Giantsblog

SAN FRANCISCO — You know those streets signs you see on one way streets, the ones that are red and white and are screaming “WRONG WAY”?   Well that seems to be the road the Giants’ are driving on at the moment.

San Francisco dropped their third straight and second to Cubs already losing the series with Chicago.  The Giants’ will need win this afternoon if they want to avoid the sweep and lose further ground on the Arizona Diamondbacks who seem to hot once again.  A win would also be beneficial before they head into a weekend series with the D-backs where San Francisco could fall even farther behind.  However, tomorrows off day will be a nice break from baseball regardless of today’s outcome.

Alfonso Soriano homered for Chicago for the second time in as many days and again got the Cubs offense going with a solo home run in back-to-back nights.

In the third-inning, Starlin Castro led the frame off with a triple to center. Darwin Barney was then retired on a fly ball to right, but deep enough to score Castro.  Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena both went back-to-back on singles as Soriano would drive home Ramirez for his second RBI in his second at-bat to give Chicago a 3-0 lead.

Ryan Vogelsong (10-5) has lost four of his last five as he lasted just through five-innings.  He surrendered seven hits which turned into three runs while striking out three and issuing two free passes.

Matt Garza (7-10) of Chicago however had a better performance than his last start against the Atlanta Braves in a night he was charged for six runs over five-innings.  Tuesday night, Garza pitched 6 2/3 innings while allowing just two-runs.

Those two-runs however are more impressive than they look as Garza escaped some major threats.  One included a situation with runners in scoring position and two outs in the fifth as well as runners at the corners in the seventh and Carlos Beltran batting with one out.  But Beltran has been anything but productive for San Francisco since being traded from the New York Mets, grounding into an inning ending double-play.

Jeff Keppinger got both San Francisco’s runs on RBIs.  The first being an RBI-double in the fifth that scored Mike Fontenot while the second RBI came on a single to score Cody Ross.  But those two runs were not enough as the Giants’ still trailed Chicago by three runs.

In the seventh, Chicago got ripped of a run on a Geovany Soto double.  Ramirez and Pena both walked to start the inning before Giants relief pitcher, Ramon Ramirez, retired Soriano and Byrd.  Tyler Colvin was intentionally walked to load the bases.  With runners moving on a two out full count pitch to Soto, all three runners should have scored easily with Soto’s hit down the left field line.  But a Giant fan interfered with the play and it was determined by the umpires that Colvin would not have scored had the fan not interfered, giving the Cubs just two runs.

It was then up to Carlos Marmol to close the game out in the ninth.  Marmol has been rumored by a bunch of sources to be on the trading block from Chicago, but seems to be pitching his way to a longer sentence with the Cubs as no team is showing the slightest interest.

Marmol was lights out in the Cubs 2008 season when they won 97-games.  But since then, Marmol has struggled with his command and his relied too much on his slider falling off the charts as a dominant closer in the majors.

He struck out lead-off man, Eli Whiteside, but then hit Ross.  However, Marmol got the next two batters out easily for a 5-2 Cubs victory.  The loss with the D-backs win though now puts San Francisco another game behind, now six, and the window is slowly starting to close on the Giants’ post season aspirations as we close out the month of August.

SAN FRANCISCO — Chicago used the long ball to quickly turn around the apparent pitchers’ duel that was taking place Monday night.

Through six-innings Chicago was only leading by one-run on an Alfonso Soriano home run and just had four-hits against the defending champs through six too.  But Tim Lincecum ran into a problem as the seventh got underway.

Geovany Soto led off with a solo shot to begin the seventh.  Randy Wells was then walked and Starlin Castro reached a fielding error.  With two base runners at the corners Blake DeWitt cracked a three-run home run over the high right field wall that is AT&T Park, giving the Cubbies a 5-0 lead.

A batter later, Carlos Pena hit his 24-home run, a solo shot and the Cubs third of the inning and fourth of the game.

Lincecum lasted just six-innings as he could not record an out in the seventh, surrendering four-runs in the inning while also striking out a total of four.  Lincecum has been up and down this entire season, part of the reason why the Giants are where they are at the moment; five-games behind the division-leading Diamondbacks.

Chicago added another run in the ninth on a Marlon Byrd RBI-single, driving home DeWitt who tripled to lead off the inning.

This was by far one of the Giants worst offensive nights of the entire season.  Randy Wells has spent a fair amount of time on the disabled list this season and has not been an efficient pitcher all season as he was a couple years ago.  But on his birthday, Wells two-hit San Francisco for his sixth-win.

San Francisco needs the offense to wake up come September.  Losing 20 of their last 30 will not win a division, not even in the AL Central.  If the Giants do not start scoring more runs that lead to wins, Arizona will be representing the NL West in October.  Even if the Diamondbacks go on another losing streak, the Giants have proven they are unable to take the opportunity at hand and make ground on Arizona.

Tuesday’s game will be another good pitchers’ battle with Matt Garza pitching for Chicago and Ryan Vogelsong going for the home team Giants.  Vogelsong has an impressive 2.54-ERA, but Garza always gives his best for Chicago while the Cubs offense usually is non-existent when he starts.  Plus, Garza was awful in last start against the Braves and will most likely bounce back and be tough for the Giants to hit tonight.

SAN FRANCISCO — Another extra-inning affair with the Houston Astros, but this one did not have the same result as yesterday’s game.  The Giants’ could only overcome being down once in extras as they were unable to rally the second time, losing to the Astros 4-3 in eleven.

Houston (44-90), the worst team in baseball, scored first in the fourth in an up and down afternoon, as the defending champs just fell short of taking a four-game set from Houston.

Jordan Schafer took a leadoff walk from Giants pitcher, Matt Cain who pitched eight-innings for a no-decision.  But those leadoff walks usually come around to score and this one was no different.  Schafer stole second and advanced to third on an Angel Sanchez sacrifice bunt.  J. D. Martinez then drove Schafer home on a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.

In the seventh though, that one-run lead would go to the Giants’ who scored two in the inning.  Pablo Sandoval battled for a one-out walk with Brandon Belt advancing Sandoval to second on a single.  Aubrey Huff’s RBI-single tied the game, putting Belt at third with just one-out still.  Orlando Cabrera would then break the 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly to drive home Belt.

It did not take long for this game to find its way to a tie again.  Schafer hit an RBI-single for a 2-all tie.

No more runs took place till an RBI-double by Houston’s Jason Michaels broke the 2-2 tie in the tenth.  However, the Giants’ had a little magic left and were able to tie the game for the third time in the afternoon.  Mark DeRosa singled on a grounder to right that scored Andres Torres, tying it 3-runs apiece.

In the eleventh though, the Giants’ luck ran out.  Jose Altuve hit a one-out double, putting the Astros in prime position to jump out to a comfortable lead and easily take this one.  But all the Astros would get was one-run on Matt Downs RBI-single, with Downs thrown out in a rundown after trying to stretch his single into a double.

Despite Huff getting hit by a pitch to start the 11^th, all Miguel Tejada could do was muster out a sacrifice bunt while Aaron Rowand struck out and Mike Fontenot grounded out to conclude this four-game set as the Giants split the series with the Astros.

This loss stings a little as it comes against the worst team in the majors and Arizona winning their afternoon matchup with the Padres.  San Francisco finds themselves four games out of the division, but luck is just around the corner with the awful Chicago Cubs visiting for three-games and Tim Lincecum getting things underway Monday night.  The Giants’ would do themselves a huge favor if they were to sweep the Cubs and hopefully inch closer to the D-backs before San Francisco hosts Arizona in a crucial division battle over the holiday weekend.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants’ almost overcame an ugly loss to the San Diego Padres, coming back from four down, yet the Giants managed to blow another one to a less than quality opponent.  San Francisco is making no strides or seemingly any effort or care in winning back-to-back division titles.  Maybe that is a little harsh to say, but teams like San Francisco who come back from being down, usually deliver the knockout punch to win the game.  Well, the Giants’ must have knocked themselves out as they surrendered two-runs in the top of the ninth, losing to the last-place Padres.

San Diego scored early and that was all they needed to put the pressure on the Giants’ to win this one, falling behind 4-0 after three-innings of play.  Obviously the pressure was too much for San Francisco to overcome.

In the first-inning, Jason Bartlett doubled to right and advanced to third on Cameron Maybin’s groundout.  Jesus Guzman then brought him home on an RBI-single for an early 1-0 lead.

The very next inning, San Diego jumped out even further on Kyle Blanks two-run home run with no outs.  Will Venable would later double in the third, taking third on Bartlett’s groundout and scoring the Padres’ fourth-run on a Maybin single.

However, the defending champs would not go out without a fight, cutting the Padres lead in half on an error in the sixth.  Pablo Sandoval led off with a single and Aubrey Huff’s double put both base runners into scoring position with no outs.

Belt hit a sharp grounder to Guzman at first, who tried to get the runner at third to second-guess going home on the play.  But Sandoval took home regardless and the throw from Guzman was of target allowing Sandoval and Huff to both score standing up with Belt going to second on the play.

The Padres’ extended their lead by a run in the seventh due to a throwing error by Jeff Keppinger, allowing Orlando Hudson to score, giving San Diego a 5-2 lead.

In the eighth however, the Giants’ were able to tie the game 5-all as they rallied from three-runs down.  Belt hit a one-out single, scoring on Cody Ross’s double.  Later, Aaron Rowand reached base on a fielding error allowing Ross to take third easily.  Hector Sanchez would then single home Rowand on a groundball up the middle to cut the Giants’ deficit by one-run.  Orlando Cabrera came up to bat with one-out and runners in scoring position and delivered the hit San Francisco needed, tying the game 5-5.

But the happiness in the Giants’ dugout was short lived as San Diego scored two-runs in the ninth to break the 5-all tie.  Heath Bell entered with a two-run lead and got the save after striking out the final two batters of the game.

San Francisco needs to make some better plays and what not if they are going to overtake Arizona for first in the West.  Otherwise things are looking sour in the bay area for a post season.

HOUSTON — Good and bad news to report on the San Francisco Giants this Sunday evening.

The good news being the Giants’ won an extra-inning affair against the Houston Astros to close their gap with the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks to 1 ½-games.  The bad news is San Francisco put their closer, Brian Wilson, on the 15-day disabled list.  Wilson has inflammation and a mild flexor strain in his throwing elbow and the time off is to be used to restore his health as well as to ensure his future with the club.

San Francisco entered Sunday afternoon’s game with the Astros having lost three in a row and looking to prevent a weekend sweep from the major’s worst team in the Houston Astros.  But the Giants’ of course made it a dramatic win, using Pablo Sandoval’s extra-inning two-run blast to defeat the Astros’ 6-4 through eleven-innings.

In the second-inning alone, both teams combined for seven total runs, San Francisco scoring three while Houston brought in four for their only runs of the game.

The Giants’ got Aubrey Huff and Nate Schierholtz on base with a double and single respectively before Brandon Belt gave San Francisco a 3-0 lead with his three-run shot.

However, that lead was short-lived as the Astros’ put up a four spot in the home half of the second.  Jimmy Paredes singled with Clint Barmes and Jason Michaels both being issued walks from Giants’ starter, Dan Runzler.

Carlos Corporan grounded into a double-play, but Paredes was able to advance home as was Barmes to third with just one-out.  Runzler issued another walk before Jose Altuve singled home Barmes for a 2-0 lead.  Yet again, Runzler walked another, his fourth of the inning, to load the bases with two-outs and the left-fielder, J. D. Martinez at the plate.  He battled the Giants’ new pitcher, Guillermo Mota, pushing the count full, sending the sixth pitch of the at-bat to right for a 2-run single.

In the fourth, the Giants’ tied things 4-all as they opened the inning with a hits batsman, Schierholtz, and a Belt single.  Mike Fontenot then tied the game with a sacrifice fly, and it would remain tied till the eleventh.

Sandoval became the Giants’ hero as he sent a two-run homerun over the wall for a 6-4 lead in extras that San Francisco desperately needed.

Something else San Francisco desperately needs, is their off day tomorrow.  The Giants’ used five relief pitchers in their victory over the Astros on Sunday and everyone in that bullpen needs a day off to recover and not think about baseball for a day.

After the off-day, San Francisco plays three-series to close out the month that are against teams at the bottom of their respective divisions.  If they want to overtake the Diamondbacks’ for first-place, they need to win six of the next eight.

ATLANTA — It would have been difficult to distinguish both teams on the field Wednesday night had they been wearing different uniforms.  Nonetheless, the San Francisco Giants were able to beat a quality playoff contender with the bat instead of relying on the pitching staff to keep it a low scoring affair.

The Giants’ were all over Atlanta starter, Jair Jurrjens, as they scored five-runs off the Braves’ ace, four of which occurred in the fourth-inning alone.  As for San Francisco’s pitching staff, they were on top of their game despite giving fans another ninth-inning scare as four Braves’ runs crossed home, making it an interesting ending to an already epic series.

San Francisco scored the first-run of the night as both Mike Fontenot and Pablo Sandoval had back-to-back one-out doubles.  Sandoval’s though brought Fontenot in for the early lead.

However, the Braves’ tied the game at 1-apiece as Giants’ starter, Matt Cain, allowed the bases to get juiced with Chipper Jones at-bat.  Jones though was limited to the amount of damage he could have caused as he was walked on four-pitches, tying the game before Cain got the next batter out to end the threat.

In the fourth, the ball coming from Jurrjens must have looked like a beach ball to Giants’ hitters as the first five batters all reached base.

Aubrey Huff started things off with a double, advancing to third on Nate Schierholtz single and coming home on Orlando Cabrera’s RBI-single.  Brandon Belt took a walk to load the bases in order to apply the force out at every base, but it did not work to Braves manager, Fredi Gonzalez, expectations as Eli Whiteside singled for an RBI, keeping the bases loaded further with still not an out recorded.

The ball must have still looked appetizing to hitters despite its landing location.  Both Cain and Cody Ross hit sacrifice flies to increase the Giants lead, 5-1.

San Francisco would add key runs in the ninth that in the short term would avoid another extra-inning walk-off affair with these annoying Braves.  Ross walked, advancing to third on Fontenot’s ensuing double.  Both base runners advanced a base on Sandoval’s sacrifice fly which scored the eventual game-winner, with Fontenot coming in for the insurance run on Huff’s sacrifice fly.

The Giants’ pitchers did not allow another run till the ninth-inning as the Braves continue to show the Giants’ why they are the best in late-game comebacks this season.

Atlanta scored four-runs in the inning that was concluded by Martin Prado’s 2-RBI double.  But it would not be enough as Brian McCann finally went down swinging after battling Giants relief pitcher, Jeremy Affeldt.

Cain helped the Giants’ out tremendously with his victory.  It now makes it easier for Tim Lincecum to take the mound and just pitch his game without the thought of having to throw stellar stuff in order to avoid a Braves’ four-game sweep.

ATLANTA — With the end result of each game being crucial in the latter months of the major league season, each loss suffered by the San Francisco Giants puts them into a deeper hole that will be impossible to climb out of if they do not get on a winning streak.

For the second straight night in a row to the Atlanta Braves, the Giants’ lost to the Braves’ in Atlanta’s last at-bat with Tuesday’s contest going into extras.

Monday night, the Giants led 4-2 and sent out closer Brian Wilson to complete the victory and maintain pace with the division-leading Diamondbacks’.  But Wilson was not himself as he blew a two-run lead, surrendering three-runs to give the Braves’ the win in comeback fashion in the ninth.

Tuesday’s game had a similar feel for Giants’ players and fans as they lost another game to the Braves’ late in the game on a second consecutive walk-off to fall further behind Arizona who now leads the division by 3 ½-games.

At least Tuesday’s was not a comeback and instead just a walk-off with the game tied 1-all in the 11^th.

But the nonetheless, each loss hurts this Giants’ team more and more.  The Giants’ opened up their series just two back from first-place Arizona and only four behind the Braves’ who lead the NL Wild Card.  But now San Francisco finds themselves six out of the Wild Card after dropping the first two in a four-game series with the Braves’ that could have seen a tie for the Wild Card had the Giants’ got the first two under their belt.

Atlanta starter, Randall Delgado, flirted with a no-no until the seventh, when San Francisco’s Cody Ross hit a leadoff solo homerun to tie the game one-apiece.

The Braves’ scored their lone run in the third after Jose Constanza reached first on bunt single.  After another bunt advanced Constanza to second to force the second out of the inning, Michael Bourn singled him home on a single to center, but was thrown out at second after trying to stretch the hit into a double.

From the third-inning on though, the Braves’ were goose-egged, not scoring another run till their game-winner in the 11^th.  Brooks Conrad hit a one-out ground-rule double and advanced to third on Michael Bourn’s groundout.  Martin Prado hit a sharp two-out grounder into right-field that scored Conrad for the Braves’ second straight walk-off against the defending champs.

It does not get any better for the lackluster San Francisco offense that will go up against Atlanta starter, Jair Jurrjens, who is 12-4 with a 2.63-ERA.

MIAMI — The San Francisco Giants have sent out their top two starters to redeem the Giants current slide, and they both have come with solid victories.  Tim Lincecum won Saturday’s matchup pitching seven shutout innings as he allowed just two-hits in a Giants 3-0 victory over the Florida Marlins.

In Sunday’s rubber match, Ryan Vogelsong continued the stellar pitching in a 5-2 series win against the Marlins to keep pace with the division leading Diamondbacks.  Vogelsong went 7 2/3 innings allowing two-runs on four-hits while striking out eight en-route to his tenth victory of the season.  He continues to maintain his team best ERA which sits at 2.47.

The Marlins were able to scratch out one-run off the righty when Mike Stanton homered a solo shot to center field for his 26^th of the season.  After a single following Stanton’s homerun, Vogelsong then retired the next 17 batters he faced.

In the third-inning, the Giants Eli Whiteside hit a hot one off the left-field wall that was a guaranteed single, but Whiteside tried to turn a single into a double and was thrown out by Marlins outfielder, Bryan Petersen on a perfect throw to second base.

The inning however did not end up being a complete disappointment as Vogelsong got walked allowing leadoff batter, Cody Ross to hit a two-run homerun to give the Giants the lead, 2-1.

San Francisco then hit a solo homerun in the fourth, sixth, and eighth to jump out to a 5-1 lead in front of crowd of 20,020 at Sun Life Stadium.  Nate Schierholtz and Brandon Belt, who went deep twice, hit the solo homerun’s respectively for the Giants.

Florida got one run back in the home half of the eighth as Emilio Bonifacio hit an RBI-double to cut the deficit at 5-2.

But even as much as the Giants relief pitchers were struggling in the last four-outs of the game, they did their job without any further drama to lock up a series victory on their current ten-game road trip.

Three pitchers were needed by the Giants to close out the final four-outs, but there was very little to worry about as all three relievers post a 2.90 ERA or better.

The Giants needed both this win and the series victory desperately as Arizona keeps on winning; currently on a five-game win streak.  The win keeps the Giants in contention still, only trailing the Diamondbacks by two-games.

However, things do not get any easier for San Francisco when they open up a four-game set with the Atlanta Braves Monday night.  The Braves hold a four-game lead over their next closest opponent in the Wild Card race, which of course is the San Francisco Giants.  Most experts/analysis have stated numerous times that the Braves are a shoe in as the Wild Card champion, but, the Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Diamondbacks could all spoil that if they get on a roll the last month of the season.

MIAMI — Offense continuously remains to be a problem for the San Francisco Giants, and it was once again one Friday night against the Florida Marlins.  The Giants’ drew first blood in the first, but Florida responded and were able to finish the battle as neither team scored another run from the first-inning on in the Marlins 2-1 victory.

San Francisco has not scored more than two-runs in a game this month since their 6-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates August 9.

Pablo Sandoval hit his 14-homerun with two-outs in the first-inning to give San Francisco an early 1-0 lead for starter Matt Cain.  Cain pitched six-innings, five shutout innings after his two-run first-inning.

In the bottom frame of the inning though, Florida scored two-runs and that would be all they would need the remainder of the game to defeat the champs, ending their previous seven-game losing skid.

Alfedo Amezaga’s one-out single would make way for Logan Morrison’s RBI-triple that tied the game 1-all.  Mike Stanton then followed with a single to drive in Morrison allowing the Marlins to jump out in front of the Giants, 2-1.

Other than the third-inning, the Giants’ never put themselves in a good offensive situation.  Only in the third did they have more than one base runner on; otherwise it was one or nobody.

Leo Nunez, Florida’s closer, entered the ninth to record his 32-save retiring three straight batters after Sandoval’s leadoff single.

Even Carlos Beltran who was acquired to deliver an offensive spark has not done much since his arrival.  San Francisco keeps losing games against key opponents going 3-11 since their series victory in Philadelphia.

San Francisco seems primed for a non-appearance in this year’s post-season unless their bats get hot the last month of the season to stay paced with Arizona.  Arizona has a great number one and two starter with the remaining three being solid in their respective roles.  The Diamondbacks’ can also hit and score runs which add to their strength to take the division.

If San Francisco does not turn it around quickly, they might not be defending champs for long and instead just 2010 Champions.

With things seemingly on the negative side of the spectrum, San Francisco will send former Cy Young winner, Tim Lincecum, to the mound to reverse the Giants’ current luck in the month of August, hoping to bounce back to their winning ways.

SAN FRANISCO — Andrew McCutchen caused all sorts of problems for Giants’ pitchers in San Francisco’s 9-2 loss to Pittsburgh to fall ½-game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks who won their night game against the Houston Astros.

Patience was the name of the game Wednesday afternoon for the Pirates’ who walked eight times, McCutchen having three of his own.  He also had a hit that left the park for two Pirates runs.

McCutchen led-off the game with a walk on four straight balls.  He then proceeded to steal second, scoring the first run of the day on Ryan Ludwick’s two-out RBI-single.

Pablo Sandoval though responded for San Francisco with a solo homerun of his own to tie the game 1-all.

McCutchen’s two-run blast in the third broke the tie and Matt Diaz’s RBI-single put the Pirates’ out to a 4-1 lead.

San Francisco in the fourth cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half but adding another run to the board.  Aubrey Huff hit a one-out double which was followed by Orlando Cabrera’s RBI-single, trailing Pittsburgh 4-2.

However, Pittsburgh was too determined and too patient to not win this game, marking their first series win in over 3-weeks.

McCutchen led-off another inning with a walk taking second again, this time though on a wild pitch.  Steve Pearce’s groundout allowed McCutchen to take third.  Garrett Jones then singled home McCutchen to go up 5-2.

But, again McCutchen was the source of trouble in the seventh as he got hit by a pitch to start the inning for the Pirates.  A walk that followed to Neil Walker and a Jones groundout, the Pirates’ now had two runners in scoring position with one-out.  With first-base open, the Giants’ probably regretted intentionally walking Ludwick to load the bases.

Brandon Wood hit a hot smash to Mike Fontenot at second base that got by him, going into center-field and allowing two more runs to cross home as Pittsburgh grabbed an 8-2 lead.

The other problem the Giants’ ran into Wednesday was Ludwick, who in the ninth led-off with a double.  Ludwick took second on a walk to Xavier Paul.  Wood then put Ludwick at third, but not before the Giants’ recorded a double-play, hoping to avoid more damage.  But Ronny Cedeno delivered the single to score Ludwick for the Pirates’ 9-2 lead in the series finale and victory in the rubber match.

Jonathan Sanchez, starter for the Giants, has been horrendous.  He has not gotten through the fourth-inning in four consecutive starts with his last win occurring June 2.  The Giants’ need better outings from him and their offense if they are going to win the NL West again because the way it is shaping out now, Arizona seems to be the better team and displaying that each game since the All-Star break.

The Giants’ have Thursday off as they travel to open a three-game series with Dan Uggla and the Florida Marlins.  San Francisco will be rooting for Houston to upset the now first-place Diamondbacks tonight in the hopes they can open up their weekend series tied for first rather than sitting a full-game behind the D-Backs.