Tuesday, September 22, 2020

                W-L     GB

Cincinnati 28-27     Hottest team in the race

Philadelphia 27-27     Miami still within reach

GIANTS         26-27 1/2     Can't afford another one

Milwaukee 26-27 1/2     In same boat as Giants

Colorado        24-29 2 1/2    Still in it if they can win

New York 24-30 3     May drop out if lose again

Yesterday

Giants lost to Colorado, 7-2.

Cincinnati defeated Milwaukee; they've won 8 of 10 and gained four games on the Giants and Phillies.

Philadelphia lost at Washington and New York lost at home to Tampa.

Today

Giants host the Rockies again at 6:45 PDT. Drew Smyly and Kyle Freeland in a battle of lefthanders. The Giants did well against Freeland in his two previous starts, though they lost both games late.

Milwaukee is at Cincinnati, Philadelphia has a doubleheader at Washington, and New York hosts Tampa Bay.

Last Night's Game

Johnny Cueto picked the worst possible time for his worst start of the year. He was roughed up for seven runs, all earned, in four-plus innings: 8 hits and 3 walks against 13 outs. Former Giant Kevin Pillar earned some payback by scoring the game's first run and launching a homer off Cueto in the third; he finished 2-for 5. The top three of the Giants' lineup was 6-for-12 with both RBIs but that was it; a particularly unhappy moment came when Gabe Kapler pinch-hit for Joey Bart in the eighth. Alex Dickerson, whose wife just had their first child, returned to the lineup with a 3-for-4 night including a double and a homer.  

Notes

Colorado is now 5-2 against the Giants on the season. If that isn't evened up by Thursday night, this may have been all in vain... Cueto has made three starts since his fine effort against Arizona on August 30, and the last two have been especially bad. Eight days of rest this time didn't appear to do him any good... Cincinnati trails St Louis by one percentage point for second place in the Central... Philly has been one game behind second-place Miami in the East for what seems like forever; both have lost their last two. Playing the last-place Nationals while the Marlins have the division-leading Braves should be a golden opportunity for the Phillies, but the Giants can tell them all about that kind of opportunity... Oakland became the first team to clinch a division title last night, and they did it by beating the Dodgers in LA.