SF Giants: Onto Philadelphia to play the Phillies who are one of the hottest teams in baseball at the moment, but the Giants have one of the best pitchers on the mound starting the game with Jordan Hicks. Alas, Jordan for the first time this season, did not have his best stuff, giving up four walks (!!) and four runs in four innings (4 is not Jordan's lucky number!). The Phillies made those four runs stand, as they won the game, 4-3. It should be noted that in the last eight games, the Giants have scored three runs or fewer, and have a team batting average of under .200, yet are 3-5, thanks to mostly stellar pitching. Also of note, catcher Patrick Bailey, who HAS been hitting the ball well, was placed on seven day concussion protocol after a collision at home plate with a Phillies runner scoring. Oy!
Saturday's game and we have a rain delay in Philly! After a 90 minute rain delay, Giants starter Keaton Winn got into trouble early in the first, loading the bases with no outs and the Phillies took advantage, scoring five runs while it continued to rain. Winn was pulled after throwing 39 pitches in the 1st after giving up five runs. Bullpen time. Only top 3rd, and Phils up 9-0, wild pitches, slippery infield, muddy bases, make for an ugly game for the Giants. 1B Wilmer Flores did smack a two run home run in the 5th to make it 9-3 as the rain has stopped and this is now an official game. Final score ended up being 14-3, Phillies, in one of the ugliest games in a long time. Adding injury to insult, back up catcher Tom Murphy left the game in the 3rd inning with an apparent knee injury, so HIS backup, who took the red-eye to get to Philly, Blake Sabol entered the game.
Sunday, Logan Webb took the mound for the Giants under much better weather conditions, but only went four innings as he labored through 98 pitches and giving up four runs. Estrada did pop a two run home run, and rookie catcher Jakson Reetz who was called up last night much like Sabol was the night before, got his first home run on his first at bat. The Giants ended up losing though, 5-4.
Monday's day game had San Francisco putting one of their rookie phenom pitchers to take the mound to finish this Phillies series, Mason Black. The kid pitched well, but in the 5th, he was removed after giving up five runs on 84 pitches. Not much else to report as the Giants losing streak continues, as the Phillies won this game, 6 to 1. Last part of the road trip has us at Coors Field in Denver. Kyle Harrison took the mound, and did not allow a run to the Colorado Rockies hitters for seven innings, and the Giants offense played small ball to get some scoring, resulting in a much needed 5-0 win over the Rockies.
Jordan Hicks took the mound for Wednesday's game, and pitched a good game, not a great outing, but a solid outing of five innings, giving up three runs in this bandbox of a stadium. Giants closer Camilo Doval did give up two runs in the bottom of the 9th, but the Giants held on for an 8-6 victory! Should note that outside of Doval, the bullpen had a great game, especially Ryan Walker, who has just been shutting down opponent's bats and has a very nice 2.24 ERA! Oh, on the offensive side, more small ball by the Giants in this homer loving stadium, but LF Michael Conforto did smack a solo shot to bring up his total home runs to six!
Michael Conforto- credit: USA Today
Last game on this long road trip, and starter Kyle Harrison was doing okay for the first three innings before things fell apart for him, giving up six runs and not even finishing the 4th inning. Offense was back to quiet zone today, other than Conforto hitting another solo home run, (that's back to back games he has done this) to account for the Giants only run in a 9-1 loss to the Rockies. Hopping the plane for the trip back home to Oracle Park to take on the Cincinnati Reds.
Horse racing: The 150th Kentucky Derby was held on May the 4th be with you (Star Wars) day, and hoo boy...what a race! I had no skin in this race, but on the home stretch, three horses and their jockeys made it to the finish line in a literal photo finish! Mystik Dan at 18-1 odds, beat heavy favorite Sierre Leone (9-2 odds) by a nose, and held off Forever Young (6-1 odds) also by a nose for third place! a very exciting three minutes of racing that's not an F1 car race!
Madonna holds massive final tour concert: I COULD write about how great this event was, how it attracted a record 1.6 million fans to this free concert and last show of Madonna's tour in Rio, but I'll just drop a videos for you to enjoy!
This video is a quickie on how the government approached preparing for the show:
NYC Met Gala: I could talk about the looks for this years Met Gala, whose theme was "A Garden in Time", but again I think a short video would carry more oomph. My favorite was who Harpers listed as #3, no "Dune" this young lady can't overcome! Also notice the designer on the actress/singer at #5- Posh more than just a spicy wife to a soccer legend!
The best dressed male of the evening for me was Sir Lewis Hamilton, who jetted his way up from the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday to attend the Gala.
As the headline of this story below says, Lewis understood the assignment, and really did his research on the story of what he was going to wear- definitely a tie-in to black history. Definitely worth a read! https://www.whowhatwear.com/fashion/celebrity-style/lewis-hamilton-met-gala-2024
Locker Room Buzz: I used to follow the San Jose Sharks NHL hockey team a few years ago, but drifted away, but I also kept an eye on the team. After an awful worst in the league season that just wrapped up, the Sharks got some fantastic good news/luck when the draft lottery was held this week, as they scored the number one pick, who is almost certainly going to be phenom, Macklin Celebrini. Macklin has ties to the Bay Area, as his family home is in Livermore, a short drive to the Shark Tank in San Jose. Macklin's father, Rick Celebrini, is also the Director of Medicine for the Golden State Warriors! Here is Macklin accepting one of his many awards on the junior hockey circuit (and yes,I have some serious hair envy towards him!) :
Macklin Celebrini-credit: SBNation
"Puppy Panda" scandal in China. So, this happened:
Well, That's one way to avoid coming into contact with Kristi Noem!
Cicada invasion! Well, this hasn't happened on over 200 years, but the "flying cockroaches" as I refer to them, are making a massive comeback this year, with over ONE TRILLION cicadas descending upon the Midwest and South. YIKES! If you want to get buggy with it, this video is a good explainer of why this is happening.
As you can see, the buzz isn't just in the locker room!
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