Golden Gate Sports
Fansided

San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Revenge Against Philly

By Sean Bialaszek

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 02: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the San Francisco Giants gets a high-five from starting pitcher Andrew Suarez #59 after McCutchen ran down a deep fly ball in right center field for the third out of the top of the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on June 2, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 02: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the San Francisco Giants gets a high-five from starting pitcher Andrew Suarez #59 after McCutchen ran down a deep fly ball in right center field for the third out of the top of the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on June 2, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 2
Next
san francisco giants
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – APRIL 23: Evan Longoria #10 of the San Francisco Giants plays third base against the Washington Nationals at AT&T Park on April 23, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

3 DOWN

1 – Going Cold

This was a really good series for the Giants, so we’re going to have to get pretty nitpicky to find negatives. A couple bats didn’t contribute much during the sweep, namely two guys who had good series in Colorado.

Evan Longoria started the series with an RBI single in his first at-bat, but went hitless in nine at-bats (five strikeouts, one walk) over the rest of the set. Mac Williamson had four hits (three doubles) in his last two games against the Rockies, but picked up just one hit in eight at-bats back home.

Those two guys going cold didn’t hurt in this series, but with another big bat expected to miss a few weeks, they will have to step up and pick up the slack.

2 – Get Those Bunts Down

Bunting has been a big problem for the Giants this season. Stratton got two bunts down on Friday, a big change of pace for the pitchers, but Suarez continued his problematic hitting on Saturday (Rodriguez had one at-bat on Sunday, and it was with the bases empty).

After a leadoff single from Nick Hundley in the third inning, Suarez had an opportunity to move him over. Instead, he fouled the bunt off on the first pitch, watched a strike on the next pitch, and fouled another bunt attempt away for strike three.

Suarez is 0-13 with eight strikeouts as a hitter. That’s not surprising, as he was a .102 hitter in the minor leagues. But he’s had five opportunities to sacrifice as a big leaguer and has been successful once. He seems to have the pitching tools to be a big leaguer for a long time, but he’s gonna have to learn to bunt as well.

Next: A Quick, Stern Reminder from Baseball Gods

3 – Another Injury

Things were going so well. The Giants had gotten Panik and Melancon back, but two innings into Friday night’s game, they lost slugger Brandon Belt. The first baseman who was enjoying a career year is expected to miss three weeks after surgery to remove his appendix, and that’s a big loss. He carried the Giants’ offense at various points this year, and the team is going to have to live life without him for a little while.

Home/San Francisco Giants