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.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
Following their dreadful month of April, the early part of May appeared to be a step in the right direction for the San Francisco Giants as they took two of three on the road against the archrival Dodgers in their first trip to Los Angeles this season. With one of those wins being a 4-3 victory against Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw in the series-opener, a 4-1 win in the rubber-match would help the Giants bookend the series with victories as the Giants claimed only their second series win of the season and their first on the road. The win would also be victory No. 1,800 in the illustrious career of manager Bruce Bochy, allowing him to etch his name into the record books as being only the ninth skipper in Major League history to reach that feat along with three World Series titles. And the other eight before him are all in the Hall of Fame, a place the 62-year old Bochy will likely join them someday.
With many great seasons under his belt, 2017 doesn't appear to be one of them as the rest of the road trip was one Bochy would rather forget about. With three games down along this road trip and six more to go, the Giants would pay a trip to Cincinnati where the Reds swept a three game series in which the Giants were outscored 31 to 5. As if the Giants couldn't wait to get out of the Queen City any faster, the team bus would break down on the way to the airport, adding insult to injury. It would likely be a bad omen of things to come as their next series against the New York Mets wasn't a whole lot better. After dropping the first two games at Citi Field, the Giants headed to the ninth inning in the series finale on the verge of being swept. Trailing 3-2 and set to face one of the league's best closers in Jaurys Familia, the Giants managed to pull a rabbit from their hat, rallying for 4 runs including a bases-clearing double by rookie Christian Arroyo to put the Giants ahead, 6-3. But the Mets wouldn't go down without a fight as the Giants would suffer a scare of their own, giving up a pair of runs before escaping with the 6-5 win. The comeback victory would snap a streak of 134 consecutive losses when trailing heading into the 9th inning.
Finishing the road trip 3-6, it was the first inning that proved to be trouble for the Giants in all six of their games in Cincy and New York which saw Giants starting pitchers allow at least one run in the opening inning, including a pair of 2- run first innings, one 3-run first inning and one 4-run first inning. One guy who didn't wanna leave New York's Citi Field was one Buster Posey who homered in three consecutive games for the third time in his career and the first time since June 2014. A return to AT&T Park for a 7-game homestand against the Reds and Dodgers would begin and end with losses, but would ultimately be a success as the Giants managed to win a pair of series consecutively for the first time in 2017, highlighted by a season-high 5-game winning streak after taking 3 of 4 from the Reds and 2 of 3 from Los Angeles. During their win streak, Giants pitching would allow a total of 11 runs, a night and day difference from the 3-game series at Cincinnati alone. The homestand would also feature the second longest game in AT&T Park history -- a 17-inning marathon that ended on a walk-off blast by Posey to beat the Reds, 3-2. It would be the third walk-off home run of Posey's career and his fourth homer in five games.
San Francisco's winning ways would continue in the first part of their following road trip as the Giants took 2 of 3 from the St. Louis Cardinals. Playing their best ball yet, a 6-4 win to open a 4-game series against the reigning World Champion Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field would give the Giants 9 wins in 12 games. Unfortunately, they would follow that up with four straight losses including each of the next three at Wrigley and the first of three at home against the Braves. Prior to a 2-run homer by outfielder Mac Williamson in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss to the Cubs, the Giants stringed together a streak of 19 consecutive solo home runs, falling two shy of tying their own Major League record set in 2011. After winning the next two games against Atlanta, the Giants would host a 3-game series against the red-hot Washington Nationals who entered the series 30-19 and eight games ahead of first place in the NL East. As if the Giants didn't already have their hands full with one of the top teams in the National League, a benches-clearing brawl some three years in the making would take center stage in the series-opener.
Giants reliever Hunter Strickland who was taken deep not once but twice by Nats outfielder Bryce Harper in the 2014 NLDS where the two exchanged staredowns and a few words as Harper made it back to the dugout, made it very clear that he hadn't forgotten about Harper showing him up, despite the Giants eventually winning that series and going on to win their third World Series title in five years. And in their first meeting since then, Strickland would greet Harper with a 98mph fastball to the hip that Harper took exception to and charged the mound. With both players landing a punch before being separated or in Strickland's case carried off the field against his will by his own teammates, we would be treated to our first "basebrawl" of the 2017 MLB season. The fight would land both players suspensions as Strickland was hit with a 6-game suspension and Harper was hit with a 3-game suspension after having his initial suspension of 4-games reduced. Oddly enough, the two guys that would receive more damage than either Strickland or Harper were Jeff Samardzija and Michael Morse who collided head first when trying to get in between the fracas. While Samardzija would be fine enough to pitch the next game, Morse wouldn't be so lucky as he showed up to the park the following day showing concussion-like symptoms which ultimately landed him on the 7-day disabled-list.
In what's been another rough year for the Giants bullpen, Strickland has been one of the few bright spots and owns a team-leading 1.45 ERA in 22 appearances (18.2 innings pitched). By completing the three-game sweep, Washington would eventually get the last laugh as the Giants fell to 13-16 in the month of May and 22-33 overall. In need of a miracle to help turn things around fast, the Giants are tied for last in the division with the Padres and are dead last in the league in runs score per game. Given their struggles and the unlikelihood that they'll be able to overcome their early slumber, it's worth wondering whether or not the Giants will be sellers at the July 31 trade deadline, something Giants fans have been used to being on the opposite end of since 2009. With such names as All-Star pitcher Johnny Cueto who's eligible to opt out of his contract at the end of the season as well as infielders Joe Panik and Brandon Belt ringing out the top of the list of players who the Giants could certainly field offers for if a playoff contender comes calling, the faces on this Giants ball club could look much different come August if the struggle continues. And with 15 of their next 20 games on the road to kickoff the month of June, let's just hope the team bus can survive without breaking down this time around.
Noteworthy: Matt Cain became the 12th pitcher in Giants franchise history to log 2,000 innings with the club, tying them with the Braves and Cubs for the most pitchers all-time with at least 2,000 innings pitched.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
Dynasty vs Destiny? - For only the second time in MLB history, two Wild Card teams are facing off in the World Series with this one featuring a Kansas City Royals team making their first World Series appearance (let alone their first Postseason appearance) since 1985 versus a San Francisco Giants ball club that has made a habit out of appearing and winning in the Fall Classic in even numbered years dating back to 2010. And with the first two games in the books, the Giants and Royals are both knotted up at a game apiece as the series shifts to the Bay Area for Games 3, 4 and 5.
In Game 1, the red-hot Kansas City Royals who entered the Fall Classic a perfect 8-0 during the Postseason, finally met their match and was handed their first loss as San Francisco's ace Madison Bumgarner continued his October brilliance with yet another gem. Sporting the best road ERA during the Postseason in MLB history at a ridiculous 0.68 rate, besting Bob Gibson's mark of 0.97 ERA, Bumgarner twirled 7 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball while striking out 5 and walking just 1. And although Game 1 saw the first Postseason run allowed on the road by Bumgarner since Game 4 of the 2010 NLDS, the 2014 All-Star witnessed another streak continue as the Giants extended their World Series winning streak to 7 consecutive wins. Before Bumgarner even stepped foot on the pitcher's mound, he was given a 3-run first inning lead as Pablo Sandoval's RBI double and Hunter Pence's 2-run shot gave the Giants an early advantage.
The Giants would add another pair of runs in the 4th inning on a run-scoring single by Michael Morse and a bases loaded walk by Gregor Blanco as San Francisco chased James Shields after just 3+ innings, marking the shortest Postseason outing of his career. But it wouldn't end there for the G-Men offense as rookie second baseman Joe Panik drove in Blanco on an RBI triple followed by a RBI single for Pablo Sandoval just two batters later. The lone bright spot for the Royals offensively would come with 2-outs in the 7th inning as catcher Salvador Perez hit a solo homer, putting an end to Bumgarner's road scoreless-inning streak and the shutout as the Giants easily took Game 1 by a Final of 7-1.
Game 2 - After being handed their first loss of the Postseason in Game 1 and allowing 7 runs, the Royals returned the favor and hung a 7-spot of their own on the Giants in Game 2. But just one batter in, Game 2 looked much like a reoccurring nightmare of Game 1 for the Royals as Gregor Blanco led off the game with a home run off of Kansas City's rookie fire-baller Yordano Ventura. With Blanco's leadoff shot, the Giants became the first team in World Series history to hit 1st inning home runs in Games 1 & 2. However, facing a pitcher in Jake Peavy who the Royals have had plenty of success against over the last few seasons, K.C. would answer with an RBI single off the bat of Billy Butler which tied the game at 1 heading into the second frame. They would eventually take their first lead of the series in the second inning as Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar reached on doubles.
The Giants would eventually tie the game in the fourth inning on doubles by Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt but it would be the last of the offensive fireworks for the G-Men who were unable to get anything going against a lights out Royals bullpen. After scuffling in the opening two frames, Jake Peavy settled in and entered the sixth inning having retired 10 straight batters. But it was there where the Royals would do a majority of the damage as Peavy was chased after 5+ innings, forcing Giants manager Bruce Bochy to burn five different pitchers in the inning, tying a World Series record for the most pitchers used in a single-inning set back in the 1985 Fall Classic which coincidentally featured the Royals. Jean Machi and Hunter Strickland were unable to prevent the Royals from scoring the two men Peavy allowed on base before departing as Billy Butler connected with his second RBI single of the game before Salvador Perez reached on an RBI double. But the biggest blow would be a 2-run homer surrendered by Strickland off the bat of Omar Infante who had gone 145 career postseason at-bats before dialing up his first career postseason homer.
Strickland, yelling at himself in disgust after allowing the home run, got into a war of words with Perez and several of his Royals teammates as the benches briefly cleared with nothing but words being exchanged. Perez had thought Strickland's comments were directed towards him and took it upon himself to yell back as Strickland didn't shy away, but nothing more would come of it. In just 23 batters faced, Strickland has already allowed five long balls this Postseason which ties a single-Postseason record. Unfortunately for the Giants, the Kansas City bullpen would bend but not crack as the Royals evened up the series with a 7-2 win, making this just the second World Series where the first two games were decided by 5 runs or more.
Looking ahead to Game 3 as the series shifts to San Francisco for the next three games, the recipe to success for the Royals this Postseason has been their ability to wreak havoc on the base paths which up to this point has yet to be seen as Giants catcher Buster Posey threw out Alcides Escobar in Game 2 on K.C.'s only steal attempt of the series. Royals skipper Ned Yost will likely return to that strategy in Game 3 as veteran pitcher Tim Hudson toes the slab with one of the better success rates against him when it comes to steals. He'll be making his first ever World Series appearance despite being in the league for 16 seasons and will square off against Jeremy Guthrie who the Royals will turn to in hopes of taking a 2 games to 1 lead. And while Game 1 winners have went on to hoist the Commissioner's Trophy in 10 of the last 11 Fall Classic's and 15 of the last 17, the odds for team's who have went on to win Game 3 after splitting the first two games are even more tilted. And with the Giants returning to AT&T Park in front of their fans, the orange and black like their chances with the position they're in.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
