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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Struggling out the gate - With the month of April coming to a close and a month of baseball already in the books, Giants fans are more than glad that May is peeking its face as the team has gotten off to a forgetful start to begin their 2017 campaign. And anything that can go wrong for San Francisco, pretty much has. With injuries to several key players in the early going, none was greater than that of Giants ace Madison Bumgarner who hurt himself in a dirt bike accident during the Giants' off-day in Denver. The 4-time All-Star and former World Series MVP suffered bruised ribs and an AC sprain in his left throwing shoulder which sent him on his first career stint to the disabled-list, costing him to miss three months as he's not expected to return until July's All-Star break. As if the team wasn't already struggling with their most reliable pitcher on the field, losing Bumgarner for any chunk of the season is a huge blow that they could ill-afford in hopes of making it back to the postseason.
At the time of Bumgarner's accident, he had suffered from poor run support as the Giants offense would score a whopping 7 runs in his four starts, two of those runs Bumgarner would drive in himself in Arizona when he became the first pitcher in Major League history to belt a pair of Opening Day home runs. But even before the injury to Bumgarner, an injury to their most reliable hitter in Buster Posey would leave a sour taste in the mouth of Giants fans as he took a Taijuan Walker fastball to the head in his first at-bat of the Giants home-opener, also against Arizona. While the former National League MVP would appear to be fine, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy chose not to take any chances with his All-Star catcher as he was placed on the 7-day disabled-list with a concussion. In his first game back, Posey would shake off the cobwebs by collecting three hits in five at-bats in a 2-1 win in Kansas City where the Giants made their first appearance since their thrilling Game 7 victory to win the 2014 World Series.
Bumgarner's injury would prove to be a bad omen as their trip to Colorado would only get worse. Not only would they get swept for the first time this year in the three-game series against the Rockies, but Johnny Cueto who entered his fourth start of the season with the lowest ERA of all-time (2.43) at Coors Field would be welcomed rather rudely in his first visit to the mile high city of 2017. Not only would Cueto suffer the loss by allowing a season-high 6 earned runs in 5 innings pitched, but in his 10th season in the Majors, he would also surrender the first Grand Slam of his career. And with the Giants outfield already struggling to produce at the plate, they would leave Coors Field with another player lost to the disabled-list.
Other notable injuries would be suffered by left fielder Jarrett Parker and center fielder Denard Span, both of whom hurt themselves while crashing into the outfield wall. While Parker suffered a broken clavicle which will sideline him for 8 weeks, Span was sent on the DL with a shoulder sprain. With the injuries in the outfield coupled with minimal production from left fielder Chris Marrero, the Giants were forced to make several call-ups from the Minors including Drew Stubbs and Michael Morse. As for the infield, injuries sustained by Aaron Hill and Brandon Crawford would result in the call-up of the Giants' No. 2 ranked prospect Christian Arroyo. The 21-year old rookie who was lighting up the Minors at Triple-A Sacramento at the time of his promotion to the big club, would provide a nice jolt of offense in his first week. After going 0-for-4 in his debut, Arroyo would collect his first Major League hit the following day against some guy named Clayton Kershaw. The following day he would connect for his first career home run in a walk-off victory over the Giants' bitter rival Los Angeles Dodgers. He would add another homer in San Francisco's following series against San Diego. Though he's hitting only .207 in 29 at-bats thus far, Arroyo figures to be a bright spot and the future of the Giants for many years to come.
But perhaps the Giants biggest surprise individually is none other than pitcher Matt Cain. In what's been a rough patch over the last three seasons for the former ace of the staff, Cain has experienced a resurgence thus far. Despite allowing 4 runs in his first start of the season, Cain has registered four consecutive strong outings in which he's allowed one run or fewer and has a 2-0 record and an ERA of 2.30 to show for it. After being plagued by injuries in each of the past three seasons and mechanical issues to boot, Cain has easily been San Francisco's best pitcher through the first month. As for pitcher Ty Blach who was moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation following the injury to Bumgarner, the Giants lefty has filled the void rather nicely in his first two starts by pitching a combined 12 innings and allowing only two earned runs. And though his last outing would be one of his best yet, his 7 shutout innings of 3 hit ball would be all but forgotten thanks to another meltdown by the Giants bullpen. In San Francisco's series-finale against the Padres and in their final game of April, the Giants took a 2-run lead into the ninth inning where closer Mark Melancon would blow his second save of the season in a 5-2 loss in extra innings, derailing Blach's hopes of notching his second career win.
The deflating loss would be San Francisco's 17th of the season as they finished out the month April with a record of 9-17. The dreadful month would mark their first 17-loss April in modern baseball history and their worst winning percentage in April since 1983. With a sub par bullpen being their biggest weakness a season ago, 2017 hasn't been much different thus far as the bullpen carries with them an ERA of 5.04 into the month of May. Though it's still way too early to write anyone off just yet, including the Giants, it hasn't been a pretty start to the season as their only series victory came in the home-opening series against the Diamondbacks (April 10-12). And with the month of May beginning with a nine-game road trip including the first three games at Dodger Stadium, things can get ugly quick if the G-Men are unable to turn things around right away. Despite their ugly start, the Giants have now sold out over 500 consecutive home games at AT&T Park, setting a new National League record. With that being said, here's to hoping those fans have much more to cheer about in May.
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And just like that, the San Francisco Giants' regular season is over. With a dominant finish to the first half of the season followed by a troublesome struggle-filled second half which saw the Giants lose their grasp on the NL Western division after having a first place lead over the Dodgers for over two months, Bruce Bochy's ball club at times seemed out of playoff contention but was still very much alive. In need of a strong finish in September to secure a spot in the Postseason, the Giants had both the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals to worry about with both NL Wild Card spots up for grabs. Finishing the month of September with a mediocre record of 13-15, the Giants' season hung in the balance with two October affairs against the rival Dodgers who had already clinched the NL West but were still hoping to play spoilers against their most hated rival.
With the Mets clinching the top NL Wild Card spot on the second to last day of the regular season with a road victory over the Phillies and the Cardinals hot on San Francisco's tracks who were hoping to steal the NL's second Wild Card spot, the Giants finished off the regular season at home with a 3-game sweep of the Dodgers to punch their ticket into the Postseason. With the Cardinals winning their final four games of the season, the Giants needed a 4-game win streak of their own in order to avoid a tie with St. Louis. Thankfully, the Giants were able to do just that, winning their final four games while playing possibly their best ball of the second half down the stretch. One win in particular came on Saturday which saw Giants pitcher Ty Blach make only his second career start in which he out-dueled arguably the game's best pitcher in Clayton Kershaw, logging 8 innings of 3-hit ball and allowing one walk while striking out six to notch his first career win as the Giants blanked the Dodgers with a 3-0 victory. Oh yeah, he also collected a pair of hits at the plate, including his first career base knock against Kershaw.
In what was a tale of two halves for San Francisco, will now be a clean slate for the Giants now that they've squeaked into the Postseason by way of the second Wild Card berth, the same route they took to reach and win the World Series in 2014. But unlike the Pirates who the Giants knocked off to win the Wild Card playoff in 2014, the Mets are the reigning National League champions and have some playoff experience under their belt, something Pittsburgh lacked. But still, Bruce Bochy's ball club has shown time and time again that they know how to flip the switch come playoff time, even if the bullpen isn't what it once was. The shifting of the closer spot being given back to Sergio Romo who closed out the 2012 World Series, however, appears to have given the bullpen a slight jolt, having pitched better as of late. And with Giants ace Madison Bumgarner toeing the rubber opposite of New York's hard-throwing Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday, San Francisco is very capable of continuing their pattern of even year success.
The Giants finished the month of September with a record of 13-15, but evened out at 15-wins and 15-losses when factoring in the two October wins against L.A. to closeout the regular season. Losing 3 of 4 in Chicago to the Cubs (all 1-run games), 2 of 3 in Colorado and a 3-game sweep at home at the hands of the Padres ignited a rocky first half of September which saw few highlights aside from a 3-game road sweep of the D-Backs. But even then, the Giants came thru in the clutch with their backs against the wall. In a season in which Buster Posey notched career hit No. 1,000 and Jeff Samardzija achieved his 1,000th career strikeout, Matt Cain, Johnny Cueto and Madison Bumgarner all collected their 100th career wins. But none of them are ready to call it quits just yet in 2016 as the goal remains -- winning their fourth World Series title in seven years.
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