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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With Baseball season on the horizon, you can almost smell the scent of freshly cut grass and the mouthwatering aroma of garlic fries in the air. But with less than a week remaining before the first pitch of the 2018 MLB season, San Francisco Giants fans were given a rude awakening with some not so fortunate news regarding not one, but two of their starting pitchers.
Making his final Spring Training appearance before San Francisco's season-opener in L.A. against the rival Dodgers, a game that will be televised on ESPN and was expected to feature Madison Bumgarner versus Clayton Kershaw while showcasing the most storied rivalry in all of baseball, the Giants ace will now be forced to watch from the dugout instead of taking the mound. Hosting the Kansas City Royals in Scottsdale, Arizona in the team's final Cactus League game of 2018, MadBum was struck on his pitching hand by a Whit Merrifield line-drive in the third inning of a 9-6 loss. Fearing the worst, Bumgarner would leave the game immediately following the incident to undergo x-rays that would reveal a fracture in his left throwing hand. The injury which is described as a broken pinkie finger will require surgery, derailing Bumgarner's plans of making his fifth consecutive Opening Day start and puts the team in a difficult position to start the season. One that both MadBum and the Giants know all too well as the team experienced life without their ace for three months in 2017 after a dirt-bike accident sustained during the club's April 20 day off in Denver left Bumgarner with bruised ribs and a sprained left shoulder.
Forced to fend for themselves without the best pitcher on their staff, the Giants went on to suffer their second worse season in San Francisco franchise history by losing a total of 98 games and finishing a whopping 40 games behind the archrival Dodgers. And now the Giants will once again have to survive the gauntlet of the National League West for at least the first two months without their ace, a division which features three playoff teams from a season ago -- the NL Champion Dodgers and both Wild Card winners -- Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. Making matters worse, Bumgarner's injury came just hours after the team learned that No. 3 starter Jeff Samardzija could miss up to a month with a sprained right pectoral muscle. Like they say, when it rains it pours. The injuries put a damper on what was otherwise a successful Spring Training considering no major injuries were reported prior to the last few days. And then just like that, the Giants are dealt a blow that will strip them of two starting pitchers. And Samardzija ain't no slouch either. Sure he hasn't produced the numbers he wishes he'd have in his first two seasons in a Giants uniform, but he proved to be a workhorse in 2017, leading the National League in innings pitched with 207 2/3 innings as well as walks per nine innings with 1.4.
While Bumgarner has dazzled this year during Spring Training play to the tune of a 2.84 ERA in five starts, logging 27 strikeouts in 19 innings, the exact opposite could be said for Samardzija's Spring. The 33-yeard old righty was underwhelming during his Spring Training campaign and his 10.64 ERA in four Cactus League starts (11 innings) was an automatic red-flag, which resulted in the team's concern. The injuries sustained by Bumgarner and Samardzija opens up a pair of vacancies in the Giants starting rotation. Though losing a pair of starters a week before the start of the season makes things more difficult in one aspect for Giants skipper Bruce Bochy, it makes things easier in another. Given the task of having to choose between Chris Stratton, Ty Blach and Derek Holland for the last two spots in the Giants pitching rotation, all of whom were competing for a spot in the rotation, all three will likely be called upon now with Bumgarner and Samardzija missing an extended period of time. As if San Francisco needed even more pressure to bounce back from their putrid 2017 campaign and hang with the rest of the big boys in the division, they'll be given the daunting task of having to stay afloat for at least the first months without two key starters which could very well spell a slow start to the season. Something they can ill-afford if they wanna regain their "even year magic."
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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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The nightmarish 2017 season took another step towards finally being over for the San Francisco Giants as the month of August came to a close. An even 40-games behind the division-leading Dodgers entering September has left the Giants officially mathematically eliminated from Postseason contention. And though the month of August was once again filled with more bad than good, the first two weeks looked rather promising.
After taking 2 of 3 against their Bay Area rivals in Oakland, the Giants would pull off a winning homestand by notching back-to-back series wins for the first time since May, doing so against two teams vying for a playoff spot no less in the Diamondbacks and Cubs. Unfortunately, they would follow up that homestand with a losing road trip by dropping two of three in both Washington and Miami, including a crushing defeat in the rubber-match of a double-header against the Nationals as Nats left fielder Howie Kendrick delivered a walk-off Grand Slam in the 11th inning to hand the Giants the series loss. In that Washington series, San Francisco's lone win would be recorded by right-handed starter and former first round pick Chris Stratton. In what would be a fine month of August for the Giants farmhand, the 27-year old would have his most impressive outing yet against the Nats as he struck out 10 Washington hitters over 6 2/3 shutout innings. Going 2-1 in the month with an earned run average of 1.52 in four August starts, Stratton would watch his season ERA dip from 6.63 to 3.82. And his only loss suffered would be a tough one as he allowed only two runs against Arizona but wasn't given a single run of support. With a solid September to finish off 2017, Stratton could make a strong case for a spot in the Giants' starting rotation next season.
Seeking their first winning month since June of last season when the Giants went 17-10, Bruce Bochy's ball club appeared to be headed in the right direction after a seven game homestand in which they split four games against the lowly Phillies and took two of three from the Brewers. But losses in 6 of their last 7 games including a sweep at the hands of the D-Backs in Arizona would put a dent in those hopes. Another pair of losses to the Padres and a series-opening loss at home on the final day of August would spell yet another losing month as the Giants fell to 13-16 in August and 53-83 overall. By losing two of three in San Diego, the Giants dropped their fifth consecutive series against the Padres who have owned their Bay Area counterparts to the tune of an 11-5 record this season. What stood out most in their lackluster series at Petco Park was the Giants' inability to deliver with runners in scoring position as they went a dismal 4-for-33 and were shutout in the series finale. As for the one game the Giants did prevail in, it would take one of the better pitching performances of the year from a Giants starters as Jeff Samardzija went the distance and tossed a complete-game shutout while allowing only three hits, no walks and striking out five. It would be the fourth shutout of Samardzija's career and only the second by a Giants hurler all year.
From one pitcher to another, staff ace Madison Bumgarner who was slated to start in the series-opener against St. Louis was scratched just hours before game time with flu-like symptoms. Making the spot start in MadBum's place was Matt Cain who suffered a career-high 10th consecutive loss. But it wasn't for a lack of trying as the Giants offense simply failed to back him as he gave up a pair of runs over five innings pitched. What started off as a rebound season for Cain who notched an impressive April, has now taken a nosedive as he suffered his worst calendar month of the season (7.90 ERA) and his streak of 10 consecutive losses is the longest active streak of its kind in the Majors.
For the final calendar month of the regular season, the Giants will try to fend off becoming the first team in franchise history since 1985 to record 100-losses. But with seven of the team's nine remaining series against teams jockeying for position in the pennant race, it's unlikely they'll be able to avoid that dubious feat. With 26 games remaining, the Giants must win at least 10 of those to avoid the dreadful 100-loss mark. Needing every bit of help they can get, San Francisco will open September with three more games against the Cardinals and for whatever reason the NL Central is the lone division the Giants have had success against this season having gone 17-14 against NL Central opponents. And next on the mound to face them will be Johnny Cueto who last pitched in a Giants uniform on July 14 after missing all of August with a strained right flexor tendon suffered while making a rehab start on July 31. The Giants will surely welcome him back with open arms as he looks to finish strong in what's been a disappointing 2017 campaign for Cueto who led the team in wins a season ago with 18.
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Hoping to put the first two months of the season behind them, the San Francisco Giants cruised into the month of June with a blowout 10-0 road victory over the Phillies. Sadly, the post-game high fives and celebratory handshakes would be held to a minimum in June as well as the Giants followed up their 10-run shellacking in the city of Brotherly Love by dropping the next two games to the lowly Phillies who hadn't won a series in over a month. Though it doesn't get much worse than dropping a series to the worst team in all of baseball, it would be the beginning of another free-fall for Bruce Bochy's struggling ballclub.
After receiving a series-split in Milwaukee which saw each of the Giants and Brewers claim a pair of victories in their four-game set, the Giants would lose each of the next five series, including sweeps in three of those. Following a rare visit to AT&T Park by the first-place Minnesota Twins in which the Giants dropped the first two games of the series, San Francisco's offense would erupt for a season-high in hits (17) and runs (13) as they managed to salvage the series finale with a 13-8 victory. But any hopes of that being the starting point of something positive for the G-Men would go up in flames rather quickly as they were swept in back-to-back series by the Royals and Rockies. A trip to Atlanta would witness the Giants drop three of four before returning home where they were swept in three by the New York Mets, making it 12 losses in 13 games for the Giants. Just when all hope seemed to be lost, the Giants pulled a rabbit from their hat by stringing together not only their first winning-streak of the month, but also their first sweep of the season. Less than two weeks after being swept in Colorado, the Giants returned the favor by pulling out their brooms against the Rockies. In that series, the Giants bullpen would log 13 1/3 scoreless-innings, a far cry from anything we had seen this season up until then.
Following a day off, the Giants would hit the road for a series in Pittsburgh with the first of three games falling on the final day of June. Looking forward to turning the page to a new calendar month, the Giants made it four straight victories to close out June with a 13-5 drubbing of the Pirates. While the San Francisco offense would tie a season-high in runs, they would collect a new season-high in hits with 18, 10 of which coming from the top of the order as the first three batters (Span, Panik and Pence) combined to go 10-for-14 at the plate, along with seven RBIs and seven runs scored. The offensive outburst would be much appreciated by Johnny Cueto who started the game for the Giants and got off on the wrong foot, giving up his only 3 runs in the outing in the first inning. That aforementioned trio of Denard Span, Hunter Pence and Joe Panik would all finish the month of June swinging a hot stick, hitting well over .300 at the dish to help contribute to the Giants placing in the top 3 with the third best team batting average in all of June. And no one other than Andrew McCutchen (.411) of the Pirates would swing a hotter bat for the month than Span who was a scorching .374 at the plate in June. It would be a month of firsts for the Giants as a few players made franchise history and another made Major League history.
Adding to his red-hot month, Span also led the National League in hits for the month of June with 40 base knocks, becoming the first Giants player with a 40-hit June since Moises Alou in 2005. We would also see the first Korean player in Giants franchise history when third baseman Jae-Gyun Hwang made his Major League debut on June 28 against the Rockies. After turning down a big contract to play ball in his native South Korea to pursuit his dreams of playing in the Majors, Hwang turned some heads and showcased some power during Spring Training. That power would be witnessed immediately following his call-up from Triple-A Sacramento as he made quite the impression in his first game in a Giants uniform by connecting for a home run and driving in a pair of runs. At the age of 29 years and 335 days, he became the oldest Giants player to homer in his MLB debut since at least 1913, crushing a solo shot to left in his third at-bat. Giants pitchers would also get some love as starter Jeff Samardzija made the record books by becoming the first Major League pitcher since 1900 to record 50 or more strikeouts and 1 or fewer walks over a span of seven starts after compiling 10 K's and 0 walks in a win in Milwaukee. Not to be forgotten, an evening game in Denver on June 15 would witness the first 3-run homer of the season for the Giants, a forgotten art as the Giants finally shook off their reputation for only hitting solo dingers this year.
After giving us a glimpse of the future with the April call-up of 22-year old Christian Arroyo, the Giants' third baseman of the future was sent back down to the Minors after struggling mightily at the plate (.192 batting average). And soon after the demotion of Arroyo came the promotion of Austin Slater who has finally provided some decent production from the left field position for the Giants. Since being called up and making his Major League debut on June 2 in Philly, Slater has hit .338 in 23 games for the Giants, notching a pair of homers and 12 RBIs. With several failed experiments in left field already this year and the injury to Jarrett Parker who can't seem to produce in the Majors the same way he has in the Minors, the Giants just might have something in Slater if he can continue to produce. Despite finishing the month on a strong note with a 4-game winning-streak, their longest since winning five consecutive during the middle of May, the Giants compiled a record of 9-18 for the month of June and still sit in last place in the NL West at 31-51 on the season, 20-game below .500 for the first time since 2008. With less than two weeks until the All-Star break and baseball's trade deadline on the horizon, it'll be interesting to see just how long the Giants can ride this win-streak and just how busy they'll be in trade talks. While it's almost certain they'll be sellers this time around, there's no telling to what degree or who they'll field offers for.
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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!
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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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