[OOTP21 – Life begins without Bruce – a San Francisco Giants Dynasty]

[assamarra]

Monday 6th April 2020

Game 10 Arizona Diamondbacks 3 San Francisco Giants 1
(WP: Ray 2-0) (LP: Smyly 0-2) (SV: Ginkel 1)
Attendance: 26,475
Time: 2:43

Robbie Ray pitched 8 strong innings allowing just 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 3 Giants en route to a 3-1 Diamondbacks win.

Drew Smyly (0-2) took the loss for the Giants as Ray not only shutdown the Giants’ bats but went 2 for 3 driving in 2 of the 3 Arizona runs as he took the POTG (player of the game) award. Kevin Ginkel continues his good form from 2019 in getting his first save of the season.

The game was won in the top of 4th after a Wilmer Flores error gave Arizona extra outs and they went onto score their 3 runs

League News:

• Plenty of action on the transaction wire, three players DFA’d Hunter (PHI), Cecil (STL) & Forsythe (PHI) while the Royals return Rule 5 draft pick Stephen Woods Jr (SP) to Tampa Bay



Who owned Baseball today:

#1 1B Max Muncy (LAD) 4 for 5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R against the Cardinals (10-4 win)
#2 1B Edwin Encarnacion (CWS) 3 for 4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB against the Mariners (13-7 win)
#3 SP Andrew Heaney (LAA) 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W against the Athletics (5-0 win)

One mistake really cost us the game, with Flores’ error in the third. He is now DtD with a virus as well but we need him to face lefty starters and we have Bumgarner starting for Arizona tomorrow so he will be in the line up for Belt.

We have a couple of options in Sacramento to freshen up the bullpen, namely Gott and Rogers are started badly this season and with AAA starting Thursday I may demote, though Gott is out of options.

Gausman v Bumgarner tomorrow, one for the fans to look forward to.

[assamarra]

Tuesday 7th April 2020

Game 11 Arizona Diamondbacks 1 San Francisco Giants 5
(WP: Gausman 2-1) (LP: Bumgarner 1-2) (SV: Logan 3)
Attendance: 27,711
Time: 3:03

Kevin Gausman revenged his 5-2 loss to the Diamondbacks and Madison Bumgarner on April 1st as the Giants win 5-1.

Gausman (now 2-1) went 6 innings, allowing just 3 hits, one run and striking out 3 while helping his cause with a hit and a run scored. Bumgarner (1-2) struggled in his start, he struck out 6 Giants but allowed 10 hits, all of the Giants’ runs in 5.1 innings.

Again Wilmer Flores the lefty killer was in the middle of the action, Flores and batting 3rd in the line up Austin Slater both tripled in the bottom of the 1st with Flores scoring. In the bottom of the 5th Flores doubled and Slater doubled in Wilmer again.

In the top of the sixth Eduardo Escobar was the first this year to homer into the RF stands, in the bottom of the sixth Brandon Crawford repaid the favour taking Bumgarner deep for his first home run of the year.

Logan Webb registered his third save of the season, this time a one out save after Tyler Rogers had gotten into a fix in the 9th allowing a walk and hitting Kole Calhoun.

League News:

• Willie Calhoun (TEX) goes 5 for 5 with 4 singles and a double in Colorado against the Rockies in a wild 14-10 loss for the visiting Rangers.
• Cardinals sign RP Edwin Quirarte in a 700k/1yr deal. Quirarte, drafted by the Giants in 2008 made it to AAA Sacramento in 2015, then moved back to the Mexican League until this year where he was pitching in the Indy Leagues with Somerset Patriots.

Who owned Baseball today:

#1 1B Daniel Murphy (COL) 3 for 4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB against the Rangers (14-10 win)
#2 SP Max Scherzer (WAS) 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 13 K, W against the Marlins (3-1 win)
#3 SP Shane Beiber (CLE) 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W against the Twins (5-2 win)

Bats were swung well today, the top 3 in the batting lineup (Hamilton, Flores and Slater) were on base 6 times in total, Crawford got over 3 strikeouts with a nice swing to take Bumgarner deep.

Gausman continues to impress, long may it continue.

Flores being rested until the Padres series, we are facing two righties in Gallen and Weaver Wednesday and Thursday so Belt can play 1st, he needs to get over this virus he has picked up.

[assamarra]

Wednesday 8th April 2020

Game 12 Arizona Diamondbacks 4 San Francisco Giants 5
(WP: Gott 1-0 ) (LP: Chafin 1-1) (SV: Webb 4)
Attendance: 31,813
Time: 3:07

Giants starter Johnny Cueto on his first pitch of the evening saw it deposited into the left field stands by Starling Marte (his 3rd of the season) but recovered his composure to allow 6 hits, 2 runs in 7.2 innings while striking out 4 Diamondbacks. He didn’t get the win though after he had earned it as Gott blew the save after blowing a 3-1 lead as Arizona scored 3 times in the 8th to take a 4-3 lead.

The Giants came back in the bottom of the 8th though to retake the lead with outfielders Steve Duggan and Austin Slater driving home Posey and Solano, Logan Webb was brought in to close out the game and throw his 4th save of the season as the Giants improve to 6-6 and the Diamondbacks drop to 6-7 as San Francisco leap frog today’s opponents in the divisional standings.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen pitched well striking out 8 Giants while allowing 3 runs in his 6.2 IP pitched but his bullpen could not keep a lead with LH reliever Chafin taking the loss and Cuban closer Yoan Lopez demoted to AAA Reno after blowing the save.

1B Brandon Belt was injured in a collision at second base early in the game, is listed as day to day for a couple of days with a bruised wrist.

League News:

• Angels OF Justin Upton hits a career 300th home run against the Athletics who beat LA 6-2. Upton lies 42 home runs Ron Santo who is 100th all time on the HR leaderboard,


Who owned Baseball today:

#1 1B Pete Alonso (NYM) 2 for 5, HR, 6 RBI, 2 R against the Astros (15-3 win)
#2 1B Josh Bell (PIT) 3 for 4, HR, RBI, 3 R, BB against the Cubs (7-8 loss )
#3 SP Mike Clevinger (CLE) 6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W against the Twins (7-0 win)

Cueto put in another good performance after his horrible opening start to the season. Got to make a decision about Gott, and my first thought is to DFA, and bring up an AAA RP, Gott isn’t getting the job done.

Decisions to be made at 1B with both Belt and Flores DTD, plan was to rest Flores until the Padres series but Belt’s injury today has brought that plan into question. Looks like Flores will be back on the field tomorrow with Belt missing most if not all of the Padres series.

[assamarra]

Thursday 9th April 2020

Game 13 Arizona Diamondbacks 3 San Francisco Giants 6
(WP: Samardzija 1-1) (LP: Weaver 0-2) (SV: Rogers 1)
Attendance: 27,879
Time: 3:12

San Francisco take the series over the Diamondbacks, finishing their homestand with a 5-2 record with a 6-3 victory. The Giants’ had been quietened by Luke Weaver until the 5th innings where the Giants put up 6 runs with Billy Hamilton’s bases clearing triple the highlight knocking Weaver from the game allowing 6 hits and 6 runs while striking out 7.

Jeff Samardzija had seen a Jake Lamb fly ball end up in the water to give the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead in the 4th but the 6th inning onslaught erased that lead, Samardzija ended pitching 6.2 innings allowing 7 hits, 2 runs while striking out 4.

With Logan Webb given a day off by manager Kapler it was left to Tyler Rogers to seal the game with a save after the Diamondbacks had narrowed lead in the 8th with a solo shot from Ketel Marte to make the score 6-4.

With the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Padres all in the midst of losing streaks the Giants (7-6) jump to second place in the standings, ½ game behind the Rockies.

League News:

• Minor League Baseball started today with 4 levels (AAA, AA, A+, A) all seeing their opening days.
• Cubs are the hot team at the moment, winning 11 straight to lead the NL Central, the Mariners are in a dismal slump, losing their last 6 games.


Who owned Baseball today:

#1 3B Mike Moustakas (CIN) 2 for 2, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB against the Phillies (9-6 win)
#2 SP Chase Anderson (TOR) 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8K, W against the Royals (3-0 win)
#3 SP Brett Suter (MIL) 8.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K against the Mets (1-0 win)

Minor League watch:

AAA – Sacramento out hit Reno to win their opening game 9-5, Alex Dickerson goes 3 for 3, driving in 3. But top pitching prospect Sean Hjelle lasts just 2.2 innings before exiting the game injured and is DtD for the next week or so with a mild hamstring strain, will miss his next start.

AA – Richmond beat out Bowie 2-1 with Luis Madero pitching an opening day gem for the Flying Squirrles going 8 innings, allowing 1 run and 5 hits with just 1 walk and 1 strikeout.

A+ - San Jose’s bullpen fell apart and lost a 4-2 lead to lost 7-6 to Lancaster in Cal League. DH Heath Quinn went 3 for 5 and drove in one run.

A – Augusta wasted a strong start from Seth Corry (7.1 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 6 strikeouts) with a blown bullpen assignment. Columbia win 3-2 despite been out hit, Frankie Tostado (LF) went 3 for 3 and a walk in a losing effort.

Got another strong start from the rotation and thankfully the bats came alive as before the 5th it looked like Weaver was dealing and we weren’t going to get anything from him.
We bit the bullet and DFA’s Gott, DJ Myers brought up from Sacramento to take his spot.
Onto San Diego for a weekend series before heading off to Cincinnati for our first series against a non divisional opponent

[assamarra]

Friday 10th April 2020

Series preview

Series 5: San Diego Padres (5-8) v San Francisco (7-6)

Probable Starting Pitching:-

Friday 10/04/2020 – (LH) Joey Lucchesi (0-2, 7.71 ERA) v (RH) Andrew Triggs (1-0, 2.38 ERA)
Saturday 11/04/2020 - (RH) Garrett Richards (0-2, 20.25 ERA) v (LH) Drew Smyly (0-2, 2.45 ERA)
Sunday 12/04/2020 – (RH) Dinelson Lamet (1-0, 5.40 ERA) v (RH) Kevin Gausman (2-1, 2.04 ERA)


Padres in a losing slump, losing their last 5, their rotation is ranked 14th in the NL (5.10 ERA) though their bullpen is middle of the road (8th) .
With the likes of Tatis and Machado along with Andres Munoz and Kirby Yates in the bullpen we expect a battle with the Padres.

[assamarra]

Friday 10th April 2020

Game 14 San Francisco Giants 4 San Diego Padres 5
(WP: Lucchesi 1-2) (LP: Triggs 1-1) (SV: Yates 3)
Attendance: 35,623
Time: 3:22

San Francisco led 2-0 before the Padres narrowed the lead and tied the game before Tatis Jr hit a 3 HR on a 0-0 changeup from Triggs with give the Padres the lead, a lead they would not relinquish as they hung on after a late inning fight back from the visiting 9.

Padres starter Lucchesi got his first win of the season going 5.1 innings, allowing just two runs on 6 hits while striking out 7 Giants. Triggs took his first loss of the season lasting just 14 outs allowing 5 runs (4 earned) 4 walks while striking out 5. Kirby Yates shut down the Giants in the ninth for his third save of the season.

Wilmer Flores continues his crusade against left hand pitchers, going 3 for 5 scoring 2 runs while Tatis had 3 RBI’s off the 5th innings HR.

Giants drop to 7-7, Padres improve to 6-8

League News:

• Cardinals break the Cubs 11 game winning streak with a win in the opening game of the weekend series at Wrigley. Home runs from Jong (2) and Benintendi give the Cardinals an 8-3 win as the Cubs’ starter Jon Lester was hit hard in just 3 innings allowing 6 runs off 7 hits.


Who owned Baseball today:

#1 SS Paul DeJong (STL) 3 for 5, 2 HR, 4 BI, 2 R against the Cubs (8-3 win)
#2 LF Corey Dickinson (MIA) 3, for 4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB against the Royals (7-8 loss)
#3 SP Alex Wood (LAD) 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W against the Nationals (3-0 win)

Minor League watch:

AAA – Sacramento lose a wild one 19-15 after losing 11-3 after three innings. Catcher Rob Brantly 4 for 5 while driving in 4, only relievers Blevins and Oaks did not concede a run. Starter Shaun Anderson got two outs before been pulled, but not before allowing 7 hits and 7 runs.

AA – 1B Zach Houching hit a 5th inning HR to give Richmond their second win of the season, his run was the only score of the day. SP Connor Menez got the win after pitching 6.1 IP, allowing 5 hits and striking out 6. Giants top prospect Joey Bart went 1 for 4 with a strikeout

A+ - San Jose’s Heliot Ramos’ 4 RBI performance helped San Jose past Lancaster 7-0. Ramos went 2 for 4, driving in 4 and leadoff man SS Jalen Miller went 3 for 3 with a walk. Starter Jake Wong went 6.1 innings allowing just 4 base runners (1 H & 3 BB).

A – Augusta win behind a strong start from Tristan Beck, Beck went 6.1 innings allowing 5 hits, striking out 4 and allowing 1 run. Roby and Freed both had multiple hit days while Roby drove in 2. GreenJackets win 4-1.

We had a good chance to win the opening game of the series in San Diego, Triggs started well but his control let him down in the end and with 9 baserunners in total it was on the cards that a Padre would do some damage and Tatis did.

Reload and go again tomorrow.

[assamarra]

Saturday 11th April 2020

Game 15 San Francisco Giants 1 San Diego Padres 2 (10 innings)
(WP: Johnson 1-0) (LP: Webb 0-2)
Attendance: 38,402
Time: 2:57

It was a good fashioned NL game, duck eggs on the scoreboard through nine innings, starting pitching going deep into the game and the Padres came out on top in extra innings to take game 2 of the series.

Garrett Richards (0-2) coming off a horrible start against the Rockies went 7 innings allowing just 4 hits, a walk while striking out 6 Giants. Drew Smyly (0-2) bettered Richards striking out 10 in 8 innings while allowing 4 hits.

The drama mounted as the game went on and going into extra innings both managers had deployed their closers in the ninth to keep the game tied, Webb and Yates had kept the game scoreless. Yates was there for one inning replaced by Pierce Johnson who left two on base but more importantly for the Giants allowed Crawford to score on a Solano single. Logan was left out for his second inning and failed to register an out as after a walk issued to Grisham, Brian Dozier hit a home run into the left field stands for a walk off home run.

Padres CF Trent Grisham went 3 for 3, a walk with the tying run scored while the Giants 3B Evan Longoria went 2 for 4 after a slow start to his 2020 season.

League News:

• Cardinals win second straight at Wrigley tying with the Cubs at 11-4 at the top of the NL Central.
• Pirates win only their third game of the season, beating the Orioles 10-9 in Baltimore surviving a 4 run ninth innings from the Orioles.


Who owned Baseball today:

#1 LF Cody Bellinger (LAD) 2 for 3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB against the Nationals (11-1 win)
#2 SP Drew Smyly (SF) 8.0 IP, 4 H,0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K against the Padres (1-2 loss)
#3 2B Mike Moustakas (CIN) 2 for 4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2R, BB against the Phillies (11-4 win)

Minor League watch:

AAA – Reno’s Pavin Smith was a double off a cycle, went 4 for 4 while driving in 3 runs as the Aces win 9-3. The River Cats’ bats weren’t silent with Sanchez (SS), Green (1B) and Adames (3B) all had multi hit games, Sacramento’s pitching was woeful today.

AA – Richmond lose out to Bowie, losing 12-5 in a game where the Flying Squirrels committed 3 erros which certainly did not help their cause. Top prospect Joey Bart went 3 for 5, driving in 1

A+ - Lancaster snuck past San Jose 4-3, surviving a San Jose comeback in the middle innings to close the gap to the final score. Giants starter John Galvin struck out 9 in 6 innings but took the loss after allowing all the Lancaster runs.

A – Two five run innings (3rd and 7th) saw Columbia defeat the GreenJackets 13-2. GreenJackets were never really in the game and gave up 17 hits and no-one really stood out in today’s performance.

Second straight one run loss (an overall run differential of -1 at the moment). Felt for Smyly, that was an excellent performance from him but Webb couldn’t keep Padres off the base and paid the price.
Lose tomorrow and we suffer our first sweep of the season, Gausman on the mound.

[assamarra]

Sunday 12th April 2020

Game 16 San Francisco Giants 6 San Diego Padres 5
(WP: Gausman 3-1) (LP: Lamet 0-3) (SV: Watson 1)
Attendance: 36,335
Time: 3:34

The Giants eke out their 8th win of the season to go into a rest day with a .500 record after this 6-5 win over the Padres who fall to 7-9 and hit the bottom of the NL West.

Behind the arm of Kevin Gausman (3-1) and the bat of Brandon Belt who hit his 3rd and 4th home runs of the season off Padre starter Lamet and reliever Baez while Brandon Crawford also hit a home run off Lamet who was tagged with the loss, his third of the season.

The Giants trailed in this one after the first innings where the game was tied at 1, a Crawford error in the 7th (his second of the day) gave the Padres hope as they close the gap to 6-4 with a couple of innings to play.

Selman and Rogers did their job in the 7th and 8th but Tony Watson in closing made it a nervous end for the Giants’ fans allowing a run a Will Myers on second base as the tying run, Machado striking out to end the game.

League News:

• Kwang-hyun Kim traded from the Cardinals to the Red Sox throws a 6 hitter as the Red Sox bet the Mariners in Seattle 5-1. One of the two Red Sox who moved to St Louis was Andrew Benintendi, currently hitting .409/.480/.818

Who owned Baseball today:

#1 SP Aaron Nola (PHI) 8,2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W against the Reds (4-0 win)
#2 2B Brandon Drury (TOR) 3 for 4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R against the Royals (9-4 win)
#3 1B Brandon Belt (SF) 2 for 3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB against the Padres (6-5 win)

Minor League watch:

AAA – The River Cats lose their third straight, losing this one in extra innings 4-3 to the Reno Aces. Christan Walker (DH) went 4 for 5 for the Aces homering twice including the walk off home run against Sam Wolff

AA – No game for Richmond

A+ - No game for San Jose

A – Luke Ritter’s grand slam was the difference for Columbia as they beat Augusta 8-4. Giants spec (#98 ranked in the league) Hunter Bishop went 3 for 4 with a RBI. For the season Bishop is hitting .313/.353/.438


Another strong Gausman performance and whoever plays first base seems to be able to hit home runs, we have 8 from that position so far this season, 17 in total.

Watson gave us the gitters at the end, especially facing the top of the Padres line up.

Day off Monday, and start a series in Cincinnati Tuesday

[assamarra]

Monday 13th April 2020

Weekly Round-up

Standings after Sunday 12th April 2020



Blue Jays, Tigers and Astros still head their respective division, with the Blue Jays continuing their strong start to the season going 5-1 for the week. Tigers falter with a 2-4 week as the White Sox’s 5-1 week moves them into second place. Rangers have started slowly in the AL West as the Angels keep tabs on the Astros.

Jose Peraza (BOS) leading the AL hitting and went 8 for 15 in Boston’s last series which was in Seattle.

Cole (NYY) and Maeda (MIN) lead the AL in strikeouts (33), Maeda has the better K/9 rate (11.3)



The reigning champs take over top spot in the NLE, with the fast improving Braves (6-1 last week) moving into second, Phillies drop to 4th after a 1-5 week. Cubs and Cardinals battling out at top of NLC with the Reds hanging on going 7-3 in last ten, Pirates look marooned already. NLW the tightest division of the six, only 1 ½ games separate top and bottom, a nice winning streak would really propel a team to the top and perhaps give them the platform to win the division, expecting this from the Dodgers.

AL Player of the week

Orioles catcher Chance Sisco takes the AL player of the week award. Went 8 for 19 (.421 average) hitting 4 home runs while driving in 11.

NL Player of the week

Reds second baseman Mike Moustakas takes the NL player of the week award after the 31 year old went 7 for 17 (.412 average) hitting 4 home runs, driving in 8 and scoring 5 runs.


Thoughts

A 4-3 week, a series win and a series loss for the Giants. Four of the five starters played very well, Gausman went 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA for the week. Only Webb in the bullpen struggled but still managed to save two of his three appearances.

Brandon Belt and Wilmer Flores are forming a strong platoon partnership at first base, they went 11 for 21 this week gone driving in 7 runs and scoring 7 runs. RF Mike Yastrzemski made his hits count last week, going just 5 for 25 but drove in a team high 5 RBI’s.

Road series in Cincinnati and Atlanta this week, could be a tough week with both teams in good form.

[assamarra]

Monday 13h April 2020

Series preview

Series 6: Cincinnati Reds (9-6) v San Francisco (8-8)

Probable Starting Pitching:-

Tuesday 14/04/2020 – (RH) Sonny Gray (2-0, 0.87 ERA) v (RH) Johnny Cueto (1-0, 2.70 ERA)
Wednesday 15/04/2020 - (RH) Luis Castillo (1-1, 2.70 ERA) v (RH) Jeff Samardzija (1-1, 5.40 ERA)
Thursday 16/04/2020 – (RH) Trevor Bauer (1-0, 3.79 ERA) v (RH) Andrew Triggs (1-1, 3.94 ERA)

We face the 1-2-3 of the Reds pitching rotation and each matchup the Reds look favourites. Game 1 sees Johnny Cueto returns to Cincinnati where he pitched in the majors from 2008-2015 after signing for the Reds in 2004.

Reds 7-3 in their last 10 have won 6 of their last 7.

League News:

• Twins CF Bryon Buxton goes 5 for 6 in Toronto to lead the Twins past the Blue Jays 9-5, Buxton was a triple off a cycle and lifts his batting average over .200 to .208 after a slow start to the season.
• Houston 3B Alex Bregman hits his 5th home run of the season, drove in his 18th RBI of the season and leads the AL in RBI’s.
• Marcell Ozuna hit his 7th HR of the season for the Braves and leads the NL and the league in home runs as the Braves win 3-0, their 4th straight win.


Who owned Baseball today:

#1 SP Aaron Nola (PHI) 8,2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W against the Reds (4-0 win)
#2 2B Brandon Drury (TOR) 3 for 4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R against the Royals (9-4 win)
#3 1B Brandon Belt (SF) 2 for 3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB against the Padres (6-5 win)

Minor League watch:

• Sacramento beat Reno 9-2 behind the arm of Dereck Rodriguez who throw 8 innings, allowing just 2 runs and striking out 5.
• Richmond could muster just 3 hits in a 3-1 loss to the Altoona Curve, Joey Bart went 0 for 4.
• San Jose beat Rancho 8-2 with LF Jacob Heywards driving in 3 while Hellot Ramos drove in 2 in a 1 for 5 day.
• Augusta improve to 2-3 after beating Greensboro 5-2 behind the arm of Mac Marshall (5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K), 1B Connor Cannon hit a 3 run HR in the 4th to put Augusta 5-0 up. Hunter Bishop went 2 for 4, driving in a run and is hitting .350 for the season.