San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Rescue Party Begins Efforts

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss a large rescue party beginning their efforts to get the Giants back on track.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Thursday, the Giants kicked off a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals by taking game one, 6-2. Johnny Cueto (16-5) received a well-earned win, while Adam Wainwright (11-9) was on the losing side.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3. The Giants picked up a game in the National League West, and trail LA by four games. The New York Mets were off, and lost a half-game to the Giants in the wildcard race. They still own the second spot, and are only one game back. The Cardinals are now one game behind the Mets, and two behind the Giants.

Here’s what went on Thursday.

1 – Guys Put On Their Big Boy Pants

The Giants needed someone to step up big time. No, scratch that. The Giants needed a bunch of guys to step up big time. With the team teetering on the edge of destruction, they needed leaders to come to the rescue. On Thursday, those leaders moved to the front and pulled the Giants away from the edge.

It was Hunter Pence, who has been the spiritual leader of numerous resurgences in the past, that began the rescue effort. With two outs in the first inning, Pence launched a Wainwright curveball down the left field line for a two-run home run to give them a quick lead.

Buster Posey joined the efforts with a four-hit game, including smoking a double to center field that likely would have ended his home run drought in most other parks. Angel Pagan had an RBI single as one of his two hits. Denard Span, moved to the eighth spot in the lineup, contributed with two hits and a walk in four at-bats. His second hit was a single that brought in two runs in the seventh.

Those guys were all going through their own individual struggles. Posey entered the day hitting just .196 in September. Pagan was hitting .137 on the month, and Span a measly .068. It has been a team effort to look as bad as the Giants’ offense has for most of the month. It will need to be a team effort to improve it.

More from San Francisco Giants

• Thank you SF Giants for a fun, wild, surprising 2020 season
• SF Giants lose in heartbreaking fashion and miss 2020 MLB playoffs
• SF Giants: Mike Yastrzemski named 2020 Willie Mac Award recipient
• SF Giants: Chadwick Tromp placed on IL with shoulder strain
• SF Giants: Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners postponed

But the best effort came from another source:

2 – Cueto Carries Them

When you want something done right, do it yourself. Giants’ starter Johnny Cueto took that advice on Thursday, foregoing a struggling bullpen by becoming his own closer. Cueto traversed a full nine innings, throwing the team on his back and carrying them over the hot coals in the late innings.

He couldn’t hold the early 2-0 lead, giving back single runs in the third and fourth innings. But he didn’t let that spiral out of control, getting back in the driver’s seat and putting it in cruise control.

With runners on the corners in the fourth, he recorded the final two outs to strand two and keep the game tied. The Giants gave Cueto that lead back in the bottom of the fourth, and that was all Cueto needed. He was perfect in the fifith. And the sixth. Seventh. Eighth. Ninth. He retired the last 17 batters he faced in order to close out his fifth complete game of the year. That’s the most in the NL and tied for the big league lead.

Cueto was the stopper on Thursday, but the team still has plenty of work to do. They need to keep this level of performance and effort for another day, and then carry that over for another day after that. And bring that to the next day. Piece of cake, right?

Next: Giants Control Path to Postseason

And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Cardinals keep going with this critical series. Matt Moore makes what may be his biggest start as a Giant yet, opposed by rookie righty Luke Weaver.