San Francisco Giants Week in Review: Bumgarner Homers, Bochy Honored

The San Francisco Giants had a rough week, but not rough enough to prevent them from having their typical ‘wow’ moments, including a Madison Bumgarner homer against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The San Francisco Giants week began on April Fool’s Day, and by the end of the weekend, most people were probably hoping it was just that—a joke. But, even with a rocky start to the 2019 season, there were still standout moments to make fans remember why they love watching Giants baseball.

Here’s a full rundown of the best and worst from the week:

San Francisco Giants – Best of the Week

The Giants #BeatLA! So, they may not have won the series, but they kept it fairly close in every game and  in their Tuesday night loss, Madison Bumgarner took Hyun-Jin Ryu yard. In their Saturday win against the Rays, rookie Connor Joe picked up his first big league hit after going 0-for-13 to start the year.

Bruce Bochy, in his final season as Giants manager, was honored by throwing out the first pitch during their home opener at Oracle Park. Lastly, Pat Burrell—former Giants slugger who proved to be a huge help in the 2010 World Series run—joined NBC Sports Bay Area as a Giants analyst.

San Francisco Giants – Worst of the Week

We’ll keep this short so as not to dwell on the bad, but it’s not all sunshine in San Francisco. The Giants went 2-4 last week, losing both three-game series in the process. During the same game that Bumgarner hit a home run, he also allowed Cody Bellinger to launch a grand slam off him, allowing five runs total in his six innings of work. Lastly, (told you it’d be short), losing the home opener always stings, and the Giants, unfortunately, did just that against Tampa Bay on Friday.

San Francisco Giants – Hitter of the Week

This one’s a toss-up—and that’s a good problem to have—between veteran Brandon Belt and novice Steven Duggar. In the series opener against the Dodgers, Belt *belted* one to center field to cut LA’s lead to one and then doubled to bring in three more and secure the final score of 4-2 for a Giants win.

On April 3, both Belt and Duggar homered to account for three more runs. Duggar had a double against the Rays on Friday to score Pablo Sandoval. In Saturday’s game, both players were busy once again; Belt had an RBI single and his third home-run of the season to score Duggar, while Duggar contributed a sac-fly along with the aforementioned double, adding two more RBI to his total.

• Brandon Belt crushes third home run of the season
• Steven Duggar homers against the Dodgers

San Francisco Giants – Pitcher of the Week

This one goes to an unexpected but worthy recipient in reliever Sam Dyson. Although pitching was definitely not the Giants’ strong suit last week, Dyson did well in limited action. He tallied two strikeouts (A.J. Pollock and Cody Bellinger) and only allowed two hits in the two games he appeared in, protecting a lead and recording a hold in both appearances. He now has a 1.93 ERA on the year.

• Sam Dyson strikes out Cody Bellinger

Tweet of the Week

Up Next

The Giants have a busy week ahead of them with no days off and a pair of NL West battles against the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies. Bumgarner will have a chance at redemption on Monday against the San Diego Padres after taking the loss against them on Opening Day.

The Giants’ bats need to get moving if they’re going to have any shot at contending this year, so looking to those who have started hot—Brandon Belt and Steven Duggar—will be the key to driving momentum throughout the clubhouse.

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After wrapping up the homestand next week, they’ll head East to take on the Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays during an eight-game road trip.