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SF Giants Press Clips

Saturday, May 20, 2017

San Francisco Chronicle

Giants notes: On the pitchers behind Friday’s comeback win

Henry Schulman

ST. LOUIS — Some Giants pitching notes from Friday night's 6-5 comeback victory over the

Cardinals:

The starter: Before the trip, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters the starting pitchers need to

be better on the road if the Giants were to improve on their 6-15 record. Matt Moore took that

to heart, holding the Cardinals to two runs in six innings to lower that 10.50 road ERA.

Nobody articulated that to the starters specifically.

"That's one of those messages you don't have to send," Moore said. "It's clear we were losing a

lot of games on the road, and not a lot of games were 1-0 or 2-0."

Moore credited a good curveball and changeup to go with his fastball.

The winning pitcher: Bryan Morris pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the win, striking out Yadier Molina

and Aledmys Diaz to start the inning.

Morris is quickly becoming one of the more trusted members of this bullpen. The 30-year-old

former Pirate and Marlin has pitched six consecutive scoreless outings, most notably his three-

inning stint in the 17-inning win against the Reds.

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He allowed five runs in two innings over his first two games, but that was understandable. He

had pitched in only five minor-league games, two at San Jose and three at Sacramento, before

the Giants brought him up sooner than they had hoped to replace an ineffective Neil Ramirez.

Morris was rehabbing a right foot fracture. That was caused by a comebacker during live

batting practice in spring training after missing some exhibition games with back spasms. (He

had back surgery last year.)

The batter that spring day was Juan Ciriaco, who was playing for Sacramento when Morris

arrived for his rehab stint.

"I got to Sacramento and he apologized to me for 10 minutes," Morris said. "I said, 'Hey, I was

the one who threw the pitch.'"

Morris, who signed a minor-league deal with the Giants over the winter, throws a power sinker

and said Friday's was his best so far.

The closer: Mark Melancon earned his 175th career save in his 456th game, yet he was still

nervous. This was his first appearance since May 3 and his subsequent trip to the disabled list

with a strained pronator muscle in his forearm.

"I had a little bit of jitters in my legs, definitely," Melancon said. "It was exciting, fun, especially

the way the game played out. We showed some fight late in the game. I enjoyed those jitters."

The pronator is a muscle that gets stressed when a person rotates his arm while throwing. The

other day at home, Melancon told me he has had this injury before. I get the sense it can be

chronic, but he said Friday he feels so much better now.

While acknowledging he can feel it sometimes after he pitches, Melancon said, "I'm saying I'm

100 percent."

And about Eduardo Nuñez's helmet: He can't keep the thing on. Whenever he runs it flies off.

You'd think there's an easy fix for that.

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"They make chin straps," Moore said with a big grin.

San Francisco Chronicle

Giants roster likely to change soon as players come off DL

Henry Schulman

ST. LOUIS — The Giants opened their seven-game trip with eight relief pitchers and a four-man

bench that includes one guy who only catches (Nick Hundley), another who will play only first

base (Michael Morse) and two extra outfielders (Justin Ruggiano and Gorkys Hernandez).

“We are limited,” manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged Friday.

The makeup of the team soon will change, and probably drastically. The Giants will need to

make room for rehabbing players Conor Gillaspie, Aaron Hill and Hunter Pence, perhaps all

three sometime next week. Bochy said ideally the Giants will restore a five-man bench at the

expense of a current reliever.

Left-hander Josh Osich and outfielder Mac Williamson are most at risk amid all the pending

moves because they have minor-league options. But at some point the organization will have to

make decisions on out-of-option players, unless they mirror other teams and use the shorter

10-day disabled list as a merry-go-round for players to hop on and off.

Bochy said Gillaspie (back spasms) was to begin a rehab assignment for Triple-A Sacramento on

Friday and is the closest to returning, followed by Hill (strained forearm). Pence (hamstring

strain) can be activated Tuesday, but that is not likely. He hit and threw on the field at Busch

Stadium on Friday but has not begun to run.

Reliever hitched: Cory Gearrin did not fly with the team to St. Louis. He arrived on a delayed

commercial flight at 4 a.m. Friday for good reason. He and Maddi Reynolds got married at San

Francisco City Hall on Thursday morning on the balcony outside the mayor’s office, with County

Clerk Catherine Stefani officiating.

Giants players have made the rounds at some big offseason weddings. Derek Law, Joe

Panik and Pence all got hitched last winter.

“I didn’t want to wait,” Gearrin said. “We really wanted to get married. We didn’t want to wait

around for six months.”

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None of Gearrin’s teammates attended the wedding or the lunch that followed at Slanted Door.

They were taking off for St. Louis about the time of the wedding, although Pence’s wife, Lexi,

was among the 20 guests. Gearrin said City Hall held special meaning because he knew the

Giants celebrated their three World Series titles there, before he signed.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

On deck

Saturday

at Cardinals

4:15 p.m. Channel: 2 Channel: 40

Samardzija (1-5) vs. Martinez (3-3)

Sunday

at Cardinals

11:15 a.m. NBCSBA

Cain (3-1) vs. Wainwright (3-3)

Monday

at Cubs

5:05 p.m. NBCSBA

Blach (1-2) vs. Hendricks (3-2)

Leading off

Thrilling ball: The Giants and Cardinals are ranked first and second in the majors with 17 and 15

sacrifice flies, respectively.

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San Francisco Chronicle

Giants stun Cardinals in ninth, win opener of trip

Henry Schulman

ST. LOUIS — The Giants were frozen in the postgame-celebration position waiting for the

umpires to confirm by video that Mark Melancon indeed got Dexter Fowler to hit into a double

play to end a 6-5 victory over the Cardinals on Friday night.

“It didn’t matter,” manager Bruce Bochy said with a smile. “We were shaking hands.”

The Giants deserved it after twice coming from behind, the last time on Eduardo Nuñez’s

biggest hit of the year, a one-out, two-run double in the ninth inning against closer Seung-Hwan

Oh. Oh had not allowed an earned run in more than a month nor blown a save since Opening

Day.

The Giants went two years without winning when behind entering the ninth. Now they have

done it in consecutive road games. They have won seven of their past nine games overall.

Melancon earned the save in his first appearance since coming off the disabled list.

Fowler had been a tough out. He tripled and scored against Matt Moore to help the Cardinals

take a 2-0 lead.

After the Giants took the lead with three runs in the seventh, in a rally bisected by a 46-minute

rain delay, Fowler crushed a three-run homer off George Kontos in the bottom half to give the

Cardinals a 5-3 lead.

Melancon had been on the shelf since May 9 with a forearm strain. Asked to assess what he

saw while he sat, he said the first several days looked like the weeks before, in which his new

team looked nothing like contenders.

But over the past week?

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“We showed what I thought this team had for years: fight, courage and will,” Melancon said.

“Tonight we showed all of that.”

The Giants’ first rally, a three-run seventh, followed six shutout innings from Michael Wacha,

who was pulled out of an abundance of caution over chronic shoulder injuries.

Nuñez and Christian Arroyo started the rally against reliever Jonathan Broxton with singles.

Third baseman Jedd Gyorko committed an error, on which one run scored. Denard Span singled

home the tying run, and Joe Panik provided a 3-2 lead on a soft groundout after Matt Bowman

thought he had a strikeout on the 2-2 pitch.

A similar call on a pitch to Brandon Belt led to St. Louis manager Mike Matheny’s ejection just

as a torrent hit Busch Stadium and the grounds crew was tarping the field. Matheny appeared

to bump umpire Nic Lentz, grounds for suspension.

Matheny’s frown turned upside down after Steven Okert walked Kolten Wong to start the

seventh, Jhonny Peralta singled and Fowler cracked his three-run homer off Kontos, who owns

three of the Giants’ seven blown saves.

To win on the road consistently, a team must be relentless, and the Giants were. They scored

one run in the eighth on Span’s second RBI single to close the gap to 5-4, with Arroyo and

pinch-hitter Michael Morse singling ahead of him.

Then, Belt and Brandon Crawford each singled off Oh in the ninth for their third hits before

Nuñez slammed a cutter over Fowler’s head to the center-field wall, delivering the tying and go-

ahead runs.

Nuñez has not been much of an offensive threat so far. After his winning hit he said, “It’s a long

season. Nothing to worry about yet. Some people start slow and finish strong. What are we

looking for?”

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The Giants are looking for more games like Friday’s, when they showed a tenacity they need to

carry through the rest of the season, especially on the road, where they are 7-15.

They also are looking for more starts like Moore’s. He took a 10.50 road ERA into his first career

game at Busch and kept the Giants in the game, which is all Bochy asks of his starters, especially

away from AT&T Park.

San Francisco Chronicle

Giants won’t have Ishikawa to face Wacha, so, Plan B

Henry Schulman

ST. LOUIS - When you look at the photo that goes with this story, it's not hard to understand

why Busch Stadium is one of the best in the majors. I've usually had a good time here, except

for the time the Cardinals evacuated us INTO a tornado warning.

As Maxwell Smart used to say, it's not all roses.

The Giants have Matt Moore on the mound in his first career start at Busch needing to narrow

some really awful road splits. Moore has a 10.50 ERA in four starts on the road. At home in four

starts it's 2.57.

I've always thought this was one of the fairest parks for pitchers and hitters. If you drive the ball

it will go, but if you pitch well it's not hard to get outs.

Moore faces Michael Wacha, who has owned the Giants in four regular-season starts (1-0, 1.88

ERA), but there's that liiiiiiiiiitle matter of the 2014 National League Championship Series, when

Travis Ishikawa hit a ball over the wall at AT&T Park (or off the wall if you have Jake Peavy's

eyesight) to win the pennant. Wacha threw the pitch.

As you can see from the accompanying photo, the weather is great right now (at 3 p.m. CDT).

Any moisture that comes is expected to hold off till at least 10 p.m.

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Yes, I got here 4 hours, 15 minutes before gametime to serve you, the reader, and let me tell

you. There is a humongous quilting convention here. It's LIT. And I gave it up to come to work

early.

A couple of links for you:

John Shea wrote a great piece breaking down Buster Posey's swing changes. I wrote a story

summarizing the first quarter of the season.

Two notes of interest: Conor Gillaspie is starting a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento.

The Giants and Cardinals lead the majors with sacrifice flies, 17 and 14, respectively. Par-TAY!!!

Here are your lineups:

GIANTS (vs. RHP Michael Wacha)

Span CF

Panik 2B

Belt 1B

Posey C

Crawford SS

Nuñez LF

Arroyo 3B

Williamson RF

Moore P

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CARDINALS (vs. LHP Matt Moore)

Fowler CF

Pham LF

Carpenter 1B

Gyorko 3B

Molina C

Diaz SS

Grichuk RF

Wong 2B

Wacha P

San Francisco Chronicle

‘Class, character’ would define Derek Jeter as an owner

John Shea

Major League Baseball should do all it can to make Derek Jeter part of the Miami Marlins’

ownership group.

No one would do a better job turning the page on the current chaotic ownership of Jeffrey Loria

because no one represents the game better.

Jeter took a timeout from his group’s pursuit to buy the Marlins when appearing at Yankee

Stadium last weekend for the ceremony of his number retirement and plaque unveiling. He

wore No. 2 courageously, and we hope it’s not where he finishes in the bidding.

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Many current big-leaguers will say their favorite player growing up, if not Ken Griffey Jr., was

Jeter. Every teammate vouched for him, and not just the legendary Yankees. Also the fellows

whose career in pinstripes was a blur.

“He’s a guy I have the utmost respect for,” said relief pitcher George Kontos, whose time as a

Yankee lasted all of seven games before he was dealt to the Giants. “Whether you were a 15-

year veteran or a guy who had 15 minutes in the big leagues, he treated everybody the same.

“He made you feel welcome in the clubhouse. He didn’t have to do that. It showed the kind of

guy he is and the leadership qualities he possesses. It’s really evident to see why he had the

success he had throughout his career.”

Jeter and former Florida governor Jed Bush head a group that’s in competition with Tagg

Romney, son of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and Hall of Famer Tom Glavine.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday after the quarterly owners’ meetings in New York

that both bidders are in Loria’s price range.

In other words, $1 billion and significant change. Manfred said the process is down to Loria and

the bidders. Actually, there’s more to it: Three-quarters of major-league owners would need to

approve any new ownership group.

Loria helped ruin baseball in Montreal, hoodwinked Florida taxpayers into giftwrapping him a

new stadium and mismanaged the Marlins for years. Fans need someone with accountability

and credibility to run their team, which not only is one of the worst in the majors but has a

depleted minor-league system.

Jeter would be a perfect fit, a far cry from Loria. As Marlins manager Don Mattingly, a Yankee

legend, said, “Anything Derek wants to do, he’s gonna be good at.”

That includes dealing with people and leading by example. Kontos recalled making his big-

league debut on Jeter’s Yankees. It was Sept. 10, 2011, and his first batter, Peter Bourjos of the

Angels, popped to Jeter for the final out of the seventh inning.

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Jeter sat down next to Kontos in the dugout and delivered a message (and ball) the young

pitcher never forgot.

“He gave me the first-out ball and reassurance that, ‘You deserve to be here, welcome, keep

doing what you’re doing, this is where you belong,’ ” Kontos said. “A guy of that stature, he

didn’t have to do that. It just showed his class, character and leadership qualities.”

Jeter commands respect, knows more about baseball than any owner in the business and

understands how to win. He’d call the shots and run the show, which is what you’d want with

Jeter aboard. What needs to be done is for his group to prove it has enough money and for MLB

to say OK, no matter what Loria thinks.

San Jose Mercury News

Nunez, Giants rally in ninth inning to beat Cardinals

Andrew Baggarly

ST. LOUIS – Eduardo Nuñez and his helmet are forever begging to be parted. All it takes is an

aggressive turn around first base, or a quick start out of the box to send it clattering to the

track.

Or a two-run double in the ninth inning, which is what Nuñez provided off St. Louis Cardinals

closer Seung-Hwan Oh – perhaps his biggest hit in two seasons as a Giant, and one that lifted

the club to a 6-5 victory at Busch Stadium.

Nuñez’s drive struck the center field wall, and his helmet became predictably unmoored

between first and second.

“You know,” said left-hander Matt Moore, “they make chin straps.”

Now it’s your turn to hold onto something: The Giants, after going precisely two years without

a comeback victory in the ninth inning, have done it in consecutive road games.

“It’s a long season,” said Nuñez, the opening day third baseman who has learned left field on

the fly while trying to get his head screwed on at the plate. “Some people start slow and finish

strong. That’s what we’re looking for.”

That applies to teams, too. In essence, every victory for the Giants counts as a comeback win.

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Such are the depths they face in the standings after a miserable first five weeks. Time will tell if

they have the talent and good health to dig out, but these ninth-inning comebacks would seem

to indicate they do not lack for a fighting spirit.

Brandon Belt’s third hit of the game started the rally against Oh, who had converted 10 of 11

save chances and hadn’t blown one since opening day. Brandon Crawford’s one-out single put

runners at the corners. Then Nuñez lofted the first pitch over center fielder Dexter Fowler’s

head.

Giants closer Mark Melancon allowed a leadoff single in his return from the disabled list but

fielded Fowler’s grounder to start a game-ending double play that survived a replay review as

the Giants opened a challenging, seven-game trip with some momentum.

“It didn’t matter,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, asked about the replay wait. “We were

shaking hands.”

The Giants are just 7-15 on the road this season – only the A’s have fewer road victories among

major league clubs – but it has to give them confidence to rally in their last life win their last

two at New York’s Citi Field and now against a Cardinals opponent that had been 18-0 when

leading after eight innings.

“We showed what I thought this team has had for years, and that’s fight and courage and will,”

Melancon said. “Tonight showed all of that.”

Melancon threw in the low 90s and professed his health after missing two weeks with elbow

tendonitis, but acknowledged that he feels a hint of it after games.

“That could be just a normal feeling after every game, even when you’re 100 percent,”

Melancon said. “You’re always feeling stuff.”

The Giants are feeling much more confident in their ability to come back in the late innings.

They had to do it twice Friday night. They erased a 2-0 deficit in a three-run seventh inning that

came just prior to a 46-minute rain delay.

They found themselves in rally mode again shortly after the game resumed. Steven Okert

issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh and Fowler rocked George Kontos for a

three-run home run.

“It started with a leadoff walk,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “In a one-run game, you

can’t do that.”

Maybe the Cardinals held one whopper of a team meeting during the rain delay , with Fowler

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perhaps borrowing snippets of a speech from Game 7 of last year’s World Series.

Or maybe the Giants bullpen just picked a terrible time to blow up. Either way, the tarp rolled

out and the game took a dramatic turn.

It was such a different tenor when play was halted in the top of the inning. The Giants had gone

ahead on three singles, a damaging error by third baseman Jedd Gyorko and a ground out.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny got ejected for arguing the strike zone after a pair of walks

loaded the bases.

That was the last action before the grounds crew raced onto the field and rolled out the tarp,

barely beating an incoming deluge by a matter of seconds.

Moore carried over his personal momentum from a strong start last Saturday against the

Dodgers while also finally delivering a competitive outing on the road. He held the Cardinals to

two runs in six innings – a major improvement given that he entered with a 10.50 ERA in four

road starts in which opponents hit .370 against him.

The Giants held a brief team meeting prior to batting practice Friday. It wasn’t to remind the

pitchers that their 5.82 ERA on the road – second highest in the majors – won’t cut it.

“That’s one of those messages you don’t need to send,” Moore said. “We were losing on the

road and it’s not like it was 1-0 or 2-1 games. We knew it was an issue.”

Moore turned a corner in the first inning after he issued one of his all-too-frequent bases-

empty, two-out walks. Instead of letting the inning bloom out of the dust, he located two

strikes to Gyorko, the Cardinals’ hottest hitter, and then got him to chase a curveball out of the

zone.

Moore’s best weapon was a changeup that he has not employed reliably against left-handed

hitters this season.

The Giants managed a few baserunners but nothing substantial against Cardinals right-hander

Michael Wacha, who no longer resembles the break-glass reliever that served up Travis

Ishikawa’s pennant-clinching home run in 2014.

The Giants were so desperate to create something that Crawford even got thrown out trying to

steal against Molina in the sixth. But Wacha was lifted after throwing 86 pitches, and the Giants

took advantage of their best window to rally in the seventh.

Nuñez slapped a base hit off Jonathan Broxton and found himself on third base after Christian

Arroyo peeked out of his slump long enough to send a hopper over first base for a single. The

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Giants mixed charity with good fortune when Gyorko bungled Mac Williamson’s potential

double-play grounder as Nuñez scored.

Span followed with a tying single against Matt Bowman, a right-hander who hides the ball well

and had held lefties to three hits in 28 at-bats this season. Then Williamson gave the Giants a 3-

2 lead when he scored on Joe Panik’s ground out to the side of the mound.

Span added an RBI single in the eighth inning to get the Giants within a run. Bryan Morris

showed off power stuff while throwing a scoreless eighth to keep the margin there and earn his

first victory as a Giant.

And Melancon didn’t bend after that.

“He gave up a hit but made his pitch, and that’s experience for you,” Bochy said. That’s just

where experience comes in handy. I thought he looked good today. He looked healthy.”

The Giants’ home run streak was snapped. They entered having hit at least one home run in 10

consecutive games; their last 13 have been solo shots.

“Really, you look at how it all came about in the ninth: good two-strike hitting by Crawford to

keep it going, and then it takes one guy to come through,” Bochy said. “Fowler did it for them

and Nuney did it with the ball to the wall. That’s what power does. Not just home runs, but

doubles can win it for you. It did tonight.”

San Jose Mercury News

Giants Notes

Andrew Baggarly

ST. LOUIS – Right-hander Cory Gearrin didn’t play on any of the three Giants’ World Series

teams that paraded down Market St. and gave celebratory speeches on the steps of San

Francisco’s City Hall.

But Gearrin celebrated an even more important life event on those steps Thursday. While the

rest of his teammates flew to St. Louis, Gearrin married his fiancée, Maddi, in a brief ceremony

at City Hall.

County Clerk Catherine Stefani performed the ceremony on the mayor’s balcony. The couple

posed for photos on the steps. And then the small gathering of less than a dozen family

members went to the Slanted Door in the Ferry Building, their favorite restaurant in the city, for

a luncheon.

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Nearly all ballplayers get married in the offseason. The running joke is that there is baseball

season, and there is wedding season.

This past winter alone, Denard Span, Joe Panik, Hunter Pence and Derek Law got married.

(Several teammates attended multiple nuptials. Former Giant Matt Duffy did more of the Funky

Chicken than any of them; he was at the Panik, Law and Pence festivities.)

The Gearrins got engaged in Maui in January, and even then, they knew they didn’t want to

wait.

“We were ready to get married,” said Cory Gearrin, who met his bride when he was pitching for

the Braves and she was working in the Atlanta area. “Waiting another six months to have big

wedding … we both knew we just wanted to get married and didn’t want to wait any longer.”

Pence’s wife, Lexi, was one of few attendees who weren’t immediate family members. She

remarked at how neat it was to revisit the steps of City Hall and envision the atmosphere after

the Giants won the World Series in 2014.

“It’s just amazing to think what the Giants mean to the city,” said Cory Gearrin, who received

some help from the club to set up the ceremony. “Everybody in the office was so excited. They

were huge Giants fans. It was `Congratulations, now go beat the Cardinals.’

It is May, after all, so the official honeymoon will have to wait. The happy couple boarded a

6:40 p.m. flight to St. Louis that ended up leaving several hours late because of a mechanical

delay. They didn’t arrive at their hotel until after 4 a.m. Central time.

So much for wedding night bliss.

—

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he didn’t anticipate receiving any players from the disabled

list during the three-game weekend series here at Busch Stadium.

Aaron Hill won’t return until he can make throws from the outfield. Conor Gillaspie is closer to

returning but would not rejoin the team until the following series at Wrigley Field, at the

earliest.

As for Hunter Pence, he is eligible to be activated on Tuesday, but has not begun running yet to

test his hamstring.

One other note: Madison Bumgarner has begun traveling with the team again. But there is no

solid date for when he might pick up a baseball and start playing catch.

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—

The Giants and Cardinals rank 1-2 in the major leagues in sacrifice flies. Buckle up!

Lineups:

MLB.com

Nunez leads Giants to 9th

0inning comeback

Jenifer Langosch and Nate Latsh

ST. LOUIS -- Eduardo Nunez ignited one rally and capped the next to help the Giants correct, at

least for one night, their troubles on the road, scoring three times over the final three innings to

nab a 6-5 win over the Cardinals.

Despite Michael Wacha's six scoreless innings and modest pitch count (86) and

theunavailability of setup man Trevor Rosenthal, the Cardinals turned the game over to their

'pen in the seventh. Things got out of hand almost immediately. Nunez opened the inning with

a single, and the Giants later capitalized on an error while batting around in their order. In

doing so, they flipped a two-run hole into a 3-2 lead.

Full Game Coverage

After a 46-minute rain delay, Dexter Fowler answered back with a three-run homer in the

bottom half of the inning to put the Cardinals back ahead by two. But San Francisco scratched

across one in the eighth on a Denard Span RBI single, and Nunez put them back in front with a

two-run double off Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh in the ninth.

"First thing, letting the leadoff hitter go on the base and second of all was a missed pitch

against Nunez," Oh, speaking through a translator, said in citing his two mistakes. "The first

pitch was pretty weak."

Before Friday, the Cardinals had not lost a game this season when taking a lead into the ninth.

The Giants are now 2-21 this season when trailing after eight innings, and they entered 6-15 on

the road. Mark Melancon, making his first appearance since May 3, converted his 17th career

save against the Cardinals, most against any opponent.

"Both teams did a great job of bouncing back," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "The bullpens

on both sides struggled tonight after the starters did such a great job. ... That would have been

a hard one for us to take after the first comeback. So it's a great win for us to start this road

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trip."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Fielding foibles: For the second time in three games, Cardinals third baseman Jedd

Gyorko fumbled a potential double-play ball into unearned runs. The gift came in the seventh

when, with runners on the corners, Mac Williamson hit a chopper to Gyorko. The two-hopper

skipped off Gyorko's glove, precluding him from getting any out at all. It was the Cardinals'

National League-leading 35th error of the season, and the Giants parlayed it into a three-run

inning.

Split-second decision: The Cardinals were left to wonder whether the outcome may have been

different had reliever Matt Bowman tried for an out at home when he fielded Joe Panik's one-

out ground ball in the seventh. Bowman decided for the sure out at first, which allowed Span to

score what at the time represented the go-ahead run.

"I know that's what we were trying to get him to do from the mound," Cardinals manager Mike

Matheny said, when asked if Bowman had a play at home. "The problem is going away, going

toward the first-base side, he's either going to have to throw against his body or do a spin

throw. He's athletic enough to probably make that happen. I know [catcher] Yadi [Molina] was

making that call. But when you have the crowd noise, it's more of the instincts of the player to

understand where they are, where the ball is and whether or not they feel good making the

aggressive play."

QUOTABLE

"For us to get a win like that in the later innings, just speaking for myself, it's a pretty charged

up feeling heading into the rest of it [the road trip]" -- Giants starter Matt Moore, who allowed

two runs over his six-inning no-decision. MATHENY EJECTED

Matheny, who was fuming over the strike zone two days ago, took issue with it again Friday.

And this time, it led to an early exit. Matheny was ejected after Bowman walked two to load

the bases in the seventh. He was particularly peeved at two two-strike calls -- one to Joe Panik,

the other to Brandon Belt -- that didn't go Bowman's way. The extended at-bats allowed Panik

to connect for an RBI groundout and Belt to draw a walk. "Tired of watching it," Matheny said.

"Mistakes are going to happen. We're all going to make them. I get it. But in a big situation,

we're going to get called out when we don't do our job. Everybody else needs the same."

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

With nothing to lose, the Cardinals challenged the final play of the game, asking for a second

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look to see whether there was a chance that Fowler beat out the double play. The out call was

quickly confirmed to seal San Francisco's win.

WHAT'S NEXT

Giants: RIght-hander Jeff Samardzija (1-5, 5.26 ERA) will make his ninth start of the season

Saturday at 4:15 p.m. PT looking to reverse some tough recent history against the Cardinals. He

faced them twice in 2016, going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA over 11 2/3 innings and is 4-4 with a 4.32

ERA in 21 career appearances against St. Louis.

Cardinals: Right-hander Carlos Martinez will try for his fourth straight win when he faces the

Giants in Saturday's 6:15 p.m. CT game. In two career starts against San Francisco, Martinez is

2-0 with a 3.27 ERA.

MLB.com

Excited to be back, Melancon locks down win

Nate Latsch

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Melancon had some jitters in his first game back from the disabled list. The

Giants closer even enjoyed them.

Making his first appearance since being activated off the DL on Wednesday, the veteran right-

hander closed out Friday night's wild 6-5 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium with a

scoreless ninth inning for his seventh save of the season.

Full Game Coverage

"It was good," he said. "It was fun to get a little bit of jitters in the legs. Definitely it was exciting

and it was fun, especially the way the game played out, showing fight late in the game and

going back and forth with the score. Yeah, that was great. I enjoyed those jitters."

Melancon, who recorded his 175th save in 200 career opportunities, allowed a leadoff single

to Kolten Wong, retired pinch-hitter Matt Adams on a flyout and then got Dexter Fowler to hit

into a 1-6-3 double play to end it after a replay review confirmed the game-ending out at first.

"Mark was good," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He gave up a hit but made his pitches

after that. That's experience working for you, where a couple innings earlier we walked a guy

and then an 0-2 mistake. That's just where experience comes in handy. We got the big double

play. Great job on everybody turning that double play, including [Brandon] Belt. I thought

[Melancon] looked good, healthy and it's good to have him back."

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After taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh that included Cardinals manager Mike Matheny

getting ejected and a 46-minute rain delay, Giants relievers Steven Okert and George

Kontos surrendered three runs in the bottom of the inning. Okert walked the first batter he

faced and then allowed a single. Kontos followed by serving up a three-run home run to Dexter

Fowler.

The Giants' bullpen bounced back with scoreless frames from Bryan Morris (1-0) and Melancon

in the eighth and ninth innings.

Melancon said Morris, his Pirates teammate in 2013-14, was "nasty."

"That was awesome," he said. "That's the Bryan Morris I know. I've been with him for a while

and that power sink is really good."

Melancon, who signed a four-year, $62 million deal with the Giants this offseason as a free

agent, had been on the DL with a mild right pronator strain. Now he's back healthy and again

set to solidify the back of the San Francisco bullpen.

"It's a lot of confidence just heading into the end of the game," said Giants starter Matt Moore,

who allowed two run on five hits over six innings Friday. "Premier closer, the type of guy that

he is and the intangibles that he brings to the team is big. More than just him closing ballgames,

I think it just adds confidence to our team overall."

MLB.com

Samardzija looks to build on first win

Alaina Getzenberg

Opposites will be the theme of Saturday's game between the Cardinals and the Giants, with

two pitchers entering the night in the midst of vastly different seasons. Right-hander Carlos

Martinez has been extremely productive as of late, while Jeff Samardzija has struggled in his

eight starts this year.

Whether the right hander's problems against the Cardinals will continue into this season

remains to be seen. In his two starts against the team last year, he went 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA.

Full Game Coverage

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Other questions to be answered Saturday include whether Martinez can continue his current

win streak and offensive production. He will enter the evening having won three in a row and

with a 3.06 ERA in five home starts this year. He has also gone 4-for-6 at the plate in his last two

starts.

On the other hand, Samardzija has a 1-5 record in his eight starts with a 5.26 ERA. He is

currently tied for the second-most losses in the Majors, but is coming off his first win of the

season in the form of an 8-3 decision against the Reds this past Sunday. In the victory, he

allowed three runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Cardinals won four of seven games last year against the Giants and individually Samardzija

has fared similarly, holding a 4-4 record and a 4.32 ERA in 21 appearances against the team.

Things to know about this game

• Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty is likely to be activated from the 10-day disabled list

Saturday. Piscotty suffered a right hamstring strain May 4 and was hitting .241 with two home

runs before the injury. He is completing his rehab in Double-A Springfield.

• The Giants have struggled away from San Francisco this year, entering the series 6-15 on the

road. The team has a 5.82 ERA in those games.

• Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is hitting .458 (11-for-24) with one double and three RBIs

against Samardzija. Matt Adams has six hits, including three for extra bases, in 11 career at-bats

against the Giants starter.

CSNbayarea.com

Giants start off road trip series in St. Louis with huge comeback win

ST. LOUIS -- Not much has gone right on the road for the San Francisco Giants this season. They

are now on a positive streak.

Eduardo Nunez doubled in two runs in the ninth inning and San Francisco rallied to defeat the

St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 on Friday night. The win improves the Giants to 7-15 away from San

Francisco, including two straight. They have won six of seven overall.

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"It's been a while, and now we have a couple of them," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "You

look how it came together - some good two-strike hitting by (Brandon) Crawford, and then

Nuney with the big hit."

The Giants scored four times in the ninth in their previous road game to pull out a 6-5 win at

the New York Mets on May 10.

The Cardinals dropped their third straight and fourth of six. It's their fourth three-game skid of

the season.

Bryan Morris (2-0) pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out two, to pick up the victory. Mark

Melancon earned his seventh save.

The Giants scored twice off Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh (0-2) in the ninth to take the lead.

It was Oh's second blown save of the year.

"First of all, there was nothing that went well," Oh said through an interpreter. "First thing

letting the leadoff go on the base and then second was a miss-pitch against Nunez. The first

pitch was pretty weak."

Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford singled ahead of Nunez, who hit his 10th double of the

season to left center.

It was a back and forth game with the Giants overcoming a 2-0 deficit with a three-run

seventh. Dexter Fowler replied with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning but the

Giants scored once in the eighth and won it in the ninth.

"It could have been a disheartening loss, but the boys kept battling," Bochy said. "A great way

to start the trip."

San Francisco has a three-game set in St. Louis before playing four at the Chicago Cubs.

Giants starter Matt Moore entered with a 10.50 ERA in four road games, but went six innings

and gave up two runs and five hits. He walked three and struck out five.

"We've lost a lot of games on the road and not because they've been 1-0 or 2-0," Moore said.

"It's one of those things that doesn't have to be said."

Michael Wacha got his first start in 11 days. He allowed four hits over six innings, struck out five

and walked three.

EARLY EXIT: St. Louis manager Mike Matheny was ejected during the seventh inning. He yelled

at home plate umpire Nic Lentz as he removed reliever Matt Bowman and as he left he was

22

tossed. It was Matheny's second ejection of the season.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: Missouri Gov. Eric Grietens and University of Illinois football coach Lovie

Smith were both in attendance.

HOLY MATRIMONY: Giants RHP Cory Gearrin got married at San Francisco city hall Thursday

afternoon to Maddi Reynolds. Gearrin arrived early Friday morning to join his team.

ROSTER MOVE: The Cardinals recalled IF Jhonny Peralta (upper respiratory condition) from the

10-day DL and optioned rookie Magneuris Sierra to Double-A Springfield. Peralta singled as a

pinch hitter in the seventh.

TRAINERS ROOM

Giants: IF Conor Gillaspie (back spasms) began a rehab assignment Friday with Triple-A

Sacramento.

Cardinals: OF Stephen Piscotty (hamstring strain) was removed from a rehab assignment game

Thursday after two innings as a precaution after he tweaked his knee. He was projected to

rejoin St. Louis this weekend.

UP NEXT

Giants: Jeff Samardzija (1-5, 5.26) is looking for his second consecutive victory after dropping

his first five decisions, including his first four starts.

Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (3-3, 3.88) has won his last three starts after beginning the season 0-

3.

ESPN.com

The stupidity of retaliation

Buster Olney

Major League Baseball is in an era of enlightenment, in which organizations are filled with

bright minds of men and women who won’t accept the status quo without examination. The

phrase That’s the way it's always been done is routinely ignored, thankfully, and more informed

decisions are made about defensive positioning, pitch selection, bunts, platoons, trade value

and about whether it’s worth sacrificing an All-Star catcher to the act of blocking home plate to

prevent one run in one game in a 162-game landscape.

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But somehow, as the sport has evolved, the practice of retaliation -- through the use of a

baseball thrown at a prone human target -- is still in play, left over like a horse and buggy in the

middle of an interstate highway. There could be no better example of this than what happened

between the Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays.

To review: On Wednesday night, Jose Bautista clubbed a home run with his Blue Jays down 8-3,

and flipped his bat with joy, momentarily glaring in the direction of the Atlanta pitcher, Eric

O'Flaherty. Bautista’s celebration seemed kind of silly with his team down by a field goal and a

safety, but hey, Bautista's emotional reactions can’t be a surprise to anyone who has watched

him play during the past decade. First baseman Jace Peterson said something to him as he

rounded base, and so did Braves catcher Kurt Suzuki. After the game, the Braves mostly

sounded amused by Bautista’s actions.

But from the end of the Atlanta game on Wednesday night to the start of Thursday’s game, it

was determined by somebody that Bautista was going to get drilled. This may have been fueled

by Freddie Freeman's injury: His left wrist was broken by an Aaron Loup fastball Wednesday,

and losing their best player for months may have exacerbated the Braves’ feelings. Whatever

the primary motivation for the Atlanta retaliation, Julio Teheran threw his first pitch to Bautista

inside, at about 94 mph, and then hit him with his second pitch, at 95 mph -- the fastest pitch

thrown by Teheran this year. Bautista said nothing, dropped his bat and went to first base.

When Atlanta's Julio Teheran drilled Toronto's Jose Bautista, it helped jump-start a Blue

Jays rally. So what was the point? Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP

What followed was a lot of Toronto runs. Three in the first, and six more before Teheran’s ugly

three-inning pitching line was completed.

So what was the point of the retaliation?

Longtime broadcaster Joe Simpson asked a really great question as Teheran struggled in the

early innings: How much was Teheran thinking about his forthcoming retaliatory strike on

Bautista as he prepared and warmed up for the game? Because drilling a hitter on purpose is

not something pitchers do often.

Keep in mind: Teheran went into Thursday’s start needing performance traction. He really could

have used a clean first inning, to get off to a good start, to try to pick up a team reeling from the

loss of Freeman. Instead, Teheran and the Braves jump-started a rally for the Blue Jays, and by

the bottom of the fourth inning, Teheran was in the clubhouse, having generated his worst start

of the year.

What was gained?

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Bautista may have a bruise on his thigh, but in his second plate appearance, he mashed a

double; it wasn’t like he was intimidated. There was no competitive advantage gleaned. And

what if the Blue Jays had retaliated, and another Braves player was hurt?

A really, really smart manager who believed in statistics and reasoning thought through the

retaliation about a half-century ago, and he decided that his teams would not participate in the

beanball thing for the sake of a competitive advantage.

Orioles Manager Earl Weaver discouraged his pitchers -- OK, knowing Earl, he probably barked

at them with biting sarcasm -- with logic. If you retaliate, he told them, one of our guys might

wind up getting hurt, and our guys are better than their guys. As a result, Orioles pitchers hit

relatively few batters.

Here are the Orioles' American League Rankings in HBPs in Weaver’s first 11 years as manager:

1969 Second fewest

1970 Fewest

1971 Fewest

1972 Fewest

1973 Fewest

1974 Tied for fewest

1975 Fewest (the Orioles hit just 12 batters)

1976 Second fewest

1977 Seventh

1978 Fewest

1979 Tied for fewest

Sarah Langs of ESPN Research dug this out: In Weaver’s first 14 years as the Orioles’ manager,

Baltimore pitchers hit by far the fewest hitters of any staff in the AL (the expansion Jays and

Mariners, who played their first seasons in 1977, are not included on this list).

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1. Angels 537

2. White Sox 502

3. Rangers 492

4. Red Sox 478

5. Tigers 475

6. Indians 458

7. Brewers 455

8. Twins 437

9. Athletics 435

10. Royals 412

11. Yankees 316

12. Orioles 274

And Baltimore was pretty good in this time, playing in the World Series four times. It won more

games than any team in those 14 years, with a 1,306-885 record, a winning percentage of .596.

The Reds were second, at .571 (1,258-946).

This is not to suggest the Orioles won because Weaver was a conscientious objector in the

American League’s HBP wars. But what is evident is Baltimore was not hurt because the

pitchers wouldn’t participate, and it is possible Weaver’s strategy helped to keep Hall of Famers

like Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken and Jim Palmer on the field. The fact that the

Orioles were not engaged in the retaliation meant there were almost certainly fewer situations

in which some pitcher purposefully targeted a Baltimore hitter. (Although Orioles batters were

hit their fair share in Weaver’s tenure: 469 times, or fifth most.)

Cubs president Theo Epstein’s mantra to the front offices he has led has been: "We don’t know

s---." In other words: Question everything. Look at the logic behind everything we do. And there

is no sound reasoning behind a pitcher intentionally hitting a fellow member of his own union

with a 95 mph fastball and placing that other person’s body and career at heightened risk for

serious injury.

26

The necessary evolution of thought needs to extend to Major League Baseball, as well, because

right now, MLB is in the position of fostering this antiquated practice. Earlier this season, Chris

Sale threw behind Manny Machado and everybody in uniform at Fenway Park that day knew

that it was probably on purpose, including the umpires. But Sale was not ejected; he was not

suspended. Because within the current culture of baseball, in the unwritten rules, there’s The

Right Way To Retaliate and The Wrong Way To Retaliate, and by that measure, Sale was OK in

the eyes of MLB law. Which is kind of dumb, because if Sale hadn’t controlled the pitch the way

he intended and broke Machado’s jaw, Sale’s retaliation would’ve been deemed The Wrong

Way To Retaliate.

What happened to discouraging retaliation altogether? In what other sport are game officials

and league executives looking the other way in retaliation? If a D-lineman goes down to a cut

block in the NFL, referees aren’t giving his team one free shot at wrecking somebody’s knee. If

an NBA player is hit with a flagrant foul 2, referees won’t look away if the other team attempts

a flagrant 2-type violation. Even in the NHL, a league of enforcers and goons, an act of

retaliation leads to a penalty, a game misconduct, a suspension.

But on Thursday night, Teheran intentionally fired a baseball into the leg of Bautista at 95 mph,

and you know what he got? A warning. If MLB sticks with the current practices and standards,

Teheran won’t be reprimanded in any way -- and in fact, under the unwritten rules, the

message to Teheran is that what he did is The Right Way To Retaliate.

How crazy is that? How inane?

Earl Weaver was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996, and passed away four years ago. But

hopefully the rest of baseball will catch up to him sometime in the next century.