Schoop’s three-run homer cap’s Orioles rally vs. Giants

Machado, who was one of the runs driven in by Schoop, celebrated with his teammate as he crossed home plate and got a little carried away when he lowered his shoulder into Schoop, knocking him on the ground (see video above). The Giants got three strong scoreless innings from George Kontos and two more from Jake Peavy but the offense couldn’t put a serious dent in the Baltimore lead.

The Giants led 7-1 after six innings and Strickland helped to tamp down the Orioles’ two-run rally against Cueto when he struck out Manny Machado on a 99 miles per hour fastball to strand a runner.

It’s no secret that the eight-time world champion Giants are perennial heavyweights in the baseball world and due to their three championships in six years, they’ve earned their status as one of the top clubs in the world. “They have a unsafe lineup one through eight there, they can hurt you, that’s what happened today”.

The San Francisco Giants are a miserable 8-16 since the All-Star break but still manage to hold possession of the National League West lead entering Friday’s opener of a three-game series against the visiting Baltimore Orioles. In their one real chance for a breakout inning against Baltimore starter Dylan Bundy – two on and one out in the third – Brandon Belt hit into a double play to end the rally. The left-handed ace hadn’t earned a winning decision since his first-half closing one-hit shutout of Arizona on July 10.

Giants outfielder Hunter Pence homered off Wade Miley in the fourth inning, his first since a almost two-month stint on the disabled list that ended July 30.

Belt then put the game out of reach with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh after Angel Pagan had led off with his third walk of the game.

Giants catcher Buster Posey noted after the loss that he knows what to expect from Bumgarner.

“You come up in two spots and all you have to do is hit a fly ball somewhere to get a run and don’t get anything done, that’s tough”, Bumgarner said. “It was about 40 minutes before the game that we scratched Buster”.

“I was aware of the power”, Casilla said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I didn’t feel it necessarily on the plane”.

Cueto kept the Orioles in the park while giving up three runs in 6 2/3 innings – a sign of progress for the right-hander, who had yielded 10 home runs over his previous eight starts (including his start in the All-Star Game) after giving up just four in his first 16 assignments.

The Baltimore Orioles took the loss on Saturday and with it they fell a half of a game behinds the Toronto Blue Jays atop the AL East standings.

The Giants got the winning run on base in the ninth against Orioles closer Zach Britton when Brown singled and Posey drew a pinch intentional walk with two outs and first base open. It was Trumbo’s 33rd homer of the season, tops in Major League Baseball. She was the daughter of former Giants executive vice president Corey Busch and served as the team’s batgirl from 2000 to 2001.

Giants: OF Mac Williamson, on the disabled list since August 1 with a left shoulder strain, began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento. He’ll continue his rehab assignment as the Giants consider the timing of his return.

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Giants: Newly acquired LHP Matt Moore will make his home debut in a series opener with Pittsburgh. He is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in his first two starts with San Francisco and 7-8 with a 3.99 ERA in 23 combined starts with the Giants and Tampa Bay.