The Giants keep surprising everyone. 4-2 this week with all 4 wins by one run, and 2 were extra inning. Two games were single-handedly won by Pablo Sandoval, as he hit two game winning homeruns this week. As a part-time player, he leads the team with 13 bombs. They are 26-10 in one run games and 11-2 in extra inning games. They keep pushing the narrative that this team can win, and will win close games. It's torture. It's classic Giants baseball, and Bruce Bochy thrives managing this team. 

Eric and Chad talk about the last week in Giants' baseball and the impending trade deadline that is less than 24 hours away as this is typed. Most likely, they Giants will NOT be trading away Bum and Smith, and in fact, may be adding small pieces. Although this could hurt their long-term prospects, we agree that Zaidi has proven that he can adapt to a changing team and will be able to cope with a lack of trade return. And the reality is...the players don't care about what this team will look like in 2-3 years. Most of them won't be on the team then. They care about now. This is Bochy's last season. Although their playoff chances are predicted between 7-12%, that is irrelevant to the clubhouse. They believe, and that's all that matters. It'll be an interesting concluding two months of the season.

On a somber note, I (Chad) live in Gilroy, and we opened this show discussing the tragic events that transpired at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday. Although my family didn't attend that fateful day, plenty of my friends and their kids did, serving in the volunteer capacity at various food booths and such. Literally dozens of my friends and the friends of my 13 year old daughter had to run from goddam bullets, saw people shot, one was grazed by a bullet. It's left an indelible mark on my town of Gilroy, but we will persevere

. Please consider donating to various funds, including the GoFundMe page for the 6 year old boy that was senselessly gunned down. Donate blood at the Red Cross. Do what you can to help our little town recover. It's been a rough 36 hours, but it was important to me to record a show today.

twitter.com/torturecast

facebook.com/torturecast

torturecast.com

From our friend Ryan Leong comes Joe Maddon's post game comments after the Giants beat the Cubs 5-4 in comeback fashion. Be sure to check out our latest episode 173!

Shaun Anderson pitched 5 innings against the Cubs tonight in the Giants' thrilling 5-4 comeback win against the Cubs. Here are some of his post game comments. Be sure to check out episode 173 that we recorded earlier today!

This is a quick audio byte of my thoughts as I drove home on the 101 after tonight's epic come from behind victory over the Cubs 5-4. I covered the game from the press box tonight and was treated to a 3 run eight, capped off by Joe Panik's game-winning RBI double. Giants are above .500 for the first time this season, with 6 games to go until the trade deadline. They've won 16 of 19, and the exuberant clubhouse vibe was palpable. The audio quality isn't perfect, as it was recorded in my car. I'll post the audio of Shaun Anderson's post game in a separate file.

This team continues to surprise everyone, including GM Farhan Zaidi. The men in black and orange have won 15 of 18 and find themselves only 2.5 games out of the wildcard and are now tied for second in the NL West at 50-50...they're at .500! Every win in July has increased their chances of making the playoffs and decreased the chance that Zaidi will trade anyone. The next 7 games will probably dictate what he does.

Chad and Eric talk about the Giants' historic July, three extra inning walk-off wins versus the Mets, why Tim Flannery thinks the Giants should trade Bumgarner, who's hot (basically everyone), the minor league report, the flurry of transactions this week, and the crucial next 7 days before the July 31 trade deadline.

Chad will be covering Monday's game versus the Cubs, so be sure to tune into twitter @torturecast! 
www.torturecast.com

twitter.com/torturecast

facebook.com/torturecast

The Giants have won 9 of 11 and lead MLB in home runs for the month of July with 22. You read that right. They lead the league in home runs this month. Did this team find their true identity, or is this just a phase like a cranky teenager going through a growth spurt? Eric and Chad talk about the series win in Milwaukee and recorded this during the Giants' 19-2 demolition of the Rockies in the first game of their day-night doubleheader today. 

To the surprise of everyone, the Giants are one of the hottest teams in the league. All the more surprising is the fact that they are winning on the strength of their offense. The team is 9-2 in its last 11 while averaging 8.5 runs per game. Suddenly, they're just 4 games back of a playoff spot. At 750/1 to win the NL Pennant, there would be value betting on the Giants to squeak into the playoffs and make a run. However, Farhan Zaidi is still likely to sell at the deadline, so bettors wouldn't actually be wagering on this Giants team; they'd be wagering on a team that may be without the likes of Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith. The guys at Sports Betting Dime (www.sportsbettingdime.com) think there is value betting on the Giants to squeak into the playoffs and make a run. 

www.torturecast.com

twitter.com/torturecast

facebook.com/torturecast

The Giants have won 6 of 7 and head into the All Star break just 5 1/2 games out of the second wild card spot. The problem is that they have seven teams in front of them, and that is why the oddsmakers give the Giants only a 0.7% chance of making the playoffs. That said, we can still enjoy some good baseball as of late with a tremendous week by Evan Longoria, who hit 5 homeruns, including 4 in San Diego, the Shark is pitching very well, Dickerson continues to swing a hot bat, and Will Smith heads into the break converting 23 of 23 save opportunities and dipping his ERA under 2.

Chad and Eric talk about the last two weeks of Giants' baseball, Chad's experience covering the Diamondbacks game last Sunday, they give their All Star game and HR derby predictions, and look forward to baseball before the trading deadline to see if GM Zaidi will pull the trigger on any trades to help the farm system for future Giants' teams.

twitter.com/torturecast

facebook.com/torturecast

www.torturecast.com

The title was just too sophomoric to pass up...sorry about that. But, we do want more production from Alex Dickerson, who knocked in 9 runs in the first two games in Arizona, including a grand slam, two doubles, and a triple. This performance prompted the chant, "Dick! Dick! Dick!" from the Giants' dugout. Truly an awesome sight and sound.

We had a small break because of Chad's vacation, but it was a fairly successful period for the Giants, as they went 7-5 during the two week break, but still find themselves in the cellar of the NL West. Eric and Chad review the last two weeks, the latest trade rumors about Will Smith and Madison Bumgarner, compare Mike Yaztremski's stats through 92 plate appearances with that of his grandfather's start, this week in Giants' history, who's hot and not and more!

twitter.com/torturecast

facebook.com/torturecast

www.torturecast.com

The Giants just can't seem to push through in any particular week, and last week was no exception. Although they did win the first game of each series against the Mets and Dodgers, they proceeded to lose the next two games and each series. They also mustered a horrendous 2 for 24 with runners in scoring position against the Dodgers, glaringly one time unable to score with the bases loaded and no outs and again with runners on the corners with no outs in their 1-0 loss on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, anyone see that Muncy splash hit and the subsequent reaction by MadBum? Yeah, Eric and Chad have thoughts on that.

We also review the draft, this week in Giants history, and who's hot and who's not. We'll be back in two weeks for episode 170.

twitter.com/torturecast
facebook.com/torturecast
www.torturecast.com
We also review the draft, this week in Giants history, and who's hot and who's not. We'll be back in two weeks for episode 170.

twitter.com/torturecast
facebook.com/torturecast
www.torturecast.com

The Giants went 3-3 since our last podcast, but after losing the first two in Miami, I think most Giants fans will be quite pleased with winning 3 of 4 since then. But, let's be honest: going 3-3 against two of the worst teams in the league is disappointing, but also a barometer of where this Giants team is amongst the 30 clubs. We talk about the great performances of Shaun Anderson, Tyler Beede, and Jeff Samardzija, Crawford's 2 homer game, two easy wins in Baltimore, scoring 5 in the first inning just to give up 6 to the Orioles in the bottom half of the first, we review May's atrocious stats (spoiler: the starting pitching stats are the worst in SF history for ANY month), we preview the MLB draft (Giants have the 10th overall pick), who's hot and not, and much more! 

Don't forget to check out our weekly "This Week in Giants History" at www.torturecast.com!

@torturecast

facebook.com/torturecast