SAN FRANCISCO – Hayden Birdsong’s rapid rise has stalled in recent weeks.

But with just a few extra days of rest, the rookie right-hander made it through on Thursday, even when it was not enough for the Giants (72-75) to win their playoff game against the Brewers (84-62).

Birdsong, 23, went five innings without allowing a run, however the Giants' offense left their bullpen no room for error, resulting in a 3-0 loss. They lost for the seventh straight time Birdsong was on the mound, but for the primary time, he can't be blamed.

“He really needed that,” manager Bob Melvin said of Birdsong, who hadn't lasted five innings since July 27, the team's last game win without him.

“It was nice to be in the (strike) zone from the first pitch to the last,” added Birdsong, who hit a season low by issuing only one free pass.

Just two weeks ago, the identical opponent knocked him out of the sport with five runs within the fourth inning, which was representative of most of Birdsong's second half. He allowed 4 walks in 3⅔ innings, one in all five appearances since July 27 wherein he allowed three or more batters to walk, and one in all six appearances with fewer than five innings.

On Thursday, it was a special story in front of twenty-two,184 fans – the smallest crowd of the season – as Birdsong efficiently pitched five innings, throwing just 68 pitches as he held the Giants' bullpen to a scoreless tie, with 11 of the 17 batters he faced (64.7%) starting with strikes on the primary pitch.

“You could see he was putting his fastball in the zone,” Melvin said. “Good run, good speed. The further he got, the more confidence he gained. So it was a big accomplishment for him to give us five like that.”

While Birdsong posted a 2.45 ERA in his first six major league starts, he threw 60.7% strikes on the primary pitch. In his previous six starts, he posted a formidable 8.76, and Birdsong hit the strike zone on just 46.7% of his first pitches.

It made a major difference. Through Thursday night, 24 of Birdsong's 35 walks had come after he was down 1-0 and batters had an OPS of .910. When Birdsong took the lead, opposing batters' OPS dropped to .642. Funnily enough, his only walk on Thursday got here after William Contreras struck out on the primary pitch.

“Obviously I had a walk,” Birdsong said. “But that didn't bother me at the time because I was all in the game. That's all I really wanted to do. I want to keep doing that and keep showing that I can pitch five (innings) and more. Today I was really happy with what I did.”

In an ideal world, the right-handed rookie's progress would have been rewarded with a win.

Instead, the Giants were treated to the complete range of Camilo Doval's experience within the seventh inning.

Doval got ahead of the primary batter of the inning, Willy Adames, but then missed the strike zone 4 times, putting him on one base. He flashed his strikeout prowess to strike out Gary Sánchez and lessen the threat, but then he completely missed Curt Casali's glove, not once, not twice, but thrice.

Doval allowed the Brewers to attain the sport's first run without putting the ball in play, using a walk and three wild pitches as an alternative. Jackson Chourio prolonged the lead in the following inning with a two-run homer off Spencer Bivens that landed in the correct field lane to make it 3-0.

“He's all about control,” Melvin said of his former closer. “When he throws the ball over the plate, he's hard to handle. That's been his problem. He dropped a slider the other day, so maybe he's trying to be a little bit good with that. But his fastball still has a lot of potential. When he hits his slider well, he's still up. He just has a hard time hitting it consistently.”

The Giants, however, were shut out for six innings by Brewers starter Frankie Montas – a former player for manager Bob Melvin on the A's – who managed 15 strikeouts while being limited to 5 hits on an evening wherein that they had three home runs and 17 hits in a 13-2 victory.

They only advanced five men to bat and didn’t rating on six occasions, leaving a complete of eight runners on the sector.

Jerar Encarnacion hit a double off Brewers closer Devin Williams down the left field line to provide the Giants runners on second and third base with one out within the ninth inning, but Grant McCray went down swinging and Patrick Bailey was grounded out, ending the sport.

The clean sheet loss was the Giants' sixth of the season and prevented them from winning two games in a row for the primary time because the first week of August. It was the primary time this season the Giants lost a house series against an NL Central opponent after winning no less than two of three games against the Reds, Cubs and Pirates.

Remarkable

SS Tyler Fitzgerald The club announced that he left the sport within the third inning as a result of a lower back injury.

Next

The Giants host the Padres (82-65) for 3 games on the town to finish their penultimate home stretch of the 12 months. Play begins at 7:15 p.m. Friday, but they’ve not yet announced pitching plans for the weekend series. Their next loss or the Dodgers' next win will mathematically knock them out of the race for the NL West.

Originally published: September 12, 2024 at 21:13

MILWAUKEE – It was a frustrating night for a pitcher Tuesday at American Family Field.

The two starters, Logan Webb and Tobias Myers, have been nearly as good as they may be over the past few weeks, but each were out of the sport in the underside of the sixth inning because the Giants and Brewers traded home runs in the primary inning of their three-game series.

Mike Yastrzemski's two-run blast into right field within the seventh inning was the Giants' (67-66) third home run of the night – the fifth overall by either side – and it proved crucial in a much-needed 5-4 victory to maintain pace with the Braves (72-60), who maintained their 5 1/2 game lead for the ultimate wild card.

For San Francisco, it was the fourth straight one-point game after losing two of three such games against the Mariners over the weekend.

“They all have their own personalities, but we were very conscious that every night felt like that,” manager Bob Melvin said. “… I don't want to say you become immune to them, but you certainly get used to the intensity of every inning, every pitch, and the fact that you can't let up. If you allow a run, you have to come back and do it again.”

“We've kind of developed that in this phase, but it would still be nice to have a game where we don't have to use our best relievers every game.”

Once again, it was Ryan Walker and Tyler Rogers who did the work in the ultimate two innings, however the Giants still needed more from their bullpen. They used 4 relievers behind Webb, who only lasted two batters into the sixth inning after not one of the Giants' three starters made it past the fourth during their weekend series in Seattle.

Webb removed his cap and wiped his brow after his 14th pitch to William Contreras in the primary inning landed in foul territory, just out of reach of first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr., getting the Brewers' designated hitter on base along with his fifteenth pitch of the batting appearance. Those 15 pitches were essentially the most Webb has thrown in a batting appearance in his entire profession. He screamed a curse into his glove that may very well be heard throughout the stadium when he finally returned to the dugout after sinking 33 pitches for his first three outs of the night.

The Giants' workhorse at the highest of their rotation understood the circumstances and his frustration grew with each putaway pitch that didn't produce the specified result.

“I wanted to give them as much as I could, but unfortunately I put myself in a dead end in the first inning,” said Webb, who allowed 4 runs on two home runs in five innings. “Long at-bats and a long inning. I thought I could get through six innings, but I wasn't very good in the sixth inning.”

Perhaps much more frustrating than losing a batter on the fifteenth pitch is denying a runner a main scoring position. The Giants took a 1-0 lead within the third inning, though Myers entered the sport with the bottom ERA in the main leagues since June 1, but allowed three runs for under the second time in that span.

After Grant McCray hit a single and stole second base, Myers was called for a balk when his shoe got stuck during his throw. This allowed McCray to attain on a groundout from Wade. San Francisco scored two more runs against Myers on solo hits from McCray and Matt Chapman.

“It's funny,” McCray said with a serious expression. “On the way to the third, I was laughing and thinking, 'I got you.'”

McCray got him even higher within the fifth inning, sending a 422-footer halfway up the second deck in right field, a swing that immediately followed a diving catch by center fielder Blake Perkins that robbed Thairo Estrada of a lead-off home run. Instead, it was the Giants' rookie center fielder who gave them a temporary 3-2 lead within the fifth inning.

The Giants asked for a crew chief review to find out if Perkins had pushed Estrada's ball against the wall on the opposite side of the outfield fence, however the out was upheld.

“I honestly felt like they should have given him the home run,” McCray said. “When he came back, I thought, 'I've got your back, daddy, I've got your back, don't worry.'”

The Giants needed a 3rd home run to take the lead for good, and Yastrzemski hit their final home run of the night. After falling behind 2-0 within the seventh inning against reliever Joel Payamps, Yastrzemski dropped two offspeed passes outside the strike zone after which hit a 2-2 fastball into the right-field seats for a two-run shot that turned a one-run deficit right into a one-run lead.

“When you have a lead in the game, you have to keep it. That's the job of the starting pitcher,” said Webb. “I didn't manage to do that today, but the guys had my back.”

Webb faced two batters within the sixth inning but didn't surrender either. He left the sport after hitting his second home run to offer the Brewers a 4-3 lead. It was Webb's shortest start since July 25 in Los Angeles, which was also the last time he allowed greater than three runs. Webb had a 0.96 ERA in five starts since then, the very best in the main leagues during that span, and had scored no less than seven runs in 4 of those games.

His home run-less streak stretched even further back to July 20, a league-leading 43 1/3 inning streak into the night, but he served up a pair of gigantic hits to Jackson Chourio and Willy Adames. Webb entered the sport with one among the bottom home run rates in the main leagues — his 0.36 HR/9 was the very best home run rate in baseball entering the sport — and had not allowed multiple home runs in any of his starts this season.

Chourio, the Brewers' rookie outfielder, ripped up a piece of the center-field scoreboard along with his 449-foot moonshot that gave them a 2-1 lead within the third inning. Adames had an excellent higher handle on his two-run shot within the fifth inning — at 110.8 mph to Chourio's 109.7 mph — and tossed his bat as he watched the ball fly an estimated 435 feet over the Brewers' bullpen in left-center field.

“His line gets out of whack when you allow four hits the whole time and two of them end up being two-run home runs,” Melvin said. “He pitched well.”

The Giants' bullpen, alternatively, answered its call of duty despite having to handle a heavy workload in three close, tense games over the weekend.

Rogers needed to get the ultimate out within the seventh inning, then hit a leadoff single within the scoreless eighth. Walker was also willing to pitch multiple innings if needed, warming up within the eighth and coming back within the ninth to get a three-out save, his fourth of the season.

Both relievers are already at the highest of the league when it comes to appearances, having appeared in two of their three games in Seattle, with Walker appearing in two innings on Friday.

“It's not like we haven't played these games every day,” Melvin said. “It's uncomfortable to have to put guys in for an inning or more, especially guys who are at the top of the league in terms of appearances, but when it comes to a situation like this … look, they've been so good. We feel good when they're in the game and we have a lead. It usually works out for us.”

Remarkable

The Giants were one among three teams to draft Myers in 2022 before he was traded to the Brewers, where he was one among the majors' only starters within the second half. During his three-week stint with the Sacramento River Cats, his path crossed with Heliot Ramos and Sean Hjelle.

Webb's 15-pitch battle with Contreras in the primary inning was one among the longest of the season. The Twins' Manuel Margot accomplished a 16-pitch batting appearance against the Rangers' Andrew Heaney on August 16 that surpassed Nick Castellanos' 15-pitch batting appearance on August 4 for the longest of the season.

Next

LHP Kyle Harrison (7-5, 4.00) takes the ball against RHP Freddy Peralta (8-7, 3.86) within the second game of the series. Since Harrison has had a number of off days recently and had already reached a career-high innings (117), the Giants decided to offer the 23-year-old rookie nine days rest between starts. First pitch is scheduled for five:10 p.m. PT.

Originally published: August 27, 2024 at 20:03

OAKLAND – Joey Estes allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings and the Oakland Athletics scored 4 times within the fourth inning in a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, avoiding a sweep of the three-game series.

Estes (6-6) held the Brewers, who had scored 20 runs in the primary two games of the series, to simply two hits while allowing five strikeouts and a walk. Mason Miller recorded his twenty first save of the season when he entered the sport with two outs within the eighth inning and a one-run lead.

Estes, 22, said he placed his fastball effectively and his sweeper worked well as well.

“I feel like I was able to change the eye level a little bit and mess up the count,” Estes said.

Brewers starter Frankie Montas (6-9) gave the A's the lead in the primary three innings, but Oakland broke through within the fourth inning, scoring 4 runs when the primary five batters reached base.

“Our offense has struggled to score throughout the home game,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said, “so today was a great day because the pitchers took good care of us.”

Trailing 2-0, Lawrence Butler, Brent Rooker and JJ Bleday opened the inning with consecutive singles. Shea Langeliers walked with the bases loaded, Seth Brown tied the sport with a single, then Daz Cameron and Zack Gelof hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to offer the A's a 4-2 lead.

“We couldn't string those hits together or build those innings like we did today in the fourth,” Kotsay said. “Coming out of the All-Star break, we've done a better job of not just relying on the home run to win games. So that's a part of the offense that we talk about, that we work on (in batting practice) … and it's a good feeling to see it executed.”

Gary Sánchez hit a two-run homer for the Brewers within the second inning. Willy Adames cut Oakland's result in 4-3 with a solo home run within the seventh inning.

Montas was a pitcher for the A's from 2017 to 2022 and finished sixth within the 2021 Cy Young voting with 13 wins.

“After we went up 2-0, we didn't get the ball moving properly,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “If you don't do that, you lose games in the major leagues.”

The A's, who will play Sacramento next season before moving to Las Vegas in 2028, drew 15,961 spectators to the Coliseum.

Montas, who received a game ball after the sport, said it was “special” to pitch on the Coliseum one last time.

“I had my best season here at the Coliseum,” Montas said. “It will definitely always have a place in my heart.”

TRAINING ROOM

Athletics: IF Tyler Soderstrom (left wrist) will increase his hitting this week. … IF Jacob Wilson (left hamstring strain) must have one other rehab outing at Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday and can be evaluated after the sport, based on manager Mark Kotsay. … LHP Scott Alexander (left rotator cuff inflammation) worked a bullpen session Saturday and will face live hitters this week.

Next

Athletics: Oakland travels to Cincinnati to face the Reds in a three-game series starting Tuesday. RHP Mitch Spence (7-9, 4.67 ERA) is scheduled to begin the primary game.

Originally published: August 25, 2024 at 16:06

Red Sox

BOSTON (AP) — Joey Ortiz hit a two-run double to cap a five-run third inning and the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-3 on Saturday.

Brice Turang hit a solo home run for the Brewers, who beat the Red Sox for the second straight day of their three-game series.

Wearing their City Connect uniforms of shiny yellow jerseys with powder blue lettering and caps, the Red Sox went hitless for six innings. Ceddanne Rafaela scored two runs for Boston.

Colin Rea (4-2) allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings of relief after Jared Koenig made the primary 4 outs.

Rea allowed a leadoff double from Rafael Devers off the middle field wall within the seventh inning that ended the no-hit attempt.

“I was watching from the training room and didn't want to move,” Koenig said. “I was hoping Colin would keep going, but that's difficult.”

The Brewers' last no-hitter was on September 11, 2021, when pitchers Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader combined to defeat the Cleveland Indians 3-0.

Trevor Megill struck out David Hamilton with two runners on base, securing his eighth save.

All five of Milwaukee's runs within the third inning got here with two outs after 4 consecutive hits by Boston's starter. Nick Pivetta (2-3) Jake Bauers, Gary Sánchez and Sal Frelick — who grew up in nearby Lexington, Massachusetts, and played at Boston College — each had an RBI single before Ortiz hit into the gap between left and center field.

“Two outs, nobody on the plate, six batters in a row – impressive,” said Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy. “Pretty relentless. Every pitch matters, two outs, nobody on the plate. … Just keep pecking like a woodpecker, never stop.”

Turang hit a house run over Boston's bullpen within the eighth inning.

Pivetta accounted for five runs and 7 hits in 3 1/3 innings, but recorded his 1,000th profession strikeout when he got William Contreras swinging with a curveball within the third inning.

“I ran behind the guys and let them run,” Pivetta said. “I couldn't do my job.”

Koenig began for the second consecutive game. The last Brewers pitcher to accomplish that was Zack Greinke, who did it 3 times in a row in 2012. He began on July 7, was thrown out in the primary inning, began the following day after which in the primary game after the All-Star break.

A replay showed that a fan along the left field line touched a ball put into play by Willy Adames within the second inning. Murphy denied that the ball had been touched, and Adames went to second base.

TRAINING ROOM
Red Sox: RHP Garrett Whitlock said his season is over and his right ulnar collateral ligament is predicted to be repaired with an internal splint. The 27-year-old had Tommy John surgery in 2019 when he was within the Yankees' farm system. “The rehab after that is a lot easier than Tommy John. It's one of those things where you keep moving forward,” he said before the sport. … 1B Triston Casas (injured list since April 21, rib strain) has recently began hitting grounders. Manager Alex Cora said he doesn't know when he'll have the option to begin swinging a bat again. “We want to make sure he goes through the right steps and sticks to the process,” Cora said. “Obviously, you go through the right steps when you swing.” … Boston LF Tyler O'Neill, who caught Blake Perkins' hit with a leaping ball before crashing into the Green Monster within the second inning, left the sport with soreness in his right knee. “He wasn’t feeling well the whole time, so we decided to take him out,” Cora said.

BREWERY TRADE

The Brewers got RHP Garrett Stallings from Baltimore for RHPs Thyago Vieira and Aneuris Rodriguez.

Stallings, 26, was chosen within the fifth round of the 2019 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Angels. This season, he went 0-1 with a 5.67 ERA in 11 games (4 starts) for Triple-A Norfolk.

NEXT

Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (1-2, 5.00 ERA) is scheduled to face Red Sox RHP Tanner Houck (4-5, 1.94) within the series finale on Sunday.

Bill Zito has come a great distance since his days as a batboy with the Milwaukee Brewers.

From a World Series appearance as a teenage thug boy to the Stanley Cup Final as an NHL general manager, it's a life well lived.

The Florida Panthers took a probability on Zito in September 2020, giving him his first GM job within the NHL after the previous player agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets accepted several GM jobs elsewhere.

Zito interviewed for GM openings on the Buffalo Sabers (Jason Botterill was hired), Minnesota Wild (Paul Fenton was hired), Wild Again (Bill Guerin got it), Carolina Hurricanes (owner Tom Dundon ultimately didn't hire a GM after several After interviewing candidates, team president Don Waddell named GM as an alternative, Philadelphia Flyers (Chuck Fletcher got it), Edmonton Oilers (Ken Holland got it), and New Jersey Devils (where the owner interviewed several people, including Zito, before finally leaving appointed interim GM Tom Fitzgerald to the full-time position).

That being said, Zito didn't take the straightforward path to where he’s today. He needed to be patient. First of all, he took the chance of giving up his player agency business. Acme World Sports, an organization he founded in 1995, had represented the likes of Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask, John Madden, Kimmo Timonen and Brian Rafalski. As the Blue Jackets' AGM in 2013, he was immersed in an entire recent world.

So when the Panthers announced this week that they’d signed Zito to a multi-year extension (his previous contract expired after next season) and promoted him to president of hockey operations, one had to take a seat back and reflect on the trail they were taking.

“You feel very lucky, blessed and humbled,” were Zito’s first words after we spoke on the phone Monday evening. “I am so grateful to the Violas (the team’s owners) for this opportunity.

“And for the opportunity to be part of something. You know, we've been lucky enough to bring together a really good group of like-minded people here. Being able to be part of it is a privilege.”

It's been quite a journey. You're still missing out on the Stanley Cup, but Zito has built a team in Florida that may compete not only this yr but for several years to return.

“One of the blessings here is the core group,” Zito said. “They are not just good players, they are great people.

“And the group of people I work with every day, learn from, interact with, and be challenged by is so extraordinary.”

Team USA Olympic GM Bill Guerin has gotten to know Zito well and they’re going to now work together as a part of the country's 4 Nations and Olympics management group.

“Honestly, I love Billy,” Guerin said Tuesday. “NO. 1, as a person, he and I have become closer over the last 10 years or so when we were both assistant GMs. He's one of the smartest people I know. He thinks differently. I really respect that. He thinks outside the box, he is aggressive.

“There’s always something going on upstairs. I just think the world of him.”

The Panthers have only had four players on their NHL roster since Zito was named GM on September 2, 2020: captain Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Sergei Bobrovsky and Eetu Luostarinen. The first three are undoubtedly great and important veterans.

Zito makes a degree of tipping his hat to former Panthers GM Dale Tallon, who left behind a robust core and good assets to inherit.

“I played against some pretty good players here,” Zito said. “A little will for Dale, right?”

But Zito was as aggressive as some other GM within the league, moving on his starter and trading for guys like Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Montour. There was also his reticent signing of Carter Verhaeghe, his waiving of Gustav Forsling, etc.

“Billy has done an outstanding job in transforming the Panthers,” Waddell said Tuesday.

“Looking back on his time as an agent, I always found Bill to be a creative, outside-the-box thinker,” said Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois. “It served him well then and it continued to serve him well as he moved into team management. He has proven to be a thoughtful and courageous GM and his leadership since his hiring has helped the Panthers become a top team in the league.”

Some first-time GMs sit idle an excessive amount of, afraid to get beaten on a trade. That wasn't Zito.

Not every first-time GM gets their second contract. That's only a fact of life within the fast lane. And a few of these first-time GMs won’t ever get one other probability.

One thing I've heard from experienced GMs through the years is that they should learn to delegate more over time. When you turn into a GM, you realize that each decision is your butt on the road. The money stays with you. It's an awesome feeling, and also you'll often see first-time GMs feel the necessity to delve into every aspect of it day-after-day. GMs must learn to grow right into a place where they know people care about certain things, they usually must learn to let go a bit.

Zito took a deep breath before answering.

“Everything you said is correct and to the point,” he said. “It’s a little different for me because I had a sports agency so I have experience running a business.”

“Knowing the interaction you just referenced and my personal experience, I still don’t fully understand it,” he added with fun. “It remains to be difficult to delegate. I even have problems.”

Zito can laugh at himself about it because he hopes he'll get well at it over time. But all of it comes from caring a lot about every little detail within the day-to-day operations of the hockey side of the franchise.

He truly lives and dies with every victory or defeat.

In the meantime, Zito has tried to soak up as much knowledge as possible from people across the league.

He points to a call from the Board of Governors in the course of the pandemic when Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs made a comment to all the group that actually stuck with him.

“He said, 'Someone smart once told me that no one would ever get into trouble,'” Zito said. “I found that really interesting. I know I have to do better. And I think probably anyone could.”

Right now it's all concerning the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Panthers are hoping for one more deep run.

The offseason will likely be busy as at all times, Reinhart is an impending unrestricted free agent who’s having a profession season. One of the things I discovered interesting just a few weeks ago once I spoke to Reinhart about his upcoming contract decision was that he cited his comfort level with Zito as a reason why he isn't stressed about not having signed a contract extension yet.

“I think the relationship that we have, me and Billy, me and the organization, it's all positive, it's all mutual,” Reinhart said. “I am very happy that things are continuing. Hopefully we have bigger things in mind in the next few months. But I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

This feeling is mutual.

“I have nothing but respect for Sam and it will be done at the right time,” Zito reiterated on Monday evening.

If Reinhart stays, it should undoubtedly cost lower than his market demand can be on July 1st. But who can blame him if he's willing to take less?

They built something special in South Florida. And everyone wants a bit of it.