Month: March 2014

New England Revolution End Earthquake’s 21 Game Home Unbeaten Steak with Late Minute Goal

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Photo Credit: MLS Twitter
Photo Credit: MLS Twitter

By: Joe Lami

Fans at Buck Shaw Stadium are used to seeing late-minute heroics, but this time it comes from the visitors as the New England Revolution score a heart-breaking goal in the 93rd minute to defeat the Earthquakes 2-1. The loss drops the Quake’s record to 0-2-1 for a total of one point on the season, keeping them in the cellar of the Western Conference.

The Revolution dominated the game early, having seven shots through the first 30 minutes of the match.  On many occasions Earthquakes keeper, Jon Busch had to keep his team in the game with many amazing diving saves.  New England got their first goal of the season, however it came off an Earthquakes’ own goal as Victor Bernandez put the ball into his own net in the 35th minute.  The defender was battling for a ball and tried to slide the ball away, but accidentally put it into his own net to give the Revolution the 1-0 lead.

The Earthquakes were unable to answer in the first half, however they did have a great chance when Steven Lenhart headed a free kick off of the foot of Cordell Cato in the 40th minute. The header just missed the far post on the left side.

Earthquakes Head Coach, Mark Watson was not pleased with the first half performance.  “We didn’t play well.  We didn’t have any energy.  We were second best to everything.”

The Earthquakes came out of halftime playing a lot better, as they took it to the Revolution.  One of their best chances was when Chris Wondolowski had a breakaway in the 64th minute.  However, the star striker just hit the outside of the net on the left side.

It would take just minutes later for the Earthquakes to find the equalizer, as Wondolowski would redeem himself, tying the game in the 69th minute.  Wondolowski was able to find the far left post from a near impossible angle as he swung at the ball with his right foot on the right side of the six-yard box.

A scary moment occurred in the 77th minute, when Steven Lenhart went down with an apparent left knee injury. Lenhart is known to have a serious past with knee injuries, which makes the possible injury even scarier. Watson commented on the injury “I think the issue is an MCL, but I don’t know how bad it is.”  Wondolowski later added “We (Wondolowski and Lenhart) feel optimistic about the injury, but will find out more on Monday.”

The Earthquakes were really pushing for the win, however it was on a counter attack where the Revolution made the Quakes pay. Lee Nguyen would find his first goal of the year, and the first goal for New England when he put the right-footed shot into the bottom left corner past Busch for the win.  “We were going all or nothing…it’s kind of the way we play…We had a point locked up tonight, and we went for three and ended up with nothing” commented Earthquakes’ Defender, Clarence Goodson.

The Earthquakes will get sometime to recover from the tough loss, as they don’t play until April 13 due to an international break.  The Quakes will look to regain their home pitch advantage as they take on the Columbus Crew.

Mavs squeak past Kings 103-100

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Photo credit: NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

After having been beaten by the Thunder on Friday, the Sacramento Kings had the unenviable task of playing the second half of a back-to-back Saturday night in Dallas against Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks. The Mavs are battling for the final spot in the playoffs in the Western Conference and winning was crucial if they were to stay in the hunt. Dallas did win 103-100, but the Mavs cannot be happy that the game was so close.

The Kings came into the game with just eleven active players and one of those players – Isaiah Thomas – could not play due a thigh contusion. Undermanned and on the road, the Kings should have been easy prey, but it would not turn out that way for Dallas.

Dallas was led by Nowitzki’s 19 points. He shot 50.0-percent from the field and added seven rebounds plus seven assists. Nowitzki was nine of 10 from the free throw line. Monte Ellis put up 17 points and dished out six assists. Samuel Dalembert scored 15 points going seven for eight from the field. Shawn Marion added 14 points.

The Mavs shot 48.6-percent (34 for 70) from the field. They shot just 30.4-percent (7 for 23) from 3-point range. Dallas really helped themselves from the charity stripe as they hit 28 of 35 (80.0-percent) from the free throw line.

The Mavericks also took advantage of the Kings’ turnovers. Dallas scored 25 points off Sacramento’s 18 turnovers.

The Kings field goal percentage was 51.9 (42 for 81) against Dallas. Sacramento shot just 30.0-percent (3 for 10) from beyond the 3-point line. They out-rebounded the Mavericks 47-35. The Kings outscored Dallas 60-38 in the paint.

Rudy Gay led the Kings in scoring with 30 points in 42 minutes on the floor. DeMarcus Cousins put up 17 points but was limited to just 29 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble.

With Isaiah Thomas on the bench, rookie Ray McCallum ran the team from the point for the second consecutive game. McCallum played the entire 48 minutes of the game. He scored 16 points and handed out eight assists. McCallum also had two steals and one blocked shot in the game.

Reggie Evans continues to impress with his 18 rebounds in the contest. He put up six points and had two steals.

The Kings will get a much needed day of rest on Sunday before taking on the Pelicans in New Orleans on Monday. Kings’ head coach Michael Malone indicated that Isaiah Thomas might be available versus the Pelicans.

“Must-Win” Marathon Could Benefit Sharks

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell behind the Anaheim Ducks again with Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. While other teams are in a race to make the playoffs, the Sharks are in a race to not face the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. That would be a good thing to avoid, but the Sharks’ schedule won’t make it easy.

Even with a home ice advantage, the Sharks could anticipate a physically gruelling first round if they face the Kings. Los Angeles does present an uncommonly heavy-hitting adversary, but playoff hockey is rough no matter who the opponent is. Minnesota, Phoenix or Dallas will come ready play hard in their own way.  The Sharks’ particular history with the Kings carries extra baggage but history lives only in our heads. If the Sharks face someone else in the first round, they could lose as easily, especially if they underestimate their opponent just because it isn’t Los Angeles.

The Ducks finish the regular season playing five of eight games against teams in the bottom third of the standings. The Sharks play three of six games against top eight teams to finish. One of the other games is against the Phoenix Coyotes, who may well be fighting for a playoff spot to the last game. The race against the Ducks won’t be easy for the Sharks to win.

On the other hand, whether they catch the Ducks or not, the Sharks will have a chance to elevate their game because they are facing such good competition. That could benefit them no matter who they play in the first round. The Sharks, like many good teams, can stumble in “should win” situations. The risk of injury or fatigue could outweigh the mental conditioning benefits of tough games, but over a span of six games the physical wear and tear should not be very different.

The advantage of avoiding the Kings in the first round is a real one, but ultimately the Sharks will have to be the better team if they want to advance to the finals. Maybe ramping up to the playoffs with a rigorous stretch against top opponents will do the trick.

Larry Leavitt Sharks commentary: Sharks hit skids losing five of their last seven games

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by Larry Leavitt

SAN JOSE–The Sharks right now are slumping they don’t seem to be in sink, they don’t seem to be on the same page, but there are some brighht hopes there. The third and fourth lines are playing good. The first line really have to get it together but the Sharks have a few games to go before the playoffs.

The Sharks really need to standback and regroup and kind of play the game for fun, right now their pressing and putting too much into it. Rather than play the game, their trying to work the game, they should play hockey rather than work hockey. The Colorado Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 47 shots in the Avs 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon.

Varlamov saw the shots that were coming at him turned away the shots that were there and was quick to react to them and Varlamov did an excellent job and when you play in the NHL your going to run into excellent goalies but you still have to play the game and you got to put the puck on the net and take advantage of your secondary chances but in the case of the Sharks the puck just wasn’t bouncing for the Sharks.

There were a couple of plays where the puck would bounce over the stick and the Sharks offense couldn’t finish the play. The timing wasn’t right it just didn’t work out and that’s going to happen. The Avs Matt Duchene didn’t get the two points but it’s pretty good to see the Avs a young team celebrating like they did there. They clinched for a playoff spot on Saturday and they worked hard to get to post season.

The Sharks are in the Pacific Division still trying to stay in front of the Anaheim Ducks trying to get home ice advantage which is a key in the playoffs. If the Sharks don’t get it or if they don’t find it it still would be nice if they can get home ice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Fortunately taking it into their own hands the Sharks are now counting on the Ducks to lose so they can have that home ice advantage.

The Sharks have the Edmonton Oilders (26-39-9) their a young team, they’ve been coming on strong they beat a tough Ducks team 4-3 Friday and they gave the Ducks a ride for their money at the Rexall Center in overtime and the Oilers won the shootout. The L.A. Kings and Nashville Predators are also coming to San Jose and Nashville is one of those surprise teams.

The Preds really compensate for what they lack in offense they make up in defense and what they do is they play a huge defensive game and they wait until that one moment when they make that attack and waiting for that one mistake. The Predators will play a full 60 minute game against you and they really don’t focus on the offense which they lacked in their last game to Dallas a 7-1 loss on Friday but focused on it on the night before against Buffalo with a 6-1 win. Which Pred team shows up at SAP Center on Saturday the Sharks we’ll have to wait and see.

Larry Leavitt does Sharks commentary weekly for Sportstalk Radio

Warriors commentary: The Spurs will be tough customer for Warriors if they meet in post season

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors are very familar with the San Antonio Spurs and they played them in their last series in the playoffs last post season. It was a rough six game series and in retrospect it could have gone either way if the Warriors made a few plays here and there in a couple of those games.

The Warriors know that the Spurs are going to be a tough team to beat and even without some of their top players it’s never easy to beat that team and they have a lot of experience and a great coach with Greg Poppovich.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili, San Antonio is tough to beat one way or the other and to be honest their the hottest team in the league right now. That definitely doesn’t help. The Spurs are playuing great basketball their on the road to locking up the number one seed and their just playing fantastic whether at home or on the road.

These games are always difficult especially for the Warriors they have various match up issues with them and some of the Warriors weaknesses play right into the strength of the Spurs so that certainly is going to be a problem. The Warriors have to look at the Spurs and say “hey we hope we don’t have to play them in the first round and someone else can knock them off so that we don’t have to play them at any point.”

That’s the best scenario the Warriors can hope for, San Antonio is going to be a tough opponent for anybody not just the Warriors you have to remember it took the Miami Heat seven games even then it was down to the last minute in game seven. San Antonio was just so close to being the defending champion. They were a fantastic team it really doesn’t seem to matter despite some of the older players on the team.

The Spurs are playing fantastic ball club and you have to tip your hat to them their a rough team and the Warriors had a rough go against them. So the Warriors aren’t a in different category because of that their just doing what everyone else does and that’s struggle against the Spurs.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Michael Duca on A’s and Giants: Lincecum could miss a turn with knee injury;Kazmir adds to A’s rotation

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by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–San Francisco Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong has not looked like his command where it needs to be in the spring. The Giants pitchers none the less have no worries and at least that’s manager Bruce Bochy’s feel on things, if you give up three or four runs in a Major League game you have a rock solid chance of winning the game.

The Giants have made it crystal clear of the fact that they only got 700 runs scorable in that line up and Giants manager Bruce Bochy won’t have to worry about his starting pitching staff coming into the season. Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum got hit square on a nerve when the come backer hit him in the leg on Friday night at AT&T.

Lincecum is looking good for Thursday night’s start basically he got a stinger on his knee from the A’s Daric Barton’s shot and that’s why Lincecum needed help off the field and he couldn’t feel it to walk on it by the time he got to the Giants dugout it was already improving.

The thing you had to worry about with that kind of injury and soaking wet Lincecum weighs 159 pounds so he got bruised up real good and it maybe a little worse than some other people but the injury happened on his plant leg. You want to be absolutely certain especially with somebody who’s fought mechanics in the past.

The team wants to be absolutely certain that when he lands he is landing exactly as he did before the injury so that he’s not altering his motion because that’s a good way to trash the shoulder. So Lincecum wants to be especially careful.The Giants may end up having Lincecum skipping a start if they do they can go with a four man rotation through April 19th the way the schedule works out.

The Giants Brandon Belt may have his breakout season and nobody is paying attention but he actually did last year if you look at Belt’s second half season last year his on base percentage was around 500 and an OBS of 500 would put Belt in the top ten in the National League.

Oakland A’s update: The Oakland A’s rotation is exceedingly in flux because they traded away Brett Anderson, they lost Jarrod Parker, their going to be in a little bit of flux but Scott Kazmir is a classic Billy Beane grab. Here’s a guy whose been out of baseball for nearly a year and was in the Independent League which takes a tremendous amount of fortitude for a player that has had $5-6 million a year and more.

He was the top prospect at Tampa Bay and from what I saw the other night and they spotted Kazmir’s fastball at 98 MPH and was just befuddling the Giants hitters. Kazmir is going to be an absolutely great additon to the roster and when you have the massive amounts of foul territory in a tough ball park and the number of outs he’s going to create there he’s going to have something close to career year with Oakland.

Michael Duca does commentary on the A’s and Giants each week for Sportstlak radio

End of the Spring

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{Giants} {MLB}

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-With the end of the 2014 Spring Training, coming this weekend, there are 25 players wearing the Orange and Black that are happy that the Spring Training is over and the regular season will now begin.

Over their last 21 games, the San Francisco Giants have been on the winning end of 12 of them, and overall they are 17-12-1 during the 2014 exhibition season.

The Giants won nine out of their 15 games at Scottsdale Stadium, 8-4-1 on the road and 0-2 in what is usually the friendly confines of AT&T Park.

Against National League opponents during the Cactus League play in the State of Arizona, the Giants went 10-2, a winning percentage of .833.

Over the Giants winning percentage of .586 was the fourth highest in the Cactus League behind the Seattle Mariners (.621), the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (.621) and the Cleveland Indians (.714).

After the game today, the Giants will take Sunday off and fly back to Arizona, where they will open their 132nd season on Monday afternoon against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Madison Bumgarner will take the ball for Bruce Bochy in the opener, while Kirk Gibson will send former Oakland Athletics pitcher Brandon McCarthy.

Matt Cain will head to the mound on Tuesday for the Giants, while Wade Miley will take the ball for Gainbosn’s ballclub.

The newest Giants pitcher, Tim Hudson will make his Giants debut on Wednesday, as the former A’s pitcher will face another former A’s pitcher in Trevor Cahill.

As of now, Tim Lincecum is set to pitch in the finale of the series, but that could be up in the air after the right-hander took a line drive off the left knee in Friday night’s 4-1 loss to the A’s at AT&T Park.

Lincecum was hit on the knee off a batted ball hit by A’s first baseman Daric Barton in the top of the fourth inning and left the game immediately.

X-Rays on Lincecum’s knee were negative and he was diagnosed with a contusion on the left knee.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Angels Mike Trout with largest contract ever for a player with two years of service

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–I do not understand why the fractions in baseball, when we are talking about this type of money, why not make it

$145 million, what is another half million on this contract anyway? For Mike Trout, it doesn’t matter, he has a contagious enthusiasm, and plays the game with great joy and commitment. Today he is becoming the face of baseball.

The last few seasons as I have been covering the LA Angels games for Fox Sports TV in Anaheim doing the play by play in Spanish with José Mota doing commentary, I have seen this kid play, (he’s still a kid at 22) growing into a sensational player.

His first year when the Angels visited Detroit, Al Kaline said Trout reminded him a lot of Mickey Mantle. If you ever saw Mantle play(I did when I was 22 and lived in New York for two years), that is quite a compliment, coming from the great Kaline.

I have interviewed Trout for our pregame show, no he doesn’t speak Spanish but I would talk to him get a couple of minutes, then I go up write the translation and a voice over so when we show it minutes before first pitch, and our audience can understand what he said.

He still single, born in the southern New Jersey, during the past two season in many Angels road trips his mother and father would travel to see him play.

Today in a press conference in Anaheim his new contract, largest ever for a player with two years of service, Rookie of the Year in 2012, plus last two seasons could have won consecutive MVP, but only Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers could better him.

Today, Mike Trout is more of a complete player than Cabrera, but Cabrera (who also just signed a monster deal-extension)has done it for over a decade.

Mike Trout is one of four players all-time to bat .320 with 50 home runs and 200 runs in first two full seasons, the others are his teammate Albert Pujols, and then Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. Is that good company or what?

Amaury Pi-González, is the Spanish play by play announcer for 75 home games this season of the LA Angels of Anaheim for Fox Sports West, and also will call 40 of the 70 games on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network this season. A contributor to sports radio service,. http://www.sportsradioservice.com’

Giants Fall to A’s 4-1

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN FRANCISCO-The San Francisco Giants hosted the Oakland Athletics at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Friday night. It was the second exhibition game in as many days at China Basin against their rivals from across the Bay. Tim Lincecum faced off against Jesse Chavez who entered the game with a 4-1 Spring record. The Giants were coming off of a 4-0 defeat last night from Oakland, and they fell 4-1 again tonight as Chavez carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

Lincecum was a little wild on the night in his four innings before a line drive by Daric Barton ended his night early when it bounced off of his left knee. Buster Posey defended the ball nicely to through out Barton to end the inning, but the hit caused Lincecum to leave his last Spring Training outing earlier than expected. Lincecum ended the night with four innings pitched. giving up one run and three hits, and three walks while striking out four. His spring record fell to 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA. ”The Freak” luckily avoided a freak injury right before the season opener on Monday, as he sustained only a left knee contusion.

The Lone run that was given up by Lincecum came in the third inning as John Jaso blasted a leadoff homerun onto the right field arcade. Before Angel Pagan’s one out double in the sixth inning, Chavez had only allowed two base runners, and that was a walk to Michael Morse and when he hit Hector Sanchez with an inside breaking ball that cut a little too much. Chavez earned the victory on the night and closed his spring with a remarkable 5-1 record and a 2.22 earned run average.

Oakland added onto their 1-0 lead in the sixth inning with a three run rally to give them a cushion heading late into the game. Sam Fuld knocked in a bases loaded, bases clearing triple off of lefty Dan Runzler to extend the lead to 4-0.

San Francisco could not get any type of offense going all night until the ninth inning. Joaqiun Arias knocked in Juan Perez with a two out RBI single to put the Giants on the board for the first time in the past two games. the run made it a 4-1 Athletics lead but the Giants managed to get the tying run to the plate against closer Jim Johnson as Tyler Colvin followed the Arias single with a base hit of his own. The threat was short lived though as Sanchez then popped out on the first pitch with a towering pop fly to center field.

The last Bay Bridge exhibition game will continue on Saturday, but it will be played across the Bay Bridge in Oakland. First pitch on Saturday will be at 1:05 PM at the O.co Coliseum. It will be the last game of the Spring Training season as opening day will be on Monday March 31, 2014 as the Giants will be hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Chavez Continues Impressive Spring with Fifth Win, A’s Beat Giants 4-1

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Photo Courtesy USA Today
Photo Courtesy USA Today

By Kahlil Najar

SAN FRANCISCO – A’s pitcher Jesse Chavez (5-1, 2.22 ERA) looked great in his seventh appearance of spring training and beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1. Chavez continued his domination during spring training as he took a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth inning until Angel Pagan hit a double to get the Giant’s their first hit of the game. John Jaso and Sam Fuld provided the offensive power for the A’s tonight while the Giants were only able to score one run in the bottom of the ninth.

“It was a good one to finish off like that and go into the season and build off  of that one,” said Chavez on the win tonight. “Getting ahead was key for me tonight. If you can get ahead, you’re more than likely to succeed.”

On Chavez, Coach Bob Melvin said “Jesse’s been really sharp and efficient this spring. He had a really good cutter tonight and mixed his curve ball in just enough to slow him down a bit. He was on the corners all night.”

Tonight’s win solidified Chavez as a bona fied  starter in the A’s rotation and gives the Oakland faithful something to be grateful for after losing Jarrod Parker for the season. When asked about being a starter and how to keep it going, Chavez said, “I can’t get complacent. I still have to stay after it and keep doing what I’m doing and not change anything. I’ve been able to focus a lot more knowing that I have to go through line up three or four times. I’m happy that they have the confidence in me to put in me in the rotation and I don’t want them to think they made the wrong decision.”

“This is something he’s always strives for is to be a starter. He’s earned, he deserves it and you can see his confidence grows each time he goes out there,”said Melvin echoing his confidence in Chavez.

On offense, Oakland’s John Jaso hit his first homer of spring training on a first pitch 2-seam fast ball from Tim Lincecum (1-1, 5.79 ERA) to give the A’s a 1-0 lead in the third.

In the top of the fourth, the Giants biggest fear came to reality when Daric Barton hit a shot into Lincecum’s left leg and immediately dropped him. After stretching on the ground and taking time to make sure nothing was broken, the Giants were able to get Lincecum to get off the field with some help from the trainers. Luckily it was a left knee contusion and x-rays didn’t find anything.

“You never want anybody to see get hit by a come backer especially someone of his caliber,” said Chavez.

In the fifth, Jaso walked, Nick Punto doubled and Daric Barton walked to get the bases loaded for  spring training phenom Sam Flud. Flud didn’t disappoint as he took a 2-seam fastball to right field past the out-stretched body of Brandon Belt and into the deep part of right field that Hunter Pence had to scoop up and relay to home. By the time the ball reached home Flud was standing at third and had three more RBI added to his stat sheet to give the A’s a 4-0 lead.

The Giants were able to break up the no-hitter that Chavez had going into the sixth when Angel Pagan hit a double to A’s left fielder Yoenis Cespedes. After the hit, Melvin pulled Chavez ended  his night with 5 1/3 innings pitched with one hit, one walk and five strike outs.

“I don’t normally take out guys of potential no-hitters,” Melvin said. “At the time, I was almost glad that Pagan got the hit, to tell you the truth. But it was impressive. He was on it all night.”

The Giants were able to get to A’s closer Jim Johnson for one run in the bottom of the ninth but then he settled down and got Sanchez to fly out to Flud to end the game.

Both teams head to the other side of the Bay to continue the Bay Bridge series in Oakland when Dan Strailey takes on the Giant’s Edwin Escobar, game time 1:05 pm.