Game Wrap 9/18/2020: A's 6 Giants 0

The Oakland A's dominated the Giants in all phases of the game and the final score made the game appear closer than it was.  Key Lines:

Logan Webb RHP- 3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 90 Pitches.  ERA= 5.73.  Webb had no command, poor defensive play behind him and a power hitting team in front of him.  That's a prescription for what happened which was 90 pitches and 6 runs allowed in just 3.1 IP.  Webb's had some good starts and seems to have the basic talent to succeed at this level.  Consistent command is what is eluding him.  Hopefully this is a learning experience and he comes back next year as an ace.  Sometimes it's hard to apply things you learn on the fly and an offseason helps crystallize it.

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The Loss dropped the Giants back to .500 at 25-25.  The Reds and Cardinals also have .500 records which is 7'th best in the NL, but they both hold tiebreakers so the Giants are actually sitting in 9'th place which would be out of the playoffs if the season ended today.

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Kevin Gausman RHP will test his right elbow in an afternoon start against Jesus Luzardo LHP.

Game Wrap 9/17/2020: Giants 6 Mariners 4

 The Giants overcame a Mariners 4-spot in the second inning for another come-from-behind win as the visiting team in Oracle Park.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 0 for 1.  BA= .285.  YtY tweaked his calf on a swing in a first-inning AB.  He later felt tightness in the dugout after a long run for a foul pop-up. He's schedule for an MRI.  Keep fingers crossed!

Luis Alexander Basabe RF- 1 for 2, 2 BB, SB(1).  BA= .333.  Basabe replaced YtY, got on base 3 times and recorded his first MLB SB.  While his BA's tended to run in the .250's in the minor leagues, he also maintained OBP's about .100 higher.

Wilmer Flores 1B- 2 for 4, 3B, BB.  BA= .288.  Flores was brought in to destroy LHP's, which he has done, but he's also hit RHP's very well.  His 2-run triple came off Kendall Graveman RHP.  

Darin Ruf LF- 1 for 2, HR(4).  BA= .297.  Another guy who was brought in to destroy LHP's.  He's also done that, but has done even better against RHP's.  This HR came of lefty Nick Margevicius.  

Mauricio Dubon CF- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .292.  Dubon is hitting .318 since an 0 for 10 to start the season.

Tyler Anderson LHP- 2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.06.  Anderson came out for the 3'rd inning despite giving up a 4-spot in the 2'nd.  He threw one pitch and barked at the ump and got tossed.

Wandy Peralta LHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.91.  Longest stint of the season for Peralta who has an ERA of 0.96 over 9.1 IP over his last 7 appearances.

Sam Selman LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(1).  ERA= 2.70.  Selman converts his first Save Op of the season as Kap continues to rotate his Closers.

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With the Win, the Giants moved back over .500 at 25-24 good for 6'th place in the NL with 8 teams making the playoffs.

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The Giants start another interleague set against cross-bay rivals, the A's, with Logan Webb RHP facing Chris Bassitt RHP in the opener tonight.

Game Wrap 9/16/2020: Giants 9 Mariners 3

 The Giants offense unleashed a withering attack through the first 4 innings allowing them to cruise to an easy victory in a road game played at Oracle Park.  Key Lines:

Alex Dickerson LF- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .279.  Dick is hitting .333 over his last 7 games and .388 over his last 15.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 5, HR(8).  BA= .305.  Belt had been in a mini-slump and is hitting just .167 over his last 7 games.

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 5, HR(6).  BA= .282.  Longo had also been slumping(the whole team did in San Diego) and is hitting .217 over his last 7 games.

Brandon Crawford SS- 3 for 5, 2 2B, HR(5).  BA= .281.  Crawford's resurgence continues.  He was hitting just .171 on August 9.  He's hitting .344 since and showing no signs of cooling off.  He's put up an fWAR of 0.6 in 144 PA which projects to about 2.5 over a full season.  That would be his best season since 2016.  

Drew Smyly LHP- 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.94.  Smyly dominated for 3 innings before running into trouble in the 4'th.  He left the game with 2-outs, a run in and runners on 2'nd and 3'rd.  Then Caleb Baragar uncharacteristically walked 3 consecutive batters to drive in the 2 inherited runners before Trevor Cahill got out of the inning.

Trevor Cahill RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.68.  After three rough starts, Cahill pitched 2 effective innings in relief.  Maybe he and Smyly make a pair of tandem starters?

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The Win got the Giants record back to .500 at 24-24.  That is good for a tie for 6'th place in the NL with the Phillies with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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Tyler Anderson LHP tries to build on his last excellent start for a sweep of the 2 game road series at home in an afternoon game facing Nick Margevicius LHP.

Game Wrap 9/15/2020: Postponed

 In another sign that 2020 is just not a very good year, today's game between the Mariners and Giants in Seattle was postponed due to poor air quality from the fires burning up the west coast.  The 2-game series will move to Oracle Park tomorrow and Thursday with the Mariners designated as the home team.

Game Wrap 9/13/2020: Padres 6 Giants 0; Padres 3 Giants 1

I am not going to bother posting a standard Game Wrap for this disaster.  Well, maybe Logan Webb's pitching line is a bit encouraging?  4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.96. 

Over the past several seasons, the Giants have not been a team that handled any disruption of their routine well.  This was most definitely a disruption and a stressful one at that.  I am sure there was tremendous angst among everybody in the organization over the false positive test then the 7-inning doubleheaders just compounded being out of their comfort zone.  That this all occurred on the road was even more stressful, I am sure.  

So far in two 7-inning/game doubleheaders, the Giants have scored just 1 run on 11 hits.  That is 2.75 hits per game on average.  I guess it's a small sample size, but as Kruk and Kuip like to say, "ownage is ownage" and the the Giants have been owned by 7-inning make-up doubleheaders so far.

Game Wrap 9/11/2020: COVID Postponement

 Yesterday's game between the Giants and Padres was postponed as was today's game due to a positive COVID test for a Giants player.  

This is just a reminder the SARS 2 Coronavirus is still very much active in our communities.  The fundamentals of the Pandemic remain exactly the same as from the beginning.  The SARS 2 Coronavirus is a new or novel virus for which humans have not developed immunity.  It is spread through respiratory droplets.  It is approximately twice as contagious as seasonal influenza.  It is approximately 100 times as deadly as seasonal influenza.  It has an approximately 6 day incubation period.  Infected individuals can transmit the disease while not exhibiting symptoms.  On average, the time from onset of symptoms to peak death rate is approximately 10 days.  Given these facts, no subsequent development in the pandemic is even slightly surprising or unpredictable.

Here are just a few more facts regarding the SARS 2 Coronavirus:

To date, there have been almost 6.5 million confirmed cases in the U.S.

To date, there have been over 193, 000 deaths in the U.S.

The Case Fatality Ratio from known cases in the U.S is approximately 3%(There may be as many as 10 times as many cases in the U.S. as are known, but also likely at least 1.5-2.0 times as many deaths).

There were approximately 1200 deaths yesterday in the U.S.

So far, there have been over 250, 000 cases attributable to a single mass gathering which occurred approximately 2 weeks ago.

There has been approximately a 125% rise in the number of new cases in the state that hosted this event.

If you test positive for the novel coronavirus, you are twice as likely to have eaten in a restaurant within the past 14 days.

The most common cause of outbreaks in San Bernardino County(CA) is family gatherings.

I know the readership of this site understands numbers and how to interpret data.  I will let readers absorb the above facts and draw their own conclusions.

Stay smart and stay safe!

Game Wrap 9/10/2020: Padres 6 Giants 1

 Trevor Cahill got knocked around early and the Giants offense never found traction in a not-close loss.  Key Lines:  

Donovan Solano 2B- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .352.  Probably too late to get back to .400 on the season but Donnie Barrels is hitting .458 over his last 7 games.  Really an amazing run after signing on with the Giants last year.

Wilmer Flores DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(9).  BA= .296.  Flores was brought in to kill lefties, which he has done, but he's not been bad against RHP's either.  Both of his XBH's in this game came against righties.

Trevor Cahill RHP- 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.05.  I missed the first 3 innings but Kruk and Kuip said Cahill couldn't get the ball down.  That's pretty much the story of his last 2 starts also, which makes me think his hip is still not right.

Drew Smyly LHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 2.92.  Smyly picked right up where he left off before hitting the IL.  96 MPH.  Some of the nastiest curveballs you'll ever see.  A cutter that exploded in on Fernando Tatis Jr, causing him to break down his swing.  Just incredible stuff.  Need to replace Cahill in the rotation and probably should have for this game.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 23-22 and left them in 7'th place in the NL with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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Johnny Cueto RHP tries to get the Giants back on the winning track tonight facing Garrett Richards RHP.