SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: The Giants and Padres play game two of this four game series (Aug. 31-Sept. 3)…the Giants defeated the Padres by a score of 7-2 last night. With last night’s victory and a win in the last road trip’s finale (8-6 victory at PHI on Aug. 23), the Giants have won consecutive road games for the first time since taking five-straight out of the break (July 14-18 at PIT and CIN). The Giants have won four of their last five games outscoring their opponents 26-13…their starting rotation is 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA and .137 opponents’ average in that span, while their offense is averaging 5.2 runs per game.
ROSTER MOVES: With rosters expanding to 28 players today, the Giants made the following roster moves: IF Brandon Crawford reinstated from the 10-day injured list…
he missed 12 games with a left forearm strain. RHP Keaton Winn recalled from Triple-A Sacramento. Winn last pitched on August 25 with the River Cats and threw 3.0-scoreless innings…today marks his third recall this year… he’s appeared in five games (two starts) for SF, posting a 4.09 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP.
WILD THOUGHTS: The Giants currently hold the third Wild Card spot with a 1.0 game advantage over Arizona and a 1.5 game lead over Cincinnati. Per Stats, LLC, the Giants have made the playoffs six of eight times in the Wild Card era when entering September in-line for the postseason. SF made the Postseason in 2021, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2003 and 2000 while missing the playoffs in 2009 and 2004.
BECK IN ACTION: RHP Tristan Beck will make his 30th appearance and second start of the season tonight. Beck made his first career MLB start last Sunday against Atlanta…he threw 4.1 innings and allowed three runs on three hits with five Ks…he retired the first 12 Braves batters he faced. He’s struck out 62 batters and allowed 19 walks over 71.2 innings of work…his 3.26 K/BB ratio ranks as the third-highest figure among Giants Rookies all-time (min. 70.0ip) behind Masanori Murakami in 1965 (3.86) and Madison Bumgarner in 2010 (3.31) (Stats, LLC).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: San Francisco has posted a 32-33 (.492) record on the road this year and has dropped 14 of their last 18 road contests, dating back to July 19.
SF has been outscored 93-61 (-32) over its last 18 road games. In that stretch, SF hitters are batting .212 (125×590) with 179 strikeouts and a .291 OBP.
However, SF is 3-3 in their last six road games and is averaging 5.2 runs per game over tht stretch. Giants pitchers have posted a 5.24 ERA (87er, 149.1ip) on the road and allowed 23 home runs in 18 games since July 19.
RISP MANAGEMENT: The Giants are hitting .298 (14-for-47) with six doubles and 17 RBI with runners in scoring position over their last five games. However, since June 22, the Giants have the third-lowest average with runners in scoring position in the Majors behind Oakland (.201) and New York-AL (.214).
POWER OUTAGE: The Giants have hit just 10 home runs since August 16, tied with Pittsburgh for the second-fewest in the Majors behind Kansas City (10). Since the All-Star break the Giants have scored just 51 of their 164 runs via home run (31.1%), which is the lowest percentage of runs scored from home run in the Majors (Stats, LLC). The Giants hit 106 homers in 90 games prior to the All-Star break and have hit just 38 dingers in 44 games post break.
‘PEN TO PAPER: The high-volume of innings for SF’s bullpen has set the group up for a record-breaking season. SF’s bullpen leads MLB with 596 strikeouts…the next closest team is Miami with 531. Giants relievers’ 596 strikeouts are second-most in franchise history, with the record being 611 strikeouts in 2019. SF has a 3.31 bullpen ERA since May 1, which is the lowest figure in the Majors.
JOC-YING FOR AT-BATS: Pederson’s 10 career home runs at Petco Park are his most at any ballpark other than Dodger Stadium and Oracle Park. His 21 career home runs against SD are his most against any team, and sixth-most vs. SD among active players (Stats, LLC).
DOWN TO THE WIRE: The Giants and Padres stand at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to winning close games. SF is 49-31 (.613) in games decided by three or fewer runs… their .613 winning percentage is best in the National League. San Diego is 28-49 (.364) in games decided by three or fewer runs, which is the second-worst mark in MLB.
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Padres commit 3 errors and lose 7-2 to Giants in 1st of the 4-game set
- Starter Pedro Avila was saddled with the loss after allowing 6 runs (just 1 of them earned) on 6 hits, 5 strikeouts, and 2 walks allowed…reliever Matt Waldron worked 5.0 innings with 1 run allowed and 4 strikeouts. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 2-for-4 for the Padres’ sole multi-hit effort, and both Garrett Cooper and Jose Azocar doubled.
Cleaning it up on defense
- The Padres committed a season-high-tying 3 errors last night, and in 11 games since Game 2 of San Diego’s double header vs. Arizona on August 19, the Padres have committed a Major League-most 15 errors in that span…of their four 3-error games this year, 3 of them have come since July 31. The 15 errors in 11 games are the most the Padres have committed in any 11-game span in a season since they had a 16-error span in 2011.
Friars look to turn the page on August
- The Padres have dropped 5 of their 6 games, and in August, they had the 2nd-lowest winning percentage in the National League at .357 (10-18), ahead of just the Rockies’ .259 (7-20). SD’s 4.29 runs per game in August was their 2nd lowest in a month this year, ahead of just their 3.96 r/g in May…their 18 losses were their most in any month this season, and their pitchers’ 4.48 ERA was their 2nd highest, ahead of just their 4.56 ERA in April.
Padres sitting at 799 all-time wins at Petco Park
- SD’s next “W” at home will mark their 800th all-time victory in downtown SD…Petco Park opened a little over 19 years ago on April 8, 2004 vs. SF, and the Padres walked off the Giants 5-4 in 10 innings.
Starter strength
- Padres starters lead the NL in ERA (3.79) and quality starts (61)…their .239 opponent average is 2nd in the NL to the Brewers’ .232, and their 1,191 punchouts are 3rd behind Miami (1,247) and Atlanta (1,249).
Statcast says…
- Padres pitchers have the lowest opponent exit velocity in the Majors (88.0 mph) and the lowest hardhit percentage (36.4%)…on the defensive side, the Padres fielders lead all of baseball in outs above average (29).
STARTING PITCHER – MICHAEL WACHA
Wacha’s 1.64 ERA vs. SF best among all pitchers since 1913
32-year-old Michael Wacha is set for his 9th career start vs. SF and his 2nd this season, which took place on Wed, June 19 @ Oracle Park…he did not factor into SD’s 7-4 defeat in extra innings…his 1.64 ERA is the best among all pitchers who have made at least 8 starts vs. SF since 1913…and among all active pitchers (min. 8 starts), his 1.64 ERA ranks 1st ahead of Clayton Kershaw (2.02), Kyle Hendricks (2.03), Julio Urias (2.09) and Zack Greinke (2.37).
Bid for 4th consecutive winning decision denied @ MIL
Last Sun at MIL, Wacha took the mound for his 16th career start vs. MIL and 2nd this season, but walked a season-high-tying 5, including 4 in a row in the 3rd inning…July 1 (prior to being placed on the 15-day IL w/ right shoulder inflammatkon) and Aug 15 & 21 marked the 11th time he’s earned the win in 3 consecutive outings, and it was his 2nd three-start win streak this season (also: May 9-21).
Owner of the 4th-most consecutive starts with 2 ER-orfewer in franchise history
Last Sun @ MIL also snapped Wacha’s streak of 12 consecutive starts allowing 2 ER-orfewer since May 2, which was the 4th longest streak in SD history, behind only
Mat Latos
(15 in 2010), Blake Snell (13 in ’23) and Joe Musgrove (13 in ’21)…over that stretch, he is 8-1 with a 1.15 ERA (9 ER, 70.2 IP), a 0.89 WHIP and .169 opp. AVG.
The best winning percentage in MLB since ’22
Enters tonight’s start with a 10-2 record and the Padres are 12-6 in his 18 starts…among all qualifying pitchers since the beginning of 2022, Wacha’s .844 winning percentage (21-4) is the best in the Majors, ahead of Tony Gonsolin (24-6, .800), Kyle Wright (21-6, .778) and Clayton Kershaw (24-7, .774).
Happy 10.000
On Mon, July 17, Wacha reached 10.000 years of ML service time…he’s currently 1 of 7 Padres with 10.000+ years of service time, with Xander Bogaerts recently joining the club Aug 6. Wacha’s 7 scoreless starts across 5.0+ T-most in Majors Despite having made just 4 starts since June 19, Wacha’s 7 scoreless starts of at least 5.0 IP are tied for 3rd-most in the Majors with 3 others, trailing only rotation-mate Blake Snell and TOR’s Chris Bassitt’s 8…his 34 career such starts are T-23rd most in the Majors since his debut 2013 season.
First time through
Michael Wacha (.197) and Yu Darvish (.198) rank T-4th and 5th, respectively, among all qualifying NL starters in opponent AVG the 1st time thru a batting order…among qualifying NL starters the first time through, Wacha ties with Corbin Burns’ (.197) and trails only Tony Gonsolin (.149), Eury Perez (.182) and Spencer Strider (.196).
