How fitting? The Giants 1^st 3-game series sweep comes with a couple of months in between thanks to a rainout. This season’s script has great writers, man.

It was far from an easy win, even though the game wasn’t even a save situation. Giants struck in the 1^st. Immediately gave that run back. Gave the lead back in the 2^nd. Tied it in the 5^th and gave the lead back in the bottom of the 5^th. They blew it open in the 6^th. Then in the 9^th, the Braves got their 1^st 2 runners on. The bad thoughts started to seep in. But they slammed the door in the Braves’ face. A great team, and the Giants manage to go 5-1 against them this season.

Takeaways
- Rafael Devers hit number 30. Last year, Willy Adames ended the curse for the Giants. It took him until the last game of the year. Devers did it with a month to go. Let’s see what he can do.
- Eldridge followed up his 4-5 game yesterday by going 2-5 with an RBI.
- Anthony Molina faced his former team and got the win. He went 5 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. Good start.
- I didn’t hear anything. Not sure why Turner Hill hit for Drew Gilbert. Hopefully not an injury.
- 3 walks. 7 strikeouts. 1 error. 4-8 with RISP. Not a perfect night but fairly clean baseball.

What Changed the Game

The 6^th inning was the game changer. Basabe led off the inning with a homer. Knizner singled. Furman singled. Koss got down another good sac bunt. Hill doubled. After a Devers fly out, Eldridge singled. The Giants struck for 4 and gave themselves some breathing room.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Bryce Elder started the game for the Braves. He faced Drew Gilbert, leading things off for the Giants. He lined out to center for the 1^st out. Rafael Devers then blasted homer number 30 to right. Bryce Eldridge flied out to center, on a ball with a higher exit velo than Devers’ homer. Jonah Cox flied out to center. 1-0.

Bottom 1^st: Anthony Molina drew the start for the Giants, facing the team that traded him. Drake Baldwin led off for the Braves with a double to center. Ronald Acuna Jr flied out to right, Baldwin tagged up and took 3^rd. Matt Olson grounded out to short, which scored Baldwin. Mauricio Dubon lined out to 2^nd to end the inning. 1-1.

Top 2^nd: Jung Hoo Lee grounded out to 2^nd to start the 2^nd. Osleivis Basabe grounded out to short. Andrew Knizner hit a double to right that I thought cleared the wall for a second. Nate Furman singled to right. The Giants held Knizner up at 3^rd. Christian Koss grounded out to 3^rd to end the inning. 1-1.

Bottom 2^nd: Michael Harris II hit a 1^st pitch home run to center to break the tie. Ozzie Albies lined out to left. Sean Murphy struck out swinging. Austin Riley popped out to 1^st. 1-2.

Top 3^rd: Gilbert grounded out to 1^st. Devers walked. Eldridge hit a grounder to 2^nd. Devers was forced out but Eldridge beat out the back end. Cox hit a grounder to 3^rd, Riley threw on to 2^nd to get Eldridge to end the inning. 1-2.

Bottom 3^rd: Mike Yastrzemski led off the 3^rd with a ground out to Basabe. Baldwin and Acuna then struck out swinging. 1-2-3 inning for Molina.

Top 4^th: JHL led off the inning with a walk. Basabe struck out swinging, but JHL was able to steal 2^nd. Knizner hit a grounder back to the pitcher. JHL broke for some reason, and was thrown out at 3^rd. Furman struck out looking. 1-2.

Bottom 4^th: Olson, Dubon and Harris II all struck out swinging. Another 1-2-3 inning for Molina. 1-2.

Top 5^th: Koss lined out to center. Gilbert struck out looking. Devers walked. Eldridge singled to center, Devers took 3^rd. Cox bunted for a hit, scoring Devers. JHL grounded out to short to end the inning. 2-2.

Bottom 5^th: Albies flied out to center. Murphy singled to right. Riley singled to center. Yaz flied out to center, allowing Murphy to tag up to 3^rd. Acuna reached on an infield single, scoring Murphy. Olson flied out to left to end the inning. 2-3.

Top 6^th: Basabe homered to center to tie the game up again. Knizner followed with a single to center. Furman singled. Koss got a sacrifice bunt down, to have runners at 2^nd and 3^rd. The Braves then went to the bullpen, bringing in Dylan Lee. Turner Hill hit for Gilbert and doubled to right, scoring Furman and Knizner. Devers flied out to right. Eldridge singled to score Hill. Ray Kerr then came on for the Braves, striking out Cox. 6-3.

Bottom 6^th: Hill took over in left, as Jason Foley came on to pitch. Dubon grounded out to 3^rd. Harris II singled to center. He took 2^nd as Foley threw away the pickoff attempt. Albies grounded out to 2^nd, Harris II to 3^rd. Murphy struck out looking to end the inning. 6-3.

Top 7^th: Kerr stayed on for the 7^th, getting JHL to line out to right, Basabe to line out to 3^rd, and Knizner to pop out to 1^st. 6-3.

Bottom 7^th: Foley stayed on to face Riley, giving up a single to left. He got Yaz to fly out. The Giants then brought in Reiver Sanmartin, who struck out Baldwin swinging. Acuna hit a grounder to short, Koss threw to Furman to end the inning. 6-3.

Top 8^th: Kerr stayed on for the 8^th. Shay Whitcomb hit for Furman and flied out to center. Koss struck out looking. Hill bunted right to Olson for the 3^rd out. 6-3.

Bottom 8^th: Basabe moved to 2^nd, as Whitcomb took over at 3^rd. Sanmartin stayed on, facing Olson, who grounded out to Eldridge. Dubon grounded out to 3^rd. Harris II struck out swinging. 6-3.

Top 9^th: Kerr stayed on for the 9^th, striking out Devers. Eldridge grounded out. Jonah Cox then hit a solo home run to make it a 4-run lead. JHL struck out to end the inning. 7-3.

Bottom 9^th: Dylan Smith came on to close the game out. Albies singled to right. Murphy walked. Riley then hit a grounder to 3^rd, Whitcomb stepped on 3^rd, threw on to 2^nd for a double play. It looked for a sec like they might get a triple play. Yaz struck out looking to end the game. 7-3.

Final Score: Giants 7, Braves 3.

Final Thoughts

Suck it, Elias Sports Bureau.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube & TikTok: @TackStackSF

Arizona entered San Francisco having already won the season series against the Giants. Crazy to think with 4 games remaining. What was still on the line for the Giants was the fact they had not gone a full season without winning at least one series against the Diamondbacks since 1999. They had to take 3 of 4 this weekend to keep that streak alive. Did they?

Game 1 was Landen Roupp vs Jose Cabrera. The Giants struck early, with a Drew Gilbert leadoff homer. Eldridge added an RBI double. Roupp went 5 innings, allowing 1 run. Cabrera went 4.1 innings, allowing 2 earned runs. It was a tight game at 2-1 until the Giants blew it open off Kevin Ginkel, striking for 4 in the 8^th. Game 1 goes to the Giants.

The 2^nd game of the series was Kohl Drake vs Blade Tidwell. Blade wasn’t sharp, allowing 6 earned runs in 5 innings. The Giants did battle back early to keep it close. Eldridge hit his 15^th homer of the season. Koss hit his 1^st. Drake got Kendrick’d, going 4 innings, allowing 5 earned runs. Arizona pounded Bivens for 4 runs and put the game away. Series tied 1-1.

Saturday was a split doubleheader. The 1^st game was Matt Wilkinson vs Merrill Kelly. Both starters were great. Wilkinson threw 6 shutout innings, then came back out for the 7^th. He was clearly gassed, walking the 1^st 2 batters he faced before being pulled. Unfortunately, those 2 runs scored, along with another base runner Ryan Walker walked, on a Lars Nootbar grand slam. Wilkinson’s line was clouded by this, as he finished at 6 innings, 2 earned. Kelly went 7 shutout innings. The Giants only mustered one run in the 8^th. Arizona continued to add on in the 8^th and 9^th and won easily. The best the Giants could do was tie the series so the streak dating back to ’99 died.

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, Yunior Marte made his Major League debut, jumping straight from AA. He faced Mitch Bratt, who took the loss, allowing 3 earned runs in 4.1 innings. Marte went 4.2 innings, allowing 1 earned run. Jonah Cox was running all over McCann, Gilbert walked 3 times and scored each time. Eldridge was 4-5 with 4 RBIs. Giants won big time to split the series.

Game 1: Giants 6, Diamondbacks 1.

Game 2: Giants 6, Diamondbacks 10.

Game 3: Giants 1, Diamondbacks 7.

Game 4: Giants 7, Diamondbacks 2.

Series Takeaways:
- Bryce Eldridge returned from bereavement and went 9-18 with a homer. Finish the season strong, kid. He’s at 15 homers with a month to go. 20 seems like a lock. Can he catch fire and get to 25?
- Drew Gilbert was 1-8, but that 1 hit was a homer and he worked 4 walks.
- Ryan Walker absolutely blows. Breaking news, right?
- Lars Nootbar picked up Ketel Marte’s poker chip as the 2026 Giants Killer. Friday, he hit a leadoff homer. Saturday in game 1 of the doubleheader he hit a grand slam.
- Landen Roupp, Matt Wilkinson, and Yunior Marte all gave the Giants good starts. Roupp and Marte may not have worked very deep into the game but they did enough to keep the Giants in those games. Ironically, the one who had the best start is the one who took the loss. Wilkinson.
- Speaking of Tugboat, it can’t be understated enough how important his outing was Saturday. In game 1 of a doubleheader, your biggest worry is the bullpen. He pitched into the 7^th inning, saving the bullpen in case the kid shit the bed in game 2.
- Blade Tidwell was not good. His breaking ball was flat Friday night. Hopefully just a mechanical fix.
- Something that is interesting is the fact that none of these games were particularly close. Yet if you tally it up, the Giants scored 20 in the 4 games, and Arizona scored 20 in the 4 games. Baseball is weird.

Biggest Story:

At this point, the most interesting guy is Bryce Eldridge. They keep showing how he’s doing things that have only been done by Giants legends at his age. Where can he go this year? 25 is not likely, but it’s not impossible.

The Question Now Is:

Who is left in the rotation?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers
Follow me on Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube: @TackStackSF

Well, I guess if you’re going to split the doubleheader, win the 2^nd game. I feel like lately on this page, I keep humping the same couple of guys. Bryce Eldridge. Drew Gilbert. Rafael Devers. All 3 made an impact tonight. Along with a kid making his Major League debut all the way from AA.

The Giants were fun tonight. They didn’t shoot themselves in the foot with stupid errors or mistakes on the base paths. They stole bases. They hit with runners in scoring position. Good shit happened.

Takeaways
- Jonah fuckin’ Cox. Leadoff walk. Steal 2^nd. Steal 3^rd. Score. Add another steal later in the game. They pulled him early, but he was 1-1 with a walk and a run scored. That was fun to watch. Giants have talked about pushing the issue on the bases for years. Good to see someone finally do it.
- Bryce motherfuckin’ Eldridge. 4-5 with 4 RBIs. God, I like this kid.
- Yunior Marte made his Major League debut after being called up from AA. He went 4.2 innings, allowing 1 earned run. He came into a tough situation and saved the bullpen.
- Trent Harris and Carson Seymour are looking like guys who could be on the team next year. Maybe this bullpen isn’t completely hopeless.
- Drew Gilbert came on for Cox and had 3 walks in 3 plate appearances and he scored every time.
- 6 walks. 8 strikeouts. 0 errors. 6-13 with RISP.

What Changed the Game

The 5^th inning was the turning point tonight. Bratt was still in. McCray singled. Basabe walked. Koss executed a perfect sacrifice bunt. Gilbert pinch-hit and walked to load the bases. Devers singled to right, scoring McCray. Eldridge singled to left, scoring Basabe and Gilbert. Suddenly a 1-1 game is 4-1.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Yunior Marte made his Major League debut today, facing Lars Nootbar, who worked a walk. Corbin Carroll hit a liner right at Bryce Eldridge, who was 2 steps off the bag. He stepped on 1^st to double off Nootbar. Geraldo Perdomo grounded out to 2^nd to end the inning. 0-0.

Bottom 1^st: Mitch Bratt made his 10^th start of the season. Jonah Cox led off the Giants’ half of the inning with a 4-pitch walk. He followed by stealing 2^nd on the 1^st pitch of Rafael Devers’ at-bat. Devers would pop up to 3^rd for the 1^st out. Cox stole 3^rd, standing up, on the 1^st pitch of Bryce Eldridge’s at-bat. Eldridge then singled to left, scoring Cox easy. Jung Hoo Lee flew out to center for the 2^nd out. Shay Whitcomb flied out to short on the 1^st pitch he saw. 1-0.

Top 2^nd: Nolan Arenado grounded out to short for the 1^st out of the inning. Max Kepler popped out to Whitcomb at 3^rd for the 2^nd out. Tim Tawa flied out on the 1^st pitch to center for a 1-2-3 inning. 1-0.

Bottom 2^nd: Andrew Knizner led off the 2^nd inning for the Giants, popping out to Arenado. Grant McCray tried to bunt for a hit but it went straight to the pitcher. Osleivis Basabe hit a broken bat pop up to Arenado for the 3^rd out. 1-2-3 inning for Bratt. 1-0.

Top 3^rd: James McCann struck out, Marte’s 1^st strikeout of his career. Ildemaro Vargas bunted to 1^st, beating out the throw from Eldridge for a single. Ryan Waldschmidt struck out swinging. Nootbar hit a flare into left that McCray slid for and could not come up with. It kicked away for a double and was enough to score Vargas. Carroll walked. Perdomo worked the count 3-2 before flying out to JHL. 1-1.

Bottom 3^rd: Christian Koss grounded out to shortstop for the 1^st out of the inning. Jonah Cox hit a grounder to 2^nd. Vargas booted it and Cox was just too fast for even a throw. Devers flied out to left. With Eldridge up, Cox stole his 3^rd base of the game. He was stranded as Eldridge chased a high fastball for the 3^rd out. 1-1.

Top 4^th: Arenado flied out to center for the 1^st out. Kepler lined hard to Eldridge for the 2^nd out. Tawa doubled off the wall. McCann struck out, chasing a ball out of the zone. 1-1.

Bottom 4^th: JHL flew out to left for the 1^st out of the inning. Whitcomb struck out swinging. Knizner grounded out to short on the 1^st pitch he saw. 1-1.

Top 5^th: Vargas grounded out to Marte for the 1^st out. Waldschmidt hit a shallow fly that Cox tracked down. Tony Vitello then came out to get him, bringing in Reiver Sanmartin. Nootbar struck out looking to end the inning. 1-1.

Bottom 5^th: McCray flared a single to shallow left. Basabe walked. Koss got down the perfect sacrifice bunt. With runners at 2^nd and 3^rd, Arizona went to the bullpen. Gerardo Carrillo came into the game as Drew Gilbert hit for Cox. He walked to load the bases for Devers. Devers hit a liner to right on the 1^st pitch he saw, scoring McCray. Eldridge hit a liner to left that scored Basabe and Gilbert. JHL walked to re-load the bases. Whitcomb popped out to 1^st on the 1^st pitch he saw. Drew Cavanaugh struck out to end the inning. 4-1.

Top 6^th: Gilbert took over in center, Cavanaugh took over behind the plate. Trent Harris entered the game, facing Corbin Carroll. Carroll grounded out to Eldridge, who flipped the ball to Harris. Perdomo reached on an infield single to Koss. Arenado grounded out to Koss, who started the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. 4-1.

Bottom 6^th: Old friend Derek Law came on for Arizona for the 6^th. McCray grounded out to 2^nd. Basabe grounded out to 3^rd. Koss lined out to right to end the inning. 4-1.

Top 7^th: Jason Foley came on for the Giants. Kepler reached on an infield single that Koss couldn’t make a play on. Tawa struck out looking. McCann singled to center, Kepler to 2^nd. Vargas singled to left, scoring Kepler. Waldschmidt grounded out to 3^rd. With the red-hot Nootbar coming up, Tony Vitello came out and brought in Carson Seymour, who struck him out swinging to end the inning. 4-2.

Bottom 7^th: Gilbert walked. Devers struck out swinging. Eldridge reached on an infield single that was a little nubber that Law couldn’t field cleanly. JHL singled to center, scoring Gilbert. Kevin Ginkel came into the game, striking out Whitcomb and Cavanaugh, both swinging. 5-2.

Top 8^th: Seymour stayed on for the 8^th. He walked Carroll. Perdomo lined out to short. Arenado grounded out to 3^rd, Carroll to 2^nd. He took 3^rd on a wild pitch, but would be stranded as Kepler struck out. 5-2.

Bottom 8^th: Justin Martinez came on for the 8^th, striking out McCray swinging. Basabe reached safely on a throwing error by Martinez. Koss struck out swinging. Basabe stole 2^nd. Gilbert walked. Dennis Santana came on in relief. Devers singled to right, scoring Basabe. Eldridge then hit a single up the middle that Vargas dove for but could not field cleanly. This scored Gilbert. JHL grounded out to 2^nd to end the inning. 7-2.

Top 9^th: Dylan Smith came on for the 9^th inning. Tawa and McCann both struck out swinging. Vargas flied out to Gilbert to end the game. 7-2.

Final Score: Giants 7, Diamondbacks 2.

Final Thoughts

Nothing. Gotta edit this up. I gotta pee.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube & TikTok: @TackStackSF

I wish there was an easy way to go back and look at how many times the Giants have had a game that was close going into the 7^th that ended up being an asswhooping. I’m too lazy to go through all the game recaps I’ve done. But this game was 0-0 entering the 7^th. Both pitchers were dealing. The final was 7-1, Snakes. Just incredible.

On the postgame show they said this is the 1^st season since 1999 that the Giants did not win a single series against Arizona. That is absolutely nuts. Even in the disaster that was 2017, the Giants won a series against AZ. The best they can do is split now after today’s game 1.

Incredible.

Takeaways
- Tugboat absolutely did his job today and then some. With the doubleheader, he needed to save the bullpen. He pitched into the 7^th inning, where he ran out of gas. It was the beginning of the Giants’ downfall but in the end his line reads 6 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits and just the 2 walks he surrendered in the 7^th.
- Fuckin’ DFA Ryan Walker now. There is absolutely no point in keeping him around, even in a lost season. There is no one in Sacramento who can benefit from some big league experience?
- The Giants had 4 hits. 2 by Devers, 2 by JHL. Eldridge did manage to work 2 walks though.
- Ron Wotus brought out the lineup card today and took the opportunity to trash Alan Porter. The pussy tossed him almost immediately from what the video showed. This umpire crew is sensitive and absolute garbage. Porter, the crew chief, had the worst umpire scorecard of any home plate ump last night. Jen Powell blew 2 calls at 1^st, including the most obvious swing on an appealed check swing that I’ve ever seen. These fucks won’t be seeing playoff baseball.

What Changed the Game

Walks in the 7^th sent everything into a tailspin. The game was 0-0 at the start of the inning. Wilkinson came back out when he probably shouldn’t have, but he had pitched so well today that he earned the right to try. He walked the 2 batters he faced. Enter Ryan WALKer, who walked the 1^st guy he saw to load the bases. Lars Nootbar pinch-hit and launched a grand slam. Game over.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Matt Wilkinson started game 1 of the doubleheader for the Giants. Ildemaro Vargas led off with a fly out to center. Corbin Carroll struck out swinging. Gabriel Moreno singled to right for the 1^st hit of the game. Perdomo grounded out back to Tugboat, who threw on to 1^st to end the inning. 0-0.

Bottom 1^st: Merrill Kelly drew the start for Arizona. Drew Gilbert led off with a ground out to 2^nd. Rafael Devers singled to center. Bryce Eldridge struck out swinging. Jung Hoo Lee lined out to center for the 3^rd out. 0-0.

Top 2^nd: Nolan Arenado singled to right. Tim Tawa hit a fly ball to JHL that dropped in. JHL threw to 2^nd to get Arenado, making it a fielder’s choice. Jose Fernandez lined out to center for the 2^nd out. Tawa stole 2^nd but Jordan Lawlar struck out looking. 0-0.

Bottom 2^nd: Turner Hill led off the 2^nd with a walk. Drew Cavanaugh hit a grounder to 2^nd for a 4-6-3 double play. Shay Whitcomb struck out looking. 0-0.

Top 3^rd: Ryan Waldschmidt flied out to Hill. Vargas lined out to Gilbert. Carroll lined out to JHL. 1-2-3 inning. 0-0.

Bottom 3^rd: Nate Furman grounded out to 2^nd. Christian Koss struck out swinging. Gilbert flied out to short, as Kelly matched 1-2-3 innings. 0-0.

Top 4^th: Moreno grounded out to short. The play was close on Koss’ throw. He was initially ruled safe but the Giants challenged and it was overturned. Perdomo lined out to center. Arenado popped out to Koss. Another 1-2-3 inning. 0-0.

Bottom 4^th: Devers grounded out to 2^nd. Eldridge worked a walk. JHL singled to right, moving Eldridge to 3^rd. Hill hit a grounder to 2^nd. Vargas threw home. Moreno tagged Eldridge for the out on a very close play. Cavanaugh grounded out to 2^nd to end the inning. 0-0.

Top 5^th: Tawa and Fernandez struck out swinging. Lawlar flied out to JHL. 3 straight 1-2-3 innings. 0-0.

Bottom 5^th: Whitcomb flied out to right. Furman walked. Koss struck out swinging. Gilbert flied out to left. 0-0.

Top 6^th: Waldschmidt singled to left. Vargas lined out to short. Carroll grounded out to 2^nd for a 4-6-3 double play. Off the bat I thought there was zero chance to double up Carroll. 0-0.

Bottom 6^th: Devers struck out swinging to start the 6^th. Eldridge flied out to left. JHL walked. Hill grounded out to 2^nd. 0-0.

Top 7^th: Moreno walked to lead off the inning on 4 straight. Perdomo walked on 5 pitches. Tony Vitello then brought in Ryan Walker, who true to his name, walked Tawa to load the bases. Lars Nootbar then hit for Fernandez. Nootbar blasted a 432’ home run to right for a grand slam. Lawlar flied out. Waldschmidt lined out. 0-4.

Bottom 7^th: Arenado came into the game to play 3^rd. Cavanaugh and Whitcomb struck out swinging. Furman grounded out to 1^st for a 1-2-3 shutdown inning. 0-4.

Top 8^th: Seth Lonsway made his MLB debut for the Giants, facing Vargas, who he struck out swinging. Carroll hit a fly ball to left that Hill lost in the sun. It was ruled an error. Moreno reached on an infield single to Koss, whose throw was wide of 1^st but I think Moreno woulda been safe either way. Perdomo singled to left, scoring Carroll. Moreno was caught in a rundown but retreated safely to 2^nd. Perdomo had made his way toward 2^nd and was also in a rundown but tagged out at 1^st. Arenado grounded out to 3^rd. 0-5.

Bottom 8^th: Taylor Clarke came on for the 8^th for Arizona. He struck out Koss swinging. Gilbert hit a grounder to 1^st for an out. Devers doubled to right. Eldridge walked. JHL singled to right, scoring Devers. With runners at the corners, Hill lined out to center. 1-5.

Top 9^th: Lonsway stayed in for the 9^th inning. Tawa singled to left. Barrosa hit for Clarke, as Arizona lost their DH by putting Arenado in the field. Barrosa reached on a bunt single to 3^rd. Lawlar singled to left, scoring Tawa. Waldschmidt reached on an infield single. Vargas grounded into a double play, scoring Barrosa. Carroll struck out looking. 1-7.

Bottom 9^th: Brandyn Garcia came on for Arizona. Andrew Knizner hit for Cavanaugh and flied out to right for the 1^st out. Whitcomb flied out to right. Jonah Cox hit for Furman and struck out swinging to end game 1 of the doubleheader. 1-7.

Final Score: Giants 1, Diamondbacks 7.

Final Thoughts

Anyone else excited to watch another 3 hours of these guys at 7? Yaaaay.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube & TikTok: @TackStackSF

At one point this looked like it was going to be a good night. The Giants’ offense seemed to be humming early. Eldridge hit a homer and an RBI double. They had a 2-1 lead. They went down 6-2. They rallied back to make it 6-5. They gave you hope that tonight would be something cool.

Then they reared back and kicked us in the nuts harder than the East Palestine police officers (metaphorically) did Jed York when he walked in and realized the prostitute he thought he was meeting was a dude. A dude that was arresting him no less.

But with the way things have gone this season, and especially against Arizona, why would you expect anything else?

Takeaways
- Tony Vitello got ejected again. This felt like a quick trigger. He came out and got his money’s worth this time. Obviously, I don’t know what was said but reading the ump’s lips, he was quick to drop a “fuck you” on Vitello. He also looked ready to square up. Totally bush league. These guys don’t respect Vitello, it appears. Winning would fix that.
- Bryce Eldridge had a homer in the 1^st, an RBI double in the 3^rd, and almost hit another homer in the 5^th. He’s at 15 homers. 25 isn’t impossible.
- I’ve been a big Spencer Bivens advocate. He looked good in 2024. I thought the Giants shoulda given him more run. But I think this is probably the end for him in SF. The Giants have told us what they think about him with how they have kept him in the minors for so long and when he has gotten to play this year he has been awful.
- Tidwell did not have it tonight. 5 innings, 100 pitches, 6 earned runs.

What Changed the Game

Well, mathematically, if you take the top of the 3^rd off the record, the Giants win the game, so it would have to be that half inning. It started with a 1-out double by Nootbar. Then Carroll homered to put the D’backs ahead at the time. Moreno grounded out for the 2^nd out. Then Perdomo singled. Arenado doubled on a controversial ball that bounced over 3^rd base. Then Tawa hit a 3-run homer. A 5-run inning puts the game at 6-2, and the Giants never regained the lead.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Blade Tidwell got the start for the Giants tonight. He faced Lars Nootbar to start, who hit a 1^st pitch home run to center. Corbin Carroll struck out swinging. Gabriel Moreno also struck out swinging. Geraldo Perdomo lined out to right to end the inning. 0-1.

Bottom 1^st: Kohl Drake was on the mound for Arizona. He got Jonah Cox to line out for the 1^st out. Rafael Devers grounded out to 2^nd. Bryce Eldridge then hit a 1^st pitch slider into the stands in right field for a solo homer. Andrew Knizner struck out swinging. 1-1.

Top 2^nd: Nolan Arenado singled to right to start the inning. Tim Tawa lined out to center for the 1^st out. James McCann flied out to right. Ildemaro Vargas flied out to center for the 3^rd out. 1-1.

Bottom 2^nd: Jung Hoo Lee singled to center to lead off the 2^nd. He stole 2^nd, and took 3^rd on Shay Whitcomb’s ground out. Turner Hill hit a liner to right that was caught by Corbin Carroll, allowing JHL to tag up and score. Christian Koss grounded out to 3^rd for the 3^rd out. 2-1.

Top 3^rd: Jordan Lawlar led off the 3^rd inning with a foul out to right. Nootbar doubled to center. Carroll then took on center for his 19^th homer of the season. Moreno grounded out to Koss for the 2^nd out. Perdomo hit a flare into center for a single. Arenado hit a double over the 3^rd base bag. Tawa then hit a 3-run home run. McCann struck out swinging to end the inning. 2-6.

Bottom 3^rd: Before the start of the Giants’ half of the inning, Tony Vitello got ejected for yelling from the dugout about the Arenado double that was close to being foul. Logan Webb was also tossed. Osleivis Basabe struck out swinging to start the inning. Cox struck out swinging as well. Devers was hit by a pitch. Bryce Eldridge lined a double over Tawa that Devers was able to score on. Knizner grounded out to short to end the inning. 3-6.

Top 4^th: Vargas flied out to left for the 1^st out. Lawlar grounded out to Basabe. Nootbar struck out looking. 3-6.

Bottom 4^th: JHL grounded out to 2^nd to start the inning. Whitcomb struck out swinging. Hill walked. Koss then hit his 1^st homer of the season to left. Basabe flied out to center. 5-6.

Top 5^th: Carroll worked the leadoff walk in the 5^th. Moreno flied out to right. Perdomo flied out to Koss. Arenado popped out to Whitcomb. 5-6.

Bottom 5^th: Gerardo Carrillo came on for Arizona in the 5^th. Drew Gilbert hit for Cox. Gilbert walked. Devers struck out looking on a strike he should have challenged. Eldridge flied out to deep center on a ball I thought was going out of the park. Drew Cavanaugh hit for Knizner and also walked. JHL lined out to short to end the inning. 5-6.

Top 6^th: Gilbert took over in center and Cavanaugh at catcher. Spencer Bivens took over on the mound. Tawa singled to right on a little bloop. McCann hit a ground-rule double that put runners at 2^nd and 3^rd. Vargas singled to right, scoring both Tawa and McCann. Lawlar lined out to right. Nootbar singled to right. Carroll hit a sac fly that scored Vargas. Moreno struck out swinging. 5-9.

Bottom 6^th: Jonathan Loaisiga came on for the 6^th inning. He got Whitcomb to ground out to short. Hill lined out to short. Koss struck out looking. 5-9.

Top 7^th: Bivens stayed on for another inning. Perdomo walked to lead off the inning. Arenado struck out swinging. Perdomo stole 2^nd before Tawa struck out for the 2^nd out. McCann singled to left, scoring Perdomo. Vargas grounded out to Basabe to end the inning. 5-10.

Bottom 7^th: Brandyn Garcia came into the game in the 7^th. Basabe greeted Garcia with a grounder back to him. Gilbert was hit by a pitch. Devers struck out swinging. Eldridge also struck out swinging to end the 7^th. 5-10.

Top 8^th: Reiver Sanmartin came on for the 8^th inning. Lawlar struck out looking to start the inning. Jorge Barrosa hit for Nootbar. He grounded to Koss and reached on a throwing error that Kruk & Kuip really thought should have been ruled a hit. Barrosa stole 2^nd before taking 3^rd on Carroll’s grounder to 2^nd. Moreno grounded out to Koss to end the inning. 5-10.

Bottom 8^th: Dennis Santana replaced Garcia. Barrosa took over in center, Lawlar moved to left. Cavanaugh struck out looking. JHL worked a walk. Santana tried to pick off JHL but threw it away, allowing JHL to take 2^nd. Whitcomb hit a grounder to short, allowing JHL to take 3^rd. The throw to 1^st brought Tawa off the bag, allowing Whitcomb to reach. Hill smoked a ball to 1^st on a bounce. Tawa threw to 2^nd to get Whitcomb. Hill was safe at 1^st. JHL scored. Furman hit for Koss and worked the count full before flying out to right for the 3^rd out. 6-10.

Top 9^th: Braxton Roxby made his Major League debut tonight in the 9^th inning. He faced Perdomo, who grounded out to 1^st. Arenado popped out to Whitcomb in foul ground. Tawa struck out looking. He challenged but it was upheld. 6-10.

Bottom 9^th: Juan Morillo came on to shut the door for the D’backs. Basabe flied out to right for the 1^st out. Gilbert struck out. Devers singled to center to bring up Bryce Eldridge, who worked the count full, before striking out on the 9^th pitch to end the game. 6-10.

Final Score: Giants 6, Diamondbacks 10.

Final Thoughts

What’s the difference between a sheep and a lamb?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram & YouTube: @TackStackSF

I missed last night’s game. And seeing as Ryan Walker pitched the 9^th, I am really glad that I missed the game. Especially since he gave up 2 hits to start the inning.

I am bummed though that I missed Eldridge’s return to the lineup, Gilbert continuing to play like he has something to prove and Devers staying hot. Landen Roupp looks like he had a solid outing too.

If you’re wondering why I missed the game, I was walking the casino floor at Cache Creek searching for Ketel Marte. My brother and mom are in Reno right now, so I have them searching the Row. No sign of the guy. Maybe Jed York picked him up to visit a trailer park.

Takeaways
- Drew Gilbert with the leadoff homer and a sacrifice fly. He’s gone from being a mascot in the clubhouse to becoming a solid player. I don’t necessarily want him to be the starter next year, but he’s looking like a good 4^th OF option.
- A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a conversation I had with my wife where I said how much Carson Seymour sucked. He’s really proven me wrong since then. Maybe he’s finally becoming a piece.
- Bryce Eldridge returned and went 1-4 with an RBI double.
- Landen Roupp battled through some command issues to pitch 5 innings of 1-run ball. The 4^th was rough on him, throwing 35 pitches, but he was mostly economical aside from that inning.

What Changed the Game

The Giants add-on runs in the 8^th inning made Ryan Walker tolerable. With Kevin Ginkel pitching, JHL walked. Devers singled after Gilbert’s lineout. Eldridge doubled, scoring Lee. Cox singled, scoring Devers. Hill singled, scoring Eldridge. Whitcomb dropped a bunt, scoring Cox. 6-1. The lead felt safe, though Wednesday should have taught us no lead is safe.

Game Recap

I didn’t watch the game. Go read the box score.

Final Score Giants 6, Diamondbacks 1

Final Thoughts

…can the Giants actually get to .500 at home before the end of the season?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram & YouTube: @TackStackSF

The Diamondbacks come to San Francisco to wrap up the season series between the two teams. Well, the Diamondbacks minus Ketel Marte. He’s probably rented a car and headed to Reno. Maybe Cache Creek?

The Diamondbacks are in 3^rd place in the National League West at 71-63. They are 9.5 games behind the (bitch-ass) Dodgers and 1 game out in the Wild Card. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games, after taking 2 of 3 from the Cubs. They have scored 605 runs, which is 9^th in the NL. They have allowed 600 runs, 9^th in the NL. They have a +5 run differential, which is 10^th in the NL. They are 31-34 on the road.

The Giants are in 4^th place, at 54-79. They are 26 games behind LA, 16.5 behind Arizona and 2 up on the Rockies in the NL West. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games after taking 2 of 3 from the Reds. They have scored 540 runs, which is 3^rd worst in all of baseball. They have allowed 614 runs, 11^th in the NL. They have a -74 run differential, which is 13^th in the NL. They are 31-34 at home.

I’m getting closer and closer to not having to do these previews anymore for 2026 and you’re getting closer to not having to pretend to read them. Everyone wins. Stats, matchups and Giants Killer of the Series below.

*NOTE* Both teams have only announced 2 starting pitchers for the 4-game series. I’m doing my best to guess but I don’t really know. Especially for the Giants who are down McDonald, Whisenhunt and Houser in the rotation. I’ll likely be wrong.

Current Season Stats

Diamondbacks Hitters

Gabriel Moreno leads the team in batting average with a .303, and on-base percentage at .382, and OPS at .845. Nolan Arenado leads the team in homers with 21. Ketel Marte leads the team in RBIs, but since he’s off on vacation, Gabriel Moreno would be the leader at 65. Corbin Carroll leads the team in slugging percentage. Carroll is having the season you would expect for him. He has an .831 OPS and 18 homers. The average is a little down. Moreno is hitting for average but not for much power. Geraldo Perdomo is definitely down in homers. Last year he hit 20, this year he is at 9. Max Kepler is down off the steroid suspension. Hmm…. Arenado is at 21 homers, and has a .749 OPS. He ain’t done yet.

Diamondbacks hitters numbers on the season
Lars Nootbar: 49 At Bats | .163/.293/.265 | 1 HR | 5 RBI | .558 OPS

Corbin Carroll: 485 At Bats | .249/.346/.485 | 18 HR | 58 RBI | .831 OPS

Gabriel Moreno: 373 At Bats | .303/.382/.464 | 10 HR | 65 RBI | .845 OPS

Geraldo Perdomo: 465 At Bats | .252/.359/.374 | 9 HR | 46 RBI | .733 OPS

Max Kepler: 118 At Bats | .212/.275/.322 | 2 HR | 15 RBI | .597 OPS

Nolan Arenado: 433 At Bats | .238/.315/.434 | 21 HR | 65 RBI | .749 OPS

Tim Tawa: 220 At Bats | .245/.302/.400 | 8 HR | 32 RBI | .702 OPS

Ildemaro Vargas: 386 At Bats | .256/.300/.399 | 9 HR | 63 RBI | .699 OPS

Ryan Waldschmidt: 211 At Bats | .275/.339/.398 | 3 HR | 22 RBI | .737 OPS

James McCann: 121 At Bats | .289/.328/.430 | 4 HR | 21 RBI | .758 OPS

Jorge Barrosa: 132 At Bats | .197/.282/.341 | 2 HR | 12 RBI | .623 OPS

Jordan Lawlar: 62 At Bats | .290/.362/.468 | 3 HR | 8 RBI | .830 OPS

Jose Fernandez: 185 At Bats | .265/.310/.362 | 3 HR | 16 RBI | .672 OPS

Diamondbacks Pitchers

The projected starters’ numbers are not pretty. Though they’re mostly in small sample sizes. Jose Cabrera has made 4 starts and has a 5.60 ERA to show for it. Kohl Drake has also made 4 starts. His ERA is 5.40 and his WHIP is 1.560. Merrill Kelly has been healthy, making 24 starts. He is 8-12 with a 5.35 ERA. You have to wonder if the elder statesman is at the end of his run of effectiveness. Mitch Bratt has started 9 games. He has a 4.54 ERA and a 1.563 WHIP.

Diamondbacks pitchers numbers on the season
Jose Cabrera: 4 Starts | 17.2 IP | 0-2 | 5.60 ERA | 12 Ks | 1.528 WHIP

Kohl Drake: 4 Starts | 16.2 IP | 0-1 | 5.40 ERA | 13 Ks | 1.560 WHIP

Merrill Kelly: 24 Starts | 134.2 IP | 8-12 | 5.35 ERA | 88 Ks | 1.515 WHIP

Mitch Bratt: 9 Starts | 39.2 IP | 1-2 | 4.54 ERA | 28 Ks | 1.563 WHIP

Giants Hitters

Jung Hoo Lee still leads the team in batting average and on-base percentage, though Rafael Devers is right on his trail in OBP. Slugging, home runs, RBI and OPS all belong to Devers. Bryce Eldridge is back. He was hot prior to going on the bereavement list. His average climbed up to .252 and he was sitting at 14 homers. Osleivis Basabe is ice cold and not looking like a guy who will be around next year. Drew Gilbert continues to look like a guy who will make the roster next year as his OPS approaches league average. Turner Hill has been interesting. It’s a small sample size but he looks like a dude.

Giants hitters numbers on the season
Rafael Devers: 500 At Bats | .246/.324/.486 | 29 HR | 76 RBI | .810 OPS

Jung Hoo Lee: 461 At Bats | .289/.325/.423 | 9 HR | 47 RBI | .748 OPS

Bryce Eldridge: 310 At Bats | .252/.346/.435 | 14 HR | 35 RBI | .781 OPS

Osleivis Basabe: 81 At Bats | .222/.256/.358 | 3 HR | 8 RBI | .614 OPS

Drew Gilbert: 285 At Bats | .242/.325/.382 | 7 HR | 34 RBI | .708 OPS

Drew Cavanaugh: 92 At Bats | .250/.349/.261 | 0 HR | 7 RBI | .610 OPS

Christian Koss: 109 At Bats | .211/.252/.257 | 0 HR | 2 RBI | .509 OPS

Grant McCray: 47 At Bats | .106/.236/.234 | 1 HR | 2 RBI | .470 OPS

Turner Hill: 22 At Bats | .318/.407/.500 | 0 HR | 3 RBI | .907 OPS

Andrew Knizner: 18 At Bats | .222/.333/.444 | 1 HR | 1 RBI | .778 OPS

Nate Furman: 12 At Bats | .083/.214/.083 | 0 HR | 0 RBI | .298 OPS

Shay Whitcomb: 11 At Bats | .182/.182/.554 | 1 HR | 2 RBI | .727 OPS

Jonah Cox: 51 At Bats | .255/.269/.529 | 3 HR | 6 RBI | .799 OPS

Giants pitchers

Landen Roupp got an extra day of rest as the Giants flipped him and Logan Webb in the rotation. He has made 25 starts, with an ERA sitting at 4.34 and a 1.314 WHIP. Blade Tidwell has made 4 starts, but appeared in 12 games total. He has a 3.58 ERA and does look to be the bright spot of the young guys that have gotten playtime post-trade deadline. I’m assuming Wilkinson comes up for one of the games on the doubleheader but it’s not confirmed. He was good in his 1^st start. He showed he was human against Boston. His ERA now sits at 6.35. I have no fuckin’ idea who will get the 4^th start. Sue me.

Giants pitchers numbers on the season
Landen Roupp: 25 Starts | 134.2 IP | 7-13 | 4.34 ERA | 130 Ks | 1.314 WHIP

Blade Tidwell: 4 Starts | 32.2 IP | 0-0 | 3.58 ERA | 27 Ks | 1.163 WHIP

Matt Wilkinson: 2 Starts | 5.2 IP | 0-1 | 6.35 ERA | 2 Ks | 1.412 WHIP

Pitching Match Ups

Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt, and Jose Cabrera will all be facing the Giants for the 1^st time in their careers. Merrill Kelly has faced the Giants 23 times, with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.159 WHIP over 140.2 innings to show for it.

D’backs pitchers numbers lifetime vs SF
Jose Cabrera: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Kohl Drake: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Merrill Kelly: 23 Games | 140.2 IP | 3.26 ERA | 1.159 WHIP | .694 OPS

Mitch Bratt: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

At Oracle Park, Kelly has pitched in 11 games. The ERA does go up significantly to a 4.60. The WHIP becomes a 1.436. He’s a different pitcher at 3^rd & King.

D’backs pitchers numbers lifetime at SF
Jose Cabrera: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Kohl Drake: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Merrill Kelly: 11 Games | 62.2 IP | 4.60 ERA | 1.436 WHIP | .825 OPS

Mitch Bratt: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Landen Roupp has pitched in 6 games against Arizona, with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.843 WHIP to show for it. Blade Tidwell has never faced Arizona in his career. Neither has Wilkinson.

Giants pitchers numbers lifetime vs Arizona
Landen Roupp: 6 Games | 23.1 IP | 5.40 ERA | 1.843 WHIP | .872 OPS

Blade Tidwell: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Matt Wilkinson: NA | NA | NA | NA |NA

Hitting Match Ups

Gabriel Moreno has 3 homers and an .818 OPS in 29 games against the Giants. Ryan Waldschmidt in 6 games has an .841 OPS. James McCann in 15 games has 3 homers and an .813 OPS. Jordan Lawlar in 5 games has a 1.010 OPS. Then there is Nolan Arenado, who has absolute video game numbers. In 163 games, he has 36 home runs and an .883 OPS. Corbin Carroll has played in 48 games against the Giants. He has 4 homers and just a .678 OPS against us. I figured Max Kepler would have had more games against the Giants, but he has only played in 16, with a .737 OPS to show for it.

D’Backs hitters numbers lifetime vs SF
Lars Nootbar: 14 Games | 1 HR | .626 OPS

Corbin Carroll: 48 Games | 4 HR | .678 OPS

Gabriel Moreno: 29 Games | 3 HR | .818 OPS

Geraldo Perdomo: 59 Games | 1 HR | .649 OPS

Max Kepler: 16 Games | 0 HR | .737 OPS

Nolan Arenado: 163 Games | 36 HR | .883 OPS

Tim Tawa: 10 Games | 0 HR | .656 OPS

Ildemaro Vargas: 37 Games | 1 HR | .691 OPS

Ryan Waldschmidt: 6 Games | 0 HR | .841 OPS

James McCann: 15 Games | 3 HR | .813 OPS

Jorge Barrosa: 13 Games | 0 HR | .199 OPS

Jordan Lawlar: 5 Games | 0 HR | 1.010 OPS

Jose Fernandez: 6 Games | 0 HR | .646 OPS

At Oracle, McCann leads the team with a 1.121 OPS in 3 games, including 1 homer. Gabriel Moreno has played in 11 games in SF with an .879 OPS, and 2 homers. Ildemaro has an .840 OPS in 21 games. Arenado has played in 77 games at San Francisco. He leads the team in homers with 13, but his OPS does drop off quite a bit, down to .772. Tim Tawa has a 1.250 OPS in 4 games at Oracle.

D’Backs hitters numbers lifetime at SF
Lars Nootbar: 10 Games | 1 HR | .696 OPS

Corbin Carroll: 26 Games | 3 HR | .633 OPS

Gabriel Moreno: 11 Games | 2 HR | .879 OPS

Geraldo Perdomo: 30 Games | 1 HR | .552 OPS

Max Kepler: 9 Games | 0 HR | .468 OPS

Nolan Arenado: 77 Games | 13 HR | .772 OPS

Tim Tawa: 4 Games | 0 HR | 1.250 OPS

Ildemaro Vargas: 21 Games | 1 HR | .840 OPS

Ryan Waldschmidt: 3 Games | 0 HR | .321 OPS

James McCann: 3 Games | 1 HR | 1.121 OPS

Jorge Barrosa: 7 Games | 0 HR | .100 OPS

Jordan Lawlar: 3 Games | 0 HR | .619 OPS

Jose Fernandez: 3 Games | 0 HR | .472 OPS

Lars Nootbar, Gabriel Moreno, Geraldo Perdomo, Max Kepler, Nolan Arenado and Ildemaro Vargas all have good history against Landen Roupp. Arenado has a 1.182 OPS. Moreno and Kepler both are at 1.500 OPS. Nootbar has a crazy 2.500 OPS. Against Tidwell, only Nootbar and Arenado have history. Nootbar has a 0.000 OPS while Arenado has a 1.167. Bookends. Nobody on the D’backs has seen Wilkinson.

Diamondbacks hitters numbers against Giants projected pitchers
Lars Nootbar: 2.500 OPS vs Roupp | 0.000 OPS vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Corbin Carroll: .545 OPS vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Gabriel Moreno: 1.500 OPS vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Geraldo Perdomo: .872 OPS vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Max Kepler: 1.500 OPS vs Roupp | 0.000 OPS vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Nolan Arenado: 1.182 OPS vs Roupp | 1.167 OPS vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Tim Tawa: NA vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Ildemaro Vargas: 1.250 OPS vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Ryan Waldschmidt: 0.000 OPS vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

James McCann: NA vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Jorge Barrosa: .500 OPS vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Jordan Lawlar: NA vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Jose Fernandez: 0.000 OPS vs Roupp | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Wilkinson

Jung Hoo Lee, Drew Cavanaugh, Christian Koss, and Andrew Knizner have all been good against Arizona. JHL has 4 homers and an .845 OPS in 19 games. Cavanaugh has a .750 OPS in 3 games. Christian Koss has 1 homer and a .913 OPS in 7 games. Andrew Knizner, in 12 games, has 1 homer and a .925 OPS.

Giants hitters numbers lifetime vs AZ
Rafael Devers: 26 Games | 3 HR | .632 OPS

Jung Hoo Lee: 19 Games | 4 HR | .845 OPS

Bryce Eldridge: 10 Games | 0 HR | .520 OPS

Osleivis Basabe: NA | NA | NA

Drew Gilbert: 13 Games | 0 HR | .328 OPS

Drew Cavanaugh: 3 Games | 0 HR | .750 OPS

Christian Koss: 7 Games | 1 HR | .913 OPS

Grant McCray: 8 Games | 0 HR | .328 OPS

Turner Hill: NA | NA | NA

Andrew Knizner: 12 Games | 1 HR | .925 OPS

Nate Furman: NA | NA | NA

Shay Whitcomb: 4 Games | 0 HR | .400 OPS

Jonah Cox: 3 Games | 0 HR | 0.000 OPS

Nobody on the Giants has ever seen Cabrera, Drake, or Bratt. JHL has a 1.500 OPS against Merrill Kelly. Bryce Eldridge has a .733. Rafael Devers has a .722. The rest of the numbers aren’t anything worth noting really.

Giants hitters numbers vs AZ projected pitchers
Rafael Devers: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | .722 OPS vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Jung Hoo Lee: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | 1.500 OPS vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Bryce Eldridge: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | .733 OPS vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Osleivis Basabe: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | NA vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Drew Gilbert: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | .500 OPS vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Drew Cavanaugh: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | NA vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Christian Koss: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | .667 OPS vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Grant McCray: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | 0.000 OPS vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Turner Hill: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | NA vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Andrew Knizner: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | 0.000 OPS vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Nate Furman: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | NA vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Shay Whitcomb: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | NA vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

Jonah Cox: NA vs Cabrera | NA vs Drake | NA vs Kelly | NA vs Bratt

What Matters/Prediction

- Stay hot, Devers. 3 homers in 3 games vs the Reds. He’s sitting at 29 homers. 40 isn’t impossible if he stays hot.
- Drew Gilbert has been fun to watch over the last few weeks. Keep it up, kid. Force the Giants’ hand. Make it so they have to find you a platoon partner instead of finding another starting OF and making you a 4^th outfielder.
- Turner Hill has looked pretty good in a very small sample size.
- Bryce Eldridge should be back. He was hot before he left for a death in the family. Pick up where you left off.
- The Giants need innings from the rotation. Roupp and Blade are for sure getting starts this series. The other 2 haven’t been announced, but a bullpen game isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

My prediction is the way the D’Backs have owned the Giants this season, they’re going to take 3 of 4. It’s really hard to sweep a 4-game series, otherwise I’d be calling for that.

Giants Killer of the Series

Here is our full-circle moment. The 1^st series with Arizona, I picked Nolan Arenado. And we are back to the biggest Giants Killer of them all. He has played a full season’s worth of games against the Giants, at 163. He is slashing .288/.346/.537 against the Giants lifetime. He is 186-646. Of those 186 hits, he has 86 for extra bases. 47 doubles, 3 triples and 36 homers. He has 120 RBIs against us. That’s damn near an MVP season. It would be great if he could go to the American League next year.

Well, this one is late and sloppy. I’ll put the apology at the end because no one will read this far and I don’t apologize for shit.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers.
Follow me on Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram & YouTube: @TackStackSF

The Giants and Reds did battle to start the week at Oracle Park. Both teams came into the season with playoff hopes, and have had disappointing seasons that have them hovering around last place. And crazy enough, the Reds actually made the Giants look good for 26 of 27 innings. That 1 inning was a complete disaster.

Game 1 was Chase Burns vs Carson Whisenhunt. I would have bet a lot of money that Burns would dominate. Instead, he gave up 5 earned in 3.2 innings of work, including Devers’ 3-run homer. Whisenhunt lasted 2.2 innings before getting hurt. It was revealed he has a torn UCL that will likely need Tommy John surgery. But the rest of the ‘pen kept the Reds at bay. The Giants won 5-0.

Game 2 was Adrian Houser vs Brady Singer. Singer was either wild or throwing at Drew Gilbert to start. He also hit JHL to load the bases. The Giants made the Reds pay, striking for 2 in the 1^st. Devers added a solo homer in the 5^th. Houser, like Whisenhunt the night before, left the game with an elbow issue after just 1.2 innings. The Giants ‘pen held the line for a 2^nd straight night as the Giants won 3-1.

The Giants went into Wednesday’s early afternoon game with a chance for their first real sweep of the season. Logan Webb started for the Giants, against Nick Lodolo. The Giants got 2-run homers from Devers, Cox and Whitcomb. They went into the top of the 9^th with a 9-3 lead. Then the bullpen did what they do best. The Reds salvaged the game, winning 10-9.

Game 1: Giants 5, Reds 0.

Game 2: Giants 3, Reds 1.

Game 3: Giants 9, Reds 10.

Series Takeaways:
- Rafael Devers hit homers number 27, 28, and 29 this series. He also went 5-11. It’s not impossible he gets to 40.
- Drew Gilbert was 4-9 this series. He only got 1 at-bat on Wednesday. He’s definitely showing something these last few weeks of the season.
- The Giants got 4.1 innings out of their starters in Game 1 & 2. With the bullpen covering 13.2 innings, it’s incredible they won those games. The ‘pen only gave up 1 earned run in that span. Then they went and ruined the good feelings on Wednesday.
- It’s a small sample size, but Turner Hill is looking like a piece. He’s hitting .318, after going 4-10 this series.
- The Giants were 3 outs away at the start of the 9^th inning with a 6-run lead. A franchise-record fuck up.

Biggest Story:

The biggest story is the Giants lost 2/5 of their rotation in 2 games. Whisenhunt is done for the year for sure. Houser probably is. Just brutal.

The Question Now Is:

Who should I take 1-1 in my fantasy football draft?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers
Follow me on Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram & Youtube: @TackStackSF

Who remembers the skit at the end of the 1^st song on Kanye’s College Dropout? “What in the fuck was that, Kanye”. What in the fuck was that indeed. Today’s game was a lot like Kanye’s career. It looked really good early, completely flamed out, then crashed and burned. Though, to be fair, Kanye did flame out a lot earlier on than the Giants did today. Still, the comparison is crazy, and not just pretend crazy for attention like Kanye is.

Seriously though. Fuck you, Buster. A team under your watch just lost a game in which they had a 6-run lead in the 9^th for the 1^st time in franchise history. You made history, Buster. The season’s over. These wins don’t matter. But the Giants’ 1^st sweep of the season was 3 outs away with a 6-run lead and your fucked up bullpen reared its ugly head again.

Devers hit his 29^th homer. Cox hit a 2-run homer. Whitcomb hit a 2-run homer. Gilbert was feet away from a grand slam that ended up being a bases-clearing double. A fun game was snatched away and it all points back to the culprit behind this disaster season who thought Ryan Walker, Sam Hentges and Jason Foley would be a playoff-caliber bullpen. Infuckin’credible.

Takeaways

- Thanks Buster.

What Changed the Game

Is there a question? The bullpen changed the game. You had a 9-3 lead going into the 9^th and lost. Hector Rodriguez homered. De La Cruz singled. Stewart walked. Bleday walked to load the bases. Dylan Smith comes in and serves up a grand slam to Eugenio Suarez. At this point you still have a 1-run lead. Then Myers beats out an infield single and takes 2^nd on a throwing error by Buddy “why the fuck is he here” Kennedy. McLain bunts for a single. McLain steals 2^nd. Trevino hits a sac fly that ties the game. Stephenson singles, scoring McLain. 10-9. Fuckin’ pathetic.

Game Recap

No.

Final Score: Giants 9, Reds 10.

Final Thoughts

Is the diarrhea lettuce still a thing? Can it kill me now, please?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

Back-to-back nights the Giants have lost their starting pitcher at the start of the game.

If I had told you that the Giants would score 2 in the 1^st, then only 1 more the rest of the night and lose their starter and have to rely on the bullpen to get them over 7 innings, we all woulda thought they lost, huh?

Well, spit in my ear and call me Tarzan, they won the game. They won the series. And they have a chance to go for a s… not going to say it.

They are also now 5-5 in their goofy ass purple unis.

Takeaways
- Alright, I feel bad for Houser. This is weird considering I was dragging him 2 weeks ago. Maybe I’m just bipolar. But he’s been pitching very well. He has earned his way back into the rotation. Then he leaves the game with what Kruk was speculating to be an elbow injury in the 2^nd inning. Brutal.
- Rafael Devers hit his 28^th homer of the season. That gives him 16 at Oracle Park this season. That gives him the most homers at Oracle Park in a season by a guy not named Barry Bonds. He’s also the 3^rd Giant to ever hit 48 homers in his first 222 games as a Giant. The other 2? Willie Mays & Barry Bonds. Solid company.
- Drew Gilbert is a tough one. His 1^st at-bat, Singer threw behind him on the 1^st pitch. Hit him with the 2^nd. Later in the game, he crashed into the wall in center making a catch, where he actually put 2 holes in the padding on the wall, and stayed in the game.
- McCray’s speed and glove make him interesting. If he could just hit enough. Last night he was 1-3 with a triple. Tonight he was 1-4 with a double that was almost a homer. Just be more consistent.
- I don’t understand Tony Vitello when it comes to Dylan Smith. Saturday he brought him in in the 8^th, expecting a 6 out save. Then pulled him in the 9^th before Hentges sent the game to hell. Last night, with a 5 run lead, they pitched Smith. Tonight, with a save situation, they didn’t go to him. Likely he wasn’t available, but that’s because he shouldn’t have been used last night.

What Changed the Game

In the top of the 2^nd, Adrian Houser came out and quickly got 2 outs after the Giants gave him a 2 run cushion. Then he tweaked something and had to come out of the game. For the 2^nd time in 2 nights, the Giants lost their starter very early in the game. It seemed prime for everything to go to hell when Anthony Molina and his career 6.89 ERA made his Giants debut. And yet, he got them out of the inning, then gave them 4 more shutout innings. He stopped the tide from turning and had a good debut.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Adrian Houser took the mound for the Giants. Elly De La Cruz greeted him with a lead off double to left. Sal Stewart grounded out to shortstop, advancing Elly to 3^rd. JJ Bleday lined out to short for the 2^nd out. Tyler Stephenson struck out after a 9-pitch at-bat to end the 1^st. 0-0.

Bottom 1^st: Brady Singer started for the Reds, and was determined to hit Drew Gilbert it appeared. His 1^st pitch was behind him. His 2^nd hit him in the shin. He walked Rafael Devers on 5 pitches. Singer then hit Jung Hoo Lee to load the bases for Turner Hill. Hill flied out to left, but it wasn’t deep enough to score Gilbert. Drew Cavanaugh hit a single up the middle that scored Gilbert and Devers. Nate Furman struck out on 3 pitches. Only 1 was a strike. Shay Whitcomb grounded the 1^st pitch he saw to 3^rd, Cavanaugh was out at 2^nd. 2-0.

Top 2^nd: Eugenio Suarez grounded out to Whitcomb for the 1^st out. McLain was rung up on the check swing for the 3^rd strike for the 2^nd out. Hector Rodriguez bluffed a bunt on the 1^st pitch he saw. Cavanaugh then came out to talk to Houser. Tony Vitello and a trainer came out. A replay showed Houser to be favoring his hand/wrist after throwing a pitch. He quickly came out of the game. Anthony Molina came on for the Giants. On his 1^st pitch, Rodriguez hit a liner back to him for the 3^rd out. 2-0.

Bottom 2^nd: Grant McCray led off the 2^nd by striking out looking. Christian Koss worked the walk. Gilbert hit a liner to left-center that was caught by the left fielder. Devers fell behind 0-2, before working the count to 3-2. He would end up striking out swinging. 2-0.

Top 3^rd: Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the 3^rd for Cincy with a walk. TJ Friedl hit a hard liner to Furman who made a nice diving catch. Hayes was too far off the base and easily picked off for the double play. De La Cruz hit a liner to left-center that Hill made an incredible play on, reaching up to put it away to end the inning. 2-0.

Bottom 3^rd: JHL hit a grounder to 1^st for the 1^st out. Hill struck out for out number 2. Cavanaugh singled to left. Furman singled up the middle for his 1^st career hit. Whitcomb struck out swinging to end the inning. 2-0.

Top 4^th: Stewart hit a liner into left-center that was tracked down by Gilbert, who crashed into the wall. He was slow to get up but talked his way into staying in the game. Bleday hit a liner to Furman for the 2^nd out. Stephenson struck out to end the inning. 2-0.

Bottom 4^th: McCray grounded out to 3^rd. Koss grounded out to Singer. Gilbert grounded out to 2^nd for a 1-2-3 inning. 2-0.

Top 5^th: Suarez flied out to right. McLain flied out to center. Rodriguez got down a bunt for a base hit. Hayes hit a grounder to Koss at short, who threw on to 2^nd to end the inning. 2-0.

Bottom 5^th: Devers led off the inning with a solo homer to right. JHL flied out to right for the 1^st out. Hill grounded out to short for the 2^nd out. Cavanaugh hit a single to right. Furman hit a hard liner to 1^st to end the inning. 3-0.

Top 6^th: Friedl tried to bunt for a hit, but it was fielded by Whitcomb who threw on to 1^st for the out. De La Cruz grounded out to 2^nd. Stewart grounded out to short. 3-0.

Bottom 6^th: Whitcomb hit a hard liner to right for the 1^st out of the inning. McCray hit a slow bouncer back to Singer who whiffed. McCray reached on the error. Koss grounded into a fielder’s choice on a grounder up the middle. McCray was out at 2^nd, but Koss beat out the back end. Gilbert lined a single that allowed Koss to take 3^rd. Sam Moll came on for Cincy, as Devers stepped up with runners at the corners and lined out to a diving Friedl to end the inning. 3-0.

Top 7^th: Sam Hentges came on for the Giants. He allowed a single to Bleday. Stephenson hit a fly ball to center that was caught by Gilbert. Bleday tagged up and took 2^nd on the play. Suarez hit a bouncer to 3^rd and was thrown out at 1^st. McLain stepped in and flied out to end the inning. 3-0.

Bottom 7^th: Jung Hoo Lee singled up the middle. Buddy Kennedy hit for Turner Hill. He drove a ball deep to center that was caught on the warning track. JHL stole 2^nd. Cavanaugh walked. Jonah Cox hit for Nate Furman. The Reds went to the ‘pen, bringing in Tejay Antone. Cox struck out swinging on a ball outside. Whitcomb popped out to 1^st to end the inning. 3-0.

Top 8^th: Trent Harris came on for the Giants. He faced Rodriguez to start the inning. Rodriguez struck out swinging. Hayes walked. Friedl struck out. Elly hit a bouncer up the middle that was fielded by Koss who stepped on 2^nd to end the inning. 3-0.

Bottom 8^th: Antone stayed in the game. McCray led off with a double off the top of the Arcade wall. Koss got down a sacrifice bunt that moved McCray to 3^rd. Gilbert hit a hard liner to 3^rd that was caught by Hayes, who then stepped on the base to double off McCray. 3-0.

Top 9^th: Carson Seymour came on for the 9^th inning. Stewart greeted him with an opposite field solo homer. Bleday hit a grounder to 2^nd for the 1^st out of the 9^th. Stephenson hit a grounder to 3^rd for the 2^nd out. Suarez struck out looking to end the game. 3-1.

Final Score: Giants 3, Reds 1.

Final Thoughts

Why do our pitchers keep dying?!

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

Another Tackin’ Off Tuesday rolls around and I’ve got my favorite target in the crosshairs, ready to spray a round. Larry Baer and Giants ownership. Tackin’ Off might actually not be a thing without them.

Unfortunately, this one might sound a bit repetitive at the start. But the message cannot be shared enough. Giants’ ownership thinks you are stupid.

Giants ownership thinks you are stupid!!!

Let’s start by taking a step back. During one of Larry Baer’s hits on KNBR, Murph and Markus pitched the idea of a beer special. Larry said he would look into it. Honestly, I thought that was just going to be his way of moving on without ever thinking twice about it.

Well, the Giants did it. They came back with a promotion for a $6.80 Coors Light and a $10.45 Corona. So how could cheap beer be bad?

Well, 1^st of all… Corona is absolute piss water. I don’t care if they slap “Premier” on the label. It is trash. People that drink Corona probably also like pineapple on pizza. If Corona was a person, it would be the middle-aged white woman at the taqueria who just said “grassy ass” after her chips were set down in front of her. I actually heard an unverified rumor that Casey Anthony loves Corona.

*Editorial Note – TackStack reserves the right to change this opinion if Corona one day sponsors this blog. Then Casey Anthony loves Dos Equis*

So Corona sucks. Coors Light is fine. It’s my go-to non-IPA. That at $6.80 is a solid ballpark deal.

Baer did not have information on the size of the beer, but a Giants spokesman confirmed to SFGate that it will be a 12-ounce pour. These beers are only available at certain locations. 58 Social, the Corona bar in centerfield, the Coors Light bar behind the scoreboard, and the Corona/Blue Moon stand on the 3^rd deck. So fuck everyone in the club section. Fuck everyone sitting behind home. Fuck everyone in field club.

58 Social will let you bring beer in from the restaurant. The problem is you can only do that one time. There’s no handstamp, no re-entry. This ain’t Disneyland.

According to the picture of the menu I found on Yelp, though, 58 Social is only charging $8 for Coors Light as is. So that’s hardly a discount to begin with. Also, the Giants own the restaurant and getting people in the door with a “discounted” beer means people will be more likely to buy food. They’re not stupid.

It’s cool that Murph and Markus were able to make this happen, no doubt. Getting Giants ownership’s cheap asses to theoretically leave money on the table is impressive. But the Giants know exactly what they are doing here.

Now, to the part that really pisses me off about this. This beer special is not for the rest of the season like it should be. It’s for

One.

Day.

Only.

A day game. On a fuckin’ Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 23^rd vs the Twins. Not exactly a team that’s putting asses in seats. Ironically enough, that is “Faith Day” at the ballpark. Probably should have been wine instead of beer.

Their last home weekday day game, the crowd looked to be pretty sparse. And I have to imagine the Astros are more of a draw than the Twins are.

A good number of people who attend day games are doing so on business. They bring customers or clients. I highly doubt they’re going back for 8 Coors Lights in the game like the rest of us real Americans. Like the good people that would be there on a Saturday. Motherfuckers also have to work Thursday. Are people really taking off 2 days for $6.80 Coors Lights and $10.45 bottles of chihuahua piss?

I checked on the Giants’ website. Without going through each section individually, I clicked on some sections at random. Let’s just say, it ain’t a sell-out that they’re doing cheap beer for. It’s a game that is likely to be lightly attended. They’re hoping that this brings out a few extra people while knowing it’s low risk for them.

The win for the Giants is the optics. They want to make it look like they’re doing something special for their fans after subjecting us to yet another year of mediocrity that was caused by their own stupidity and cheapness. According to Google AI, which we know could never be wrong, the average domestic beer at a stadium costs the team less than a dollar to source. So, what exactly are they doing for us here? Raping us slightly softer. Awesome. If they really gave a shit, this promo would run through the rest of this season.

Once again, Boycott Game on September 21^st vs the Twins. Stay home. Don’t buy concessions if you already bought tickets. Send a real message. Fuck you and your supposed beer special.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers.

Follow me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

Baseball sure is a weird sport, huh? Chase Burns has been great this year. And yet, the Giants chased him in just 3.2 innings where he allowed 5 earned runs. Yes, this Giants lineup that had 2 guys that made the Opening Day roster hung 5 runs on one of the best pitchers in the National League in 2 innings.

Then after those 2 innings, they did not score again.

Oh, and then there is the pitching. Carson Whisenhunt, fresh off getting lit up by the Guardians, came out and gave the Giants 2.2 shutout innings. Then he leaves with an elbow injury. Then this bullpen that could be the worst in baseball shut the Reds down the rest of the way.

The Giants won 5-0 and tonight was fun again.

Takeaways
- Rafael Devers hit a big homer, adding to his team lead, which now sits at 27. His single in the 1^st also got Gilbert to 3^rd after his leadoff ground rule double. He had a good night.
- Carson Whisenhunt did look good, then left with an elbow injury. It didn’t look good. I’m betting his season is over.
- Bryce Eldridge went on the bereavement list before the game. Victor Bericoto and Willy Adames went on the injured list also. The Giants called up Nate Furman, Shay Whitcomb and Grant McCray. Shit, they even got 2 shutout innings from Ryan Walker.
- 1 walk. 7 strikeouts. 0 errors. 5-11 with RISP.

What Changed the Game

The best time to hit a good pitcher is in the 1^st inning, before he settles in. The Giants did that tonight. What changed the game was adding on in the 2^nd inning as well. Burns could have easily settled in and shut the Giants down the rest of the way. Instead Koss singled with 2 outs. Gilbert hit his 2^nd double of the night. Then Devers hit the big bomb to make it a 5-0 game. Selfishly, I thought the Giants were going to go off, but take what we can get.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Carson Whisenhunt took the mound for the Giants, looking to right the ship after a rough start against that other Ohio team. Elly De La Cruz led off the game for the Reds by striking out looking. Sal Stewart flew out to right field for the 2^nd out. Dane Myers followed with a fly out to right of his own. 0-0.

Bottom 1^st: Chase Burns drew the start for the Reds. He gave up a ground rule double to Drew Gilbert to start the game. The ball bouncing over the wall robbed Gilbert of a triple. At least. Rafael Devers singled to right, moving Gilbert to third. Jung Hoo Lee singled to center, scoring Gilbert, as Devers took 3^rd. Turner Hill hit a double off the Arcade that scored Devers. JHL was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Gary Pettis’ 1^st real botch as a base coach. Drew Cavanaugh struck out swinging. Nate Furman struck out looking. 2-0.

Top 2^nd: Tyler Stephenson led off the 2^nd with a single. Eugenio Suarez struck out looking. Matt McLain struck out looking. JJ Bleday hit a hard liner to 2^nd to end the inning. 2-0.

Bottom 2^nd: Shay Whitcomb led off the bottom of the 2^nd with a 1^st pitch liner to center. Grant McCray struck out swinging. Christian Koss singled to right. Gilbert doubled on a bloop over the 3^rd baseman. With runners at 2^nd & 3^rd, Devers blasted a 3-run homer to right-center. JHL lined out to center to end the inning. 5-0.

Top 3^rd: Jose Trevino grounded out to Koss at short. Ivan Johnson walked. De La Cruz singled to center. Stewart flied out to right. While pitching to Myers, Whisenhunt’s arm seemed to go dead. He came out of the game, giving way to Jason Foley. Hopefully he is okay. Foley struck Myers out swinging to end the inning. 5-0.

Bottom 3^rd: Hill led off the 3^rd with a walk. Cavanaugh flied out to center. With Furman up, Hill stole 2^nd. Furman ended up striking out swinging. Whitcomb struck out swinging to end the inning. 5-0.

Top 4^th: Foley stayed on for the 4^th, facing Stephenson, who struck out swinging. Suarez struck out looking. McLain hit a grounder back to Foley, who threw to 1^st for the out. 5-0.

Bottom 4^th: McCray started the inning with a leadoff triple. Koss reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners. Gilbert hit a hard one hopper to 2^nd. Koss was easily tagged in the rundown, then Gilbert was out easily at 1^st. McCray was also forced to hold at 3^rd as McLain checked him before throwing to 1^st. With Devers coming up, Terry Francona went to the bullpen, bringing in Sam Moll who got Devers to ground out to 2^nd to end the inning. 5-0.

Top 5^th: Reiver Sanmartin came on for the 5^th inning for the Giants. He got Bleday to line out to start the inning. Trevino grounded out to short. Johnson grounded out to 3^rd to end the inning. 5-0.

Bottom 5^th: Moll stayed on for the 5^th inning. He got JHL to ground out to 2^nd. Hill flied out to center. Cavanaugh struck out looking to end the inning. 5-0.

Top 6^th: Osleivis Basabe entered the game at 2^nd. Ryan Walker came on for the 6^th, fresh off his return from Sacramento. He got Elly to strike out looking. Stewart singled to right. Myers hit a grounder to short. The Giants got Stewart out on the fielder’s choice, but Myers was safe at 1^st. Stephenson reached on an infield single. Suarez flied out to right for the 3^rd out. 5-0.

Bottom 6^th: Julian Garcia came on for the Reds. He got Basabe to fly out to left. Whitcomb hit a grounder to 2^nd for the 2^nd out. McCray fouled out to 3^rd to end the inning. 5-0.

Top 7^th: Walker stayed on for a 2^nd inning. He got McLain to fly out, Bleday to strike out, and Trevino to fly out for a 1-2-3 inning. 5-0.

Bottom 7^th: Garcia stayed in the game, matching Walker’s 1-2-3 inning. Koss struck out. Gilbert grounded out to 2^nd. Devers flied out to center. 5-0.

Top 8^th: Carson Seymour came on for the Giants. He got Johnson to ground out to short. De La Cruz struck out swinging. Stewart struck out swinging as well. 1-2-3 inning. 5-0.

Bottom 8^th: Emilio Pagan came on for the 8^th inning. He got JHL to fly out to left. Hill grounded out to 2^nd. Cavanaugh ripped a single to right. Basabe lined out to center. 5-0.

Top 9^th: Dylan Smith came on for the 9^th for the Giants. He got Myers to strike out swinging to start the 9^th. Stephenson walked. Suarez lined a single to left. McLain flied out to Gilbert in center. Bleday and Smith battled before Bleday popped up to Koss to end the game. 5-0.

Final Score: Giants 5, Reds 0.

Final Thoughts

If you’re leading 5-0 at the end of 2 innings, you get selfish. You want this to be a 15-0 game. That wasn’t to be. But that doesn’t change that tonight was a fun game.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

The Reds head west to play the Giants at Oracle Park in a battle of possibly the two biggest disappointments in the National League. These teams had Wild Card hopes and now are just hoping to not finish in last place in their divisions.

The Cincinnati Reds enter play at 62-68. Currently, they are sitting in last place in the NL Central, 19 games back of 1^st. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games after losing 2 of 3 to the Diamondbacks. They have scored 534 runs, only better than the Giants in the NL. They have allowed 626 runs to score. That puts them 13^th in the NL. They have a -92 run differential, better than just the Rockies in the NL. They are 30-32 on the road this season.

The Giants are 52-78, which is 2^nd worst in the NL to only the Rockies. They are 27 games behind LA, and 1.5 games up on the Rockies for last. They are 2-8 in their last 10 games after being swept by Boston. They have scored an NL worst 523 runs. They have allowed 603 runs to score, which is 11^th in the NL. They have a -80 run differential, which is surprisingly better than the Reds’. That is 3^rd worst in the NL. They are 29-33 at home this year.

Remember when these teams almost fought in Cincy? That feels like a whole ‘nother season. Doubt that flares up with Miller being gone. Anywhoo, matchups, stats and all the usual BS below.

Current Season Stats

Reds Hitters

The Reds offensive leaderboards are a 2-man show. Sal Stewart is leading the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs. Elly De La Cruz leads the team in on-base percentage, slugging and that means he also leads in OPS. Stewart actually leads all of baseball with 98 RBIs. JJ Bleday is also having a solid season. He has 21 homers and a .779 OPS on the season. Tyler Stephenson has a .731 OPS on the season. Dane Myers is at a .716 OPS. He’s been embattled in a very strange Twitter beef with douchebag Tommy Pham. Eugenio Suarez is having quite the drop-off season from last year. Still, he has 18 homers to his name this season. The OPS is not where you expect it to be though.

Reds hitters numbers on the season
Elly De La Cruz: 443 At Bats | .262/.343/.474 | 21 HR | 58 RBI | .817 OPS

Sal Stewart: 502 At Bats | .263/.336/.472 | 27 HR | 98 RBI | .808 OPS

Dane Myers: 219 At Bats | .256/.350/.365 | 5 HR | 21 RBI | .716 OPS

Eugenio Suarez: 348 At Bats | .207/.297/.408 | 18 HR | 53 RBI | .705 OPS

Tyler Stephenson: 322 At Bats | .242/.324/.407 | 12 HR | 43 RBI | .731 OPS

JJ Bleday: 364 At Bats | .223/.334/.445 | 21 HR | 51 RBI | .779 OPS

Jose Trevino: 106 At Bats | .236/.243/.377 | 4 HR | 12 RBI | .620 OPS

Matt McLain: 346 At Bats | .197/.295/.358 | 13 HR | 35 RBI | .654 OPS

Will Banfield: 4 At Bats | .000/.000/.000 | 0 HR | 0 RBI | 0.000 OPS

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 191 At Bats | .152/.206/.251 | 5 HR | 8 RBI | .457 OPS

TJ Friedl: 219 At Bats | .160/.245/.237 | 3 HR | 11 RBI | .482 OPS

Hector Rodriguez: 41 At Bats | .171/.261/.293 | 1 HR | 3 RBI | .554 OPS

Ivan Johnson: 12 At Bats | .083/.214/.083 | 0 HR | 0 RBI | .298 OPS

Reds Pitchers

Chase Burns is having a very good season. In 24 starts, he is 14-2 with a 2.51 ERA and a 1.110 WHIP. His last start came against the Cardinals, where he went 5 innings, allowing 2 earned runs. Brady Singer’s 2^nd season in Cincinnati is not going so well. He is 5-11 with a 4.72 ERA and a 1.420 WHIP. He pitched against the Cards last also. In 6 innings, he allowed 4 earned runs. Nick Lodolo has made 15 starts this year. His ERA is 5.04 and his WHIP is 1.520. Lodolo got lit up last Friday against the D’backs. In 3.1 innings, he allowed 6 earned runs.

Reds pitchers numbers on the season
Chase Burns: 24 Starts | 136 IP | 14-2 | 2.51 ERA | 159 Ks | 1.110 WHIP

Brady Singer: 25 Starts | 131.2 IP | 5-11 | 4.72 ERA | 107 Ks | 1.420 WHIP

Nick Lodolo: 15 Starts | 75 IP | 3-3 | 5.04 ERA | 59 Ks | 1.520 WHIP

Giants Hitters

Rafael Devers continues to lead the team in slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs and OPS. He hit homer number 26 in Boston, and pushed his RBI total to 70. Jung Hoo Lee leads the team in average and on-base, though his average has now dipped below .290. Eldridge has a .781 OPS, and 14 home runs. As it stands, the Giants have only 4 guys with OPS over .700 that have more than 50 at-bats. Adames is at .713 with 21 homers and 51 RBIs. But he might be headed to the IL with an elbow injury. Osleivis Basabe continues to free fall. His average is now at .224. Jonah Cox does not have a walk on the season. Turner Hill does seem to be a somewhat interesting bat. Though he has had limited opportunities.

Giants hitters numbers on the season
Rafael Devers: 489 At Bats | .241/.319/.468 | 26 HR | 70 RBI | .788 OPS

Willy Adames: 465 At Bats | .230/.289/.424 | 21 HR | 51 RBI | .713 OPS

Jung Hoo Lee: 454 At Bats | .289/.324/.425 | 9 HR | 46 RBI | .749 OPS

Bryce Eldridge: 310 At Bats | .252/.346/.435 | 14 HR | 35 RBI | .781 OPS

Victor Bericoto: 86 At Bats | .244/.253/.419 | 4 HR | 12 RBI | .671 OPS

Osleivis Basabe: 76 At Bats | .224/.250/.368 | 3 HR | 8 RBI | .618 OPS

Drew Gilbert: 276 At Bats | .236/.319/.370 | 7 HR | 31 RBI | .689 OPS

Drew Cavanaugh: 84 At Bats | .226/.330/.238 | 0 HR | 5 RBI | .568 OPS

Christian Koss: 100 At Bats | .200/.238/.250 | 0 HR | 2 RBI | .488 OPS

Andrew Knizner: 15 At Bats | .200/.294/.400 | 1 HR | 1 RBI | .694 OPS

Buddy Kennedy: 27 At Bats | .148/.281/.148 | 0 HR | 1 RBI | .429 OPS

Jonah Cox: 47 At Bats | .255/.255/.489 | 2 HR | 4 RBI | .745 OPS

Turner Hill: 12 At Bats | .250/.333/.417 | 0 HR | 2 RBI | .750 OPS

Giants pitchers

Carson Whisenhunt has made 7 starts, and has an ERA of 7.03 to show for it. His WHIP is at 1.844. He took the loss in his last start, facing Cleveland. He allowed 7 runs, 6 earned in just 4 innings of work. Jo Adell in particular crushed him. Adrian Houser has been better recently. He has a 4.08 ERA on the season and a 1.315 WHIP. Both of which are dropping quickly. In his last outing, he came in after Tugboat opened for him, throwing 5 shutout innings. Landen Roupp has a 4.34 ERA in 134.2 innings. He allowed 4 runs, 3 earned, against Cleveland on Thursday, taking the loss to push his record to 7-13.

Giants pitchers numbers on the season
Carson Whisenhunt: 7 Starts | 32 IP | 3-4 | 7.03 ERA | 23 Ks | 1.844 WHIP

Adrian Houser: 15 Starts | 108 IP | 4-7 | 4.08 ERA | 73 Ks | 1.315 WHIP

Landen Roupp: 25 Starts | 134.2 IP | 7-13 | 4.34 ERA | 130 Ks | 1.314 WHIP

Pitching Match Ups

Chase Burns has faced the Giants once in his career, earlier this season. He went 6 shutout innings, with an opponent’s OPS of .284. Brady Singer has faced the Giants 4 times with a 5.64 ERA to show for it. Nick Lodolo has faced the Giants 3 times. He has a 3.00 ERA in 18 innings, with a WHIP of 0.833, and a .557 OPS.

Reds pitchers numbers lifetime vs SF
Chase Burns: 1 Game | 6 IP | 0.00 ERA | .500 WHIP | .284 OPS

Brady Singer: 4 Games | 22.1 IP | 5.64 ERA | 1.299 WHIP | .856 OPS

Nick Lodolo: 3 Games | 18 IP | 3.00 ERA | .833 WHIP | .557 OPS

Burns will be facing the Giants in San Francisco for the 1^st time in his career. Singer has pitched 11 innings in 2 games at Oracle with a 5.73 ERA and a 1.364 WHIP. The Giants have a .751 OPS against him. Lodolo’s numbers are kind of incredible. He has faced the Giants 3 times, as mentioned above. He has pitched 2 times in San Francisco. His 3.00 ERA at SF matches his ERA lifetime against SF. His 0.833 WHIP at Oracle also matches his WHIP vs the Giants lifetime. Incredible consistency.

Reds pitchers numbers lifetime at SF
Chase Burns: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Brady Singer: 2 Games | 11 IP | 5.73 ERA | 1.364 WHIP | .751 OPS

Nick Lodolo: 2 Games | 12 IP | 3.00 ERA | 0.833 WHIP | .480 OPS

Carson Whisenhunt is facing the Reds for the 1^st time in his career. Adrian Houser has faced the Reds 17 times, thanks to his long time in the NL Central. He has a 4.89 ERA and a 1.439 WHIP against the Reds. Landen Roupp has faced the Reds 2 times. In 12 innings, he has an ERA below 1 at 0.75, a 0.833 WHIP and a .523 opponent’s OPS. Talk about domination.

Giants pitchers numbers lifetime vs Cin
Carson Whisenhunt: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Adrian Houser: 17 Games | 73.2 IP | 4.89 ERA | 1.439 WHIP | .798 OPS

Landen Roupp: 2 Games | 12 IP | 0.75 ERA | 0.833 WHIP | .523 OPS

Hitting Match Ups

The Giants have done pretty well against Elly De La Cruz. In 22 games, he has hit 2 homers and has a .546 OPS. Sal Stewart has only played 3 times vs the Giants, earlier this season, and he absolutely fucks on us. 3 homers in 3 games with a 1.364 OPS. Eugenio Suarez was Giants Killer of the Series last time around. In 62 games, he has 16 homers and an .862 OPS. Matt McLain is also someone the Giants need to be careful with. He has 3 homers in 9 games, with an .858 OPS lifetime vs the Giants.

Reds hitters lifetime vs SF
Elly De La Cruz: 22 Games | 2 HR | .546 OPS

Sal Stewart: 3 Games | 3 HR | 1.364 OPS

Dane Myers: 9 Games | 0 HR | .238 OPS

Eugenio Suarez: 62 Games | 16 HR | .862 OPS

Tyler Stephenson: 22 Games | 2 HR | .682 OPS

JJ Bleday: 11 Games | 1 HR | .434 OPS

Jose Trevino: 11 Games | 0 HR | .237 OPS

Matt McLain: 9 Games | 3 HR | .858 OPS

Will Banfield: NA | NA | NA

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 16 Games | 1 HR | .551 OPS

TJ Friedl: 20 Games | 0 HR | .402 OPS

Hector Rodriguez: NA | NA | NA

Ivan Johnson: NA | NA | NA

Elly has been better facing the Giants in San Francisco. In 9 games, he has 1 homer and a .705 OPS. Stewart will be making his Oracle Park debut. Hopefully it goes better than their April series. Suarez in 30 games has 5 homers and an .837 OPS. In 7 games at Oracle, Bleday has 1 homer and a .701 OPS. Somehow McLain has faced the Giants 9 times in his career but never at Oracle Park. Joining him and Stewart in making their Oracle Park debuts are Will Banfield, Ivan Johnson and Hector Rodriguez.

Reds hitters numbers lifetime at SF
Elly De La Cruz: 9 Games | 1 HR | .705 OPS

Sal Stewart: NA | NA | NA

Dane Myers: 3 Games | 0 HR | .220 OPS

Eugenio Suarez: 30 Games | 5 HR | .837 OPS

Tyler Stephenson: 7 Games | 0 HR | .302 OPS

JJ Bleday: 7 Games | 1 HR | .701 OPS

Jose Trevino: 4 Games | 0 HR | .347 OPS

Matt McLain: NA | NA | NA

Will Banfield: NA | NA | NA

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 10 Games | 1 HR | .654 OPS

TJ Friedl: 9 Games | 0 HR | .351 OPS

Hector Rodriguez: NA | NA | NA

Ivan Johnson: NA | NA | NA

JJ Bleday and Ke’Bryan Hayes are the only 2 Reds who have ever faced Whisenhunt. Bleday has a .500 OPS and Hayes has a 0.000 OPS against him. Suarez, Stephenson, and McLain all have ownage on Houser. Suarez has an .893 OPS. Stephenson has a 1.179 OPS. McLain has a 1.667 OPS. Suarez has seen Roupp well in his career. He has a 1.167 OPS. The drop off to the next best OPS on the team is dramatic. Next best is Friedl, with a .167 OPS. Elly, Stewart, Bleday, Trevino, McLain, and Hayes all have 0.000 OPS against Roupp in their careers.

Reds hitters numbers lifetime vs SF projected pitchers
Elly De La Cruz: NA vs Whisenhunt | 0.000 OPS vs Houser | 0.000 OPS vs Roupp

Sal Stewart: NA vs Whisenhunt | NA vs Houser | 0.000 OPS vs Roupp

Dane Myers: NA vs Whisenhunt | 0.000 OPS vs Houser | NA vs Roupp

Eugenio Suarez: NA vs Whisenhunt | .893 OPS vs Houser | 1.167 OPS vs Roupp

Tyler Stephenson: NA vs Whisenhunt | 1.179 OPS vs Houser | NA vs Roupp

JJ Bleday: .500 OPS vs Whisenhunt | .500 OPS vs Houser | 0.000 OPS vs Roupp

Jose Trevino: NA vs Whisenhunt | 0.000 OPS vs Houser | 0.000 OPS vs Roupp

Matt McLain: NA vs Whisenhunt | 1.667 OPS vs Houser | 0.000 OPS vs Roupp

Will Banfield: NA vs Whisenhunt | NA vs Houser | NA vs Roupp

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 0.000 OPS vs Whisenhunt | .623 OPS vs Houser | 0.000 OPS vs Roupp

TJ Friedl: NA vs Whisenhunt | .523 OPS vs Houser | .167 OPS vs Roupp

Hector Rodriguez: NA vs Whisenhunt | NA vs Houser | NA vs Roupp

Ivan Johnson: NA vs Whisenhunt | NA vs Houser | NA vs Roupp

Rafael Devers has 3 homers in 16 games with a .956 OPS. Willy Adames has faced the Reds 66 times. He has 20 homers and an .828 OPS. That’s pretty much domination. Jung Hoo Lee has faced the Reds in 10 games with a .991 OPS. Andrew Knizner has 1 homer in 38 games and a .635 OPS. Drew Gilbert has a .200 OPS. The rest of the team either has a 0.000 OPS (ahem… Buddy Kennedy) or has never faced them.

Giants hitters numbers lifetime vs Cin
Rafael Devers: 16 Games | 3 HR | .956 OPS

Willy Adames: 66 Games | 20 HR | .828 OPS

Jung Hoo Lee: 10 Games | 0 HR | .991 OPS

Bryce Eldridge: NA | NA | NA

Victor Bericoto: NA | NA | NA

Osleivis Basabe: NA | NA | NA

Drew Gilbert: 2 Games | 0 HR | .200 OPS

Drew Cavanaugh: NA | NA | NA

Christian Koss: 1 Game | 0 HR | NA

Andrew Knizner: 38 Games | 1 HR | .635 OPS

Buddy Kennedy: 2 Games | 0 HR | 0.000 OPS

Jonah Cox: NA | NA | NA

Turner Hill: NA | NA | NA

Adames and Lee have had success against Burns. Both of them have 1.000 OPS against him. Devers has a 0.000. Gilbert has a .500. The rest of the team has yet to face him. Adames and JHL own Singer. Adames has a 1.500 OPS. JHL is at a 1.667. Knizner is the only other Giant to have faced Singer. He has a 0.000. No one on the Giants has had any success against Lodolo. Adames has fared the best, with an OPS of .364. Going to have to be better against him this week.

Giants hitters numbers lifetime vs Cin projected pitchers
Rafael Devers: 0.000 OPS vs Burns | .857 OPS vs Singer | .167 OPS vs Lodolo

Willy Adames: 1.000 OPS vs Burns | 1.500 OPS vs Singer | .364 OPS vs Lodolo

Jung Hoo Lee: 1.000 OPS vs Burns | 1.667 OPS vs Singer | .333 OPS vs Lodolo

Bryce Eldridge: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Victor Bericoto: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Osleivis Basabe: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Drew Gilbert: .500 OPS vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Drew Cavanaugh: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Christian Koss: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Andrew Knizner: NA vs Burns | 0.000 OPS vs Singer | 0.000 OPS vs Lodolo

Buddy Kennedy: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Jonah Cox: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

Turner Hill: NA vs Burns | NA vs Singer | NA vs Lodolo

What Matters/Prediction

- Don’t let Sal Stewart murder you again.
- The Giants starters need to be better. Whisenhunt was brutal in Cleveland. Roupp was not a whole lot better. Houser was good and seemingly has earned his spot back in the rotation. Don’t blow it.
- For God’s sake, someone emerge and show you want a job next year. Right now, you are pretty much locked in with Devers, Adames, JHL and Eldridge being starters. This is an opportunity for some younger players to show they belong on the roster next year.
- The Giants are better at home than on the road. Maybe you can finally sweep a fuckin’ team? At least you can’t be walked off on.

My prediction is the Giants will get swept. At this point, why wouldn’t that be the pick?

Giants Killer of the Series

Alright, now I would normally never pick someone who only has 11 at-bats against the Giants as the Giants Killer of the Series. But, small sample size be damned. This dude wrecked us last time around. Sal Stewart. Earlier this season, the Giants went to Cincy for a 3-game series. He slashed .273/.273/1.091. That is a 1.364 OPS. He is 3-11 against the Giants. All 3 of those hits left the park. He had 7 RBIs in that span. In the 1^st game of the series, the Reds won 2-1. He had a solo homer in that game. In game 2, the Giants lost 8-3. Stewart was 2-4 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs. The 2 games the Reds won in that series, Stewart was the deciding factor. That’s a Killer.

If you’re still reading, send feet pics.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers.

Follow me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStack

Another series, and another recap that I’ve been sitting here for the last 15 minutes thinking of how to start. Poop jokes? Ran that into the ground in the last game recap. Giants pissed their pants? Too similar. Hemorrhoid burst? Think I did that one already.

At this point, I’ve run out of things to compare the season to. I’ve run out of ideas to say they suck in a half ass creative manner. They just got fuckin’ swept and went 1-5 on a 6-game road trip. What is there to give you hope next year will be better? Well, they only struck out 29 times in 3 games instead of 40 like they did vs Cleveland, I guess. Fuck, that’s enough of an intro.

Game 1 was Logan Webb vs Sonny Gray. Devers homered in his homecoming. The Giants hung 4 earned runs on Sonny Gray. The problem? Logan Webb allowed 5 earned in 2.2 innings of work. Boston took the game 6-4.

The 2^nd game of the series was particularly frustrating. Blade Tidwell started, and rebounded from a rough outing last time around. He went 5.2 shutout innings. Adames and Knizner both hit solo homers. The Giants took a 2-0 lead into the 9^th. Then the Giants did what they do best in the league. Losing in walk-off fashion. The 11^th time this season. A league best. Or worst?

So, Sunday afternoon baseball in Boston. Could the Giants salvage 1? Nahhhh. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, then Boston woke up. They scored a run in both the 2^nd and 3^rd innings, then put up a 3 spot in the 4^th. 5 runs was enough to earn the Red Sox the sweep.

Game 1: Giants 4, Red Sox 6.

Game 2: Giants 2, Red Sox 3.

Game 3: Giants 4, Red Sox 5.

Series Takeaways:
- 10 runs in 3 games. 29 strikeouts. 4-17 with RISP. They managed just 9 walks.
- Rafael Devers hit a homer in his return to Boston. That would be his only hit in the series.
- Willy Adames left the game with an elbow injury. He is getting an MRI. Victor Bericoto looked like he really hurt his knee, though initial reports are positive. This lineup could get even more brutal if they’re out for significant time.
- Tidwell gave the Giants the only good start of the series. And they wasted it.
- Does this team really deserve a 5^th bullet point?

Biggest Story:

I built a changing table for the baby today. Probably more important than what the Giants did.

The Question Now Is:

Whatsup with Bericoto and Adames?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers
Follow me on Twitter/X: @TackStackSF

Sometimes watching the Giants is like ordering a sandwich at Subway and before you take the 1^st bite, you realize there is a huge turd in the sandwich. Sometimes, the 1^st couple of bites are buffalo chicken, then you get a mouthful of shit. I honestly don’t know which is worse.

Today the sandwich started off good. After getting walked off on yesterday, scoring 2 runs in the 1^st, and adding a solo homer in the 2^nd seemed like this might be one of those days where the Giants are fun. Then Wally the Green Monster evacuated his bowels onto a perfectly good Italian herb & cheese roll and the meal was ruined.

Tugboat got hit around. Brubaker allowed a final run. The bats went into a shit-food coma. And I’m sitting here typing turd sandwich puns like I’m Trey Parker or Matt Stone writing an episode in an election year.

Takeaways
- Giants scored 3 runs in the 1^st 2 innings of the game, then the offense went to sleep, adding 1 more run thanks to Koss’s hustle and Boston’s error. Jake Bennett was good but this lineup is a joke. Like I said yesterday, no one is emerging and showing they want a spot for next year.
- Victor Bericoto’s knee injury looked bad. Something tells me he’s done for the year and a good part of next year. I hope I’m wrong.
- I banged the drum hard for Koss after spring training last year. I was glad he made the team this year. The way he got used early on was puzzling. He’s not having a good year by any means, but the fact that even at this point in the season, he’s still hustling on grounders to short and using his speed to make shit happen is a reason I hope he’s around next year.
- Tugboat is human. He threw 66 pitches in 3.2 innings of work, allowing 4 earned runs today. We got room for growth.
- 1 walk. 7 strikeouts. 0 errors. 2-4 with RISP. Not sloppy but only 4 at-bats with runners in scoring position?

What Changed the Game

The Giants’ inability to get the 3^rd out flared up again today and ended up being the dagger. The Giants had a 3-2 lead, with Sogard on 3^rd and 2 outs. Then Wong doubled. Gasper doubled. Rafaela singled. It’s 5-3 and the game is basically over.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Jake Bennett started for the Red Sox. He quickly got the 1^st out as Osleivis Basabe flied out to right on the 2^nd pitch. Rafael Devers walked on 4 straight. Willy Adames singled to left, advancing Devers to 3^rd. Bryce Eldridge singled to right, scoring Devers. Victor Bericoto singled to left, Adames scored. Jung Hoo Lee flied out to left. Andrew Knizner lined out to center for the 3^rd out. 2-0.

Bottom 1^st: Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson made his 2^nd career start today. Jahmai Jones led off the game with a single for Boston. Ceddanne Rafaela singled to center. Wilyer Abreu struck out swinging. Willson Contreras popped out to Adames. Caleb Durbin flied out to center for the 3^rd out. 2-0.

Top 2^nd: Jonah Cox led off the 2^nd with a solo homer to left center. Christian Koss grounded out to 3^rd for the 1^st out of the inning. Basabe lined out to center. Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. 3-0.

Bottom 2^nd: Nick Sogard led off the 2^nd with a solo homer to left center. Tugboat has an ERA. Andruw Monasterio lined out to center. Eli White struck out swinging. Connor Wong grounded out to 3^rd. 3-1.

Top 3^rd: Adames led off the 3^rd with a line out to Abreu. Eldridge singled to right. Bericoto flied out to center. JHL grounded out to 2^nd. 3-1.

Bottom 3^rd: Jones tripled to center on a ball that looked like a pop up but kept carrying. Rafaela singled to center, scoring Jones. He would also steal 2^nd before Abreu flied out to left. Contreras flied out to center. Durbin grounded out to Eldridge. 3-2.

Top 4^th: Knizner flied out to right for the 1^st out. Cox singled to center. Koss popped out to short. Basabe struck out swinging. 3-2.

Bottom 4^th: Sogard started the 4^th with a double. Monasterio grounded out to 2^nd, allowing Sogard to take 3^rd. Wong doubled to left, scoring Sogard to tie the game. Tony Vitello came out to get Wilkinson, bringing in JT Brubaker. Mickey Gasper hit for Jones and doubled to right, scoring Wong. Rafaela singled to center, scoring Gasper. Abreu flied out to end the inning. 3-5.

Top 5^th: Bennett answered with a 1-2-3 shutdown inning. He got Devers to ground out to short, then Adames and Eldridge to both strike out swinging. 3-5.

Bottom 5^th: Adames came out of the game after striking out. Koss moved to short and Buddy Kennedy took over at 3^rd base. Contreras grounded out to Kennedy to start the inning. Durbin flied out to JHL. Sogard walked. Monasterio fouled out to left on a fan interference. On the play, Bericoto’s knee looked to buckle. He walked off the field, but it did not look good. 3-5.

Top 6^th: With Bericoto due up, Drew Gilbert hit for him, striking out swinging. JHL popped out to short. Knizner flied out to right to end the inning. Another 1-2-3 for Bennett. 3-5.

Bottom 6^th: White bunted, but popped it up. JT Brubaker made a nice diving catch for the out. It looked like he hurt himself for a minute, but he stayed in the game. Wong followed by singling. The Giants went back to the ‘pen, bringing in Sam Hentges. Wong took 2^nd on a wild pitch. Gasper flied out to right. Rafaela grounded out to Basabe. 3-5.

Top 7^th: Cox flied out to right on a ball that kept carrying. Just not quite far enough. Koss hit a grounder to short that got away from Contreras. Abreu was slow getting to it, allowing Koss to slide into 3^rd. The throw to 3^rd sailed into the camera well, allowing Koss to score on the Little League home run. Basabe lined out to right. Devers struck out looking. 4-5.

Bottom 7^th: Hentges got the 1-2-3 inning, Abreu grounded out to 2^nd, Contreras struck out swinging, and Durbin struck out looking. 4-5.

Top 8^th: Tyron Guerrero came on for Bennett. Kennedy reached on an infield single to short. Eldridge flied out to right for the 1^st out. Gilbert hit a grounder to 2^nd to start a 4-6-3 double play. 4-5.

Bottom 8^th: Trent Harris came on for the Giants. He got Sogard to ground out to Koss at short for the 1^st out. Monasterio doubled to left, off the monstahh. Jarren Duran hit for White and struck out on a high fastball for the 2^nd out. Adley Rutschman hit for Wong. Rutschman hit one back to Harris for the 3^rd out. 4-5.

Top 9^th: Aroldis Chapman came on for the save. JHL led off the 9^th, hitting a comebacker to Chapman who threw on to 1^st for the out. Knizner grounded out to Sogard for the 2^nd out. Cox stepped up, working the count to 2-2 before striking out to end the game. 4-5.

Final Score: Giants 4, Red Sox 5.

Final Thoughts

Well, at least our best player isn’t hanging out at casinos while we’re playing, I guess.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

What in the fuck just happened? Another 9^th inning collapse as the Giants get walked off on for the 11^th time, most in the league.

In the 9^th, Basabe looked to take a short hop to the nards. My question is which nut shot was worse? The one that Basabe took or the one Sam Hentges delivered minutes later?

I don’t have expectations. I know the season is over. But watching these games is supposed to be about identifying guys who will be big pieces moving forward. Very few are emerging. Dylan Smith looks like he’ll have a role in the bullpen next year. Tidwell should have something to say for the rotation. Offensively though, who is emerging? I’m not seeing it.

Thank God for football.

Takeaways
- During pregame, Fox showed a graphic that since the Devers trade, the Red Sox have the 2^nd best record in baseball and the Giants have the 2^nd worst. This is complete bullshit. Correlation does not equal causation. Devers has been fine. The Giants roster sucks.
- While we are on the topic of Devers. Booing him is some bitch shit. The guy helped win you a ring. The Red Sox botched the Bregman situation. Devers could have handled it better but the Sox told him don’t bother bringing a glove. They disrespected him.
- All of the Giants scoring came on solo homers. One by Adames, and one by Knizner. After the 3^rd inning, they did not score again. Vintage Giants.
- I said good things about Sam Hentges at times. He absolutely sucks. For a while I thought maybe he could be a guy for next year. Nope. Flush and move on. Thanks, Buster.
- Someone I have shit on who is proving me wrong is Carson Seymour. He has looked better recently.
- Blade Tidwell bounced back from a rough outing, going 5.2 shutout innings. The kid deserved a win tonight. But it’s the Giants.
- 5 walks. 10 strikeouts. 0 errors. 0-8 with RISP.

What Changed the Game

The Giants had chances to add on in the late innings. In the 8^th inning they had runners at 2^nd & 3^rd, and didn’t cash in. In the 9^th, they had the bases loaded and got nothing. You have to add on when you have the chance to. You don’t deserve to win when all your offense came from 2 solo homers.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Patrick Sandoval drew the start for the Red Sox. Victor Bericoto led off for the Giants against the lefty. Bericoto grounded out to short. Devers fouled out to 3^rd. Willy Adames blasted a home run to left center, going over the Monstahhh. Bryce Eldridge struck out looking for the 3^rd out. 1-0.

Bottom 1^st: Blade Tidwell took the mound, looking to build off a rough start. He set Nick Sogard down on strikes on 4 pitches. He then struck out Ceddanne Rafaela, also on 4 pitches. Both went down swinging. Wilyer Abreu also went down swinging, though he did make Tidwell work a little bit more, being retired on 6 pitches. 1-0.

Top 2^nd: Osleivis Basabe hit a squibber that the catcher fielded and threw into right field, allowing Basabe to take 2^nd. Jung Hoo Lee struck out swinging. Christian Koss hit a grounder to short for the 2^nd out. Drew Gilbert hit a pop up that Sogard caught on the mound to end the inning. 1-0.

Bottom 2^nd: Willson Contreras hit a hard grounder to Koss, who made a good throw to get him at 1^st. Adley Rutschman flied out to left for the 2^nd out. Caleb Durbin reached on an infield single to Adames. Jarren Duran ended the inning by popping out. 1-0.

Top 3^rd: Andrew Knizner led off the 3^rd with a solo homer to left center. Bericoto struck out swinging. Devers walked. Adames singled to left. Eldridge walked to load the bases. Basabe struck out swinging. JHL grounded out to Contreras for the 3^rd out. 2-0.

Bottom 3^rd: Andruw Monasterio popped out to 2^nd to start the inning. Tidwell hit Mickey Gasper with a pitch. Sogard hit a grounder to 2^nd that hit Gasper. He was out, but Sogard was safe at 1^st. Rafaela walked. Abreu struck out looking to end the inning. 2-0.

Top 4^th: Koss grounded out to Sandoval. Gilbert struck out swinging. Knizner flied out to center. 1-2-3 inning. 2-0.

Bottom 4^th: Contreras singled to left. Rutschman struck out looking. Durbin hit a grounder to Basabe, who started a 4-6-3 double play. 2-0.

Top 5^th: Bericoto grounded out to 2^nd to start the 5^th. Devers grounded out to short. Adames struck out swinging for another 1-2-3 inning. 2-0.

Bottom 5^th: Duran flied out to JHL to start the inning. Monasterio struck out swinging. Gasper grounded out to Basabe for a 1-2-3 inning for the Giants. 2-0.

Top 6^th: Eldridge singled to lead off the inning. Basabe lined out to center. JHL also lined out to center. Boston went to the bullpen, bringing in Greg Weissert to strike out Koss swinging. 2-0.

Bottom 6^th: Tidwell started the 6^th by walking Sogard. Rafaela hit a grounder to 2^nd. The Giants got Sogard, but Rafaela was safe at 1^st. Abreu struck out. Tony Vitello then came out to pull Tidwell, bringing in Carson Seymour. Seymour got Contreras to line out for the 3^rd out. 2-0.

Top 7^th: Weissert started the 7^th by striking out Gilbert looking. Knizner singled to left. Bericoto lined out to center. Jovani Moran then came into the game, getting Devers to ground out to short to end the inning. 2-0.

Bottom 7^th: Turner Hill took over in left for Bericoto. Rutschman grounded out to 2^nd. Durbin reached on a swinging bunt that stayed fair. Duran lined out to Gilbert. Monasterio grounded out to Adames for out number 3. 2-0.

Top 8^th: Moran struck out Adames to start the 8^th. Eldridge worked a walk. Basabe grounded to 3^rd. Eldridge was out at 2^nd, but Basabe was safe at 1^st. JHL singled to right, moving Basabe to 3^rd. Wyatt Olds came on for the Sox, striking out Gilbert.

Bottom 8^th: Gasper started the 8^th with a double. Sogard walked. The Giants then went to the ‘pen again, bringing in Dylan Smith. Rafaela hit a single that just got over the jumping Adames. Because it was so close to being caught, though, Gasper had to hold up and was unable to score. Abreu struck out swinging. Contreras struck out looking. He challenged the strike call unsuccessfully. Rutschman then flied out to center to end the inning. 2-0.

Top 9^th: Olds stayed in the game, striking out Gilbert. Knizner singled to left. Hill walked. Devers hit a fly ball that was caught on the warning track in left. Adames worked the 4-pitch walk to load the bases. Eldridge hit a line drive that Sogard made a great diving catch on, saving the run and ending the inning. 2-0.

Bottom 9^th: Smith stayed on as Durbin led off the 9^th with a 4-pitch walk. Vitello then brought in Sam Hentges. Jahmai Jones pinched hit and was hit by a pitch. Monasterio hit a grounder to Basabe, who bobbled it. He took it to 2^nd to get Jones. He wasn’t able to get enough on the throw to get the runner at 1^st. Eli White then hit for Gasper. He hit a liner up the middle for an RBI single. Monasterio stopped at 2^nd. Sogard hit a liner off the Monstaahhh that brought in Monasterio to tie the game. The Giants walked Rafaela to set up the force at any base. Abreu worked the count full before hitting a liner to Eldridge, who threw home. The ump said the throw took Knizner off the plate. They reviewed it and confirmed the runner was safe. The 11^th walk off loss for the Giants. 2-3.

Final Score: Giants 2, Red Sox 3

Final Thoughts

We’re gonna get swept, huh?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

I am thankful for the fact I was in a wedding yesterday and got a night off from the Giants. Although, by looking at the box score, it doesn’t look like it was a terrible game. They scored 4 runs off a very good pitcher. Hit a couple of homers. Didn’t commit an error. But their ace fell on his face.

The Giants tied their shoes. Only problem is they tied them together.

Honestly, thinking about them is making my hangover worse.

Takeaways

- Boston continues to be a house of horrors for Logan Webb, who went 2.2 innings, allowing 5 earned runs. Not good.
- Rafael Devers homered in his homecoming. He went 1-3 with a walk and a solo shot.
- Drew Gilbert had a good game. 2-3 with a homer and 2 RBIs.
- 3 walks. 12 strikeouts. Gross.

What Changed the Game

The 3^rd inning sunk Logan Webb, and free bases were a big part of it. Sogard worked a 1-out walk. Abreu singled to center. Contreras homered. Rutschman singled. Durbin singled. Duran was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Monasterio walked. Gasper hit by pitch. The Contreras homer was rough, but letting Boston continue to add on was the straw that broke the camel’s back. All of a sudden, it’s 5-1. And the shitty part is this was all with 2 outs.

Game Recap

I didn’t watch the game. Go read the box score.

Final Score Giants 4, Red Sox 6

Final Thoughts

I need greasy food and water.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

The Giants head to my 2^nd favorite ballpark in the league. Boston is an awesome city. Fenway is an incredible stadium. If nothing else, I am excited to watch the Giants play in Fenway this weekend.

In 2016, I worked for a hotel that had a property in Boston and I was able to get free rooms out there. I was able to catch 2 games. The downside is the Giants got their ass kicked in both games. Hanley Ramirez hit 3 homers in one game. Matt Cain was well into his career’s decline. But it didn’t matter. Being in Boston was cool enough.

I know. No one cares.

The Red Sox enter play at 68-59 and in 3^rd place in the AL East. They are 8 games behind the Rays and 5.5 games up in the Wild Card standings. They have the 3^rd best record in the American League. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games after taking 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks. They have scored 575 runs, which is 6^th in the AL. They have allowed 480 runs, which is 2^nd best in the league. They have a +95 run differential, which is best in the AL. They are 31-32 at home on the season.

The Giants are 52-75, 24.5 games out of 1^st in the NL West and 2 up on the Rockies. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games after dropping 2 of 3 to Cleveland. They have scored 513 runs on the season. That is now the worst in the National League. They have allowed 589 runs, 11^th in the NL. They have a -76 run differential, 13^th in the NL. They are 23-42 on the road this season.

Stats, matchups, and a whole lot of words about a good team and an awful team below.

Current Season Stats

Red Sox Hitters
Willson Contreras sure seems to like being in Beantown. He is having a career year, having already set a career-high in home runs. He is only 5 RBIs away from tying his career-high in that department. He is also 39 points up on his career-high OPS. He leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, homers, RBIs, and OPS. Well, tied for team lead in average at least. Where did this all come from? Wilyer Abreu is also having a career year, having already tied his high in homers and 2 RBIs away from his new personal record. Ceddanne Rafaela has 16 homers, and is tied with Contreras for batting average. Jarren Duran is flexing the power with 17 homers, but his average is down to .206. Caleb Durbin has a .727 OPS on the season, with 12 homers. The Sox offense isn’t where they want it to be statistically, but they do have some guys putting up numbers.

Red Sox hitters numbers on the season
Nick Sogard: 112 At Bats | .268/.376/.375 | 1 HR | 7 RBI | .751 OPS

Ceddanne Rafaela: 482 At Bats | .284/.321/.463 | 16 HR | 64 RBI | .784 OPS

Wilyer Abreu: 471 At Bats | .257/.336/.467 | 22 HR | 67 RBI | .804 OPS

Willson Contreras: 401 At Bats | .284/.393/.534 | 25 HR | 75 RBI | .927 OPS

Adley Rutschman: 27 At Bats | .185/.333/.333 | 1 HR | 4 RBI | .667 OPS

Caleb Durbin: 405 At Bats | .254/.325/.402 | 12 HR | 62 RBI | .727 OPS

Jarren Duran: 457 At Bats | .206/.263/.359 | 17 HR | 62 RBI | .622 OPS

Andruw Monasterio: 257 At Bats | .261/.319/.424 | 6 HR | 37 RBI | .743 OPS

Mickey Gasper: 117 At Bats | .256/.323/.393 | 3 HR | 14 RBI | .716 OPS

Connor Wong: 168 At Bats | .250/.332/.381 | 4 HR | 22 RBI | .713 OPS

Anthony Seigler: 139 At Bats | .252/.321/.401 | 3 HR | 12 RBI | .723 OPS

Eli White: 20 At Bats | .250/.286/.250 | 0 HR | 2 RBI | .536 OPS

Jahmai Jones: 23 At Bats | .478/.538/.913 | 2 HR | 6 RBI | 1.452 OPS

Red Sox Pitchers

Jake Bennett has made 14 starts on the season. He has been good, with a 3.46 ERA and a great 1.066 WHIP. In his last outing, he took the loss vs the Pirates, allowing 4 earned runs in 4 innings of work. Sonny Gray is having a great season, especially record-wise. He is 15-3, with a 2.65 ERA and a 1.146 WHIP. He will get Cy Young votes. He got the win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, throwing 7 shutout innings. Patrick Sandoval will be starting game 3. His season has not been great, but he has only made 7 starts. He has a 4.76 ERA. The WHIP is extremely high, at 1.853. He will dominate. His last outing was Sunday, taking the loss to the Pirates. He allowed 7 earned runs in 4 innings of work.

Red Sox pitchers numbers on the season
Sonny Gray: 23 Starts | 132.2 IP | 15-3 | 2.65 ERA | 117 Ks | 1.146 WHIP

Patrick Sandoval: 7 Starts | 34 IP | 1-2 | 4.76 ERA | 35 Ks | 1.853 WHIP

Jake Bennett: 14 Starts | 80.2 IP | 7-6 | 3.46 ERA | 61 Ks | 1.066 WHIP

Giants Hitters

The ESPN page has updated where it shows the picture for the team leaders. No, it hasn’t updated to remove Luis Arraez because he still leads the team in multiple categories. It has updated him to have a Phillies hat in his picture. In Arraez’s absence, JHL leads the team in average and on-base percentage still. Rafael Devers leads the team in slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs and OPS. Devers is now at 69 RBIs, and I’m conflicted on whether I want him to get to 30 homers or end the season at 69 RBIs. Adames hit his 20^th home run of the season, and his 50^th RBI. JHL has a .762 OPS. Bryce Eldridge’s average is below .250 but the OPS is still at .779. Not bad for a rookie. Keep hitting for power.

Giants hitters numbers on the season
Rafael Devers: 479 At Bats | .244/.320/.470 | 25 HR | 69 RBI | .790 OPS

Willy Adames: 454 At Bats | .229/.288/.421 | 20 HR | 50 RBI | .709 OPS

Jung Hoo Lee: 443 At Bats | .293/.328/.433 | 9 HR | 46 RBI | .762 OPS

Bryce Eldridge: 299 At Bats | .247/.341/.438 | 14 HR | 33 RBI | .779 OPS

Victor Bericoto: 79 At Bats | .253/.263/.443 | 4 HR | 11 RBI | .706 OPS

Osleivis Basabe: 64 At Bats | .250/.279/.422 | 3 HR | 8 RBI | .701 OPS

Drew Gilbert: 267 At Bats | .236/.322/.363 | 6 HR | 29 RBI | .686 OPS

Drew Cavanaugh: 81 At Bats | .235/.340/.247 | 0 HR | 5 RBI | .587 OPS

Christian Koss: 89 At Bats | .191/.234/.236 | 0 HR | 2 RBI | .470 OPS

Andrew Knizner: 7 At Bats | .000/.222/.000 | 0 HR | 0 RBI | .222 OPS

Buddy Kennedy: 26 At Bats | .115/.233/.115 | 0 HR | 1 RBI | .349 OPS

Jonah Cox: 41 At Bats | .244/.244/.439 | 1 HR | 3 RBI | .683 OPS

Turner Hill: 9 At Bats | .222/.273/.333 | 0 HR | 2 RBI | .606 OPS

Giants pitchers

Logan Webb has put a rough month of July behind him. His ERA on the season is down to 3.50. The WHIP is at a 1.065. His last outing was Saturday against the Rockies, where he went 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run and getting the win before exiting with back tightness. Blade Tidwell showed he was human last night, getting knocked around by the Rockies. He allowed 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings. Luckily, he didn’t get a decision in the game. On the season he has appeared in 11 games, 3 of them being starts. His ERA is 4.33 in that span. Carson Whisenhunt has made 7 starts, and has a 7.03 ERA and a horrible 1.840 WHIP. His last outing, he got stomped by Jo Adell and the Guardians, allowing 7 runs, 6 earned in 4 innings.

Giants pitchers numbers on the season
Logan Webb: 22 Starts | 139 IP | 8-7 | 3.50 ERA | 110 Ks | 1.065 WHIP

Blade Tidwell: 3 Starts | 27 IP | 0-0 | 4.33 ERA | 20 Ks | 1.222 WHIP

Carson Whisenhunt: 7 Starts | 32 IP | 3-4 | 7.03 ERA | 1.840 WHIP

Pitching Match Ups

The pitching matchups for this series are Sonny Gray (15-3, 2.65 ERA) vs Logan Webb (8-7, 3.50 ERA), Patrick Sandoval (1-2, 4.76 ERA) vs Blade Tidwell (0-0, 4.33 ERA), and Jake Bennett (7-6, 3.46 ERA) vs Carson Whisenhunt (3-4, 7.03 ERA).

Sonny Gray has faced the Giants 9 times, with a 3.16 ERA in 51.1 innings and a 1.110 WHIP. Patrick Sandoval has faced the Giants 3 times, not faring well. He has a 5.74 ERA and a 1.532 WHIP against the Giants in 15.2 innings. Surprisingly, his opponent’s OPS is pretty solid at .554. Jake Bennett has never faced the Giants in his career.

Red Sox pitchers numbers lifetime vs SF
Sonny Gray: 9 Games | 51.1 IP | 3.16 ERA | 1.110 WHIP | .615 OPS

Patrick Sandoval: 3 Games | 15.2 IP | 5.74 ERA | 1.532 WHIP | .554 OPS

Jake Bennett: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Logan Webb has faced the Red Sox 3 times. The Sox have not been kind to him. He has a 5.63 ERA and a 1.563 WHIP in 16 innings of work. Blade Tidwell and Carson Whisenhunt will be making their 1^st career starts against Beantown.

Giants pitchers numbers lifetime vs Bos
Logan Webb: 3 Games | 16 IP | 5.63 ERA | 1.563 WHIP | .849 OPS

Blade Tidwell: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Carson Whisenhunt: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

2 of Webb’s 3 career starts vs Boston have come at Fenway. The numbers get even worse. He has only lasted 8.2 innings in those 2 starts with an ERA matching a small aircraft and a WHIP of 2.192. The Sox have a .972 OPS against him.

Giants pitchers numbers lifetime at Bos
Logan Webb: 2 Games | 8.2 IP | 7.27 ERA | 2.192 WHIP | .972 OPS

Blade Tidwell: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Carson Whisenhunt: NA | NA | NA | NA | NA

Hitting Match Ups

The Red Sox have a few hitters who have done well against the Giants in their careers. In 6 games, Rafaela has 2 homers and a .958 OPS. Wilyer Abreu has also faced the Giants 6 times, with a 1.232 OPS to show for it. Giants have managed to keep him in the park. Caleb Durbin has 2 homers in 7 games with a 1.080 OPS. Jarren Duran has faced the Giants 9 times, with an .843 OPS. Willson Contreras has faced the Giants more than anyone else on the team, with 31 games. The Giants have surprisingly not allowed a homer to him and have held him to a .440 OPS. Adley Rutschman was the Red Sox’s big deadline acquisition. He has faced the Giants 7 times, with a .667 OPS.

Red Sox hitters numbers lifetime vs SF
Nick Sogard: NA | NA | NA

Ceddanne Rafaela: 6 Games | 2 HR | .958 OPS

Wilyer Abreu: 6 Games | 0 HR | 1.232 OPS

Willson Contreras: 31 Games | 0 HR | .440 OPS

Adley Rutschman: 7 Games | 0 HR | .667 OPS

Caleb Durbin: 7 Games | 2 HR | 1.080 OPS

Jarren Duran: 9 Games | 0 HR | .843 OPS

Andruw Monasterio: 6 Games | 0 HR | .732 OPS

Mickey Gasper: NA | NA | NA

Connor Wong: 6 Games | 0 HR | .597 OPS

Anthony Seigler: 2 Games | 0 HR | .650 OPS

Eli White: 13 Games | 0 HR | .667 OPS

Jahmai Jones: 1 Game | 0 HR | NA

Wilyer Abreu, Caleb Durbin, Jarren Duran and Anthony Seigler have good career numbers against Logan Webb. Abreu has a 3.500 OPS, leading the team. One has to assume that is in a very small sample size. Durbin has a 1.100 OPS. Duran has a 1.333 OPS vs Webby. Seigler has a 1.167 OPS. Willson Contreras and Adley Rutschman are the only 2 Red Sox to have faced Tidwell. Both have 0.000 OPS to show for it. Andruw Monasterio and Eli White are the only 2 who have faced Whisenhunt. White has a 1.000 OPS vs him, while Monasterio has a 3.000 OPS.

Red Sox hitters numbers lifetime vs SF projected pitchers
Nick Sogard: NA vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Ceddanne Rafaela: 0.000 OPS vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Wilyer Abreu: 3.500 OPS vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Willson Contreras: 0.000 OPS vs Webb | 0.000 OPS vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Adley Rutschman: .600 OPS vs Webb | 0.000 OPS vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Caleb Durbin: 1.100 OPS vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | 0.000 OPS vs Whisenhunt

Jarren Duran: 1.333 OPS vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Andruw Monasterio: 0.000 OPS vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | 3.000 OPS vs Whisenhunt

Mickey Gasper: NA vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Connor Wong: .667 OPS vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Anthony Seigler: 1.167 OPS vs Webb | 0.000 OPS vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Eli White: NA vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | 1.000 OPS vs Whisenhunt

Jahmai Jones: NA vs Webb | NA vs Tidwell | NA vs Whisenhunt

Only 6 players on the Giants have ever faced the Red Sox. Willy Adames has done the best. Sadly though, his numbers are really nothing to write home about. In 50 games, he has 7 homers and a .690 OPS. Rafael Devers has played in 3 games against his former team, all last season. He had 1 homer and a .648 OPS to show for it. Knizner has 1 homer in 6 games. Basabe, Lee and Koss have not had much success in a limited number of games. Eldridge, Bericoto, Gilbert, Cavanaugh, Kennedy, Cox & Turner will be facing them for the 1^st time in their careers.

Giants hitters numbers lifetime vs Bos
Rafael Devers: 3 Games | 1 HR | .648 OPS

Willy Adames: 50 Games | 7 HR | .690 OPS

Jung Hoo Lee: 5 Games | 0 HR | .100 OPS

Bryce Eldridge: NA | NA | NA

Victor Bericoto: NA | NA | NA

Osleivis Basabe: 2 Games | 0 HR | .286 OPS

Drew Gilbert: NA | NA | NA

Drew Cavanaugh: NA | NA |NA

Christian Koss: 1 Game | 0 HR | 0.000 OPS

Andrew Knizner: 6 Games | 1 HR | .611 OPS

Buddy Kennedy: NA | NA | NA

Jonah Cox: NA | NA | NA

Turner Hill: NA | NA | NA

The lifetime numbers at Fenway are very kind to Rafael Devers. Surprise, surprise. Dude is close to a Red Sox legend. In 519 games, he has 95 homers and an .884 OPS. All we ask is you get to 100 this weekend. Adames has played in 24 games at Fenway, where he has a .693 OPS. Knizner’s lone homer against the Sox did come at Fenway, where he has played 5 games with a .712 OPS. JHL has a .167 OPS in 3 games in Boston. They are the only 4 to have ever played in this historic park.

Giants hitters numbers lifetime at Bos
Rafael Devers: 519 Games | 95 HR | .884 OPS

Willy Adames: 24 Games | 2 HR | .693 OPS

Jung Hoo Lee: 3 Games | 0 HR | .167 OPS

Bryce Eldridge: NA | NA | NA

Victor Bericoto: NA | NA | NA

Osleivis Basabe: NA | NA | NA

Drew Gilbert: NA | NA | NA

Drew Cavanaugh: NA | NA | NA

Christian Koss: NA | NA | NA

Andrew Knizner: 5 Games | 1 HR | .712 OPS

Buddy Kennedy: NA | NA | NA

Jonah Cox: NA | NA | NA

Turner Hill: NA | NA |NA

No one on the Giants has faced Jake Bennett. We’ll get shut down. Devers, Adames, and Eldridge have had success against Sonny Gray. Devers has a .967 OPS. Eldridge has a 1.000 OPS. Adames has a 1.045 OPS against him. Devers and Basabe have had the most success against Sandoval. Devers has a 1.000 OPS to show for himself. Basabe has a 1.600 OPS.

Giants hitters numbers lifetime vs Bos projected pitchers
Rafael Devers: .967 OPS vs Gray | 1.000 OPS vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Willy Adames: 1.045 OPS vs Gray | 0.000 OPS vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Jung Hoo Lee: .600 OPS vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Bryce Eldridge: 1.000 OPS vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Victor Bericoto: NA vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Osleivis Basabe: NA vs Gray | 1.600 OPS vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Drew Gilbert: .200 OPS vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Drew Cavanaugh: NA vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Christian Koss: .333 OPS vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Andrew Knizner: .472 OPS vs Gray | 0.000 OPS vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Buddy Kennedy: NA vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Jonah Cox: NA vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

Turner Hill: NA vs Gray | NA vs Sandoval | NA vs Bennett

What Matters/Prediction

- Rafael Devers homecoming. Hopefully he remembers how Boston yanked him around with Bregman last year and punishes those baked bean eating fucks.
- Sonny Gray & Willson Contreras are having career years. If you can get to Gray and keep Contreras quiet, that will be huge for this series.
- If Webb can exorcise his Boston demons, that would be wonderful.
- Play clean baseball. Cut down on the errors. Don’t do stupid shit on the bases. Don’t strike out a dozen times. Be fun again.
- Adames had 3 hits on Wednesday in his 1^st game back. He hit a homer on Thursday. If he could get hot, that would be cool.

My prediction is the Giants get swept. That’s likely what I’m going to be saying the rest of the way. Sonny Gray is rolling. Patrick Sandoval is having a rough year, so he’s a good candidate to shut down the Giants. And the Giants have never seen Jake Bennett so he is a good candidate to shove too.

Giants Killer of the Series

This wasn’t quite as hard to choose as the Guardians series, but we are reaching a little. This is a very small sample size. But in that sample size, Ceddanne Rafaela has proven himself as a Giants killer. In those 6 games he is slashing .292/.292/.667. He is 7-24 lifetime against the Giants. That is more hits than games played. Of those 7 hits, 3 have been doubles and 2 have gone over the fence. That is good for a .958 OPS. That is good for a Giants Killer of the Series.

Go eat some lobster and take a damn series, Giants.

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers.

Follow me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF

This series, I truly had a lot in common with the Giants. Much like my jokes, the Giants managed to swing and miss at an absurd pace.

They struck out 40 fuckin’ times in 3 games. Absolutely incredible. I know Cleveland has a very good pitching staff but that’s just ridiculous. One of the worst lines I’ve ever seen actually came in a game they won. On Wednesday, the Giants managed to strike out 15 times while walking ZERO. Absolutely awful.

Game 1 was Carson Whisenhunt squaring off against Foster Griffin. Jo Adell absolutely took Carson Whisenhunt’s soul, as he had 6 RBIs against him. Whisenhunt allowed 7 runs, 6 earned, over 4 innings, while Griffin held the Giants to 1 run over 6 innings. The Giants’ lone run Tuesday was off a Bryce Eldridge homer, as the Giants lost 8-1.

In the 2^nd game, Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson made his major league debut against the team that drafted him. He served as an opener before Adrian Houser took over and gave the Giants 5 shutout innings before Dylan Smith shut the door with a 2-inning save. The Giants scored 1 run on a Victor Bericoto RBI single and that was enough for the win.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before… the Giants dropped the rubber match. Landen Roupp had a rough 1^st inning that was aided by a Willy Adames error that put the game out of reach for the Giants at a whopping 3-0. The Giants did score 2 on a Willy Adames homer, but it was not enough to overcome, as Cleveland won 5-2.

Game 1: Giants 1, Guardians 8.

Game 2: Giants 1, Guardians 0.

Game 3: Giants 2, Guardians 5.

Series Takeaways:
- 40 strikeouts in 3 games. I will beat this into the fuckin’ ground. 12 on Tuesday. 15 on Wednesday. 13 on Thursday. Garbage. 40 strikeouts, 8 walks.
- 12 strikeouts Tuesday.
- 15 strikeouts Wednesday.
- 13 strikeouts Thursday.
- Bryce Eldridge hit another homer. That was cool at least.
- The Giants’ defense is horrible. 5 errors in 3 games, and it really should have been 6.
- The Giants managed 4 runs in 3 games. It’s a big statement that they actually won a game. Cleveland must suck too.

Biggest Story:

40 strikeouts in 3 games. FORTY.

The Question Now Is:

How many times will they strike out vs Boston?

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers
Follow me on Twitter/X: @TackStackSF

There is nothing quite like morning baseball. Especially with the 2026 Giants. It’s like the schedule maker’s way of saying work sucks, so here is a trash ass team playing like fuckin’ 12 year olds to make it even worse.

What is truly incredible about today’s game is the way the official scorer managed to only charge the Giants with 2 errors. Adames had 2 by himself, then Basabe dropped the exchange to his throwing hand in a rundown that allowed the runner to be safe. Somehow Brubaker has to eat that earned run.

And then they strike out 13 more fuckin’ times. They go 0-3 with runners in scoring position, which is even more pathetic because that means they only had 3 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

And Larry Baer was on KNBR this morning offering a mea culpa of shitty beer at select locations ON A FUCKIN’ WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. Don’t worry, there will be an article fully dedicated to my favorite target.

Back to the point. This team is past the point of being bad. They are almost Big Bang Theory level of trash. Though I probably laugh more watching the Giants.

Just fuckin’ shoot me.

Takeaways
- I’ve said it on here before, but the Giants need to look to move Adames to the outfield in the offseason. His issues at shortstop will not change by moving him anywhere else on the infield. He can’t make the exchange from glove to hand, and he can’t field. I don’t know how you make it work with the roster you have, but infield has to be a thing of the past for him.
- Gavin Williams was good today. But 13 strikeouts by Williams and the bullpen? Just awful. Williams had 6 strikeouts in the 1^st 3 innings. He finished with 11 and the ‘pen added 2 more. Put the ball in play and see what happens. This has to be a focus in the offseason. We need a couple of contact bats.
- Osleivis Basabe has been solid since he’s been up. But I’m fairly certain watching a full 162 games of him would give me diarrhea. The glove is mid, the rundown exchange today was just pathetic, and ending the inning on a ground out on the 1^st fuckin’ pitch after Gaddis walked Eldridge and gave up a single to JHL is a joke. Take a goddamn pitch.
- Landen Roupp settled in after a rough 1^st inning, which Adames’ glove threw accelerant on that fire, but he has to get better at throwing strikes. He walked Kwan 3 times in 4 innings. That leadoff walk came around to score in the 1^st.

What Changed the Game

The 1^st inning put the Giants behind the 8-ball. As it turned out, they lost based off that inning alone. But let’s look at how it happened. A leadoff walk to Kwan. A Bazzana single that put runners at the corners. A bloop from Ramirez. A sac fly from Lowe. An error on a double play ball that led to no outs. Then a Bailey 1-out single to make it 3-0. Just trash.

Game Recap

Top 1^st: Gavin Williams drew the start for Cleveland. He faced Drew Gilbert and struck him out swinging to start the game. Rafael Devers worked a walk on 5 pitches. Willy Adames struck out looking for the 2^nd out. Bryce Eldridge grounded out to 1^st to retire the side. 0-0.

Bottom 1^st: Landen Roupp took the mound for the Giants. Steven Kwan led off for Cleveland and worked the lead-off walk. Travis Bazzana singled up the middle. Kwan read it perfectly and never slowed down. This set up runners at the corners for Jose Ramirez, who hit a bloop to center that scored Kwan, Bazzana to 3^rd. Nathaniel Lowe hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Bazzana. Genao hit a grounder to Adames, who had the ball bounce away. Both runners were safe on the fielding error. Angel Martinez fouled out to 3^rd. Patrick Bailey singled to center, scoring Ramirez. Petey Halpin struck out swinging to end the inning. 0-3.

Top 2^nd: Williams was looking for a shutdown inning. He struck out Jung Hoo Lee. Osleivis Basabe struck out swinging. Turner Hill lined out to right for the 3^rd out. 1-2-3 inning for Williams. 0-3.

Bottom 2^nd: Brayan Rocchio grounded out to 1^st to start the 2^nd. Kwan worked a 2^nd walk as the lineup flipped. Bazzana gave Roupp the double play ball he was searching for. Kwan was out at 2^nd. Adames somehow botched the exchange on the throw to 1^st, allowing Bazzana to reach. Ramirez popped out to 3^rd to end the inning. 0-3.

Top 3^rd: Drew Cavanaugh started the 3^rd with a fly out to center. Christian Koss struck out swinging. Gilbert struck out swinging. Another 1-2-3 inning. 0-3.

Bottom 3^rd: Lowe grounded out to 1^st to start the inning. Genao grounded out to 2^nd. Martinez flied out to left for the 3^rd out. Roupp’s 1^st 1-2-3 inning of the day. 0-3.

Top 4^th: Devers singled to left. Willy Adames then blasted a homer to right center through the wind to get the Giants on the board. Eldridge struck out swinging. JHL flied out to center. Basabe singled to center. Hill popped out to end the inning. 2-3.

Bottom 4^th: Bailey led off the 4^th with a single. Halpin popped out to Adames for the 2^nd out. Rocchio flied out to right. With Kwan up, Bailey stole 2^nd. Kwan ended up walking for the 3^rd time in 4 innings. Bazzana flied out to center. 2-3.

Top 5^th: Cavanaugh struck out swinging. Koss walked. Gilbert struck out looking. Devers walked to put runners at 1^st & 2^nd. But Adames struck out swinging on a ball that was not a strike, to end the inning. 2-3.

Bottom 5^th: Ramirez lined out to center to start the inning. Lowe grounded out to Eldridge for out number 2. Genao struck out swinging. 1-2-3 inning for Roupp. 2-3.

Top 6^th: Eldridge singled to center. JHL flied out to center. Basabe struck out swinging. Cleveland went to the bullpen, bringing in Tim Herrin. Victor Bericoto hit for Hill, flying out to center. 2-3.

Bottom 6^th: Bericoto stayed in to play left. Martinez reached on an infield single to Basabe. Bailey walked to move him to 2^nd. Halpin tried to get the sacrifice bunt down, but the Giants were able to get Martinez going to 3^rd. Tony Vitello came out to bring in Sam Hentges. With runners at 1^st & 2^nd, Rocchio flied out to center. Kwan singled to center, scoring Bailey. Jo Adell hit for Bazzana, but struck out looking. 2-4.

Top 7^th: Erik Sabrowski came on for Cleveland. Jonah Cox hit for Cavanaugh and struck out swinging. Koss popped up to 2^nd for the 2^nd out. Andrew Knizner hit for Gilbert and fouled out to 1^st. 1-2-3 inning for Cleveland. 2-4.

Bottom 7^th: Carson Seymour came on for the 7^th and struck out Ramirez and Lowe to start the inning. Genao singled to right. Martinez hit a grounder to Koss to end the inning. 2-4.

Top 8^th: Hunter Gaddis came on for the Guardians. Devers hit a fly out to right that the wind may have kept in the park. Adames grounded out to Ramirez for the 2^nd out. Eldridge walked. JHL singled to center. With runners at 1^st & 2^nd, Basabe grounded out to short on the 1^st pitch. 2-4.

Bottom 8^th: JT Brubaker entered the game. He struck out Bailey, looking. Halpin singled. He stole 2^nd on a play where the Giants actually picked him off. Halpin got into a rundown and Basabe straight up dropped the ball. Halpin took 3^rd on a wild pitch and he scored when Rocchio singled to right. Kwan hit a grounder to 2^nd, Rocchio was out on the fielder’s choice. Adell grounded out to short. Adames to Basabe for the force at 2^nd. 2-5.

Top 9^th: Cade Smith came on for the save. Bericoto lined out on the 1^st pitch to left. Cox struck out looking. Koss walked. Knizner walked. Down 0-2, Devers hit a fly ball to center that was caught to end the game. 2-5.

Final Score: Giants 2, Guardians 5.

Final Thoughts

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Peace – and fuck the (bitch-ass) Dodgers

Follow Me on Twitter/X & TikTok: @TackStackSF