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SF Giants Press Clips Thursday, June 1,...
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SF Giants Press Clips Thursday, June 1, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Giants dominated by Scherzer, swept by Nationals John Shea Willie Mays visited the Nationals’ clubhouse before Wednesday’s game, a guest of manager Dusty Baker, who introduced the legendary center fielder to several of his players. Everyone was eager to hang out with the Say Hey Kid, including Max Scherzer and Ryan Zimmerman, the two men most responsible for Wednesday night’s 3-1 victory over the Giants, who were swept by the Nationals for the first time at home since May 2003, when they were the Expos. Baker informed Mays that Scherzer doesn’t generally speak with anyone before his starts, but the pitcher made an exception, which was understandable considering the company. Mays suggested they share a hot dog and talk, which cracked up the room. Scherzer laughed and actually had a hot dog sent to Mays but couldn’t talk long. He had to prepare to face the Giants’ lineup, which he mostly dominated. He struck out 11, walked none and permitted five hits. “They’re kind of shy, like little kids, when they see a legend like Willie Mays,” said Baker, the Giants’ manager from 1993 through 2002. “I feel very fortunate to have been around him for quite a few years.” It was Scherzer’s 54th career double-digit strikeout game, most among active pitchers, and fifth this season. It was his seventh career complete game, first in 2017. He threw 100 pitches, the same number Jeff Samardzija needed in four innings Tuesday. Scherzer retired his first 10 batters and yielded a run in the fourth inning only because outfielders Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor permitted a lazy flyball to fall between them. It was Buster Posey’s, and it should have been the final out of the inning. Eduardo Nuñez, the first man to get a hit off Scherzer, scored from first base. Posey got the RBI, and he’ll take it. It was his 13th.
Transcript of SF Giants Press Clips Thursday, June 1,...
SF Giants Press Clips Thursday, June 1, 2017
San Francisco Chronicle Giants dominated by Scherzer, swept by Nationals John Shea Willie Mays visited the Nationals’ clubhouse before Wednesday’s game, a guest of manager Dusty Baker, who introduced the legendary center fielder to several of his players. Everyone was eager to hang out with the Say Hey Kid, including Max Scherzer and Ryan Zimmerman, the two men most responsible for Wednesday night’s 3-1 victory over the Giants, who were swept by the Nationals for the first time at home since May 2003, when they were the Expos. Baker informed Mays that Scherzer doesn’t generally speak with anyone before his starts, but the pitcher made an exception, which was understandable considering the company. Mays suggested they share a hot dog and talk, which cracked up the room. Scherzer laughed and actually had a hot dog sent to Mays but couldn’t talk long. He had to prepare to face the Giants’ lineup, which he mostly dominated. He struck out 11, walked none and permitted five hits. “They’re kind of shy, like little kids, when they see a legend like Willie Mays,” said Baker, the Giants’ manager from 1993 through 2002. “I feel very fortunate to have been around him for quite a few years.” It was Scherzer’s 54th career double-digit strikeout game, most among active pitchers, and fifth this season. It was his seventh career complete game, first in 2017. He threw 100 pitches, the same number Jeff Samardzija needed in four innings Tuesday. Scherzer retired his first 10 batters and yielded a run in the fourth inning only because outfielders Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor permitted a lazy flyball to fall between them. It was Buster Posey’s, and it should have been the final out of the inning. Eduardo Nuñez, the first man to get a hit off Scherzer, scored from first base. Posey got the RBI, and he’ll take it. It was his 13th.
“We got a break with that one run or else we probably would have gotten shut out,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s been throwing the ball really well. Still, we’ve got to get this offense going. “It’s not going to happen until we get our core guys getting their numbers where they’re supposed to be. We still believe that’s going to happen.” Zimmerman’s contribution was a three-run homer in the first inning, a huge blow for the Giants — who entered averaging 3.35 runs per game, fewest in the majors — especially with the reigning Cy Young Award winner on the mound. Joe Panik hit a one-out double in the fifth, Brandon Belt a two-out double in the sixth and Kelby Tomlinson a one-out single in the eighth. “We’ve got to pick this thing up offensively,” Belt said. “The pitchers have done a great job. ... The hitters we’ve got on this team, we can do it. We can do it starting next game.” The game opened in unusual fashion, with speedy Trea Turner hitting Matt Cain’s first pitch and reaching on a fielding error by Gold Glove shortstop Brandon Crawford. With Turner taking off for second and Crawford rushing to cover the bag, Daniel Murphy hit a grounder past Crawford. Zimmerman sent the next pitch, a curve, over the left-field wall. Cain lasted five innings and 94 pitches, surrendering eight hits. George Kontos pitched two innings, and Hunter Strickland pitched the eighth, his first appearance since getting suspended six games for his part in Monday’s brawl. “We’re all here to play ball,” he said. “I think all that’s behind us.” After the game, Strickland met in Bochy’s office with the manager and team executives. He told reporters he hadn’t heard the result of his appeal of the suspension and will be on Thursday’s flight to Philadelphia. Washington’s Bryce Harper, who had his suspension reduced from four to three games, began his suspension Wednesday. San Francisco Chronicle Giants wait on Hunter Strickland appeal; Bryce Harper suspension reduced John Shea Bryce Harper Week in the Bay Area was cut in half. The Nationals’ All-Star right fielder was in line to play six games here, but it’ll be three. On Wednesday, he missed the series finale at AT&T Park as he began his three-game suspension, which was reduced by a game earlier in the day. He’ll also sit out Friday and Saturday of the three-game interleague series in Oakland. That makes him available for the ensuing series against the Dodgers, who eliminated the Nationals from the playoffs last season.
“He didn’t want to miss the L.A. series,” Washington manager Dusty Baker said. “That’s why he took it here, realizing the importance of it because, hey man, they beat us last year in the playoffs, and the way they’re playing now, we’re going to need every hand on deck.” Harper initially was suspended four games for his role in Monday’s brawl. Giants reliever Hunter Strickland was suspended six games and is waiting for a resolution on his appeal. Because one case was resolved and the other wasn’t, the Nationals played a man short Wednesday while the Giants had a full roster. “We’re actually hurt more by this than they are, with Bryce being out,” Baker said. Harper struggles more at AT&T Park than at any other National League facility, hitting .169 in 59 at-bats. He was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts Tuesday. Rehab updates: Madison Bumgarner played catch in the outfield for the second straight day, extending his throws to 75 feet. Manager Bruce Bochy said a definitive target for the lefty’s return to the rotation might not be known for a month. Hunter Pence began his rehab assignment Wednesday night at Class A San Jose, playing five innings in the field and going 1-for-2 with a single and a walk. He was due to play seven innings Thursday. Bochy said the right fielder could be back after roughly 15 to 20 minor-league at-bats. Conor Gillaspie will resume his rehab assignment this weekend at San Jose. Michael Morse, who is on the seven-day concussion disabled list after his collision with Jeff Samardzija during Monday’s brawl, was “feeling pretty crummy, to be honest with you,” Bochy said. John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. On deck Thursday Off Friday at Phillies 4:05 p.m. NBCSBA Blach (3-2) vs. Eickhoff (0-5) Saturday at Phillies
1:05 p.m. NBCSBA Cueto (5-4) vs. TBA Leading off 100-0-4 club: Jeff Samardzija threw 100 pitches with zero walks in four innings Tuesday. The previous pitcher to do that was Detroit’s Rick Porcello on May 16, 2012, in an 11-7 loss to the Twins. San Jose Mercury News Bochy calls out ‘core guys’ for Giants offensive struggles Paul Gackle SAN FRANCISCO — Bruce Bochy tipped his cap to Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer for throwing an absolute gem against his Giants squad Wednesday night. But he didn’t sidestep the real problem: the Giants need more production from their core bats. As Scherzer (6-3) struck out 11 en route to a complete game and a 3-1 Nationals win, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Denard Span combined to go 2 for 15, producing one run on a fluke play where Jayson Werth lost a fly ball in the lights at AT&T Park. The anemic offensive performance against Scherzer summed up the Giants season through 55 games. “He’s done that to a lot of clubs,” the Giants manager said. “Still, we’ve got to get this offense going. It’s not going to happen until our core guys get their numbers where they’re supposed to be.” The Giants (22-33) entered Wednesday’s game ranked last in the majors in runs per game (3.35) and slugging percentage (.350) and second-to-last in batting average (.229) and on-base (.289). The Giants are struggling to get runners across the plate because several key players are producing below their career averages. Span isn’t setting the table like he did last year, batting .231 with a .273 on-base percentage. Crawford is hitting .260 and he struck three times Monday. Belt is still waiting to get hot, batting .237 with 22 RBIs, and although Posey is getting on base, he’s produced just 12 RBI in 43 games. Hunter Pence is on the disabled list with a .243 batting average. Belt agreed that the Giants need to get more from their core players like himself. “There’s no doubt,” he said. “We’ve got to pick this thing up offensively. For the past however long, the pitchers have gone out there and battled their butts off and done a great job for us. We just haven’t put up runs on the board. We’ve got to figure out some way to turn this around a little bit. With the hitters we’ve got on our team, I think that’s very possible. I think we can do it.”
Matt Cain (3-4) did battle his rear off Wednesday, but he ran into some tough luck in the first, thwarting his effort to build off his seven-inning, one-earned run performance against the Atlanta Braves on Friday. After the leadoff man Trea Turner reached base on a rare fielding error by Brandon Crawford, his third of the year, Daniel Murphy squeaked out an infield hit by catching the Giants shortstop out of position as he covered second base on a stolen base attempt. Ordinarily, Murphy’s grounder to short would have produced a routine 6-4-3 double play, but Crawford couldn’t field the ball cleanly because his momentum was carrying him in the opposite direction, allowing the Nationals to put runners on first and second. Zimmerman turned the series of unlikely events into a first inning nightmare by smacking Cain’s next pitch, a low curveball, into the left field stands. The home run, his 15th of the year, wound up being the exclamation point on a scorching hot series for Zimmerman, who collected five hits, five RBI and four runs in three games against the Giants. Cain eventually left the game after throwing 94 pitches through five innings, surrendering two earned runs on eight hits and a walk. “He had some tough luck the first inning. He should have come out better,” Bochy said. Zimmerman’s home run proved to be all the offense that Scherzer (6-3) would need as Bryce Harper’s absence from the lineup wound up being an afterthought. Harper served the first game of his three-game suspension for fighting Hunter Strickland Wednesday night. Scherzer retired the first 10 batters he faced before Eduardo Nunez scored the Giants lone run in the fourth. As stingy as Scherzer was, the Giants managed to put runners on second base in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but they failed to pick up the timely hit needed to dig into the Nationals lead. Scherzer also collected a hit and a walk at the plate as he record his fifth double digit strikeout game of the season. “It’s no secret he’s a tough pitcher,” Belt said. “He can throw a lot of different pitches for strikes and keep you off balance and bring it mid-90s plus when he needs to, so you add all that together, it’s tough to get the barrel on the ball.” Strickland pitched for the first time since he incited Monday’s bench-clearing brawl, walking one batter and striking out another in one inning of work. The hard throwing reliever, who’s still waiting to find out whether his six-game suspension will be reduced, wasn’t surprised that Monday’s fisticuffs didn’t spill over into Wednesday’s game. “We’re all here to play ball. All that’s behind us,” he said. “We’re out there, both teams competing, trying to win a game.”
San Jose Mercury News Giants outfielder will begin rehab assignment in San Jose Wednesday Paul Gackle SAN FRANCISCO — Outfielder Hunter Pence will start his minor league rehab assignment with the Class A San Jose Giants Wednesday night. Pence, who’s missed the Giants last 17 games with a strained left hamstring, is slated to play five innings for the San Jose Giants at San Jose Municipal Stadium Wednesday and another seven innings Thursday. “He’s probably going to want to come up then,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “But we’ll see how he’s doing. I’m thinking it could be 15, 20 at bats; could be more, could be a couple less. We’ll see how’s he moving around, how he’s swinging the bat.” The 34-year-old outfielder is batting .243 with three home runs and 16 RBI in 37 games this year. — As Pence prepared to return to the diamond in San Jose, left-handed starter Madison Bumgarner continued his rehabilitation program at China Basin. Bumgarner threw a baseball for a second-consecutive day, tossing “about” 45 pitches on flat ground in the outfield at AT&T Park. After throwing from 45 and 60 feet on Tuesday, Bumgarner moved out to toss some balls at 75 feet Wednesday, another positive development for the Giants ace who separated his left shoulder in a dirt bike accident in Colorado on April 20. “He said he felt a little better,” Bochy said. “He’s excited by the fact he’s throwing again.” The left-hander will take Thursday off from throwing and he’ll travel with the team on its road trip to Philadelphia and Milwaukee where he’ll continue his rehabilitation program. The Giants haven’t set a timetable for when Bumgarner will start pitching off a mound and they don’t have a target date for his return to game action. “We’ll see how the progress goes and make that determination probably in a month, I’m guessing,” Bochy said. — Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will start serving his suspension Wednesday night after Major League Baseball reduced it to three games earlier in the day. Harper had initially received a four-game suspension for the role he played in the bench-clearing brawl between the Giants and Nationals Monday, but it was reduced to three after he agreed to drop his appeal. Harper charged the mound and threw his helmet toward pitcher Hunter Strickland Monday after the Giants reliever hit him with a 98 mph fastball. Strickland, who received a six-game suspension for initiating the altercation, is still awaiting word from Major League Baseball on whether his suspension will also be reduced. The 28-year-old reliever is appealing the ruling. Unless the status of his suspension changes before game time, the hard throwing right-hander will be available out of the Giants bullpen Wednesday night.
Harper probably won’t mind missing Wednesday’s game at China Basin. His career .169 batting average at AT&T Park is the lowest of any National League ballpark he’s ever played in and he’s 0 for 8 in the series with four strikeouts. — Conor Gillaspie is on track to resume his rehabilitation from back spasms this weekend. The Giants had been expecting to activate Gillaspie from the 10-day disabled list during their current homestand, which concludes Wednesday. But the 29-year-old infielder experienced tightness in his back while swinging a bat last week, delaying his return to the lineup. Gillaspie has been sidelined for 19-consecutive games. “He’s starting to do baseball activities,” Bochy said. “I think he can resume his rehab this weekend. He’ll stay here while we go on the road.” MLB.com Cain and Co. drop duel with Scherzer Jamal Collier and Chris Haft SAN FRANCISCO -- Max Scherzer set his world squarely back on its axis Wednesday night, overpowering the San Francisco Giants for nine innings to lead the Washington Nationals to a 3-1 triumph that sealed a three-game sweep. Scherzer entered the game with a 2-4 record and a 5.52 ERA in six career starts against the Giants. The two-time Cy Young Award winner quickly rendered the Giants as helpless as most of his other opponents, retiring the first 10 batters he faced before finishing with an 11-strikeout, five-hitter in his first complete game of the season. "When he's going like that, he's one of the best in the game," said Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, whose three-run homer in the first inning gave Scherzer all the support he needed. Scherzer (6-3) threw his seventh career complete game and his first since May 11, 2016, against Detroit. Reflecting his superior command, he walked none and struck out 11 to record his 54th career double-digit strikeout effort -- the most among active pitchers. Scherzer ultimately threw exactly 100 pitches, the fewest he has thrown in a nine-inning complete game in his career. His previous low in a complete game was 105 pitches . "Because I was pounding the zone, I could tell they were wanting to come out and try to do damage on that first pitch," Scherzer said. "There was a lot of first-pitch contact tonight, and that's when you get those first-pitch outs that really save your pitch count and really makes you efficient." After Matt Cain (3-4) gave up Zimmerman's homer in the first, he blanked Washington through the rest of his five-inning stint. "Just a gutty effort by Matt," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Touched by greatness: Zimmerman shook hands with Willie Mays when the Giants legend visited the Washington clubhouse before the game. Maybe some of Mays' might rubbed off on him, though the Nats' first baseman proved more than capable of generating his own power as he rocketed Cain's first-pitch curveball over the left-field barrier. "I was actually looking for sort of a fastball somewhere out over the plate and just reacted, honestly," said Zimmerman, who matched his home run total from last season in just his 50th game. "Kind of just hung up there and was something I can hit a fly ball with to get my guy in from third, and I put a good swing on it." A little luck: The Giants likely would have been shut out if Washington left fielder Jayson Werth or center fielder Michael Taylor had been able to track Buster Posey's two-out popup in the fourth inning. The routine fly to left-center had a one percent hit probability, according to Statcast™, while Werth and Taylor had a catch probability of 99 and 98 percent, respectively. "If we hadn't lost that fly ball in the sky -- that's a tough sky out there at that time of night -- [Scherzer] would probably shut them out," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. QUOTABLE "When he starts smelling the end of the game, he's better than anyone." -- Nationals catcher Matt Wieters, on Scherzer WHAT'S NEXT Nationals: The Nats continue their week-long stay in the Bay-Area with an off-day Thursday before they begin a three-game series with the A's on Friday night in Oakland at 10:05 p.m. ET. Stephen Strasburg will make his first career start against the A's. Giants: San Francisco will observe a scheduled off-day Thursday before opening a three-game series against the Phillies on Friday at 4:05 p.m. PT. Left-hander Ty Blach, who has a 2.21 ERA as a starter with the exception of his three-inning, eight-run meltdown May 6 at Cincinnati, will start for the Giants. MLB.com Bochy challenges offense to step up Chris Haft SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy mentioned no names as he issued some pointed remarks about the club's underperforming offense, which again looked limp in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Bochy didn't have to single out anybody. San Francisco's slump has remained collective all season. The Giants had a valid explanation for their latest setback, which completed Washington's three-game sweep. They were overwhelmed by Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer, who pitched for the only team that might have been able to beat him. Scherzer hurled a complete-game five-hitter and probably would have had a shutout if the twilight hadn't obscured Buster Posey's two-out popup in the fourth inning, which fell for an RBI double between left fielder Jayson Werth and center fielder Michael Taylor.
But the Giants can't attribute their woes to remarkable pitching by their opponents every night. At some point, the hitters must take the initiative. "We've got to get this offense going," Bochy said. "It's not going to happen until our core group gets their numbers where they're supposed to be. We still believe that's going to happen, but the only way this offense will get going is when we get some guys to get where they normally are this time of year." For instance, Brandon Belt, who entered the year as a .272 career hitter, is batting .237. Joe Panik (.242 this season, .280 career through 2016) isn't quite himself. Brandon Crawford and Denard Span have subpar statistics across the board, by their standards. Hunter Pence is finishing a Minor League injury rehabilitation stint. Posey's batting .348 but has 13 RBIs. Told of Bochy's remarks, Belt said, "No doubt. We gotta pick this thing up offensively. The pitchers have busted their butts. We have to figure out a way to turn around this thing a little bit. With the hitters we have on our team, I think that's really possible." Any improvement would be sudden, because the Giants showed few signs of a resurgence through the season's first two months. They batted .230 in April while averaging 3.07 runs per game and totaling 16 home runs. In May, they hiked their home run total to 26 and marginally increased their scoring average to 3.24 runs per game. But they batted just .226. How long can Bochy's pleas go unanswered? MLB.com Bumgarner throws for second straight day Chris Haft SAN FRANCISCO -- Madison Bumgarner threw for the second day in a row Wednesday, a development that should be considered encouraging but not overly exciting. Recovering from an April 20 dirt-bike accident, Bumgarner increased the distance of his tosses from 45-60 feet to 75 feet, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Initially, Bumgarner wasn't expected to begin playing catch until Friday. " Once he starts ramping it up, he'll start skipping days," Bochy said of the four-time All-Star and 2014 postseason hero. However, Bochy cautioned against assuming that Bumgarner's far ahead of schedule in his timetable as he works toward returning to the mound. In fact, Bochy said, "There's not a definite target date anyway," though mid-July, following the All-Star break has been mentioned as a possible re-entry period for Bumgarner. "You can look at an area right now. We'll see how the progress goes," Bochy said, adding that a more specific date for Bumgarner's comeback might be determined in about a month. Bumgarner, 27, is recovering from shoulder and rib injuries during a scheduled off-day outside of Denver. Worth noting
• Right fielder Hunter Pence was scheduled to begin his Minor League injury rehabilitation assignment Wednesday night at Class A Advanced San Jose, which faces Lake Elsinore. Pence was expected to play for San Jose once more on Thursday against Lancaster. Bochy anticipated that Pence, who's overcoming a strained left hamstring, will need 15-20 plate appearances before the Giants consider activating him from the disabled list. • Giants right-hander Hunter Strickland said that he has heard nothing from Major League Baseball about his appeal of his punishment for throwing at Washington's Bryce Harper on Monday. Harper's suspension was reduced from four games to three on Wednesday. MLB.com Giants turn to steady Blach in opener Glenn Satell Jerad Eickhoff hopes to secure his first win of the 2017 season and thus invigorate a Phillies team that struggled throughout May. Eickhoff (0-5) intends to give the Phils a fresh start when they open a three-game series against the Giants on Friday at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils have lost 10 consecutive series, and Eickhoff will be making his 11th start of the season in an effort to reverse the trend. He turned in quality starts in each of his first three outings of the season, but he has added only one to that total since, a May 16 outing at Texas in which he threw six innings and yielded two earned runs. In six of his starts this season, Eickhoff has allowed three runs or fewer. The Giants have had struggles of their own, having just been swept at home by the Nationals. They'll try to get back in the win column behind left-hander Ty Blach. Blach has won his last three starts after switching to the rotation and losing his first two decisions. He also has turned in four consecutive quality starts, compiling a 2.51 ERA in that span. Things to know about this game • When Blach has thrown a pitch to the inner third of the strike zone against a left-handed batter this season, those lefties have gone just 2-for-15 with no extra-base hits and a 74.9-mph average exit velocity, according to Statcast. Of those 15 pitches, 13 have been two-seam fastballs. • Eickhoff is making his first appearance against the Giants and has faced just one player on their roster: Aaron Hill, who's 1-for-5 against him. • The last time the Phillies lost 10 consecutive series was 1997. They haven't won a series this season since sweeping a two-game set with the Marlins, April 26-27. NBC Sports Bay Area Giants Get Dominated By Scherzer, Swept By Nationals Alex Pavlovic SAN FRANCISCO — About 10 minutes after Max Scherzer’s 100th pitch Wednesday, Bruce Bochy was asked if there were any positives to take from three games with the Nationals. “Well …” he said, smiling slightly. “I mean, we’ll have to search.”
Ok, let’s search. … … … … … I mean, it could have been worse. Let’s go with that. Matt Cain left runners in scoring position in his final four frames and George Kontos did it in the seventh. The Nationals left 20 runners on base the past two days, many of them on second and third. So yes, this could have been much worse than it was. That's a positive. The third game of the sweep was a 3-1 win for the Nationals, who outscored the Giants 12-4 in three games. Bochy called Cain’s effort gutsy, and it was. He also once again called for more from his hitters. “Tonight it’s three runs (for the Nationals),” he said. “You’ve got to score three to four runs on a consistent basis to win in the big leagues, and we’re having a hard time doing that.” The problems are found up and down the lineup. Bochy noted that this won’t get any better until several players start reaching their potential, and it’s not hard to see who he is talking about. The bench has been awful, but the Giants have gotten much less than they expected from their infielders up the middle and veteran outfielders. The margin for error is razor thin every night, and against Scherzer, this one was just about over when Ryan Zimmerman took Cain deep in the first. “Zimmerman has been swinging the bat really well the first two months,” Cain said. “It’s a little unfortunate to make an ok pitch to him, but with the way he’s swinging it’s one he’s not going to miss much. That’s sometimes the difference, especially against a guy like Scherzer. I’m just trying to keep it close and see if we could scratch some runs across.” They could not. Scherzer gave up one run when Jayson Werth misplayed a two-out fly ball to left. Other than that, he was dominant. He struck out 11. “We got a break with the RBI double or we probably would have gotten shut out, to be honest,” Bochy said. NBC Sports Bay Area INSTANT ANALYSIS: FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM GIANTS' 3-1 LOSS TO NATIONALS Alex Pavlovic SAN FRANCISCO — As expected, trying to avoid a sweep with Max Scherzer on the other side proved to be a bad idea.
Scherzer struck out 11 and went the distance on just 100 pitches, leading the Nationals to a 3-1 win at a very quiet AT&T Park. The Giants lost seven of nine to close out the month, finishing with a 13-16 record in May. They are 11 games under .500. Here are five things to know from the night we all wondered if Solomon Thomas can play left field … --- The Giants see plenty of Clayton Kershaw, but very little of Scherzer. They’re equally capable of taking control of a game. If it weren’t for a Jayson Werth blunder in left, he would have thrown a Maddux. The double-digit strikeout game was the 54th of his career, the most among active pitchers. --- Jeff Samardzija would be proud of Matt Cain’s escapability. A night after Samardzija stranded plenty, Cain gave up just two earned in five innings despite nine Nationals reaching base. After a three-run homer in the first, he left runners in scoring position in his final four innings of work. --- Brandon Crawford was charged with an error on Trea Turner’s first-inning grounder, but he had some fun when Turner — the second-fastest player in the NL — hit one up the middle in the seventh. Crawford tried to throw Turner out as he rolled over onto his back. The throw didn’t go very far, but the crowd enjoyed it, and on this night there wasn’t much for the crowd to cheer. --- Bruce Bochy said he had no hesitation about using Hunter Strickland, who is still waiting for MLB to rule on his appeal. Strickland pitched the eighth and walked one in a scoreless inning. It was likely his last appearance for about a week; the Giants expect Strickland’s punishment to be finalized before this weekend. --- Down in San Jose, Hunter Pence had a single and walk in five innings of his first rehab game. Pence (hamstring) is scheduled to get 15-20 minor league at-bats, but Bochy knows the “I’M READY” text will come far sooner than that. NBC Sports Bay Area DOWN ON THE FARM: GIANTS TOP PROSPECT BEEDE SEES BASEBALL'S BIGGER PICTURE Dalton Johnson The dream came true for Tyler Beede on June 6, 2011. With the No. 21 pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, the Toronto Blue Jays selected the 6-foot-4 right-hander out of Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA. At 19 years old, he was slotted to sign for $1,332,000. For most teenagers, the decision would be made. Sign the contract. But Tyler still had options to weigh, and big ones. Beede was signed to play his college ball at baseball powerhouse, Vanderbilt University. If he pitched the way he and others expected, a College World Series was in his future and he could solidify himself as perhaps the top pick in the 2014 draft. What Tyler didn’t know was how big of a decision this was besides just baseball. After nearly two months of speaking with his parents, people around professional baseball and his college coach Tim Corbin, Beede opted to play for the Commodores. “Ultimately, I just stuck with my gut and I really trusted the opportunity I had with Vanderbilt and that value with the education and opportunity it presented and just fully confident going there was the best
decision,” Beede said to NBCSportsBayArea.com. “Now obviously looking back, it was the best decision I could have made at the time.” Two of the Giants’ top picks in the last three drafts have come from Vanderbilt — Beede and outfielder Bryan Reynolds in 2016. Every year they are in contention for a ring and have churned out draft talent like John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats do for the NBA. And with their legendary coach Corbin, it all starts with the mind. “When you go there as a player, you think ‘How can I get better here on the field?’ The guys that go there are very talented on the field and they’re probably the best players coming out of their high school and they’ll come in and compete, but what Corbin values so much is developing character traits to these guys — making sure they’re good leaders, making sure they’re prepared for life after baseball, life off the field so they can be good husbands one day, good dads and just making sure guys are prepared for pro ball,” Beede explains. “I think being able to develop those character traits allows you to have success at the next level and really take what the game’s bringing you whether it be adversity, failures and successes and really be able to handle them maturely and help the team win on the field, in the dugout and off the field as well.” When Beede arrived at Vanderbilt, he admittedly felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was a first-round pick who turned down over $1 million, it was up to him to lead the charge right away as a freshman and be perfect on the hill. In his head, he created unattainable goals and the pressure mounted. As a freshman, Beede pitched in 16 games, starting 11, and went 1-5 with a 4.52 ERA. “Obviously after I got drafted and went there, the expectations were externally and internally huge and the worst thing I did was put more pressure on myself to live up to any bit of expectations that people were putting on me,” Beede said. “Having access to Twitter, I think every human is susceptible to hearing what people say about you negatively and you kind of let it sink in, so for me I always wanted to please others and wanted to do well, mostly for other people, and then when I wasn’t doing well it just kind of affected the way I went about the game, the way I went about treating people because it was my life.” Let that last part sink in: it was my life. There’s something about athletes where from a young age, an identity is born. You’re an athlete, you’re a baseball player, you’re nothing more. Beede knew he was more, much more. But like so many other big-name athletes, all everyone else saw him as was a big guy who can throw a baseball 97 miles per hour. “For me it was always trying to shake that identity of that’s not just who I am. I’m much more than just a baseball player,” Beede says. “It took until really my first year of pro ball to identify myself as, I play the game of baseball and it’s something I love to do but it’s not everything that I am, it’s not everything that I’m about, so it allowed me to take some of the pressure off in terms of succeeding and more so when I go out there I compete but I compete for a different reason. “I still love the game and I want to win, but if I have a bad outing it’s not going to determine whether I’m happy off the field and have that joy when I go see my fiancé or if my family’s in town and I see them.”
None of this would have happened if Beede’s Vanderbilt career was only smooth sailing. He bounced back his sophomore year with a dominant showing, going 14-1 with a 2.32 ERA, setting himself up for the plan to work out and be a top pick in the next year’s draft. But then in his junior year, he took a step back statistically. Beede went 8-8 his final year at Vanderbilt with a 4.05 ERA. “Honestly, the biggest takeaway for me was going through the adversity that I went through, the failure, the ups and downs and really trying to handle that part of the game,” Beede said. “It was huge when I went into pro ball because you’re obviously learning that in college and being under the spotlight it helps you when you get to this level to just handle things at a quicker rate in terms of, ‘Hey let’s move on from that bad start and let’s continue to work.’ “College really allowed me to see the game from a different perspective and really grasp how much I really appreciate playing the game each day.” Beede has recently taken up to writing on a blog he calls, “Finding Center.” There is a large theme to his writing has been reflecting on his failures and how that has set himself up for success. He even shared getting to a rough patch in college where his love for baseball was dwindling while fighting to be perfect. “I really value vulnerability and transparency. Being on an athletic perspective and being on this side of things with baseball I think people, even fellow athletes and my peers, need to hear someone who has been through it,” Beede said. “Anybody who hasn’t gone through any failure needs to read something like that because it’s bound to happen to everybody. “You’re going to go through ups and downs and if somebody, like me for example, has gone through it once and can tell a story about going through it and persevering and finding the joy for the game again, I think it can help some people out.” The ability to outwardly express himself is even more personal and rewarding for Beede. After years of holding everything in and not wanting to show a side to him that can be seen as a weakness, he now types it out for others to learn from as well or even melodizes his message through his music. “I think through college my downfall was really trying to internalize everything and figure things out on my own and thinking I got to this level by myself so I’m going to get through these hurdles and these failures when in reality I needed so many more people to get me through that. “For me, being able to put it down on paper, type it out into a blog post or whatever, it helps me get things off my chest and it also helps other people understand it’s not an easy process and what they’re going through is completely normal and it happens to everybody and no matter what, things are going to get better. This game will always find a way to love you back at the end of the day,” Beede said. Three years after going No. 21 to the Blue Jays, Beede’s plan paid off. The Giants took him with the No. 14 pick in the 2014 draft. Beede signed for $2,613,200. Even as he climbs up the ranks and is on the doorstep of the bigs, Beede looks back at what truly took him to this point. “This is a journey, it’s a process and it doesn’t happen over night. I think being able to take these years in my life and just learn through these ups and downs and to be able to grow and just move forward and be determined to make it to that next step is going to make it even more gratifying.”
The talent has always been there for the Giants’ top prospect. It took him growing in his baseball classroom on and off the field at a prestigious university, where he also just happened to meet his fiancé during the College World Series on Twitter, to perhaps be the next homegrown star at AT&T Park. Numbers don’t lie, but for Tyler Beede, the game is so much more. Santa Rosa Press Democrat Max Scherzer leads Nationals to sweep of Giants Michael Wagaman SAN FRANCISCO — Max Scherzer struck out 11 in a five-hitter and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. Ryan Zimmerman hit his 15th homer, a three-run shot off Matt Cain (3-4) in the first inning that stood up as Scherzer (6-3) went the distance for the first time this season. Related Stories Giants fall to Nationals 6-3; Harper, Strickland suspended Strickland, Harper brawl after 98 mph fastball drills Nationals star Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner added two hits apiece to help Dusty Baker move within one win of becoming the 16th major league manager to reach 1,800 career victories. The game was a rematch of Game 4 in the 2012 World Series when Scherzer was with Detroit. Neither he nor Cain figured in the decision that time, but it was a different story Wednesday. Scherzer retired 10 in a row to begin the game. He allowed more than one runner in an inning only once and didn’t walk a batter for the second time this season on the way to his seventh career complete game. Cain lost his third in a row. The right-hander, who pitched 10 scoreless innings over two starts against the Nationals in 2016, allowed a pair of earned runs on eight hits in five innings. Turner reached on shortstop Brandon Crawford’s fielding error and advanced to third on a hit-and-run single by Daniel Murphy. Zimmerman followed with his second home run in three games. Eduardo Nunez rolled a grounder just past a diving Turner at shortstop in the fourth for San Francisco’s first hit. One batter later, Buster Posey lofted a fly to left-center but Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor appeared to miscommunicate, allowing the ball to drop in for a double as Nunez scored. TRAINER’S ROOM Giants: OF Hunter Pence went 1 for 2 with a walk in the first game of his rehab assignment with Class A San Jose. Pence played five innings and is scheduled for seven Thursday. ... LHP Madison Bumgarner
played catch for a second consecutive day, this time from 75 feet, and the reports were good, according to manager Bruce Bochy. Sacramento Bee Scherzer Ks 11 in 5-hitter as Nationals sweep Giants, 3-1 Michael Wagaman SAN FRANCISCO With his closer unavailable after pitching in four of the past five games, Washington manager Dusty Baker had an easy decision in letting Max Scherzer go the distance for the first time this season. The way the 2016 NL Cy Young Award winner was pitching, he didn't need help anyway. Scherzer struck out 11 in a five-hitter and the Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. "When you've got an ace like that, who in the bullpen throws better than the guy that you have out there? That's how you have to think about it," Baker said. "In some case you do but in most cases, when Max is on, don't. Who out there can deal the way he was dealing? Boy, that was masterful." Ryan Zimmerman hit his 15th homer, a three-run shot off Matt Cain (3-4) in the first inning that stood up. Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner added two hits apiece to help Baker move within one win of becoming the 16th major league manager to reach 1,800 career victories. Washington played without slugger Bryce Harper, who began serving a three-game suspension for his role in Monday's bench-clearing brawl between the teams. Harper initially was suspended four games but had the penalty reduced and agreed to drop his appeal. The game was a rematch of Game 4 in the 2012 World Series when Scherzer was with Detroit. Neither he nor Cain figured in the decision that time, but it was a different story Wednesday. Scherzer (6-3) retired 10 straight to begin the game. He allowed more than one runner in an inning only once and didn't walk a batter for the second time this season on the way to his seventh career complete game. Just as critical, Scherzer retired the leadoff batter in every inning, which put him in control all night. "Any time you get that leadoff man out, it's huge," Scherzer said. "When you get early contact, when you get early outs, then you can grind out some ABs and really try and make your stuff nasty. "Because I was pounding the zone, I could tell that they were wanting to come out and try to do damage on that first pitch," he added. "After the seventh, I knew my pitch count was low. I got some early outs in the eighth and I was fresh and ready to go for the ninth." Cain lost his third straight. The right-hander, who pitched 10 scoreless innings over two starts against the Nationals in 2016, allowed a pair of earned runs on eight hits in five innings.
Turner reached on shortstop Brandon Crawford's fielding error and advanced to third on a hit-and-run single by Daniel Murphy. Zimmerman followed with his second home run in three games. Eduardo Nunez rolled a grounder just past a diving Turner at shortstop in the fourth for San Francisco's first hit. One batter later, Buster Posey lofted a fly to left-center but Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor appeared to miscommunicate, allowing the ball to drop in for a double as Nunez scored. "We got a break with one run or we'd probably get shut out, to be honest," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "(Scherzer's) done that to a lot of clubs. Still, we've got to get this offense going." SAY HEY MANIA The Nationals got a pregame visit from Hall of Famer and Giants great Willie Mays, and for many it was their first glimpse of the Say Hey Kid. Mays was in Washington's clubhouse autographing baseballs and took time to shake hands and chat with players like Scherzer, Werth, Zimmerman and Wilmer Difo. Mays repeatedly drew big laughs from the group assembled around him, including Baker and his son Darren, and at one point told Werth he couldn't understand why today's players use such small bats. "You can't hit anything with those," Mays said, drawing another round of laughs. TRAINER'S ROOM Giants: OF Hunter Pence went 1 for 2 with a walk in the first game of his rehab assignment with Class A San Jose. Pence played five innings and is scheduled for seven on Thursday. ... LHP Madison Bumgarner played catch for a second straight day, this time from 75 feet, and the reports were good, according to Bochy. UP NEXT Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (6-1, 2.94 ERA) will make his first career start against the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series at Oakland on Friday. Giants: LHP Ty Blach (3-2, 3.83) goes for his fourth consecutive win Friday in Philadelphia. It will be Blach's first career appearance against the Phillies. San Francisco Examiner Cain recovers from ugly start but Giants can’t avoid sweep Karl Buscheck AT&T Park — Matt Cain’s Wednesday night began in ominous fashion when his Gold Glove shortstop, Brandon Crawford, committed a rare error on the first batter of the game. Two at bats later, Ryan Zimmerman provided all the offense that Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals would need, booming his 15th homer into the left-field bleachers. On a night Scherzer delivered his fifth double-digit strikeout performance — ringing up 11 San Francisco Giants — the home team managed only single run.
The lone run came in the bottom of the fourth when Buster Posey skied a fly ball into left-center field that dropped between Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor after neither Nats’ outfielder took charge of the situation. “We got a break with the one run — with the RBI double by Buster — or we probably get shut out, to be honest,” manager Bruce Bochy said after the 3-1 loss. The one-run showing on getaway night means the Giants mustered just four runs in the series. Subsequently, Bochy wasn’t ready to simply tip his cap to the Nats No. 1. “He’s done that to a lot of clubs,” Bochy conceded. “He was throwing the ball very well coming into tonight’s game, but still, we’ve got to get this offense going and it’s not going to happen until we get our core guys *to+ get their numbers up where they’re supposed to be.” After Cain’s wobbly first frame, the right-hander didn’t allow any further damage in his five innings of work while scattering eight hits. “Just a gutty effort by Matt,” Bochy said. “He did a great job of keeping things under control. He didn’t let the game get away. He had a lot of men on base.” “He settled down, and like I said, he was in a few jams there, but really made some great pitches when he had to,” Bochy said. “So, he gave us a chance. That’s all you can ask.” Pence begins minor league rehab Hunter Pence, who has been on the 10-day disabled list since May 13 with a left hamstring strain, began his minor league rehab assignment with the High-A San Jose Giants on Wednesday night. The right-fielder went 1-for-2 with a walk in five innings in and will play seven on Thursday before being re-evaluated. ESPN Scherzer Ks 11 in 5-hitter as Nationals sweep Giants, 3-1 Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO -- With his closer unavailable after pitching in four of the past five games, Washington manager Dusty Baker had an easy decision in letting Max Scherzer go the distance for the first time this season. The way the 2016 NL Cy Young Award winner was pitching, he didn't need help anyway. Scherzer struck out 11 in a five-hitter and the Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. "When you've got an ace like that, who in the bullpen throws better than the guy that you have out there? That's how you have to think about it," Baker said. "In some case you do but in most cases, when Max is on, don't. Who out there can deal the way he was dealing? Boy, that was masterful."
Ryan Zimmerman hit his 15th homer, a three-run shot off Matt Cain (3-4) in the first inning that stood up. Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner added two hits apiece to help Baker move within one win of becoming the 16th major league manager to reach 1,800 career victories. Washington played without slugger Bryce Harper, who began serving a three-game suspension for his role in Monday's bench-clearing brawl between the teams. Harper initially was suspended four games but had the penalty reduced and agreed to drop his appeal. The game was a rematch of Game 4 in the 2012 World Series when Scherzer was with Detroit. Neither he nor Cain figured in the decision that time, but it was a different story Wednesday. Scherzer (6-3) retired 10 straight to begin the game. He allowed more than one runner in an inning only once and didn't walk a batter for the second time this season on the way to his seventh career complete game. Just as critical, Scherzer retired the leadoff batter in every inning, which put him in control all night. "Any time you get that leadoff man out, it's huge," Scherzer said. "When you get early contact, when you get early outs, then you can grind out some ABs and really try and make your stuff nasty. "Because I was pounding the zone, I could tell that they were wanting to come out and try to do damage on that first pitch," he added. "After the seventh, I knew my pitch count was low. I got some early outs in the eighth and I was fresh and ready to go for the ninth." Cain lost his third straight. The right-hander, who pitched 10 scoreless innings over two starts against the Nationals in 2016, allowed a pair of earned runs on eight hits in five innings. Turner reached on shortstop Brandon Crawford's fielding error and advanced to third on a hit-and-run single by Daniel Murphy. Zimmerman followed with his second home run in three games. Eduardo Nunez rolled a grounder just past a diving Turner at shortstop in the fourth for San Francisco's first hit. One batter later, Buster Posey lofted a fly to left-center but Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor appeared to miscommunicate, allowing the ball to drop in for a double as Nunez scored. "We got a break with one run or we'd probably get shut out, to be honest," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "(Scherzer's) done that to a lot of clubs. Still, we've got to get this offense going." SAY HEY MANIA The Nationals got a pregame visit from Hall of Famer and Giants great Willie Mays, and for many it was their first glimpse of the Say Hey Kid. Mays was in Washington's clubhouse autographing baseballs and took time to shake hands and chat with players like Scherzer, Werth, Zimmerman and Wilmer Difo. Mays repeatedly drew big laughs from the group assembled around him, including Baker and his son Darren, and at one point told Werth he couldn't understand why today's players use such small bats. "You can't hit anything with those," Mays said, drawing another round of laughs.
TRAINER'S ROOM Giants: OF Hunter Pence went 1 for 2 with a walk in the first game of his rehab assignment with Class A San Jose. Pence played five innings and is scheduled for seven on Thursday. ... LHP Madison Bumgarner played catch for a second straight day, this time from 75 feet, and the reports were good, according to Bochy. UP NEXT Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (6-1, 2.94 ERA) will make his first career start against the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series at Oakland on Friday. Giants: LHP Ty Blach (3-2, 3.83) goes for his fourth consecutive win Friday in Philadelphia. It will be Blach's first career appearance against the Phillies. USA Today Scherzer Ks 11 in 5-hitter as Nationals sweep Giants, 3-1 Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With his closer unavailable after pitching in four of the past five games, Washington manager Dusty Baker had an easy decision in letting Max Scherzer go the distance for the first time this season. The way the 2016 NL Cy Young Award winner was pitching, he didn't need help anyway. Scherzer struck out 11 in a five-hitter and the Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. "When you've got an ace like that, who in the bullpen throws better than the guy that you have out there? That's how you have to think about it," Baker said. "In some case you do but in most cases, when Max is on, don't. Who out there can deal the way he was dealing? Boy, that was masterful." Ryan Zimmerman hit his 15th homer, a three-run shot off Matt Cain (3-4) in the first inning that stood up. Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner added two hits apiece to help Baker move within one win of becoming the 16th major league manager to reach 1,800 career victories. Washington played without slugger Bryce Harper, who began serving a three-game suspension for his role in Monday's bench-clearing brawl between the teams. Harper initially was suspended four games but had the penalty reduced and agreed to drop his appeal. The game was a rematch of Game 4 in the 2012 World Series when Scherzer was with Detroit. Neither he nor Cain figured in the decision that time, but it was a different story Wednesday.
Scherzer (6-3) retired 10 straight to begin the game. He allowed more than one runner in an inning only once and didn't walk a batter for the second time this season on the way to his seventh career complete game. Just as critical, Scherzer retired the leadoff batter in every inning, which put him in control all night. "Any time you get that leadoff man out, it's huge," Scherzer said. "When you get early contact, when you get early outs, then you can grind out some ABs and really try and make your stuff nasty. "Because I was pounding the zone, I could tell that they were wanting to come out and try to do damage on that first pitch," he added. "After the seventh, I knew my pitch count was low. I got some early outs in the eighth and I was fresh and ready to go for the ninth." Cain lost his third straight. The right-hander, who pitched 10 scoreless innings over two starts against the Nationals in 2016, allowed a pair of earned runs on eight hits in five innings. Turner reached on shortstop Brandon Crawford's fielding error and advanced to third on a hit-and-run single by Daniel Murphy. Zimmerman followed with his second home run in three games. Eduardo Nunez rolled a grounder just past a diving Turner at shortstop in the fourth for San Francisco's first hit. One batter later, Buster Posey lofted a fly to left-center but Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor appeared to miscommunicate, allowing the ball to drop in for a double as Nunez scored. "We got a break with one run or we'd probably get shut out, to be honest," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "(Scherzer's) done that to a lot of clubs. Still, we've got to get this offense going." SAY HEY MANIA The Nationals got a pregame visit from Hall of Famer and Giants great Willie Mays, and for many it was their first glimpse of the Say Hey Kid. Mays was in Washington's clubhouse autographing baseballs and took time to shake hands and chat with players like Scherzer, Werth, Zimmerman and Wilmer Difo. Mays repeatedly drew big laughs from the group assembled around him, including Baker and his son Darren, and at one point told Werth he couldn't understand why today's players use such small bats. "You can't hit anything with those," Mays said, drawing another round of laughs. TRAINER'S ROOM Giants: OF Hunter Pence went 1 for 2 with a walk in the first game of his rehab assignment with Class A San Jose. Pence played five innings and is scheduled for seven on Thursday. ... LHP Madison Bumgarner played catch for a second straight day, this time from 75 feet, and the reports were good, according to Bochy. UP NEXT Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (6-1, 2.94 ERA) will make his first career start against the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series at Oakland on Friday.
Giants: LHP Ty Blach (3-2, 3.83) goes for his fourth consecutive win Friday in Philadelphia. It will be Blach's first career appearance against the Phillies. Washington Post Max Scherzer, Ryan Zimmerman lead Nationals to sweep of Giants Chelsea Janes SAN FRANCISCO — As Buster Posey held his bat out, hoping he had not offered at a low slider, Max Scherzer whipped his head toward first base, eyes wide, as if waiting for a verdict that would determine far more than the outcome of the last baseball game his Washington Nationals would play in May. When the verdict came — strike three — Scherzer slapped his glove and yelled into the chilly San Francisco night, having turned another average evening into stunning spectacle. That pitch to Posey, Scherzer’s 100th of the evening, clinched a 3-1 win and a series sweep for the Nationals, and the first complete game of the season for the reigning Cy Young Award winner. It ended another night in which Scherzer pitched the game out of the realm of the routine, injecting it with life by the sheer power of his will. Something comes over him on nights like these, when he has that special stuff, when nine innings feel like a reasonable day’s work, when every hit feels like an affront. Passion consumes him, as much in May as in October, adding purpose to his prowl and quiet rage to the routine. “The way he can feel it, the way he can close out a game, that’s the key,” Nationals Manager Dusty Baker said. “He was almost disappointed when they got that first hit.” That first hit came in the fourth, a groundball up the middle by Eduardo Nunez, and was followed by four more. One of them, the one that scored the Giants only run, was a routine flyball Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor lost in the sky. Another was a groundball up the first base line that stayed just fair. Another was an infield single. Another tipped off right fielder Brian Goodwin’s glove. Goodwin started in place of Bryce Harper, whose three-game suspension for fighting began Wednesday night. In other words, the Giants were unable to make consistent hard contact against Scherzer, and really never threatened. They swung early out of necessity, something Scherzer and his catcher Matt Wieters used to their advantage, inducing early contact and therefore sparking efficiency. Scherzer normally targets 15 pitches per inning as an ideal pace, but through the first seven innings, he was averaging 12. After Nunez got that first hit, the Giants got their first run before Scherzer struck out Brandon Crawford to end the inning and stomped off the mound, seemingly incensed by unnecessary imperfection. “I’m always pissed when I give up a hit,” said Scherzer. If he had been thinking about a no-hitter, he refocused on the complete game, and began stalking it like prey through the later innings. He needed just five pitches thanks to a double play ball in the eighth and began the ninth inning at 89 pitches, threatening to complete what those in the baseball world refer to as “a Maddux” — a complete
game thrown in fewer than 100 pitches, named after Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux’s Hall of Fame brother Greg. “Because I was pounding the zone, I could tell that they were coming out wanting to do damage on that first pitch,” Scherzer said. “There was a lot of first-pitch contact tonight.” Baker summed up the Giants’ predicament like this: When Scherzer is throwing strikes as often as he did Wednesday — 79 of those 100 pitches were strikes — taking any pitch is a risk. When his stuff is as dominant as it was Wednesday night, any pitch swung at is likely missed or hit poorly. Falling behind can be devastating to hitters. Swinging early does not help much. Even as he got early contact, Scherzer could hardly help but strike out 11, something he has now done in four of his last six starts. Wednesday was his 54th career game with more than 10 strikeouts, most among active pitchers. As he painted another masterpiece in San Francisco, the calendar turned from May to June in D.C., signaling the end of the season’s first two months. Some things about these Nationals changed dramatically in that time, notably their closer, their center fielder, and the questions surrounding their first baseman. Two months ago, the most pertinent question about Ryan Zimmerman was whether he would ever be the same, whether the pillar around which these Nationals were built had fallen for good before his time. Now, the most reasonable question is whether Zimmerman is better than ever. By the time Zimmerman drove the first pitch he saw Wednesday night out to left, a three-run home run that gave the Nationals a first-inning lead, he had hit as many home runs this season as he did all of last year — 15. His OPS was nearly double what it was in 115 games last year, and he had amassed 44 RBI in two months. Last year, it took him six months to drive home 46. The three he drove in Wednesday were all Scherzer needed, because in those first two months of the season, some things have not changed. Scherzer began this season the way he ended last year — with domination. Wednesday’s was particularly well-timed, given that closer Koda Glover was unavailable after pitching on four of five days. A brawl and its aftermath hovered over this series like fog off the bay, shifting the focus from what happened on the field. But Scherzer lifted that fog Wednesday night, seizing the spotlight and pointing it toward his division-leading Nationals. They are 33-19, and 3-0 on a three-city road trip already colored by some ugliness. Wednesday, Scherzer repainted somewhat, with the most efficient nine-inning performance of his career. SF Gate Giants wait on Hunter Strickland appeal; Bryce Harper suspension reduced John Shea Major League Baseball handed down suspensions to Bryce Harper and Hunter Strickland for their roles in Monday's brawl.
Bryce Harper Week in the Bay Area was cut in half. The Nationals’ All-Star right fielder was in line to play six games here, but it’ll be three. On Wednesday, he missed the series finale at AT&T Park as he began his three-game suspension, which was reduced by a game earlier in the day. He’ll also sit out Friday and Saturday of the three-game interleague series in Oakland. That makes him available for the ensuing series against the Dodgers, who eliminated the Nationals from the playoffs last season. “He didn’t want to miss the L.A. series,” Washington manager Dusty Baker said. “That’s why he took it here, realizing the importance of it because, hey man, they beat us last year in the playoffs, and the way they’re playing now, we’re going to need every hand on deck.” Harper initially was suspended four games for his role in Monday’s brawl. Giants reliever Hunter Strickland was suspended six games and is waiting for a resolution on his appeal. Because one case was resolved and the other wasn’t, the Nationals played a man short Wednesday while the Giants had a full roster. “We’re actually hurt more by this than they are, with Bryce being out,” Baker said. Harper struggles more at AT&T Park than at any other National League facility, hitting .169 in 59 at-bats. He was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts Tuesday. Rehab updates: Madison Bumgarner played catch in the outfield for the second straight day, extending his throws to 75 feet. Manager Bruce Bochy said a definitive target for the lefty’s return to the rotation might not be known for a month. Hunter Pence began his rehab assignment Wednesday night at Class A San Jose, playing five innings in the field and going 1-for-2 with a single and a walk. He was due to play seven innings Thursday. Bochy said the right fielder could be back after roughly 15 to 20 minor-league at-bats. Conor Gillaspie will resume his rehab assignment this weekend at San Jose. Michael Morse, who is on the seven-day concussion disabled list after his collision with Jeff Samardzija during Monday’s brawl, was “feeling pretty crummy, to be honest with you,” Bochy said. SF Bay Hustle not enough as Giants continue free-fall Shayna Rubin Reigning NL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer was perfect until Eduardo Nunez singled with one out in the fourth inning. Nunez gunned it around second as Buster Posey‘s lazy, two-out fly ball hung in the air and sprinted home as it fell between outfielders Jayson Werth and Michael Taylor. In the seventh, Brandon Crawford slid to make a diving stop off speedy Trea Turner‘s ground ball up the middle and made a pathetic throw somewhere in the direction of first base. The crowd laughed and cheered at the attempt.
It’s not been for a lack of hustle, is the point, but the out-of-sync Giants (22-33) were swept by the Nationals (33-19) after falling 3-1 Wednesday night, said San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy: “We got to get our offense going. The only way we get this offense going is when we get our guys to where they normally are this time of year.” This story has been updated with quotes and post-game material from the Giants clubhouse at AT&T Park. It didn’t help that Bochy’s stumbling offense would have to kick through a brick wall. Scherzer (W, 6-3, 2.56 ERA) was dominant, striking out 11 desperate Giants in his seventh career complete game effort. He’d have the upper hand all night given the stuff he was showing, said Bochy: “He’s tough and he had stuff working with that fastball he’s got, slider and changeup. And it’s hard to pick up that changeup.” With that, Scherzer sealed the Nats first sweep of the Giants at AT&T Park since 2003. Asked if he could find any bright spot amid a 2-4 home stand, Bochy smirked: “We’ll definitely have to search, because we did get swept. … We were in some of these games, we just couldn’t do anything offensively.” The Nats clinched their sweep-sealing win four batters into the game. Turner reached on a Crawford error, his second in two starts this series after notching just one over his previous 52 games. Daniel Murphy singled on a hit-and-run that had Crawford twisting the wrong direction, and Ryan Zimmerman knocked his second home run of the series into the left field bleachers. Zimmerman’s three-run bomb (15) was his team’s sixth on the year. The Giants offense has zero, while the pitching staff has allowed six. Zimmerman’s homer came off a pretty good pitch, home starter Matt Cain noted — down enough but just enough over the plate for the hottest hitter in the National League to snag: “Zimmerman’s swinging the bat really well, so it’s unfortunate … and the way he’s swinging he’s never going to miss by much.” Cain (L, 3-4, 4.37 ERA) provided another gutty performance, keeping his team in the game (in theory) with four consecutive scoreless innings despite allowing a base runner in each. He got the boot with just 94 pitches against him in place of pinch hitter Aaron Hill, who popped up with Brandon Belt in scoring position. Hunter Strickland pitched the eighth inning, prompting an inebriated fan to yell at Washington manager Dusty Baker to put Bryce Harper in the game. That wouldn’t have been possible — or wise — because Harper was granted a game off his four-game suspension, which he began today and will last until the Nats’ series in Oakland. Strickland is still waiting on news from his appeal. The Giants’ bullpen had a good amount of foot traffic. George Kontos pitched two shutout innings and Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth, collecting two strikeouts along the way.
It didn’t matter, though, as the Nats’ ‘pen went untouched in Scherzer’s gem. UP NEXT The Giants will have an off day before traveling to Philadelphia to play the Phillies (17-23) for a three-game series. They’ll then go to Milwaukee to face the Brewers (27-25) for four before returning home. NOTES Hunter Pence went 1-for-2 in his five-inning rehab assignment with the San Jose Giants Wednesday. He’ll play seven innings Thursday. A return date will become clearer following that outing. … Madison Bumgarner played catch again one day after doing so for the first time since his shoulder injury, this time from 75 feet. The team still expects him back in late July or early August. McCovey Chronicles Giants score run against Max Scherzer, still lose Grant Bisbee Imagine the Giants having someone like Ryan Zimmerman. Not the actual guy, transported onto the team, as if that would have made a difference with this toilet season. But the idea. The fun that comes with watching a fan favorite crawl out of a pit of despair and reinvent himself. Or, more simply, a player who wildly exceeds expectations. It seems ludicrous. He whomped the ball all series, and at no point did he look like anyone employed by the Giants. At no point did he look like anyone the Giants will ever employ again. And when I’ve pointed out that it’s alright for spoiled fans to complain, my justification is that baseball seasons are long. They’re long enough that you’ll forget almost everything that came before it, good or bad, if the present state of the team is sufficiently extreme. That’s where we are now. The team that brought back Ryan Vogelsong, the team that stumbled into Marco Scutaro impression of Rod Carew, have fans that can’t imagine a Zimmerman-like season. The team that wasn’t sure if Buster Posey would ever catch again and then watched him win the MVP in a championship season 16 months later. That team. Imagine the Giants having someone like Ryan Zimmerman. Nope. Impossible. For one, he hit a three-run homer, which the Giants are not allowed to do in this parallel universe. Every team had at least three before the night started. The Nationals now have 12. It doesn’t help that the Giants are dead last in baseball in home runs in an era that’s becoming known as one of the most ridiculous home run eras in baseball history. But back to the idea of Zimmerman, any Zimmerman, on this team. I want you to make a list of the best Giants seasons of 2017. You can use whatever criteria you’d like. Most encouraging. Empirically productive. Best omens for the long-term future. Give me a list of five.
Here, I’ll start: Buster Posey Brandon Belt Ty Blach Jeff Samardzija Josh Osich/Hunter Strickland (tie) I keep going up and down the roster, hoping I’m being silly and hyperbolic. But I really think that’s the list. The first guy is a cleanup hitter with 13 runs batted in (on seven homers). That’s three more than Anthony Rendon got on April 30. The second guy still annoys half of the fan base for some inexplicable reason, even though he’s one of exactly two hitters who’s been worth a damn all year. The third guy is the replacement for the ace who fell off a damned wheely bike because he liked to make vroom vroom noises, and while Blach has been a pleasant surprise, he’s been only slightly better than league average. Again, he’s the third best story on the Giants this year. The fourth guy is allowing a bunch of runs, ha ha, but who can keep track of all those stats? He’s one of the best stories on the Giants because he’s striking a lot of hitters out, which should theoretically prevent runs. Which is encouraging. Kind of. For the fifth-best story on the 2017 Giants, you can pick between the 28-year-old left-hander walking nearly five batters per nine innings pitched or the hothead who got a teammate concussed and will force his team to play short-handed for about a week. Mark Melancon being delightful and unnecessary might be your fifth-place winner. Dunno. I’m flexible. Those are all of the candidates for the best Giants story of 2017. Is this too much of a downer? I’m sorry, it appears as if you’ve caught me in the middle of a losing streak. Please try again later. When they won against the Reds and Dodgers, when they went into St. Louis and came back, when they started the series against the Cubs with a win, I wanted to believe so danged bad. They’ve lost six out of their last eight, and it turns out April wasn’t the problem after all. It turns out they’re just bad. Matt Cain should have had a double play in the first inning, getting the grounder right where Brandon Crawford was positioned. Except Trea Turner was moving on the pitch, which put Crawford out of position, which kept the inning going. For Ryan Zimmerman. Imagine that guy on the Giants. I, for one, cannot. On the other hand, Cain also put runners in scoring position in each of the next four innings. He’s a five-inning, three-run kind of guy now. It’s just jarring to see it a) in the first inning and b) when he’s
supported by a team that hasn’t scored more than three runs in 32 of the 55 games they’ve played this year. Fifth starters are fine when they come with a functional lineup. As is, Cain is a fork and the Giants are a steaming bowl of salamander broth. It’s not working, there’s no way it’s going to work, and I’m not sure why you would want it to work. He’s probably doing you a favor, really. It should be pointed out that Max Scherzer is a lava monster who consumes teams whole, and he’s the real reason the Giants lost. He could have shut down the 2001 Giants tonight. Probably because they’re all 45 and paunchy now, ha ha, but you get the idea. I’ve spent the entire recap grumbling about what the Giants didn’t do, yet the best story of the game is how well a very talented superstar performed. He was amazing. On the other hand, I’m grumpy as hell. So I hope that paragraph will suffice. Good job, Max Scherzer. You truly are the Jaime Garcia of your generation. Around the Foghorn MLB Draft: Players SF Giants Fans Should be Watching in NCAA Baseball Tournament Jake Mastroianni There is a good chance the San Francisco Giants will take a college player with one of their first three picks in the 2017 MLB Draft. With the NCAA Baseball Tournament beginning this weekend, it’s a great opportunity for fans to get a preview of players going in the MLB draft starting on June 12. The San Francisco Giants have the 19th overall pick in the draft as well as picks 58 and 96. All of the players listed below are considered to be in the top 100 prospects for the upcoming draft. We’ll look at where each player will be this weekend, and if the San Francisco Giants should target them. I skipped those ranked in the top 11 because I don’t think any of them will slip to the Giants at 19. Adam Haseley – OF – Virginia Haseley and Virginia are in the Forth Worth regional where they will face Dallas Baptist on Friday, June 2. Haseley is hitting .399 with 66 runs scored, 14 home runs and 54 RBI. He is starting to shoot up draft boards, and I doubt he falls to the Giants at 19, but if he’s there they should take him. Jake Burger – 3B – Missouri State Burger and Missouri State are in the Fayetteville regional. They will play Oklahoma State on Friday, June 2. Burger is hitting .341 with 67 runs scored, 22 home runs and 63 RBI. The Giants could definitely use a third baseman, and Burger could be the answer.
Griffin Canning – RHP – UCLA The Bruins are the 3-seed in the Long Beach St. regional where they’ll face Texas on Friday, June 2. Some mock drafts have the Giants taking Canning, so this will be one you’ll really want to keep an eye on when he takes the mound on Friday. Canning has been a workhorse throwing 111.1 innings with a 2.34 ERA and 134 strikeouts. He would be a very solid pick for the Giants at 19. First Round Picks Logan Warmoth – SS – North Carolina This is another player that has been linked to the Giants in mock drafts. Warmoth and North Carolina are hosts this weekend. They’ll face Davidson to start the regional, which also includes Michigan and Florida Gulf Coast. The shortstop leads the Tar Heels with a .349 batting average. He’s scored 59 runs, hit 9 home runs, driven in 45 and stolen 18 bases. I really like Warmoth and think he would be a good pick at 19. Luke Heimlich – LHP – Oregon State Heimlich leads the nation with a 0.81 ERA in 111.1 innings pitched with 120 strikeouts to 21 walks. He will either pitch on Friday or Saturday for Oregon State as they host the Corvalis Regional. I would think Oregon State would save him for a possible matchup with Nebraska on Saturday. The Giants would probably have to reach and grab him with their 19th overall pick to get him. Alex Lange – RHP – LSU In my opinion, Alex Lange is the best pitcher in college baseball. I’ve seen him throw several times this year, and I always leave impressed. I think he will be a solid two or three in a rotation very soon. LSU will be hosting a regional this weekend. I think we see Lange against Texas Southern on Friday, June 2. Again, the Giants would have to reach and grab him with the 19th pick to get him. Stuart Fairchild – OF – Wake Forest Wake Forest is hosting a regional this weekend and will begin play on Friday, June 2 against UMBC. Fairchild is hitting .353 with 62 runs scored, 15 home runs, 59 RBI and 17 stolen bases. The Giants could use another outfield prospect, but they’d need Fairchild to fall to them at 58. Brian Miller – OF – North Carolina Miller is right behind Warmoth with a .340 average going into the Chapel Hill regional this weekend. He’s also scored 57 runs, hit 7 home runs, driven in 47 and stolen 22 bases. The Giants would need to hope Miller falls to them at 58, but if he does it would be a great pick. #58 Picks Evan White – 1B/OF – Kentucky White has been mentioned as a possibility for the San Francisco Giants at 19, but that would be a bit of a reach. I think the Giants could get him at 58 if they want him. White is hitting .366 with 39 runs scored, 8
home runs and 38 RBI. He is a great defender at first base, but could be moved to a corner outfield position. Kentucky will host the Lexington regional and begin play on Friday, June 2 against Ohio. Gavin Sheets – 1B – Wake Forest Sheets is hitting .319 with 52 runs scored, 20 home runs and 79 RBI. He is one of the best college power bats in the draft, but the Giants would have to reach to take him at 58, or hope he falls to them at 96. Drew Ellis – 3B – Louisville Louisville and Drew Ellis will be hosting a regional this weekend. They will begin play on Friday, June 2 against Radford. Ellis leads the Cardinals with a .376 average, 51 runs scored, 17 home runs and 53 RBI. He’s another option for third base, and the Giants could probably get him at 58. JJ Matijevic – 1B – Arizona Arizona is in the Lubbock regional and will face Sam Houston St. on Friday, June 2. Matijevic leads the Wildcats with a .389 batting average to go along with 54 runs scored, 10 home runs and 64 RBI. He’s not the best option for first base on this list, but maybe the Giants take him if he slips to 96. #96 Picks Brent Rooker – 1B – Mississippi State Brent Rooker is having one of the best seasons in college baseball hitting .404 with 53 runs scored, 21 home runs, 76 RBI and 18 stolen bases. He’s done all that while playing in the SEC. I wouldn’t be upset if the Giants reached to grab him at 58. Rooker and Mississippi State are in the Hattiesburg regional and will face South Alabama on Friday, June 2. Evan Skoug – C – TCU Evan Skoug is rated by some as the second best catcher in this draft. The Giants obviously don’t need a catcher, but it’s nice to have depth. Skoug is hitting .272 with 50 runs scored, 16 home runs and 55 RBI. TCU is hosting the Forth Worth regional and begin play against Cent. Conn. St. on Friday, June 2. I don’t think they’d take Skoug unless he falls in their lap at 96. Connor Wong – C – Houston Another catcher, Wong is hitting .297 with 57 runs scored, 11 home runs, 34 RBI and 25 stolen bases. He’s a very good catcher defensively, but with that athleticism I see a position change in his future. Again, I don’t think the Giants draft a catcher unless one falls in their lap. Houston hosts a regional and begins play on Friday, June 2 against Iowa. Kevin Merrell – SS – South Florida South Florida and Kevin Merrell are in the Gainesville regional and will face Bethune-Cookman on Friday, June 2. Shortstops make great prospects, and Merrell should be no different. He’s hitting .386 with 46 runs scored, 6 home runs, 35 RBI and 18 stolen bases. If he’s there at 96 the Giants should take him.
Blaine Knight – RHP – Arkansas This righty from Arkansas has some upside, but I don’t see him being more than a number three starter in the big leagues. That wouldn’t be a terrible outcome for the 96th pick. Knight is 8-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 84.2 innings pitched with 88 strikeouts. Arkansas hosts the Fayettville regional this weekend and will begin play on Friday, June 2 against Oral Roberts. Jake Thompson – RHP – Oregon State Behind Heimlich is Jake Thompson, forming a solid 1-2 punch for Oregon State. Thompson is 12-0 with a 1.31 ERA in 103 innings pitched with 96 strikeouts. He would be a great option for the Giants at 96. Jesse Berardi – SS – St. John’s Another shortstop on this list, Berardi is hitting .358 with 47 runs scored, 4 home runs, 47 RBI and 12 stolen bases. I’m all for drafting shortstops as they are typically athletic and versatile enough to play anywhere. Berardi and St. John’s are in the Clemson regional and will face Vanderbilt on Friday, June 2. Ernie Clement – SS/OF – Virginia He will be in the Fort Worth regional with Haseley. Clement is hitting .320 with 52 runs scored, 2 home runs, 32 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He’s definitely an option at pick 96. Greg Deichmann – OF – LSU Deichmann is a big time bat and would be a great corner outfield option for the Giants. He’s hitting .330 with 45 runs scored, 19 home runs and 67 RBI. I think he would be a great pick at 96.
