Giants right-hander Trevor Cahill made the start in Thursday’s series finale, but it was left-hander Drew Smyly who appeared better equipped to pitch deep into a ballgame and face an opposing lineup multiple times. Cahill struggled through three innings of work, giving up four runs on five hits on a night when the Padres took an early lead and never lost control in a 6-1 Giants loss. In his first appearance since August 1, Smyly returned from the injured list and became the first Giants pitcher in more than 30 years to strike out at least eight batters in relief. The lefty consistently hit 94 ..read more

The San Francisco Giants arrived in San Diego Thursday riding a five-game win streak and playing their best baseball of the season. Given the way the Giants have performed over the last three weeks, it seemed only a handful of teams in the National League would have a chance of slowing them down. The Padres happened to be one of them. With two home runs and a dominant performance from its bullpen, San Diego stopped a red-hot Giants team in its tracks and dealt San Francisco a 6-1 defeat in the opener of a critical four-game series. The Giants may have lost the game and a bit of the momentum th ..read more

Veteran switch-hitter Justin Smoak hit .186 with a .642 OPS in 113 at-bats for the Milwaukee Brewers this season, but when he became a free agent on Sunday, the San Francisco Giants viewed him as a potential upgrade over Pablo Sandoval. After signing Smoak to a minor league deal Wednesday, the Giants placed Sandoval on unconditional release waivers Thursday and added Smoak to the major league roster. The club also made another roster move Thursday, bringing left-handed pitcher Drew Smyly (left index finger strain) back from the injured list and optioning Rico García to the Sacramento alternate ..read more

Click here if you are unable to view the photos on a mobile device. The San Francisco Giants are in the midst of a playoff push, but if they play in October, they won’t have one of the best postseason performers in franchise history. The Giants announced Thursday that Sandoval has been placed on unconditional release waivers, moving on from the infielder fewer than three weeks after they cut another fan favorite, Hunter Pence. The club hasn’t officially announced a corresponding roster move, but they signed veteran switch-hitter Justin Smoak to a minor league deal Wednesday and are likely targ ..read more

It’s been nearly four years since the San Francisco Giants’ postseason hopes still felt legitimate in the month of September. After losing 98 games in 2017 and fading down the stretch in each of the past two seasons, the 2020 Giants have won 15 of their last 20 and enter the last two-plus weeks of the schedule with a chance to secure a playoff spot. The Giants haven’t played pressure-packed, must-win games in September since they locked up a Wildcard berth with four straight victories to close out the 2016 season, but the franchise is finally playing meaningful series again. In an abbreviated ..read more

After winning five in a row and 15 of their last 20 games, the San Francisco Giants are one of the hottest teams in baseball. One of the only clubs that can legitimately claim it’s been better over the last few weeks is a San Diego Padres team set to welcome the Giants to town this weekend. Throughout the 2010s, the Giants were built on pitching and defense, but as they open a new decade in Gabe Kapler’s inaugural year as the team’s manager, the club has battled its way into playoff position on the strength of its offense. The Giants have been extremely difficult on opposing pitchers, but the ..read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Since the San Francisco Giants started a torrid stretch in which they’ve won 15 of their last 20 games, the only thing more dependable than the sun rising from the east and setting in the west has been the club’s relentless offense. On an unsettling day when wildfires around the state of California prevented Bay Area residents from ever seeing the sun in their neighborhoods, the Giants’ lineup still found a way to shine. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski hit a three-run homer in the third inning and Evan Longoria delivered a two-out, two-run single in the fifth to break the game open ..read more

After winning 14 of their last 19 games, the Giants have climbed above .500 and are increasingly considered a legitimate threat to sneak into the postseason. With the club in the midst of a playoff push, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi made a surprising addition to the team’s player pool on Wednesday by signing veteran free agent Justin Smoak to a minor league deal. Smoak will report to the team’s alternate site in Sacramento and isn’t yet a member of the 40-man roster, but he’ll need to be added to the club by Sept. 15 to become eligible to participate in the postseason. Smoak b ..read more

Major League Baseball will celebrate the life and legacy of Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente on Wednesday, allowing all Puerto Rico natives to don Clemente’s No. 21 in their respective games. Many in the baseball community including Giants quality control coach, Nick Ortiz, and Giants reliever Rico García, believe the league can go even further to properly honor one of the game’s Latin American pioneers. Like Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, they believe Clemente’s No. 21 should be retired across the sport. “He was pretty much our first voice as Latin Americans on the big stage,” Ortiz said ..read more

GAMECHANGERS: This is the fourth in a series of stories chronicling the Bay Area’s rich history of sports figures fighting for equality. Click here for a look at what Tommie Smith and John Carlos — the enduring emblems of athlete protest — think about today’s movement, what Curt Flood did for racial equity with his fight for free agency in baseball and how USF’s Phil Woolpert pushed the racial boundaries in NCAA basketball. How was a quiet, self-effacing baseball owner like Horace C. Stoneham supposed to draw notice with his media-savvy rivals making a Jackie Robinson splash? He wasn’t. But th ..read more