Lars Nootbaar homered and tripled to drive in three runs, Ryan Helsley closed for his franchise-record 49th save and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 on Friday night. The Cardinals have won five of six and secured their 23rd winning season in the last 25 years. The Giants' loss means they will not finish above .500 for the third straight season since winning a franchise-record 107 games in 2021.

San Francisco scored three runs in the second inning, but the St. Louis Cardinals stormed back to hand the Giants a 6-3 loss Friday at Oracle Park.

Jerar Encarnacion homered and the Giants earned an early lead, but rookie starter Landen Roupp had an uncharacteristic blow-up, pitting San Francisco in too deep a deficit. While playing from behind, the Giants squandered a couple chances, then couldn't create any more during the late innings in a 6-3 loss. To finish .500 on the season, the Giants (79-81) must win each of their final two games at Oracle Park. “Definitely not the way I wanted to end it,” Roupp said after his final 2024 start.

Farhan Zaidi expressed regret over the Giants' handling of younger players during his tenure in San Francisco.

Matt Chapman, in his first year with the Giants, was named the 2024 Willie Mac Award winner. Voted on by players, coaches, training staff and fans, the Willie Mac is the most coveted team award the Giants annually present. Past winners include Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Crawford, J.T. Snow, Mike Krukow, and Matt Cain.

After a sucker-punch of a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday and dropping two-of-three against the San Francisco Giants this week, the Arizona Diamondbacks are hanging on by a thread in the NL postseason race. Arizona currently holds the third NL Wild Card spot, leading the Atlanta Braves by just one game. The New York Mets hold the second spot, but only two of the three will see October. With the Mets and Braves getting the final two games of their series postponed to Monday, it's possible the Diamondbacks won't know their fate until Monday night.

In 2007, the San Francisco Giants made a big, splashy deal in free agency. They were able to sign Oakland Athletics ace, Barry Zito, away from their Bay Area counterpart. Zito spent seven years with the Giants, playing a huge role in the 2012 World Series run. However, he never forgot his roots, and Zito made sure to pay respects to the A's in their last home game in Oakland by singing the National Anthem. Barry Zito sings the national anthem pic.twitter.com/mtoNbvSxID — Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) September 26, 2024 San Francisco signed Zito to a seven year, $126 million dollar deal after the 2006 season. The lefty was coming off of a season where he was an All-Star, while posting a 3.83 ERA in

Shortly after learning that Marco Luciano would once again be changing positions, the San Francisco Giants are going to be moving one of their outfield prospects to the infield. On the latest episode of 'Giants Talk' on NBC Sports Bay Area, insider Alex Pavlovic reported that Wade Meckler has been getting work at second base. Meckler is currently the 16th best prospect in the San Francisco system, according to MLB Pipeline.

The 2024 MLB regular season was a disappointing one overall for the San Francisco Giants . They are missing the postseason for the third straight year and the seventh time out of the last eight; their only appearance was in 2021 when they won 107 games. 2022 is the only other time in this stretch they even finished .500. Despite the lack of success in the win column, there were a few positive takeaways for the team. The biggest, in the opinion of Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report , was the performance of Matt Chapman. “Matt Chapman has been nothing short of excellent in his first season with the Giants, posting a 126 OPS+ with 36 doubles, 27 home runs and 78 RBI while playing his usual stellar defense

The San Francisco Giants have an impressive collection of young talent in their farm system, including Reggie Crawford. Crawford was viewed as a potential two-way player entering the professional ranks but only pitched in 2024. Crawford had already missed time in his career due to Tommy John surgery, so this is a very tough blow for the Giants' top prospect.

The San Francisco Giants will find themselves staring at a potential difference-maker in their future when Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals visit Friday night for the start of the final three games of the regular season. Neither the Giants (79-80) or Cardinals (81-78) will be participating in the postseason next week, so each team enters the head-to-head with the same goal: Finish above .500. Coming off a remarkable 7-2 road trip to Baltimore, Kansas City and Arizona, the Giants find themselves needing to sweep the series to finish over .500 for the first time since 2021. Meanwhile, the Cardinals still need just one win to finish north of the break-even mark for the 16th time in the past 17 years.

St. Louis Cardinals (81-78, third in the NL Central) vs. San Francisco Giants (79-80, fourth in the NL West) San Francisco; Friday, 10:15 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (9-11, 5.35 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 118 strikeouts); Giants: Landen Roupp (1-1, 2.70 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 43 strikeouts) : LINE Giants -128, Cardinals +109; over/under is 7 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The San Francisco Giants open a three-game series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. San Francisco is 79-80 overall and 41-37 at home. The Giants have the ninth-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .396. St. Louis is 81-78 overall and 37-41 in road games. The Cardinals have a 37-15 record in games when

St. Louis Cardinals (81-78, third in the NL Central) vs. San Francisco Giants (79-80, fourth in the NL West) San Francisco; Friday, 10:15 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (9-11, 5.35 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 118 strikeouts); Giants: Landen Roupp (1-1, 2.70 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 43 strikeouts) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Giants -128, Cardinals +109; over/under is 7 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The San Francisco Giants open a three-game series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. San Francisco is 79-80 overall and 41-37 at home. The Giants have the ninth-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .396. St. Louis is 81-78 overall and 37-41 in road games. The Cardinals have a 37-15 record

73 — Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants, 2001 70 — Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals, 1998 66 — Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, 1998 65 — Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals, 1999 64 — Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, 2001 63 — Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, 1999 62 — x-Aaron Judge, New York Yankees, 2022 61 — Roger Maris, N.Y. Yankees, 1961 60 — Babe Ruth, N.Y. Yankees, 1927 59 — Babe Ruth, N.Y. Yankees, 1921 59 — x-Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins, 2017 58 — Jimmie Foxx, Philadelphia Athletics, 1932 58 — Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers, 1938 58 — Mark McGwire, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, 1997 58 — Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies, 2006 58 — x-Aaron Judge, New York Yankees, 2024 57 — Luis Gonzalez,

이미지 확대 Reds Giants Baseball San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee fails to catch a fly ball hit by Cincinnati Reds' Jeimer Candelario in the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Lee would leave the game after injuring himself during the play. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO LICENSING EXCEPT BY AP COOPERATIVE MEMBERS 닫기 이미지 확대 보기 Reds Giants Baseball San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee fails to catch a fly ball hit by Cincinnati Reds' Jeimer Candelario in the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Lee would leave the game after injuring himself during the play. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News

이미지 확대 Reds Giants Baseball San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee fails to catch a fly ball hit by Cincinnati Reds' Jeimer Candelario in the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Lee would leave the game after injuring himself during the play. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO LICENSING EXCEPT BY AP COOPERATIVE MEMBERS 닫기 이미지 확대 보기 Reds Giants Baseball San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee fails to catch a fly ball hit by Cincinnati Reds' Jeimer Candelario in the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Lee would leave the game after injuring himself during the play. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News

On Friday, a series opener is on the schedule, with the St. Louis Cardinals (81-78) visiting the San Francisco Giants (79-80) at 10:15 p.m. ET. The Cardinals are an away underdog (+105) against the Giants (-125). The starting pitchers are Landen Roupp (1-1) for the San Francisco Giants, and Miles Mikolas (9-11) for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants lost 8-2 to the Diamondbacks Wednesday, with Mason Black (2 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits while striking out three) on the hook for the loss.

Bryce Eldridge has become one of the most talked-about prospects in minor league baseball and now last year's first round pick will represent the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Fall League, which starts next month. Eldridge was one of eight Giants prospects selected to play and he will certainly be the one that draws the most attention once the league begins next week.

Zac Gallen struck out 11 in six innings, pinch hitter Pavin Smith hit a three-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks ended a three-game losing streak with an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. Arizona needed a rebound after a losing streak that included a blown eight-run lead in a loss to Milwaukee and Tuesday's lackluster 11-0 loss to the Giants. The Diamondbacks responded behind a strong performance from their ace and are .001 behind the New York Mets for the second of three National League wild cards, a game ahead of Atlanta.

A matchup between two former Lackawanna League baseball stars Wednesday night didn't last very long. Valley View graduate and San Francisco Giants pitcher Mason Black got knocked out in the third inning by Scranton grad Jake McCarthy and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. The Diamondbacks won, 8-2. Making his eighth major league start, Black was coming off his best outing in nine career ...