by
Crawnik
Good morning TWG! As we are in the first couple of days of November, I would like to thank Dr. Lefty for her latest OOLF post on the World Series anniversary week. Yesterday was the 12th (already!) anniversary of our Giants winning their first WS in San Francisco. Tomorrow (11/3), will, IIRC, be the anniversary of the long awaited parade down Market Street after the Giants 2010 championship. Getting back to the present though, below I have put together, highlights from the Giants’ month of May 2022. Every month of the 2021 regular season and the first month of the 2022 season, the Giants finished with a winning percentage of at least .600. All that came to an end. However, I give you the best of May.
1 May: At 32 years and 307 days of age, Jason Krizan is the oldest non-pitcher in SF Giants history to record his first ML hit, a single to RF.
6 May: RHP Sean Hjelle, the Giants’ 2nd Round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, received his first call up to the majors and made his big league debut in a 3-2 loss to St. Louis. He pitched the 7th inning, needing only eleven pitches to retire the side in order with one strikeout. At 6′ 11″, Hjelle is tied with Jon Rauch for being the tallest MLB player on record.
7 May: As the Giants paid tribute to their cherished catcher, Buster Posey, on the day they honored him for his 12 years with the only team he played for, the bats came alive in a 13-7 win over St. Louis. Wilmer Flores tied a career-high with 6 RBI, including a first inning grand slam. Flores came to bat two other times with the sacks full; driving in a run each with a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk. Darin Ruf and Mauricio Dubon hit 2-run homers in the second inning as the Giants built an 8-3 lead; a feat even Buster would be proud of on his day.
8 May: On Mother’s Day, homeruns by Lamonte Wade, Jr. and Mike Yastrzemski powered the Giants to a 4-3 win over St. Louis to earn a split of the four-game series. Yaz’ homer, his fifth splash HR of his career and the 93rd by a Giant, put the Giants in the lead for good.
11 May: With a 7-1 win over Colorado to complete a 3-game series sweep, the Giants have won 10 consecutive games vs. Colorado dating back to August 15, 2021; their longest winning streak versus a single opponent since taking 11 straight against the Reds from July 18, 1933 to May 7, 1934!
23 May: In a 13-3 loss to the Mets in New York, the lone highlight was outfielder Luis Gonzalez pitching the ninth inning. Gonzo became the first position player to pitch in back-to-back games since the expansion era began in 1961. Gonzalez is already tied for the second-most pitching appearances by a Giants position player in a single season since 1901, trailing only Charlie Hickman.
24 May: After having a pre-game chat with one of the franchise’s all-time greats, Barry Bonds, and saying he had “The best hitting conversation I’ve ever had in my life”, Joc Pederson had a momentous evening at Oracle Park. Inspired by Bonds, Pederson went on to deliver one of the greatest offensive performances in franchise history, crushing three homeruns and collecting 8 RBI, both career highs to help the Giants survive a wild comeback attempt from the Mets and snap their five-game losing skid with a 13-12 walk-off win. Pederson became the second Giant to register a three-homer game at Oracle Park, joining Pablo Sandoval (Game 1, 2012 World Series). His eight RBI also matched the San Francisco-era record previously held by Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda and Brandon Crawford.
25 May: In a 9-3 win over the Mets, 3B Evan Longoria went deep twice for his 20th career multi-homer game and first since July 2, 2019.
30 May: Logan Webb struck out a season-high 10 over 8 innings in a no-decision due to allowing a game-tying HR (his third allowed in the game) in the ninth inning, but Curt Casali hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the 10th to give the Giants a 5-4 win in Philadelphia.
31 May: Joc Pederson entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning and remained in the lineup as the DH, and hammered a two-run shot in to the upper deck in right field to cap a three-run 11th inning to lift the Giants to a 7-4 win in Philadelphia. Luis González went 4-for-5 – his first career four-hit game – with 2 doubles and 2 RBI, raising his average to .347. The Giants finished the month of May 13-14; the Giants first losing month under Gabe Kapler since August 2020.
I would have to say that my favorite highlights for May were the return of our beloved Buster since he announced his retirement in November of 2021 to be honored with a day so the fans could “officially” thank him for his 12 years and helped bring 3 World Series titles to the City by the Bay, along with with numerous accomplishments along the way. The Face of the Franchise had a proper send-off with the Giants’ winning against one of their long-time playoff rivals.
The other highlight has to be Pederson’s three-homer game in a back and forth slugfest with the Giants walking-off the Mets. Nice to get some hitting tips from baseball’s all-time home run king, right?
Again, I hoped you all enjoyed this stroll through the month of May 2022. Stay tuned next week for a trip through June, to include a sweep of some team down I-5. Wonder who that would be?