Entering the month of May in a tie with the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in NL Western division, the San Francisco Giants managed to separate themselves from their division foes by catching fire and winning an MLB-best 21-games in May. With temperatures starting to heat up across the country, so has the Giants pitching staff, led by ace Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. And though the Giants finished off the month of May strong, they did struggle early on before leap-frogging their way up the power rankings.
After salvaging the third and final game of a three-game series against the reigning NL Champion New York Mets to begin the month, the Giants took two of three on the road in Cincinnati, including a Game 1 match-up which featured Giants newcomer Johnny Cueto toeing off against his former ball club. Though he wouldn't get the win and would be touched up for a season-high 6 earned runs in the outing, the Giants reigned victorious, 9-6. Next up, San Francisco would return home for a 4-game set against the Colorado Rockies where they would receive a rude awakening. A week after allowing the Mets to pile on a franchise-record 12 runs in a single inning, Giants pitching would be snake bitten for a second time as the Rockies set a club record by scoring 13 runs in a single inning. Colorado would go on to pummel the Giants, 17-7, tying a record for the most runs scored by an opposing team in the 17-year history of AT&T Park. Ultimately splitting the four-game series against the Rockies, the Toronto Blue Jays were next in line to pay the Giants a visit, taking the first two games before dropping the series finale as the Giants won in walk-off fashion thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Buster Posey in the 13th inning.
The walk-off win would be the start of an 8-game winning-streak for San Francisco as they pulled off back to back road sweeps against the Arizona Diamondbacks (4-games) and San Diego Padres (3-games), as the Giants completed their first undefeated road trip of 7 games or more since 1913. Also, the 4-game sweep of the D-Backs would be the first by the Giants in Arizona since 2010. In the first two games in San Diego, Bumgarner and Cueto registered back to back complete games with each pitcher allowing only one run. It would mark the first time the Giants have had consecutive complete-game wins by starting pitchers versus the same opponent since August of 1995 (Mark Leiter & Terry Mulholland). Following their successful road trip, the Giants would return home to face off against the Chicago Cubs and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrietta who had not lost an outing in over 20 consecutive starts. And while the Giants were unable to find an answer for Chicago's ace as San Francisco had their 8-game winning streak snapped, they did bounce back by taking the series victory, winning two of three before pulling off another three-game sweep of the Padres. During their 8-game win-streak, the Giants never scored more than 5 runs as the starting rotation carried the load by logging a 1.34 ERA in 60 2/3 innings and limiting opposing hitters to a .189 batting average.
After struggling for much of the season and looking like a ghost of his former self, former ace and workhorse Matt Cain finally began to turn the corner and find his groove after stringing together three straight solid starts as he logged both his first win in nearly a year (6 innings, 1 earned run against the Cubs), ending a dry spell of 8 straight losing decisions, the longest streak by a Giants pitcher in three years, and his first hit in over two years (a 2-run double off of Jon Lester). But just when the Giants began getting steady production and gaining faith in their fifth starter, Cain was forced to hit the 15-day disabled-list after straining his hamstring in the second inning of a road outing against the Rockies which resulted in him being replaced in the rotation by rookie Albert Suarez. The Giants would eventually go on to lose the game before taking the next two in Denver, including a 10-5 victory in the second game of the series in which Buster Posey connected for a pair of 3-run home runs to tie a personal-best 6 RBI. The Giants rallied from a 5-4 deficit in the 8th by scoring six runs on eight hits in the frame, the most hits in a single inning by the Giants since August of 2012 against the Padres. The sizzling offense would continue on into the following day for the Giants as they tallied 8 doubles in the series finale, matching the most two-baggers in a game during the San Francisco era as they went on to win, 8-3.
With the month of May coming to a close, the Giants would make their final trip to Atlanta's Turner Field to take on the Braves who will be playing their home games in a new ballpark located in Cobb County come 2017. After dropping the first of four games by a final of 5-3, the Giants answered with a 4-0 shutout victory in a game started by pitcher Jake Peavy who celebrated his 35th birthday by tossing 7-shutout innings of 1-hit ball before the bullpen did the rest. Peavy and company held the Braves to just one hit for only the fifth time since Turner Field opened in 1997. As for the offense, Peavy also collected a hit and scored on an RBI triple by outfielder Denard Span who tallied three hits in the win and is beginning to heat up, having collected hits in 10 of his last 23 at-bats. The Giants finished the month of May winning 16 of their last 19 games while posting an overall record of 21-8 and are now 12 games over the .500 mark, having already surpassed their season-high of 11 games over .500 a season ago. Bruce Bochy's ball club currently stands 4.5 games above the Dodgers for first place at 33-21 on the year, good enough for the second best record in the National League behind only the Chicago Cubs (35-15) and third overall after the Boston Red Sox (32-20).
Highlighting San Francisco's dominance in May was the efforts by the Giants pitching staff led by Bumgarner who went 4-0 with an ERA of 1.05. But it would be Cueto who amassed an ERA of 2.08 in May and was awarded NL Player of the Week honors for the second time of his career and his first since August of 2014 after allowing only 1 earned run and 8 hits in his 15 innings of work against the Padres and Rockies. With only two complete games in all of last season, Cueto has already surpassed that total with three this year. His dominance against division foes has been exceptionally well as his 2.35 career ERA against Colorado is the lowest among active pitchers with at least 10 starts against the Rockies. And then there's the three straight complete games he's tossed against the Padres this season, a feat that hasn't been done in a single-season since Felix Hernandez did it against New York Yankees in 2009. Samardzija also finished with a strong month of May despite a hiccup in his last outing in Atlanta, compiling an ERA of 2.08 in six May outings. Cain and Peavy didn't share the same kind of dominance as their peers, but did pitch to the tone of a much better May than April as they both saw their ERA's nearly cut in half.
With the Giants kicking off the month of June by finishing the second half of their 10-game road trip with two more games in Atlanta before a 3-game set in St. Louis, the team will enjoy a day off before returning home to host the Boston Red Sox for a pair of games before welcoming the Dodgers and Brewers for three games each. The Rays, Pirates, Phillies and Athletics will round out the remaining list of opponents for Giants as they look to continue their winning ways on into June. GO GIANTS!
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
With consecutive sub .500 win percentages for the San Francisco Giants in June and July, Bruce Bochy's ball club would need to step it up in the month of August if they planned on making a true playoff push down the stretch. Backed by stellar starting pitching and a hint of explosive offense demonstrated in their three game sweep at the end of the month versus the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, the Giants did just that, posting an overall record of 16-13 to round out the month of August. With most of San Francisco's success coming on the road as of late, it was their home of AT&T Park which witnessed the G-Men close out the last full month of the MLB calendar on a strong note.
Aside from splitting a short two-game series vs the Chicago White Sox, the Giants won all three series in the city by the bay, taking two of three against the Phillies and three of four from the Rockies before completing a three game sweep of the Brew Crew to win 9 of 12 games at Home. Their time spent away from home wasn't as successful, however, as San Francisco dropped two of three in both Milwaukee and Washington while being on the receiving end of a three-game sweep at the hands of Kansas City. Splitting four games in Queens against the Mets and four on the north side of Chicago vs the Cubbies resulted in a 7-10 record on the road for the orange and black. But the Giants of the last week or so has looked a lot more like the team that jumped out to a 9 1/2 game division lead back in May with both pitching and timely hitting clicking on all cylinders.
The Giants, who currently stand at 74-62 closed out the month of August winners of six straight and right back in the hunt for the NL West crown, only 2.5 games back of the rival Dodgers who they'll get to play six more times this season. After falling as many as 5 games back in the division, a red-hot Buster Posey at the plate and Madison Bumgarner on the mound has helped lead the Giants in climbing right back into the thick of things and close the gap while maintaining sole possession of the number one wild card spot. Collectively, the Giants starting pitching staff has been sensational as of late, boasting a 1.22 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and a 42 to 3 strikeout to walk ratio over their last five games heading into the weekend. Leading the way once again was Giants ace Madison Bumgarner who posted a league best in strikeouts for the month with 56 and 1.57 ERA while finishing 4-1 in six starts. MadBum even flirted with history when he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. And though Bumgarner made a strong case to likely win his second NL Pitcher of the Month Award this season, he isn't the only one in a Giants uniform who's been dealing lately.
Jake Peavy who the Giants acquired near last month's trade deadline, has won 3 of his last 4 starts after logging only one win in 20 starts with Boston and has a 1.26 ERA in that span. It wasn't pure dominance for everyone, however, as arguably the Giants' most popular hurler saw a demotion to the bullpen. After appearing to have found his groove again, making several consecutive strong starts following his historic feat in June when he tossed his second career no-hitter, Tim Lincecum would be moved to the relief corps after struggling with an ERA over 9 in his last six starts. But that's not to discredit the man who was awarded Lincecum's spot in the rotation as Yusmeiro Petit who filled in at times for the injured Matt Cain, has pitched brilliantly of late, setting a Major League record by retiring 46 consecutive batters. In his latest outing, Petit retired the first eight Colorado Rockies batters he faced, surpassing the previous mark of 45 consecutive batters retired held by Mark Buehrle in 2009.
August wasn't all about pitching, though, as Bruce Bochy saw his ball club put up double-digits three times in the month, including twice over the weekend vs Milwaukee after failing to hit the double-digit mark in both June and July. The month of August also saw one of the true rarities in baseball when a game in Chicago against the Cubs was halted due to mother nature, causing a four-hour rain delay. But it's what the Wrigley Field grounds crew was unable to do that caught the attention of Giants skipper Bruce Bochy who decided to protest the game that was eventually called and ruled a 2-0 win for the Cubs after 5 1/2 innings. The Wrigley Field grounds crew mishandled the tarp when trying to save the field from getting drenched in the downpour and did little afterwards to try and make the field playable. This would result in only the second successful protest in MLB to be upheld since 1986. And though the Giants would eventually lose the game by a score of 2-1, it's an incident that won't be forgotten anytime soon for Giants fans.
As usual this time of year in baseball, the month of September is sure to be a treat with teams making call-ups and the down to the wire pennant races that are sure to unfold. With a pair of series on the road against the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers respectively to kick off the month of September, the Giants will return home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers. A nine-game road trip within the division versus the D-Backs, Padres and Dodgers will round out the last of the Giants' regular season games away from San Francisco before finishing the season at home against San Diego. All in all, the upcoming month is a favorable one for the Giants and could help propel them back into the top spot out west in preparation for the Postseason.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
With the San Francisco Giants struggling to maintain the dominance they opened the season with for the first time in June, the month of July saw much of the same. Though they would finish the dog days of July by going 12-14, winning two more games than they did the previous month, manager Bruce Bochy would witness his ball club boast a sub .500 record for a second consecutive month. However, the team would continue their winning ways on the road where the Giants have clearly been more productive at the plate, winning 7 of 12 games. As for the friendly confines of AT&T Park, the Giants' home would be anything but friendly to the orange and black as they finished with 5-wins and 9-losses.
After stumbling into the All-Star break with series losses against the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland A's and wins against two of their mediocre division rivals in San Diego and Arizona, the Giants bounced back by highlighting a successful road trip out east with two wins in three games in Miami and by taking three of four in Philly. But the G-Men would fail to bring that magic back home with them as they were swept at AT&T against the archrival Dodgers in a three-game series before avoiding nearly being swept by Pittsburgh. The sluggish home stand resulted in the Giants falling as many as three games behind L.A. in the NL West. And with injuries to Matt Cain and Joe Panik as well as the uncertainty revolving veteran second baseman Marco Scutaro, Giants general manager Brian Sabean was forced to make a move.
Hoping one team's trash would be another team's treasure, Sabean signed second baseman Dan Uggla to a Minor League deal. But Uggla, who was released earlier this year by the Atlanta Braves, would be called up much earlier than anticipated as Panik went down with an injury. The acquisition would prove to be a short lived experiment as Uggla failed to log a single hit in his 11 at-bats while also committing a handful of errors. With Matt Cain likely to undergo surgery to remove bone chips in his throwing elbow which would sideline him for the remainder of the season, Sabean went out and acquired Jake Peavy from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Minor League pitchers Heath Hembree and Edwin Escobar. Having spent the better half of his eight seasons with the San Diego Padres under Giants skipper Bruce Bochy, few pitchers in the game today know the NL West as well as Peavy where he won the NL Cy Young Award in 2007 as a Triple Crown winner.
Peavy, a victim of little to no run support this season (received two runs or fewer in support in each of his last 8 starts) while with the Red Sox, went 1-9 with the defending World Series champs this year while posting a 4.72 ERA. But returning to pitch in the division he grew up in and had plenty of success, could result in a second half rebound. The 33-year old Peavy is a 3-time All-Star that plays with his emotions on his sleeve and will supply a fiery mentality while providing stability to the rotation. Perhaps the most important note of all is that he's been known as a Dodger killer throughout his career with a record of 14-2 and an ERA of 2.21 against L.A. That wouldn't be the case in his Giants debut, however, as the Dodgers tagged him for three runs in six innings in a losing effort.
Many thought San Francisco would be a bit more active at this year's July 31st trade deadline but instead the Giants braintrust decided to stay put following the acquisition for Peavy while adding that, "Bad deals were to be made." And while Sabean has been known as somewhat of a genius for making key deals at or near the deadline, only time will tell whether or not the same could be said regarding his latest transaction. Perhaps the highlight of the month just because of its rarity would belong to Tim Lincecum who stole the spotlight as the Giants' headline for the month of June as well. After continuing his brilliance with a stellar first half of July, the Freak treated fans to a bizarre sighting they aren't used to seeing as Timmy recorded his first career save, becoming only the 9th pitcher since 1969 with a no-hitter and a save in the same season. With ugly outings in each of his last two starts, Timmy and the rest of his pitching mates will be counted on to pick it up the rest of the way if the Giants plan to fend off the rival Dodgers for the top spot in the West. The Giants' bullpen, meanwhile, was lights out in the month of July, boasting the best ERA and opponent average against in the NL.
The Giants will kick off a 10-game road trip to begin the month of August with a trip to New York to face the Mets and stops at Milwaukee and Kansas City as the NL Central division leading Brewers and playoff hopeful Royals look to make a push for the postseason. A homestand vs the White Sox and Phillies will take place before the G-Men hit the road again to meet with the Cubs and Nationals before returning home and rounding out the month of August with a series vs the Rockies and Brewers at AT&T Park.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
This year's MLB trade deadline was a whisper in the night opposed to years passed as there were no major splashes made in baseball's trade-o-sphere. However, a few clubs managed to address their pitching needs without dealing for marquee names. Perhaps the biggest name dealt was starting pitcher Jake Peavy who relocated from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox. Though Peavy, a 4-time All-Star and former Cy Young Award winner isn't quite the pitcher he once was with the San Diego Padres as he's had a hard time adjusting to the offense-friendly American League, he gives Boston a much needed arm in a rotation that's been without arguably its best pitcher in Clay Buchholz who's been idle since June 8 with a shoulder injury. The move also benefits the player as the 32-year old Peavy (8-4, 4.28 ERA) departs a last place Chicago team for Boston who currently sits atop the AL East with an MLB-best 66-wins. Peavy is under contract through 2014.
One team hoping to spoil the party and prevent Boston from making the postseason if not meet them there, are the Baltimore Orioles who answered their division-rivals with a move of their own, acquiring hurler Bud Norris from the last-place Houston Astros. Norris, who served as the ace for a Houston ball club that's had a torturous 2013 campaign, owning baseball's worst record at 36-71 in their first year in the American League, has gotta be as happy as anyone now that he'll be shifting from the race for the worst record in all of baseball for what's expected to be a pennant race in the AL East. Orioles skipper Buck Showalter who helped turn the franchise around in 2012, leading them to their first playoff appearance in 15 years, knows his squad has been highly dependent on its power hitting offense while the team's mediocre pitching staff has fallen by the wayside, putting up numbers near the bottom of the pack in almost every major pitching category. That's where Norris comes in and hopes to make his presence felt.
However, as far as importance goes, both of these deadline deals fail to match that of the Texas Rangers acquiring Matt Garza from the Chicago Cubs for Mike Olt, C.J. Edwards and Justin Grimm, which took place last week. Nolan Ryan and company hope the addition of Garza will help the Rangers catch up to and pass the Oakland A's who dethroned Texas for the American League Western Division title last season and currently lead the division by 3.5 games. Garza who's been surprisingly consistent despite playing a majority of his career in the powerhouse AL East while with the Tampa Bay Rays and in the hitter-friendly Wrigley Field, will now be given the daunting task of having to pitch in Arlington, Texas where the triple-digit temperatures are no friend to a pitcher's earned-run average. But who wouldn't sacrifice a few notches on their ERA to play for a contender that's made two World Series appearances in the last three years.
Another name or beard rather that is quite popular among baseball fans is Brian Wilson. The former All-Star closer for the San Francisco Giants has been M.I.A. from the big league stage since April of 2012 while recovering from a second Tommy John surgery. After watching his team win the World Series without his help in 2012, negotiations with the San Francisco ball club went sour when the team he compiled 171 career-saves for over seven seasons failed to offer Wilson a contract following his second surgery. Wilson didn't shy away from expressing his disappointment with the Giants front-office as his feathers were ruffled so much so that he chose not to accept an invitation to the team's ring ceremony back in April. And to spite them even more, the former ringleader of the 2010 Giants club which were best known as a band of misfits, signed with the team's arch rival -- the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Signing with the Dodgers gives Wilson a chance to prove he still has something in the tank as well as play for a contender as it appears the blue crew is primed to run away with the division, barring a setback of suckage like the 2013 Dodgers prior to Yasiel Puig's arrival. The deal which keeps Wilson under contract for the remainder of the season is a low-risk, high-reward type of signing for L.A. considering they didn't have to give up any prospects to get an arm that helps bolster the bullpen assuming he resembles the Brian Wilson that led the National League in saves in 2010 with 48. And if not, they won't be obligated to his services past 2013 which makes it a win-win for Don Mattingly and company.
Last but not least is Alfonso Soriano, the lone position player acquired before the deadline worth mentioning. After beginning his Major League career in 1999 with the New York Yankees where he spent five seasons, two of which he made the All-Star team in while donning the pinstripes, Soriano was dealt to the Rangers for Alex Rodriguez who he'll now call his teammate. The Yankees began the season as one of the better teams in the AL and remained near the top of the AL East standings until just recently where they're now looking up at everybody in the division except for the Toronto Blue Jays who still can't get over the .500 mark and continue to disappoint. Soriano is due $25 Million over the remainder of 2013 and through 2014, with the Cubs picking up nearly $18 Million owed to the 7-time All-Star. Though Soriano's batting average has dropped drastically over the years and he no longer poses a major threat on the base paths, he can still pile up RBI's as evident in 2012 when he racked up a career-best 108 ribbies while swatting 32 home runs, his largest total since 2007 when he hit 33 homers with the Cubbies. But even the addition of the 37-year old Soriano doesn't look like it'll be enough to help the Bronx Bombers overcome the much younger and talented teams ahead of them in the division. At least not this season.
The limited action at this year's trade deadline is most likely an indication that teams feel more eager to hang onto key players since the MLB's adoption of a second Wild Card team in each league which was introduced for the first time in 2012, thus making teams that would normally be sellers at the deadline into hopeful contenders. That move may have forever altered the landscape of the trade deadline we once knew to be one of the more exciting week's of baseball. But that's not to say moves still can't be made as there's always the waiver wire that teams can resort to. The waiver deadline is a whole different ballgame though, which doesn't end until August 31. With that said, lets keep our eyes peeled for any forthcoming deals made through waivers. For all we know, they might be more groundbreaking than what this dud of a trade deadline offered.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
