Valiant Giants Series Fall Short to Padres
San Diego use big six-run 10th for the win over San Francisco
San Diego Padres’ Tommy Pham, right, hits a run-scoring single in front of San Francisco Giants catcher Tyler Heineman, center, and umpire Tom Woodring during the fourth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, July 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
2020.07.30 – Tommy Pham hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning after Trent Grisham began at second base under baseball’s new extra-innings rule, and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 12-7 on Thursday night.
Pinch-hitter Greg Garcia added a key two-run single against Tyler Rogers (1-2) in the big six-run 10th.
“It’s definitely different. Right now we feel good about it because of course we won,” Pham said. “Before the season started I wasn’t a fan of it just because I’m more traditional but like anything in life you have to adapt.”
Padres manager Jayce Tingler is slowly becoming more fond of the extra-innings rule, too.
“Yeah, you can call me a fan of that,” Tingler said. “I’ve obviously seen it a lot on the minor league side and I think I said before I didn’t initially like it. The more I see it, totally good with it. It doesn’t really matter what we think, we’ve got it.”
Mike Yastrzemski hit an RBI triple and Donovan Solano delivered a tying sacrifice fly two batters later as the Padres’ bullpen couldn’t hold a late lead for the second straight game. Yastrzemski’s walkoff splash homer into McCovey Cove sent San Francisco to a 7-6 victory Wednesday night.
Pierce Johnson (1-0) recorded four outs for the win.
Tingler said before the game watching the bullpen give it up Wednesday “was a rough one and it’s maybe the first time we’ve been punched in the face so in a sick way I’m kind of excited to see how we will respond.”
Jurickson Profar hit a two-run homer and RBI single for San Diego, which wasted a solid day from starter Dinelson Lamet. He struck out seven in five innings to give the San Diego right-hander 15 Ks over his first two outings.
2020.07.30 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
2020.07.30 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
The Giants had their first try at the new rule after the ninth.
“I think it’s an interesting twist,” manager Gabe Kapler said.
WELCOME BACK
The Giants welcomed back two key members of their infield with first baseman Brandon Belt and third baseman Evan Longoria being activated from the 10-day injured list to make their season debuts and bat fourth and fifth, respectively.
The players didn’t face live hitting before coming off the injured list.
“Nothing about this year’s all that normal,” Longoria said with a grin when asked about no rehab assignment.
PENCE’S STRUGGLES
Hunter Pence is 0 for 17 with four strikeouts over five games making four starts. He wasn’t in the lineup Thursday night but entered to pinch run in the ninth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: 1B Eric Hosmer missed his second straight game and fourth overall with a stomach illness that the team said isn’t coronavirus-related. “We were hoping he would feel better,” Tingler said. “His stomach, he’s still struggling. Our medical team is still checking him out, hoping he starts to turn for the better. It’s been kind of off and on, feeling much better and unfortunately he’s not right now.”
Giants: Longoria said he’s confident the worst of his right oblique strain is behind him and he feels he can play freely while likely dealing with some soreness. “It’s always tough to be out and not have an opportunity to play,” Longoria said. “I feel great, as healthy as I’m going to get at this point. I don’t feel like I rushed back.”
ROSTER MOVES
To clear room for Belt (right Achilles tendinitis) and Longoria to return, the Giants optioned OFs Jaylin Davis and Joe McCarthy to their alternate site in San Jose and designated RHP Dany Jimenez for assignment. Kapler said in his meeting with Davis on Wednesday night, he told the outfielder: “We believe in you. We support you. We’re never going to stop communicating with you.” Kapler added, ”he’s a step away from the major leagues at any given time and we still believe he’s going to make an important impact on this club.” … OF Steven Duggar was recalled from San Jose and started in right field.
UP NEXT
RHP Garrett Richards (0-0, 0.00 ERA) pitches for San Diego to start a series Friday night at Coors Field in Denver as the Rockies host their home opener. Richards worked five scoreless innings allowing one hit Sunday against Arizona. The Giants hadn’t listed a starter for their series opener Friday at home facing the Texas Rangers, who lost to San Francisco in the 2010 World Series. The Giants last hosted the Rangers from Aug. 24-26, 2018.
Related: See below 2020.07.29 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres)
Read more at: San Francisco Giants Media Services / More AP MLB: www.apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the San Francisco Giants, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
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Giants rally on Yastrzemski’s 2nd HR, walk off with 7-6 win
San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski hits a walk off home run against the San Diego Padres during the ninth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
2020.07.29 – Mike Yastrzemski homered twice, the second a towering solo shot into McCovey Cove in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants past the San Diego Padres 7-6 on Wednesday night.
Donovan Solano had a three-run home run in the eighth and Alex Dickerson also went deep as the Giants rallied to beat the Padres, who entered the game tied for the best record in baseball.
“Our players have actually talked about it … this team is full of fighters,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said. “These are their words and I believe them when they talk. They demonstrated that they can back those words up tonight.”
It took a big lift from the Giants bullpen after starter Johnny Cueto was knocked out of the game in the fourth.
The two big swings from Yastrzemski were even more pivotal.
The Giants trailed 6-3 with two outs in the eighth before rallying.
Solano shook things up with his tying three-run blast off Padres reliever Craig Stammen.
After Tyler Rogers (1-1) worked the ninth, Yastrzemski homered off Matt Strahm (0-1) in the bottom of the inning to give San Francisco the walk-off victory. Yastrzemski also homered leading off the third.
2020.07.29 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
2020.07.29 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
Yastrzemski rounded the bases, did air high-fives with third base coach Ron Wotus then was met by several teammates who surrounded home plate and danced apart from one another.
“That was weird. I didn’t know what to expect,” Yastrzemski said. “Obviously we’re trying to do our best to stay safe and avoid as much contact as possible. Sometimes in that situation you just have to follow the lead and everybody was doing the right thing. We just jumped around.”
Kapler had high praise for his young leadoff hitter afterward.
“Tonight was an important moment in Yaz’s career,” Kapler said. “He just looks like a great all-around player right now. It’s starting to seem like this is who Yaz is. He’s a real leader in the clubhouse as well.”
Solano finished with a career-high four RBIs. Brandon Crawford added three hits for San Francisco.
Manny Machado and Trent Grisham homered for San Diego.
The loss prevented the Padres, who were sporting their flashy alternate pinstriped road jerseys, from extending their best start since 1997.
“This one hurts tonight,” San Diego manager Jayce Tingler said. “We had the guys in there we wanted. Bottom line, you’ve got to finish. You let a team hang around and things like tonight can happen. We felt good with Craig in the eighth and trying to get the ball to (closer Kirby Yates). It just didn’t work out tonight.”
The meltdown by San Diego’s bullpen spoiled a mostly strong start by Chris Paddack. The right-hander gave up two runs on five hits, struck out six and didn’t walk a batter but was still disappointed by his outing.
“I noticed early on I didn’t have my best stuff,” Paddack said. “I was able to go out there and compete, battle. I kept us in the game as long as I could.”
Cueto had a frustrating outing that had the veteran pitcher cursing at himself while walking off the field after allowing Machado’s two-run homer in the third.
Cueto got into trouble again in the fourth and was done after Edward Olivares’ two-out RBI single. Two batters later, Grisham homered off reliever Shaun Anderson to put the Padres up 6-2.
Machado, Grisham and Olivares had two hits apiece.
Cueto allowed four runs on four hits with three walks and was called for a balk, his first since 2017.
TWO ON, TWO OUT
Giants reliever Tyler Anderson gave up back-to-back walks to Olivares and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the eighth. Each time, he promptly picked the runner off first base.
NO TIME TO WAIT
Giants rookie Chadwick Tromp made his major league debut behind the plate. With a pitcher like Cueto, whose release point changes nearly every pitch, that could be a challenging task. But Kapler felt he had no choice because Tyler Heineman needed a rest.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Paddack was checked briefly by a team trainer after taking a line drive by Crawford near his wrist on his glove hand. The ball nearly knocked Paddack’s glove off. … 1B Eric Hosmer was a late scratch again for a non-COVID related illness, according to the team.
Giants: 1B Brandon Belt (right Achilles tendonitis) and 3B Evan Longoria (right oblique strain) are expected to come off the injured list Thursday.
UP NEXT
San Diego RHP Dinelson Lamet (1-0, 1.80) goes for his second win of the season in the series finale Thursday. Lamet had eight strikeouts in five innings against the Diamondbacks last week. RHP Kevin Gausman (0-0, 4.50) will make his first start for San Francisco.
Related: See 2020.07.28 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres)
Read more at: San Francisco Giants Media Services / More AP MLB: www.apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the San Francisco Giants, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
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Tatis Jr., Myers hit home runs as Padres beat Giants 5-3
San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) hits a three-run home run in front of San Francisco Giants catcher Tyler Heineman during the third inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
2020.07.28 – Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a three-run homer in the third, Wil Myers added a two-run drive an inning later, and the San Diego Padres spoiled San Francisco’s home opener by beating the Giants 5-3 on Tuesday night.
The Giants moved in the outfield walls this season. It might not have mattered for the San Diego sluggers.
“I think Wil’s was gone in a hurricane. Let’s give him the credit. He crushed that one,” Giants starter Jeff Samardzija said.
Zach Davies (1-0) struck out five over five innings to win his Padres debut, allowing five hits and three runs — two earned — as San Diego won for the fourth time in five games this season. The right-hander came over in a trade with Milwaukee last November.
Drew Pomeranz, the Padres’ fourth reliever, finished for his first save.
Manager Jayce Tingler said the Padres decided to give closer Kirby Yates the night off after he made consecutive appearances Saturday and Sunday, first in a non-save situation and then in a tie game in which he took the loss against Arizona. Yates led the majors with 41 saves last season.
“We thought it would be nice to give him the extra day. We’ve got the luxury with some guys in the back end able to do it. It was a nice luxury to have,” Tingler said.
2020.07.28 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
2020.07.28 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
Wilmer Flores hit an RBI single in the first and Tyler Heineman singled home one of San Francisco’s two runs in the sixth. That wasn’t enough support for Samardzija (0-1), done after giving up five runs in four innings.
“We saw our bullpen come out with quite a bit of intensity and dating back to the Dodgers series it was really impressive performances,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “There’s no question that we have to play better baseball to win a game like tonight.”
The Giants haven’t won a home opener since beating Arizona in 2017. They went 35-46 at home last season, second-worst in the National League.
Mist swirled just above the outfield for much of the game at Oracle Park, a typical summer night in the Bay Area. And while fans were missing from the stands, supporter Zak Ford posted a photo of himself in a kayak on McCovey Cove beyond the right-field wall.
The scoreboard didn’t work all night, just a black screen over center field.
Kapler and some players again knelt again for the national anthem after a pregame message about the Black Lives Matter movement.
A moment of silence was held to remember civil rights leaders John Lewis and C.T. Vivian as well as members of the Giants organization and victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mayor London Breed threw out the ceremonial first pitch in a prerecorded video.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: 1B Eric Hosmer was back in the lineup after missing two of the first four games with a non-COVID-19 illness. “He’s feeling pretty good right now,” Tingler said. “We’ve got him in the lineup and we believe he’s going to be good to go.” Hosmer had two bases-clearing doubles in a 7-2 season-opening win against Arizona on Friday night and hit a solo homer in a 4-3 loss Sunday.
Giants: 1B Brandon Belt (right Achilles tendinitis) and 3B Evan Longoria (right oblique strain) are both making progress and expected to be ready to return later this week. … INF Yolmer Sanchez has begun baseball activities in recent days as he deals with back spasms. … RHP Trevor Cahill (right index fingernail injury) threw a bullpen that Kapler said went well.
ROSTER MOVE
The Giants promoted C Chadwick Tromp to the major league roster and designated C Rob Brantly for assignment.
UP NEXT
RHP Johnny Cueto (0-0, 2.25 ERA), the Giants’ opening day starter, makes his second appearance. The Padres counter with RHP Chris Paddack (1-0), who pitched six scoreless innings in a season-opening win against Arizona.
Related: See 2020.07.31 (San Francisco Giants vs. Texas Rangers)
Read more at: San Francisco Giants Media Services / More AP MLB: www.apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the San Francisco Giants, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
49ERS FIT – FREE 4-DAY PASS
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