Podcast: Bay Area News Group’s Kerry Crowley on San Francisco Giants’ first week of season

The San Francisco Giants are looking to bounce back from a 98-loss season, and they are off to a decent start in 2018.

The San Francisco Giants are now 4-3 thanks to a thrilling walk-off victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday night, when newcomer Andrew McCutchen hit a game-winning home run for his sixth hit of the game.

The Giants will take that considering they started the season with four games in Los Angeles without ace Madison Bumgarner and innings-eater Jeff Samardzija, who both suffered injuries in spring training.

The good news is the Giants are expected to get Samardzija back in the middle of this month. Bumgarner will not be back until June at the earliest.

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While there have been pleasant surprises, such as the strong bullpen which was such a problem in 2017, there have been a few disappointments. Newly acquired third baseman Evan Longoria is hitting .053 and has been striking out in key situations with runners in scoring position.

Coming into Sunday’s game, the Giants have a 2.54 bullpen ERA, good for eighth in baseball. They’ve hit 10 home runs in seven games, far surpassing their total in the same stretch last year.

To sort it all out is Kerry Crowley, Giants beat writer for the Bay Area News Group.

Kerry started out as the Giants beat writer for KNBR radio and moved to the Bay Area News Group at the start of this season.

He joined Around the Foghorn’s Vince Cestone to discuss his overall impression of the team, how the bullpen is a strength, and his biggest surprise so far.

Kerry also talks about the mood of the clubhouse and stadium when Bumgarner went down to injury on the final game in Scottsdale. Bumgarner broke his pinky after getting hit on the hand on a line drive against the Kansas City Royals.

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Here is the full interview:

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