louis, the Giants would take part in a trade by shipping outfielder Austin Jackson who had been struggling since signing a two-year deal with the Giants in the offseason, as well as relief pitcher Cory Gearrin and Minor League pitcher Jason Bahr to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a player to be named or cash. Continuing their streak of 16 consecutive games without a day off, the Giants would welcome the Cubs for a three-game series as Pandamania continued with a 2-1 walk-off victory in the 11th inning. Pablo Sandoval aka the "Kung-Fu Panda" capped off a pitchers duel between Chicago's Kyle Hendricks and Giants rookie Andrew Suarez, with a bases-loaded, RBI single that plated McCutchen and dismissed Cubs manager Joe Maddon's decision to employee a five-man infield. The Cubbies would get revenge the very next day with a 2-0 shutout victory, but the Giants would get the last laugh with yet another walk-off victory in the rubber-match. Buster Posey would prove to be the hero in the 13th inning as he welcomed rookie pitcher James Norwood who making his MLB debut, would serve the deciding blow as Posey's game-winning knock kicked off the wall in right to seal the 5-4 win. The walk-off would be the fifth of Buster's career and would give the Giants a league-high eight on the year.

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.

With the All-Star break coming to an end, the Giants would see the Battle of the Bay series shift to Oakland where the Giants would once again open the series on top thanks to another strong line from rookie pitcher Dereck Rodriguez who twirled 6.1 innings of 3-hit ball, allowing only one run in the Giants' 5-1 triumph. Game 2, however, which featured a record crowd of 56,310 fans in attendance, the largest crowd to ever witness a baseball game at the Oakland Coliseum and the largest crowd in MLB this season, would tilt in the Athletics favor. After getting the win in Game 1 of the series in San Francisco, Madison Bumgarner would see better days on the mound than the performance he put together in the rematch as he walked a career-high six batters, including two with the bases loaded. He would see his MLB-best streak of 89 consecutive outings of at least 5 innings pitched come to an end as MadBum was pulled after failing to get thru the fifth inning. And though the Giants would rally in the ninth inning to send the game into extras, they would eventually lose in 11 innings. Oakland would ultimately take the series, claiming 2 of 3 games with a 10-inning thriller in the finale.

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.

Speaking of the Padres, the Giants would pay a visit to sunny San Diego for a short two-game meeting with the Friars to closeout the month of July. Having been a thorn in the side of the Giants for the past several seasons, Bochy's club was able to solve the Padres at least this time around as they completed the two-game sweep with consecutive extra-inning wins. And though they would finish July by going 11-14, they did end the month strong and managed to stay within striking distance in the division by bringing their winning-streak to three games and currently stand 55-54, 5 games behind the first place Diamondbacks. With the July 31 trade deadline approaching, the Giants were on both sides of the fence as potential buyers and sellers as team brass claimed they were buyers, but rumors began to swirl of a possible trade involving outfielder Andrew McCutchen. Instead, the Giants decided not to make any deadline moves.

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.

Madison Bumgarner will kick things off in August when the Giants pay a visit to Arizona for a three-game series versus the Diamondbacks as the Giants ace enters the game needing only one win to notch the 109th victory of his career which would tie him with 2-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum for fourth most in the franchises SF era as he already holds the Giants record for most career wins among lefties after moving past Kirk Rueter with his win over the Cardinals on July 8. He would pass Woody with ease, needing 39 fewer starts to leap the fan favorite who spent a decade in the Giants rotation. The series versus Arizona will kick start a streak of four consecutive series against teams either leading their respected divisions or with playoff aspirations, including the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers.

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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Giants Month in Review: June 2018

Finishing five games under .500 for the month of May and entering June with a record of 26-30 overall, the Giants were more than excited to turn the calendar to June for obvious reasons as it meant the return of the team's ace -- Madison Bumgarner. But before MadBum would make his season debut and return to the big leagues for the first time since suffering a broken pinky-finger in his final spring training outing, the Giants would exact revenge on a Philadelphia Phillies team that had embarrassed them less than a month earlier on the road. After being swept by the Phillies in four games, the Giants returned the favor by completing a three-game sweep of Philadelphia at AT&T Park, logging back to back shutout victories to kickoff the month of June and outscoring the opposition 12-1 in the series as rookie pitcher Dereck Rodriguez notched his first career win in the series finale.

Hosting the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks for the next three games, the Giants would claim two of three as San Francisco finished the homestand with a record of 5-1. The lone defeat would be handed to Madison Bumgarner who in his season debut logged 6 innings in which he gave up two runs while walking none and striking out three. And while it would take him a few outings to shake off the cobwebs, it wouldn't be long before he began to resemble the Bumgarner of old by mowing down batters with strikeouts and putting up zeroes. Another highlight of the series would be that of Buster Posey who moved into 8th place on the Giants' all-time RBI list as he surpassed J.T. Snow with a 2-run double in Game 1 of the series vs Arizona for career RBI's 716 and 717, helping SF string together a season-best five-game winning-streak. Hitting the road for a 10-game road trip, the Giants' first stop along their journey would be in the nation's capital as the Giants took two of three from the Washington Nationals, including a 2-0 victory in the series-finale as Derek Holland out-dueled Max Scherzer. Shortstop Brandon Crawford who was hitting a league-best batting average of .439 since May 1 up to this point, provided all of the offense and fell a triple shy of the cycle, collecting four of San Francisco's five total hits to help the Giants claim the rubber-match as well as their first series victory at Nationals Park since 2010.

The loss by Scherzer would also end a streak of wins in nine straight decisions for the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. We also finally saw the rematch between Giants reliever Hunter Strickland and Nats outfielder Bryce Harper, facing each other for the first time since their benches-clearing brawl a season ago. As expected, the rematch would be a lot less eventful as Strickland got Harper to hit a harmless ground out to second base, hopefully squashing their beef once and for all. But just as things were looking up for the G-Men, winners of 8 of their last 10, an ugly four-game series in Miami would be one Giants fans would prefer to forget. After dropping the first three games to the worst team in the National League, the Giants would avoid being swept by the last-place Marlins by salvaging the series-finale with a win in extra-innings as the two played on into a 16-inning marathon. Though the Giants would go on to win it by a final score of 6-3, they would lose their third baseman in the process as Evan Longoria took a pitch off his left hand that resulted in a fractured finger. The injury would require surgery and sideline the Giants third baseman for 6 to 8 weeks. It would also be in this series that Bumgarner would be ejected for the first time in his career after having some choice words for the home plate umpire as he exited his second outing of the season having allowed four earned runs in 5.1 innings.

Heading to Dodger Stadium for a three-game set against the arch-rival Dodgers, the Giants would drop the first two games before again avoiding the sweep and claiming a 4-1 victory in the series-finale on Father's Day, marking the first time in 12 games that the Giants would score more than two runs at Chavez Ravine. Returning home and hoping to build upon the win while also getting back at the visiting Marlins who nearly handed the Giants a four-game sweep, San Francisco would suffer their most disappointing loss of the season yet. After appearing to have solved Miami, the Giants took a 4-2 lead into the ninth inning before manager Bruce Bochy handed the ball off to closer Hunter Strickland who would suffer a meltdown both on and off the field as he failed to get the job done, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in just 1/3 of an inning. The Giants would go on to lose the game, 5-4, and even worse, lost Strickland to injury as he punched a door in frustration, suffering a broken hand that would keep him shelved for 6 to 8 weeks. The heartbreaking loss would be a first for the Giants this season when leading after 8 innings as they were a perfect 31-0 entering the game. But they would manage to rebound and take the series over Miami by winning the next two.

A three-game series against the Padres would be kicked-off by a stellar outing from Madison Bumgarner who resembled the Bumgarner of old as he threw 8 shutout frames of three-hit baseball and struck out 8 in a 3-0 Giants victory, earning his first win of 2018. After splitting the next two games with San Diego, the Giants pulled off a come-from-behind victory in extras to take the series, three games to one. Falling behind 2-1 to the Padres in the 11th inning, it was the struggling Hunter Pence who proved to be the hero with a walk-off 2-run double to ascend the Giants over San Diego, 3-2. Next on the home stand for San Francisco would be the Colorado Rockies who entered the series hoping to be the first team to hand the Giants a series loss at AT&T Park since April, a streak of nine series victories and one tie. Instead, they would be just another statistic as the Giants won each of the first two games before failing to sweep and losing a wild one in the series-finale as the Rockies rallied in the ninth inning of a 9-8 final, snapping SF's five-game win-streak. In the second game of the series, MadBum logged another 7 shutout innings in which he gave up just two hits and walked a pair while totaling another 8 punch outs to bring his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 16. Failing to receive any run support against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland who was also dealing (7 IP, 4 Hits, 1 Walk), Bumgarner received a no-decision but saw his team win as Brandon Crawford sent a solo homer deep into the night as the Giants walked-off with the 1-0 victory.

Finishing 7-3 on the home stand, the Giants would closeout the month of June on the road in the desert against the first-place Diamondbacks whom they would continue their winning ways against by sweeping Arizona in three-games. The series victory would be San Francisco's fourth straight, making them the hottest team in the National League, having won 8 of their last 10 games. Overall, the Giants finished the month of June with 18-wins and 10-losses, gaining 1 1/2 games in the standings as they enter July with a record of 45-40, tied with the Dodgers for second-place, 2.5 games behind the D-Backs. And though their team batting average took a dip from .260 in April-May to .242 in June, their runs per game saw a slight increase from 4.1 to 4.2. However, the team's biggest improvement was that of the pitching staff as their ERA dropped from 4.62 April-May to 2.70, the lowest ERA in the month of June for a Giants team since 1964. That number was aided in large part thanks to a pair of rookies as Andrew Suarez (2-0, 2.62) and Dereck Rodriguez (3-1, 3.21) have both stepped up and answered the call in place of the injured Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. The young duo along with Chris Stratton (2-2, 3.55 ERA in June) figure to make for a tough decision for skipper Bruce Bochy on who to keep in the rotation and on the big league roster when Cueto and Samardzija return from the disabled-list.

The Giants will being July on the road in Denver as they look to continue their winning ways with Bumgarner on the mound. It'll be MadBum's first trip to Colorado with the team since a dirt-biking accident cost him two months on the disabled-list a season ago. Following the 3-game series in the Mile High City, the Giants will kickoff a 10-game home stand before the All-Star break. And with both Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey leading their respective positions in NL All-Star votes, the 2018 All-Star Game is one Giants fans won't want to miss.

Noteworthy: One other Giants highlight in the month of June was the MLB Draft as the Giants held the 2nd overall pick which they would use to select catcher Joey Bart out of Georgia Tech. Owning a top 5 pick for only the fifth time in franchise history, it would mark only the second time the Giants have ever had the 2nd overall selection and first since the 1985 MLB Draft when they selected as Will Clark out of Mississippi State University. Having been compared to their very own Buster Posey, San Francisco took the best player available and are hoping to have their catcher of the future after making Bart the highest draft pick ever selected out of Georgia Tech, eclipsing Kevin Brown who was selected 4th overall by the Texas Rangers in 1986.


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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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Giants Finish Nightmarish 2017 Hopeful for 2018

At last, the torture that has been the San Francisco Giants' 2017 season has finally come to an end. Finishing the month of September as well as the final game of the season on October 1 with a record of 11-15, skipper Bruce Bochy saw his underachieving ball club fall to 64-98 on the year, some 40 games behind the first place Dodgers as they failed to log a single winning month all year. And though they were able to avoid the dubious 100-loss mark, the Giants still finished last in the National League West and finished tied with the Detroit Tigers for the worst overall record in all of baseball. But as forgettable as the season might have been while the negatives far outweighed the positives, there were plenty of heartfelt moments down the stretch including the retirements of two fan favorites and Giants postseason heroes -- Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong.

Despite not appearing for the Giants since 2015 and most recently playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates a season ago, 40-year old right-handed pitcher Ryan Vogelsong was signed to a one-day contract to officially retire as a Giant as he suited up one final time in a Giants uniform and was honored by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a 7-2 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Having played seven of his twelve Major League seasons with the same organization that drafted him in 1998, Vogelsong is best remembered for his breakthrough season in 2011 which saw him make the National League All-Star team as well as his postseason contributions most notably in 2012 when his 1.09 ERA in four starts helped the Giants win the World Series that year before helping them win it again in 2014.

As for Cain, the Giants saw their longest tenured player call it quits after 13 seasons in San Francisco, the longest for any player to remain exclusively with the franchise since moving from New York in 1958. Appropriately nicknamed "the horse", Cain, the owner of the only perfect game thrown in Giants franchise history, was integral in both championship runs in 2010 and 2012 before a mid-season injury in 2014 kept him out of action for the 2014 World Series. Ironically, the 34-year old righty would be, "Cained" one final time after tossing five shutout innings in his final start, a term appropriately used by Giants fans when a pitcher receives little to no run support during a well pitched game. With Cain departing with a 1-0 lead thru 5 innings, the Giants bullpen gave up the tying run in the following frame and then two more runs in the 9th inning to blow a 2-1 lead and eventually fall to the Padres, 3-2, giving Cain yet another no-decision. Finishing his career with an ERA of 3.68 and an overall record of 104 wins and 118 losses, few pitchers have suffered luck as bad as Cainer who should easily have 30 or so more career wins than losses as 109 of his 331 career starts have led to no-decisions. And like Vogelsong, Cain would exit to a thunderous ovation and hugs from his manager and teammates upon exiting the game.

Another starting pitcher who the Giants are hoping can mold into the next Matt Cain is former first-round pick Chris Stratton who emerged as one of the more surprising players for the Giants in 2017 and made his first career start in 2016 while filling in for an injured Matt Cain. The 27-year old righty is expected to at least be considered for San Francisco's fifth spot in the rotation next season barring any changes to the roster heading into the offseason after boasting a 4-4 record and an ERA of 3.68 in 10 starts. One question mark that rotation will face heading into 2018 will be whether or not it'll still feature starter Johnny Cueto who can opt out of the six-year, $130 Million contract he signed before last season. But after finishing 2017 with an 8-8 record and an ERA north of 4.50, a down year statistically to Cueto's standards, it's unlikely he'll find a better deal on the market than what he has on the table with the Giants. Giants brass hopes Cueto will join a 2018 rotation that will also feature ace Madison Bumgarner, Matt Moore who's 2018 team-option was picked up a week ago and strikeout specialist Jeff Samardizja.

Though Samardzija wouldn't necessarily finish his 2017 campaign the way he would've liked (9-15, 4.42 ERA), Shark did manage to register 207.2 innings pitched as well as 205 strikeouts and only 32 walks, the best strikeout to walk ratio in Giants franchise history at 6.41, besting than the previous mark of 6.17 shared by two Hall of Fame pitchers -- Christy Mathewson (1908) and Juan Marichal (1966). It would mark the second most strikeouts in a single season for Samardzija and third time he's finished above the 200 K plateau. Another impressive feat would be one accomplished by second baseman Joe Panik who dazzled in the month of September with a .375 batting average. During a three-game road trip in Denver, Panik would put on a show against the Rockies, collecting 12-hits in the series to set a franchise-record. Panik's historic series of going 12-for-15 (.800 avg) with 3 doubles, a home run, 5 RBI and an OPS of 2.000 helped increase his batting average to .288 on the year and also helped the Giants secure an 11-3 victory in the series-finale that snapped a 10-game losing streak at Coors Field. The Giants would face the Rockies just two weeks later in San Francisco where they would win both games to complete the short 2-game sweep while also stringing together their first 3-game winning streak since June 30-July 2.

Madison Bumgarner who put a damper on San Francisco's season early on after a dirt-biking accident led to the Giants ace spending nearly three months on the disabled-list, had his worst month of the season statistically due to a pair of sub-par starts in which he gave up 11 earned runs in 11 innings. However, after losing four straight decisions for the first time in his career, Bumgarner bounced back with consecutive solid starts including a gem in his final outing of the year to beat the Dodgers, 2-1 and finishing 4-9 on the year with an ERA of 3.32. But it would be MadBum's battery mate who had the best overall season for the Giants as Buster Posey led the club in batting average and finished tied for fourth in the National League and sixth overall with a .320 batting average. It would be the fifth season batting over .300 for Posey who shook off an early concussion after taking a pitch to the head in the Giants home-opener as the former NL MVP once again managed to put up solid numbers that helped him secure the starting nod in July's All-Star Game. A few other team leaders on offense included Brandon Crawford who led the team in RBI's for a second straight year with 77, Brandon Belt who had a team-high 18 home runs despite missing the final month and a half with a concussion and Eduardo Nunez who stole 18 bases with the Giants before being traded to Boston at July's trade deadline.

The power-less Giants once again finished at the bottom of the pack in home runs, slugging a league-low 128 long balls, 23 behind the next closest team (Pittsburgh Pirates). Oddly enough, the final at-bat of the season for the Giants would be a walk-off home run by Pablo Sandoval who's solo shot in the 9th inning of the season-finale gave the Giants a 5-4 victory over the Padres. But as joyful as the moment was, it was received with mixed reviews in the baseball world as the win surrendered the first overall pick in next year's MLB Draft to the Detroit Tigers, meaning the Giants will select second. Take it as you want it, it was a nice reminder of what its like to win a game, something the Giants did very little of in 2017 and something they hope to improve on heading into 2018. In need of bullpen help which is expecting a bounce back year from a healthy Mark Melancon and contributions from Wil Smith who was plagued by injury and lost for the season during Spring Training as well as an outfield power presence in the lineup, the Giants may be one of the more active teams come December's winter meetings.


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Giants Month in Review - August 2016

If the month of July was a bad dream for the San Francisco Giants who saw their division lead in the NL West drop to as low as 1-game, August was a nightmare with Buster Posey's head-first slide (shown above) being the lasting image of another disappointing month. Beginning the month by losing four of their first five series to the tone of a 5-10 record, the Giants' free-fall continued as August 16 saw the G-Men fall out of first place for the first time since the month of May. With the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers playing some of their best ball of the year despite being without their best player in ace Clayton Kershaw and the Giants doing the exact opposite, San Francisco would watch L.A. leap-frog them in the standings by as many as 3 games.

After a sluggish 9-game road trip in which the Giants lost back to back series in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. by dropping two of three before turning the tables in Miami to take two of three against the Marlins, San Francisco returned home where they would lose seven of ten. A heart-wrenching loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the series-finale which the Giants were 1-out away from winning, coupled with a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates left a sour taste in the mouth of Giants fans. And though they would take the first two games at home against the reigning National League champion New York Mets, they would drop the next two to split the 4-game series. Even considering their month-long struggle, the Giants remained in striking distance of rival L.A. and had themselves a golden opportunity to recapture first place with a date with the Dodgers. Unfortunately, Bruce Bochy's ball club would fail to show up to yet another series as they dropped the first two games before salvaging the series-finale thanks to a career night from the newly acquired Matt Moore who came within one out of becoming the first Giants pitcher to no-hit the Dodgers in over 100 years.

Needing one more out to etch his name into the record books, Dodgers rookie Corey Seager fought off a 2-out single to end Moore's near perfect night as the Giants completed the 4-0 victory. Though Moore would fall just short, one Giants pitcher who did make history was All-Star Madison Bumgarner who recorded his 200th strikeout of the season against the Dodgers, joining some elite company (Christy Mathewson, Amos Rusie, Juan Marichal and former teammate Tim Lincecum) with his third consecutive 200 strikeout season and becoming the first left-hander in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

Following the brief three-game trip to L.A., the Giants returned home to AT&T Park for five games where they would play host to the lowly Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks. After taking two of three against the Braves including a 13-4 shellacking in which the Giants matched a franchise-record (SF-era) with four triples in the same game which would also witness second baseman Joe Panik log his first career multi-home run game, San Francisco split the two-game set with the D-Backs, thanks to another strong outing from Matt Moore to closeout the month. With an 11-16 record in August, the Giants currently sit 1.5 games behind first place with an overall record of 72-60. And unless they wake up fast, the Giants could see the window of opportunity close as their first match-up of September will be no easy task when they hit the north side of Chicago for a four-game meeting with the Cubs who own the best record in all of baseball at 85-47. And with a 3-game stop at Colorado's Coors Field to follow, the first week of September will be challenging to say the least. With six games against the Dodgers remaining on the schedule, including four in September, the Giants have ample time and a fair chance to catch up and surpass L.A. in the standings, but not if Buster Posey and company continue to slump at the plate like they have been. With a slight edge over the St. Louis Cardinals for the first of two NL Wild Card spots, the Giants will need to finish September strong if they plan to maintain a playoff spot and continue their even year streak of being World Series champions.

Noteworthy: One of the brighter highlights in the month of August was the 7-hit performance by Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford who collected seven base knocks, including a go-ahead knock in the 14th inning of an 8-7 win over the Marlins. Crawford tied an all-time single-game National League record with seven hits in eight at-bats and has continued to be one of the better run-producers for the Giants, leading the team by more than 10 RBI's. With his 7-hit performance, Crawford joins the rare company of Rennie Stennett (1975) and Wilbert Robinson (1892) as the only players in the history of the National League to connect for seven hits in a single ball game. 


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Giants turn to New Trio for 2016 Success

With the temperatures starting to heat up and baseball's Spring Training officially underway, it's time to dust off those ball caps and mark our calendars for Opening Day. And with it being another even year, who could be more excited for baseball than Giants fans? In what he's calling possibly the greatest starting rotation assembled during his tenure with the ball club, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy has to like his team's chances at making it yet another successful even numbered year.

With pitching being the formula in all three of the Giants' World Series runs, the team's front-office once again focused on making starting pitching a priority over the offseason. While it was the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks who won the sweepstakes for the top free-agent on the market in Zack Greinke, the Giants went with the adage that two is better than one, signing two of the top five pitchers available in righties Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto. Samardzija was first to land with the G-Men after their failed attempt to add Greinke, making the former star receiver for the Notre Dame football team seem like a consolation prize, agreeing to a 5-year, $90 Million dollar deal. He would be joined by the coveted arm of Johnny Cueto just days later, who inked a 6-year, $130 Million dollar contract. The tandem of Cueto and Samardzija helps stabilize a Giants pitching staff that outside of ace Madison Bumgarner and rookie Chris Heston who showed flashes of brilliance, struggled mightily all season in 2015.

Samardzija struggled in his first full season in the American League last year while with the Chicago White Sox where he finished with an 11-13 record and an ERA of 4.96 in 32 starts. Having coined the nickname "Shark", AL hitters took a bite out of Samardzija in 2015 as he surrendered a league-high 29 home runs and allowed the most hits (228) and earned runs (118). All of which are numbers Samardzija should definitely rebound from in 2016 by simply playing his home games at the pitcher-friendly confines of AT&T Park alone. Not to mention he'll have one of the better pitch-framing catchers behind the dish in Buster Posey and a much improved defense fielding behind him to go along with the teachings of veteran pitching coach Dave Righetti. Since making the switch from a reliever to a starter in 2012, the 31-year old Samardzija has tossed the 10th-most innings in baseball with 822 and is one of only three pitchers to log at least 210 innings in each of his last three seasons, joining Max Scherzer and R.A. Dickey.

As for Cueto who turned down a deal worth a reported 6-year, $120 Million from the Diamondbacks earlier in the off-season which resulted in them breaking the bank for Greinke, the Dominican-born hurler lands with another team quite familiar with winning championships after helping the Kansas City Royals claim their first World Series title in over 30 years. The Giants are just happy he's on the same squad now as Cueto joins a team he's dominated throughout his career, having posted a 3-1 record and an ERA of 2.08 in six regular season starts against them. Also, his 1.69 ERA at AT&T Park is the best of any ballpark in which he's made multiple starts. Cueto's 2015 campaign was a tale of two halves which ultimately ended in him winning a World Series ring. After enduring a tremendous first half of the season with the Cincinnati Reds before landing in Kansas City at the trade deadline where he saw small sample sizes of success but mainly struggled and was unable to duplicate the kind of production and effectiveness he had in Cincy, Cueto came through and delivered when it mattered most -- during the postseason.

Boasting a career record of 96-70 with a 3.30 ERA, Cueto has done especially well against NL West opponents, having posted a stellar 2.87 ERA against them. Since 2010, Cueto's ERA of 2.87 ranks third among MLB starters who've pitched a minimum of 900 innings, behind only Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright. The Giants will hope to see more of the Johnny Cueto that dominated the first half of 2015 but know they've got another workhorse on their hands as he trails only David Price and his new teammate Madison Bumgarner in innings pitched over the past two seasons with a whopping 480 2/3 innings (regular and postseason) to his credit. While the Giants became the first team in MLB history to sign two pitchers to free-agent contracts worth at least $90 Million in the same offseason, they also made a non-pitcher signing that fans are equally as excited about. Serving as the icing on the cake, the Giants put the finishing touches on their busy offseason with the acquisition of outfielder Denard Span who agreed to a 3-year, $31 Million dollar pact.

A true lead-off hitter who puts the ball in play and seldom strikes out, Span is coming off a 2015 season plagued by various injuries, most notably a hip ailment which required surgery and limited him to just 61 games. When healthy, however, Span has proven just how valuable he can be, both at the plate and in the field, having become a fixture on the highlight reel by making spectacular plays with his glove and even leading the National League in hits in 2014 with 184. Expected to shift to left field when not manning center field in place of fellow outfielder Angel Pagan who's been battling injuries of his own over the past several seasons, he should fit right at home with his newest ball club. A healthy season from Span who will now patrol the vast outfield of AT&T Park and even better -- hit in a yard that has plenty of gaps and dimensions that could cater nicely to his hitting ability (he's led each the AL in 2009 and NL in 2013 in triples), could play a vital role in San Francisco's 2016 success. Despite finishing 84-78 in 2015, eight games behind the division-winning L.A. Dodgers, the Giants did finish the year with a +69 run differential and were tops in the NL in batting average, thanks in large part to their All-Star shortstop Brandon Crawford. After slugging a team-high 21 home runs a season ago and winning a Gold Glove Award, the Giants rewarded their homegrown shortstop to a six-year, $75 Million dollar contract extension for the cherry on top of what was a successful offseason for the team that plays in the city by the bay.


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Giants have their way in Pittsburgh, Prepare to face Nats

Playing in their first ever 1-game Wild Card match that MLB introduced just a season ago, the San Francisco Giants did just fine their first time around thanks to a masterful performance by their ace and a little bit of offense that hammered out eight runs. In Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates who also hosted and won last year's NL Wild Card game versus the Cincinnati Reds, Madison Bumgarner made himself at home like he's done so often this season, twirling a gem for the ages. Despite the raucous crowd that got under the skin and into the head of Cincy's Johnny Cueto last season on the same exact stage, the hostile environment couldn't faze Bumgarner, nor could the do-or-die circumstance that the Giants have now thrived in, winning seven consecutive elimination games. MadBum, an 18-game winner during the regular season who was named NL Pitcher of the Month on two separate occasions this year, was on another level on Wednesday night, pitching a complete-game shutout, allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 10 on just 109 pitches.

Pittsburgh's Edison Volquez who entered the Postseason on a tear of his own having pitched 19 consecutive scoreless innings, had matched Bumgarner through the first three innings, but the fourth inning would be a different story. After allowing singles to Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt drew a walk to load the bases for Brandon Crawford. Still seeking the first out of the inning, Volquez threw a 1-2 hanger that Crawford jumped on, sending it into the first row of the right field bleachers for a Grand Slam home run, silencing the record-setting crowd of 40,629 fans and becoming the first shortstop to hit a Postseason Grand Slam in MLB history. The 4-run dinger would be all the offense Bumgarner needed but his team supplied him  with another four runs just for good measure as the Giants popped champagne for the second time in a week in route to their dominant 8-0 victory. 

As if the Grand Slam copped with Bumgarner's brilliance didn't already knock the Pirates out of their misery, the Giants tacked on runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to put the game out of reach. Brandon Belt added an RBI knock in the sixth and followed it up with a 2-run single an inning later before Buster Posey added an RBI single of his own in the eighth. Both Belt and Posey finished the game with 2-hits as did Pablo Sandoval, meanwhile second baseman Joe Panik led the way with three hits, all singles. Despite heading into the game with a pitching heavy roster that didn't include the name of Michael Morse, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy's bullpen was given an extra night off thanks to the dominance of his starter which could pay dividends heading into the National League Division Series versus the Washington Nationals which is expected to be nothing short of a battle. Though the Nats have yet to announce who they'll throw out there on the pitching mound for Game 1, Bruce Bochy's ball club will turn to starter Jake Peavy who has pitched nicely as of late and has quietly been one of if not the best trade deadline acquisitions of the season. 

While the Nats have had the Giants' number the last few seasons, especially while at home, the Postseason is a completely different animal and is one the Giants have been able to tame, meanwhile the Nats are still searching for their first bit of Postseason success since relocating from Montreal to the nation's capital. 

A brief Month in Review for September - The Giants' trip to the NLDS almost wasn't possible at all but a 13-12 record in the month of September allowed the G-Men to sneak into Postseason as the last NL club to clinch a playoff spot with an overall record of 88-74. After dropping two of three on the road vs Colorado, the Giants bounced back by taking 2 of 3 in Detroit. They then returned home to sweep the D-Backs before losing 2 of 3 to the Dodgers in San Francisco. Then came a disappointing 3-6 road trip which saw the Giants take 2 of 3 in Arizona before being swept in San Diego and falling twice in a 3-game set vs L.A. The Giants were able to close out the regular season on a positive note, however, taking 3 of 4 from the Padres at AT&T Park where the Giants will now be guaranteed to play at least one more game in front of their home fans when they head there in Game 3. The only question is, will it be while holding a lead in the series, tied, or while trailing? #OrangeOctober

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