Before the San Francisco Giants would even take the field in the series-opener against the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks on August 2, the month would get off to an unfortunate start as the team learned they would be without both Johnny Cueto and Pablo Sandoval for the remainder of the season as both players were ruled out with injuries just a day apart. With Johnny Cueto needing Tommy John surgery and Pablo Sandoval suffering a significant tear in his right hamstring, the two injuries would only make things harder for a team looking to gain ground in the standings. An 8-1 win over the D-Backs would help brighten the mood, but back to back losses would force the Giants to hope for a series split which they would succeed at, sandwiching the four-game set with a win in the finale.
Hoping to carry some momentum into their next series as the Giants returned home for a short two-game series to host the defending champion Houston Astros who were without several key cogs in their offense. Instead, the Giants were humbled on consecutive days as the bullpen failed to close out a pair of stellar starts from starters Dereck Rodriguez and Madison Bumgarner. The loss in the opener would prove to be one of the more heart-wrenching losses of the season as the Giants took a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning before calling on closer Will Smith to shut the door. With 2-outs in the first inning and two runners on, Smith had the Astros down to their final out before second baseman Marwin Gonzalez launched a 3-run shot to left, shocking the AT&T Park faithful. Prior to the blown save, the Giants had a record of 46-2 when leading after 8 innings until Smith's hiccup as he surrendered his first home run in a Giants uniform. Going seven strong innings in which he allowed only 3 hits, walked none and struck out 7, Rodriguez's impressive outing would result in a no-decision after having a win stripped away. Bumgarner would pitch just as well in Game 2 the following day, tossing seven shutout frames before reliever Ray Black spoiled things in the 8th inning by allowing a 2-run home run to Houston first baseman Tyler White as the 'Stros left San Francisco with the 2-game sweep.
With a day off before beginning a four-game series against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates, the Giants would need to regroup and solve a team who they've lost 12 of their last 17 games against in AT&T Park. After a 10-5 loss in the series-opener, the Giants answered with a 13-run outburst in Game 2, winning in a 13-10 slugfest in which San Francisco would bat around twice in a game for only the second time this season as they sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and ten in the third. Buster Posey led the charge with his 18th career 4-hit game and second on the season as every starter managed to hit safely and score at least once including pitcher Derek Holland. Giants hitters would force a season-high 11 walks in the ballgame, the most since August 8, 2016 at Miami, four of them by Andrew McCutchen who drew a career-high four walks for the third time in his career and first since 2015. But in Game 3, a day in which the Giants would honor the all-time home run leader Barry Bonds by retiring his jersey number 25, the Giants offense appeared to have used all of their runs the night before as they were shutout by a final of 4-0. Thankfully, another dazzling start by Dereck Rodriguez (7 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 earned run and 4 strikeouts) would aid the Giants in salvaging the final game to split the four-game set.
Next on tap would be a trip to Dodger Stadium to renew rivalries with the archrival Dodgers. What started off as a classic pitchers duel between Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw in the series-opener, soon turned into a meltdown of bullpens as L.A. appeared to be on track for a 2-1 win before the Giants scratched four runs across the board in the 9th inning. Down to their final out, San Francisco rallied against Scott Alexander who filling in for Kenley Jansen, allowed a go-ahead 2-run single to the pinch-hitting Nick Hundley. The Giants would strike for another pair of runs via a Gorkys Hernandez RBI single and a fielding error by first baseman Max Muncy, helping San Francisco steal the 5-2 victory. Game 2 of the series would feature just as much drama as both teams' starting pitchers pitched well before the Giants scored in the 9th inning to pull out the 2-1 win. But it was what took place in the 7th inning that would steal the headlines as the Giants and Dodgers partook in another benches-clearing fracas. No surprise, right?
Things got testy when Giants catcher Nick Hundley had some choice words for Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig who appeared to throw a fit after fouling off a pitch he thought he should've taken deep. With Bumgarner on the mound the night before who's had his fair share of history with Puig in the past, the bombastic outfielder made a similar gesture which left MadBum shaking his head. But after doing it for a second consecutive night, Hundley finally did the baseball world a favor by telling Puig to quit his complaining and return to the batters box which Puig took exception to before engaging in a shoving match. And while Hundley showed restraint, Puig went berserk, taking a swipe at the Giants catcher despite being held back by several of his Dodgers teammates as well as Dodger skipper Dave Roberts. Both players would be separated before both were issued an ejection. For their actions in the dust up, Puig would receive a two-game suspension and Hundley would be fined, but the real damage would be done to that of Dereck Rodriguez who sustained a hamstring injury during the fray, landing him on the 10-day disabled-list. It would serve as quite the blow with the Giants playing catch-up and already without starters Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto. The Dodgers would avoid the sweep with a 4-3 extra-inning win in Game 3.
Just when the Giants appeared to be in line for a favorable match-up against the lowly Cincinnati Reds, whatever sliver of hope that remained in the Giants playoff chances took a big hit as Cincy pulled off the three-game sweep. Making the trip to Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark, appropriately nicknamed "Great American Smallpark" for its offensive-friendly dimensions, that didn't appear to be the case for the G-Men as they managed to only score one run in each of the first two games and were outscored 20-6 overall en route to a three-game sweep despite the Reds being without their best hitter in Joey Votto for the entire three-game series. The Giants would give a much better showing in their next series in New York as they squared off with the Mets in four. After a struggle-filled win in the series-opener which the Giants would win 2-1 in 13-innings with the help of some poor defense and an error that scored the winning run, the Mets would claim Games 2 and 3. But in the series-finale, San Francisco would turn to ace Madison Bumgarner who's had ownage on the Mets in Citi Field thoughout his career. MadBum improved his scoreless-inning streak to 33 in Queens before allowing a solo home run to Todd Frazier. The solo dinger would be the only blemish on the day for Bumgarner who tossed 8 innings of 5-hit ball, walking none and striking out eight as he out-dueled NL Cy Young candidate Jacob deGrom and also drove in the winning-run with an RBI double in the Giants' series-splitting, 3-1 win.
Returning home for the start of an 11-game homestand beginning with a rematch of the 2010 World Series against the Texas Rangers, the Giants would get another strong outing from rookie pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, allowing 2 earned runs over 6 innings pitched. But while D-Rod appeared to be in line to get his seventh win of the season, the Giants bullpen failed to hold the lead and San Francisco's 6-0 advantage quickly evaporated, giving up five runs in the last four innings before dropping the game in the 10th inning, 7-6. The loss would be just the latest heart-breaking defeat suffered by the bullpen in the last month, but a bounce back performance in Games 2 and 3 would allow the Giants to take the series. Game 2 would witness the Giants tally a pair of homers for the first time at home since June 19, a span of 30 games, putting into perspective just how serious San Francisco's recent power outage has been. And on a day the ball club celebrated their 8-year anniversary of the 2010 World Series triumph, the Giants would get their revenge after spoiling the series-opener. Sadly, it would be the last series of the season for catcher Buster Posey who was shutdown before Sunday's finale to undergo surgery to repair the ailing hip that caused him to sit out of July's All-Star Game. With a recovery timetable of six months, Posey is expected to be ready in time for camp next season. Prior to being shutdown, Posey had hit .284 on the season with five home runs and 41 RBI's.
Hosting Arizona for a three-game meeting, the Giants would look to pull off a bit of a late-season miracle as well as hopefully play the role of spoiler. They would do just that in at least two of the three games, as Giants pitching put together back to back shutouts to take the series, the second of which on a walk-off as the pinch-hitting Gorkys Hernandez supplied all the offense needed with the first walk-off hit of his career, sending the first and only pitch he saw to left field with a single to score Steven Duggar from second base, snapping the scoreless tie. The shutout win would mark the ninth straight start by the Giants starting pitching staff with an ERA below 2.00. With Arizona scuffling at the plate, the D-Backs would see their struggles hit 25 consecutive scoreless-innings before finally scoring a run in the third inning of Game 3, a game in which they would salvage and fend off the three-game sweep with a 3-1 victory. Pitcher Dereck Rodriguez would suffer the loss and though he would only allow three runs over 5 innings pitched, it was clear he didn't have his best stuff as he gave up five hits and walked four, snapping a streak of nine consecutive starts of allowing two runs or less. Despite the loss, the Giants managed to win the season series against Arizona, 11-8.
Set to finish the month of August with the first of three games against the Mets, the Giants received some unfortunate news regarding outfielder Steven Duggar who appeared to hurt his shoulder in the series against Arizona while diving back to second base on a close play. An MRI would reveal a torn labrum in Duggar's left shoulder which would put an end to his 2018 rookie campaign. The team would also say goodbye to one of their most productive hitter this year as they dealt Andrew McCutchen to the New York Yankees in exchange for two prospects -- infielder Abiatal Avelino and right-handed pitcher Juan De Paula. A free-agent at the end of the season, San Francisco shipped 'Cutch to a playoff contender that had been in talks with Giants brass as far back as before the July 31st trade deadline. With the two teams unable to make a deal at that time, the Yanks made sure to capitalize on their second and final opportunity, acquiring the former MVP and 5-time All-Star just in time to make him eligible for the team's October roster, if the Yankees do in fact make the postseason. As of September 1, New York currently sits 7.5 games behind the first place Red Sox in the AL East, while holding a 5.5 game cushion for the American League's top Wild Card spot. At the time of his departure, McCutchen led the team in games (130), doubles (28), runs (65), walks (73), home runs (15) and RBI's (55).
The McCutchen trade coupled with the injury to Duggar would open the door for the Giants to kick the tires on their No. 4 prospect Chris Shaw who Bruce Bochy and company will get an extended look at in the final month of the season, as well as catcher Aramis Garcia, both of whom would be called up in time for the series-opener against the Mets. With Bochy wasting no time to plug them into the lineup, the duo would make their debuts together in a 7-0 win over the Mets. Both players would contribute in the victory, and with much of the hype surrounding the power of Shaw who finished 0-for-2 with a sac-fly, it was Garcia who stole the show. Carrying a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning, Garcia kicked things off with a lead-off home run to make it 2-0, San Francisco, becoming only the second Giants catcher since 1919 to homer for his first career hit (Eliezer Alfonzo 6/2/2006 also vs the Mets). With the Giants tacking on four more runs and batting around in the inning, Garcia would connect on an RBI single to become the first player in Giants franchise history to record the first two hits of his career in the same inning. With Garcia's help, the offense would back arguably the best outing of rookie pitcher Andrew Suarez's career -- 7 innings, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 runs, 4 strikeouts. Having Garcia behind the dish might've had something to do with that considering the two were teammates in the Minors and even before that back in High School as the pair grew up in south Florida together.
Collectively, the Giants finished the month of August with a record of 13 wins and 14 losses and currently sit at an even 68-68 on the year. Entering the final calendar month of the season, the Giants have 26 games remaining and sit in fourth place in the NL West behind the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Rockies, yet only trail by 6.5 games in the division. And while the first two games of September will be against the lowly Mets, the Giants still have trips to Colorado, Milwaukee and St. Louis on the calendar, all of whom are fighting for playoff spots in the NL. Not to mention the Braves, Rockies and Dodgers are all slated to pay AT&T Park a visit one more time this season. The only sub-par team that the Giants will see in the final month are the Padres who the Giants will see both at home and on the road before the end of the regular season. So if the Giants have yet to play their best baseball of the season and hope to stand a chance in pulling off a comeback in time for the postseason, they'll need to show it down the stretch against some formidable opponents and without one of their offensive leaders in Buster Posey.
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The first calendar month of the 2018 baseball season if officially in the books and for the San Francisco Giants, it was a good one considering they would post their first plus .500 month since June 2016 with a 15-14 record. Despite opening the season without two of their five starting pitchers including ace Madison Bumgarner due to a fractured hand, as well as their expensive closer in Mark Melancon (elbow), the Giants would manage to stay afloat thanks to a resurgence from pitcher Johnny Cueto and a strong finish which included three consecutive series victories to close the book on April. And what better way to kickoff a season than with the game's greatest rivalry -- Giants and Dodgers.
While the Dodgers began the season at home with ace Clayton Kershaw on the mound, the reigning NL Champions entered the day tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the longest active winning streak on Opening Day with seven consecutive victories and seeking their eighth straight. However, Giants pitcher Ty Blach would have other plans as he out-dueled Kershaw for the second time in his career as San Francisco handed Los Angeles a 1-0 loss. Needing only one run of support, second baseman Joe Panik's solo home run off of Kershaw in the 5th inning would be the difference. Entering the game with a career record of 5-0 in seven Opening Day starts and an ERA of 0.99, the Giants would tag him for his first Opening Day defeat. With the win, the Giants who didn't spend a single day in first place in all of 2017, would sit tied for first place in the NL West for at least a day in 2018 and for the first time since August 20, 2016. Of Panik's 29 career home runs to begin the day, only two have come off of left-handed pitching, Kershaw becoming the third.
Oddly enough, Joe Panik and the Giants would repeat the process just a day later as Bruce Bochy's ball club once again handed the archrival Dodgers a 1-0 loss with Panik again supplying the lone run on a solo homer, this time in the 9th inning off of All-Star closer Kenley Jansen. Johnny Cueto would take a perfect game into the 7th inning before allowing a leadoff single, only to induce a double-play two pitches later as he logged 7 shutout frames while allowing just one base runner and facing the minimum in what would be the only Dodger hit of the ballgame. Panik's heroics would fuel only the fourth and fifth 1-0 road wins decided by solo shots by the Giants over the Dodgers. Hall of Famers Willie Mays in 1956 and Mel Ott in 1938 and 1935 supplied the others. With the win in Game 2, Joe Panik became the first player in MLB history to hit solo HR's in back-to-back 1-0 victories and doing so against arguably the two best pitchers at their respective positions to become only the second player in the MLB to homer off of both Kershaw and Jansen in the same season. San Francisco became only the second team in MLB history to win their first two games of the season by a score of 1-0, the 1943 Cincinnati Reds over the St. Louis Cardinals the other.
With the win in Game 2, skipper Bruce Bochy became the first visiting manager to win 100 career games at Dodger Stadium, while he witnessed his team log a pair of 1-0 wins in the first two games of the season. This after they failed to log a single 1-0 victory in all of 2017. But the positives in the opening series would stop there as the Dodgers pulled the good 'ol switcheroo in Games 3 and 4 by shutting out the Giants, 5-0 and 9-0, respectively. L.A. would allow the fewest runs through the first four games to start a season since 1914, yet only managed to split the four-game set as all four games would end in a shutout. The Giants would set a dubious feat by becoming the first team since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles to score two runs or fewer through the first four games of the season. Only the 1968 Dodgers (1) and 1937 Braves (1) scored fewer.
Getting the start in the Home Opener just like he did on Opening Day, Ty Blach wouldn't fair nearly as well in his first start at home as he did on the road as San Francisco hosted the visiting Seattle Mariners for the first of two games. After tossing five shutout frames in L.A., Blach was tagged for four runs in the first inning alone before suffering the loss as the Giants fell, 6-4. Panik would launch his third homer of the season in the fourth inning, snapping a streak of 21 consecutive scoreless innings by the Giants offense. It would mark only the second time in MLB history that the first three runs of the season were scored by one player. The Giants would get their revenge the following day as Johnny Cueto tossed another gem by allowing only 1 earned run in 6 innings and the Giants offense erupted for 10 runs, smacking a trio of home runs in the 5th inning, including back to back jacks by Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford. It would mark the first time SF struck for three HR's in an inning since June 2, 2016 at Atlanta.
Meeting with the Dodgers again in what was supposed to be a 3-game series in San Francisco, turned into a short 2-game set due to the first rain delay at AT&T Park since 2006 and only the sixth in the stadium's history. Making up for the postponed Game 1, one of the newest member of the Giants would introduce himself to the rivalry in a huge way as newcomer Andrew McCutchen logged his first five-hit game since 2010 before connecting for his sixth, a 3-run walk-off home run in what would be one of the best at-bats by a Giant in recent years. Fouling off pitch after pitch in the 14th inning, McCutchen deposited the 12th pitch of the at-bat into the left field bleachers for his first career six-hit ballgame and the seventh walk-off home run of his career as the Giants won in extras, 7-5. And in case you're wondering, the only other player in MLB history since 1900 to record six-hits and a walk-off HR would be Jim Northrup of the Detroit Tigers who did so on August 28, 1969 vs the Oakland A's. Taking the Dodgers to extra innings the following day, the Giants would once again fail to log a series victory as L.A. escaped with the 2-1 victory.
While welcoming the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks, the Giants would be forced to call up not one but two of their top pitching prospects as Cueto was placed on the 10-day disabled-list with a left ankle sprain suffered after pitching another 7 shutout innings. Tyler Beede, the Giants No. 4 propsect and 14th overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft would make his Major League debut. Arizona would welcome the rookie pitcher by tagging him for two runs in the opening frame as walks proved to be an issue for the 24-year old. Though the two first inning runs would be all he'd allow, he would depart after only 4 innings of work. And while he wouldn't factor in the decision, the Giants would go on to win by a final of 4-3 thanks to another walk-off hit by McCutchen. Unfortunately, San Francisco would drop the series 2-games to 1 as pitcher Andrew Suarez made his MLB debut and was handed the loss. After retiring the first 10 batters he faced, Suarez ran into some trouble by surrendering the long ball as he was taken deep twice and eventually allowed four runs on 5 1/3 innings pitched.
The Giants wouldn't fair much better in their next two series' as San Francisco hit the road to face division rivals San Diego and then a trip to the desert to meet with the D-Backs. After a 7-0 victory over the Padres in which starter Chris Stratton threw 7 strong innings, the longest outing of his career, the Giants threw their second 1-hit shutout of the season, the only hit of the ballgame recorded by an opposing pitcher. The Friars would be sure avoid a repeat performance of Game 1 as they managed to take the next three games from the Giants who would then drop the series-opener against Arizona as San Francisco lost the fourth straight game. In a pitchers duel between Cueto and D-Backs hurler Patrick Corbin, both pitchers would be stingy in the hits column as Cueto allowed only two base runners in seven innings while striking out 11. But as good as he was, Corbin would do him one better as he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning before Brandon Belt's 2-out infield single prevented him from making history. It would be the Giants' only hit of the game as Corbin finished the complete-game shutout in Arizona's 1-0 victory. San Francisco would bounce back in Game 2 as Chris Stratton gave the Giants another solid performance, allowing only one run over 7 frames. Sadly, he would get a no-decision as closer Hunter Strickland blew the save in the 9th inning. The Giants would score two runs in the 10th on Brandon Belt's 100th career home run, a 2-run shot, before nearly blowing another lead as Corey Gearrin flirted with danger and gave up a run until finally sealing the 4-3 win. But Arizona would take the rubber-match in Game 3 with Zack Greinke on the mound, 3-1.
A trip to Anaheim to closeout the last of the Giants' 10-game road trip would appear to be the turning point as the G-Men finally claimed their first series victory of the young season. With a convincing 8-1 victory in Game 1 in what would be the 2018 debut of San Francisco starter Jeff Samardzija who had spent the first three weeks of the season on the disabled-list with a right pectoral strain, the Giants would set the tone in the series. After losing a close one in Game 2 by a final of 4-3 which saw the Giants strikeout 17 times, their highest total in a nine inning game since facing Sandy Koufax in August of 1959, SF would take the rubber-match, 4-2, behind another stellar outing by Cueto who logged another 6 scoreless innings. But the talk of the series would belong to Giants first baseman Brandon Belt who set an MLB record with a 21-pitch at-bat against Angles rookie Jaime Barria in the first inning. Belt worked the count full and fouled off 16-pitches with two strikes before flying out to right. The at-bat broke the previous record of 20-pitches held by Ricky Gutierrez of the Astros who had a 20-pitch battle with then-Indians pitcher Bartolo Colon, set on June 26, 1998. The record-setting at-bat by Belt lasted 12 minutes and 45 seconds long and though he would record an out, he would go on to collect two hits in the game including a home run in the 5th, his fourth in as many games to help him celebrate his birthday week. In an effort to chase Barria early, the lengthy at-bat would prove to be effective as Barria threw 49-pitches in the first inning alone, despite not allowing a run in the frame. He would be chased after allowing two runs and throwing 77-pitches in only 2+ innings.
As for his counterpart on the mound, Johnny Cueto would continue to dazzle, tossing another 6 shutout frames and allowing only two hits and two walks while striking out seven to become the first Giants pitcher to string together four consecutive starts while allowing a run or fewer to being a season since Noah Lowry in 2004. Giants great Juan Marichal did it twice in 1965 and again in 1966 with five. Keeping it rolling, Cueto's ERA of 0.35 (1 earned run in 26 innings pitched) would be the lowest by a Giants pitcher through their first four starts since 1968. As for Belt, the Giants first baseman became the first Giant to log four homers in four games since Hunter Pence in 2013. Belt would continue to swing a hot bat in their next series against the Nationals. Belt's hot swinging would be joined by outfielder Mac Williamson. After some minor tweaks to his batting approach, a newfound swing would help Williamson tear through the Minors and receive a promotion to the big club as Hunter Pence was placed on the disabled-list with a thumb injury. In his first game with the Giants after being called up from Sacramento, Williamson cranked a home run against the Angels. He would continue to reinvent himself the very next day in front of the home fans by launching a 464-foot home run to the opposite field against Washington. The 464-foot shot would be the longest homer to the opposite field this season and the fourth longest of any kind this season.
Still seeking their first series victory of the year with less than a week remaining in the month of April, the Giants would get their wish with a win in Game 2 against the Nats. After suffering from food poisoning while in Anaheim and losing 9 lbs. over three days, Ty Blach helped pitch the Giants to their first three-game winning-streak of the season as the Giants edged Washington, 4-3 to take the first two games of the three game set. Though Blach would not factor in the win as he fell victim to a 3-run homer that would tie the game in the 4th inning, Williamson's opposite-field HR would be the deciding blow. While Max Scherzer would keep the Giants at bey in Game 3, preventing the sweep in a 15-2 drubbing, the Giants would take a step in the right direction before another go around with the Dodgers.
After taking Game 1 on Friday night, the Giants would host a double-header on Saturday to makeup the game rained out on April 6. And while the Dodgers would tee off on Chris Stratton in the first of two Saturday games to the tune of a 15-6 final, the Giants would bounce back in Game 2 by winning 8-3. They would complete the three-game sweep with a 4-2 win on Sunday to make it three straight series victories in a row. Continuing to be a thorn in the side of the Dodgers, Ty Blach would pitch the Giants to victory as he improved his numbers against L.A. to 4-2 and an ERA of 2.03 in 10 career appearances. More importantly, the Giants' streak of three consecutive series wins would be their first since May of 2017. Hoping to continue the trend into the month of May, San Francisco finished April by defeating the San Diego Padres in walk-off fashion thanks to a 3-run 9th inning that was capped off by former Padre Nick Hundley who's 2-out knock drove in the tying and winning runs. It would be the third walk-off win of the season for the G-Men and the third of Hundley's Giants career, second against his former ball club. The walk-off victory would lift the Giants over the .500 mark, somewhere they hadn't been since the end of the 2016 regular season as they closed out the month of April on a winning note, by winning 8 of their last 10 games.
But just when the Giants began playing good baseball and things were looking up regarding pitcher Madison Bumgarner who's hand is healing well according to team doctors and is expected to begin throwing from a bullpen mound this weekend, the team announced that Johnny Cueto would be placed on the 10-day disabled-list for the second time this season with right elbow inflammation. The news comes as a surprise given how well Cueto pitched in his last outing and comes just before the Giants prepare to hit the road for a 10-game road trip out east with stops in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Stops in May also include trips to Houston to take on the reigning World Series champion Houston Astros and 2016 champion Chicago Cubs. Boasting the best ERA in baseball among starters, Cueto is the third Giants starter to hit the DL this season and will be on the shelf sporting a 3-0 record and 0.84 earned run average in 5 starts this season. Joining Cueto on the DL will be second baseman Joe Panik who is expected to miss six weeks after undergoing thumb surgery which will create quite a task for the Giants in the month of May if they plan to stay float in the competitive NL West.
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