Month: April 2014

Sharks As Ready As They Can Be

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-By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished the regular season with a little bit of everything: an improbable and awful shutout loss to the Predators, a frustrating loss to the Ducks, a lopsided victory over the Avalanche, and a win with some high points against the Coyotes. What does this portend about the 2014 playoffs? Not much for certain, but there are clues.

The team has a roster to make fans hopeful. Tomas Hertl is back, Raffi Torres should be soon. Martin Havlat’s scoring engine is sparking to life. A hat trick against Colorado threw some light on that. Add these pieces to a team that has been very successful without them, and the roster looks pretty hot.

The absence of those pieces gave others a chance to shoulder the burden through the 2013-14 season. Matt Nieto, Tommy Wingels and James Sheppard all increased their public profile considerably this season. They did more than fill holes. They each thrived and grew their games, developing into legitimate scoring threats and versatile, reliable members of the team.

The usual suspects, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture all pulled their weight and more. Joe Pavelski hit the 41 goal mark to end the regular season. If the final game in Phoenix left something to be desired, at least it provided that bonus. Pavelski had a career season, can the team follow suit?

The team has young veteran defensemen, if one can call them that. Players like Jason Demers and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are both younger than their NHL records suggest. They play beyond their years. More recent arrivals in San Jose like Justin Braun and (even more recent) Matt Irwin bolster that good mix of youth and experience.

With Dan Boyle playing more like his old self, the Sharks defense looks dangerous. If Brad Stuart and/or Scott Hannan are healthy enough, they fill out the blue line more smoothly than players who might be called up.

Antti Niemi had a bad game and a couple of good ones this week. If he can  benefit from the added rest he has had, he should regain playoff form. If he is not in top form, the team has a backup that the coaching staff has confidence in.

The team appears more healthy than an NHL playoff contender is expected to be when the regular season ends. The Sharks are as ready to face the Los Angeles Kings as they could be. Well, they might have been more ready in the second round but there is no point in crying over lost points.

Let the games begin.

Sharks commentary: San Jose hitting it’s stride winning four of last six games going into post season

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by Larry Leavitt

GLENDALE AZ–The San Jose Sharks have taken care of the business at hand with a win on Friday against Colorado. In the Colorado game the Sharks were sparked by the return of Tomas Hertl. Hertl’s return not only energized the fans but actually energized the players.

The injury to Hertl was not that serious to keep him out for a season because it wasn’t a fully blown ACL it was torn legaments in the knee and the surgery and recovery went well and everybody heals differently and there’s no time table on how somebody will feel. So they have to wait and see how much Hertl would have to put into working back to playing condition and how well his body recovers.

Hertl’s recovery from surgery and all of the work of trying to get him back into shape has been successful and once he started skating they watched how he reacted to that. There is a lot of unknowns to the next step and it wasn’t on the radar when Hertl was going to come back and how soon. It was a pleasant surprise and it was nice to see that big smile on his face upon his return last Friday.

The Sharks have played really well at home against the Anaheim Ducks this season it was a tough loss on Wednesday in Anaheim and they actually played pretty well in the Honda Center but when the Sharks get ready for these playoffs which is about to start the post season is a whole different animal.

To honest it was a little disappointing in the last five or six games previous to Friday night with the Sharks they didn’t seem like they were coming together as a team as they should be. In getting ready for the playoffs they got themselves into a lull and didn’t control some of the games they had lost. Having watched Friday night’s game it was really encouraging and Saturday even more so.

The Sharks brought a lot of energy in the building and a lot to the team and Sharks goalie Alex Stalock stopped some amazing shots against Colorado, the Sharks who are in the playoffs played a Coyotes team on Saturday that were not in the playoffs and in this game they didn’t want to get anybody hurt.

The Sharks are going to the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings and the Ducks are going to play Minnesota. Had the Ducks lost against the Sharks on Wednesday night the Sharks would have won the Paciifc Division and the Ducks would have played the Kings. The Sharks would have had to play the Minnesota Wild and the Ducks and Kings would have faced off against each other.

The Sharks winning gave them a much better advantage spending less time flying and traveling as they face the Kings in L.A. and the Ducks now will have to travel to Minnesota during the first round of the playoffs.

Larry Leavitt does commentary on Sharks hockey for http://www.sportsradioservice.com each week

Warriors report: W’s will need tight strategy in the paint to shut down Clips Griffin and Paul in post season

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–It’s always nice to beat the Lakers when you clinch for a playoff and for the Warriors it was nice to beat the Lakers when you do it on the road at the Staples Center where the Lakers have been so successful. This is historic, the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs in back to back seasons in more than 20 years and it’s a really big deal.

As Stephen Curry said after the game on Friday night the ticking off of particular goals and one of them is they have to sustain success and going to the playoffs consecutive years is another step in that direction to become a contender. It’s a really big deal and you can’t down play this enough.

For the Warriors to acheive back to back playoffs is an important milestone for the Warriors and it’s a great step in the right direction for this franchise whose goal it is to be a contender and their one of the destination teams in the league and the Warriors are well on their way to doing that. The win on Friday only puts them in a position to clinch a sixth seed in the Western Conference.

It’s not official yet things could change given how the Warriors and the Trailblazers have played in the last three or four games. The Warriors still have a chance at clinching the fifth spot but if the season ended today and most likely it will end like it is today the Warriors will have the sixth seed.

That means they’ll play the Clippers and that is bound to be a crazy good first round match ups it will probably will be one of the marquee match ups in all of the playoffs as they’re fantastically fun teams to watch. On the Warriors side you have the Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Clay Thompson who can shoot from long range.

The Warriors also have Andre Iguodala, David Lee, Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, all these quality scoring players who just put it on the line everytime they go out there on the floor. On the other side of the ball you have the Clippers who have been playing fantastic basketball the second half of the season.

Doc Rivers came over from the Celtics to coach the Clips and has done an amazing job of making this team live up to it’s potential.The Clippers Chris Paul even though he missed about 20 games earlier in the season is finally back at full strength as we all know he’s one of the best point guards in the NBA and Blake Griffin has taken his team up to another level. Griffin won’t win the MVP but he’s going to be the third or fourth guy in balloting which is a big accomplishment.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Pitchers duel at AT&T

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After seeing what Madison Bumgarner did in the opener of the three-game series, Matt Cain attempted to duplicate the feat; however it was not meant to be.

Troy Tulowitzki drove in the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the fourth inning, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Francisco Giants 1-0 before a sellout crowd of 41,917, the 251st consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Depsite the loss, Matt Cain went a strong seven innings, allowing just that one run, scattering four hits, walking three and striking out eight.

Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford picked up the only three hits for the Giants, as the Rockies were able to shut down the Giants offense.

The first real rally for the Giants came in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Sandoval doubled, Buster Posey then walked; however Michael Morse grounded into a double play and then Hector Sanchez struck out to end the inning.

Crawford doubled with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Brandon Hicks came off the bench to pinch hit for Jean Machi and walked against Rex Brothers.

After a fly out by Angel Pagan, Pence walked to load the bases and then Sandoval came to the plate with a chance to give the Giants the lead; however he struck out on a ball in the dirt to end the inning and the threat.

Brett Anderson started the game for the Rockies, but was forced to leave the game after just three innings due to a contusion on his left index finger.

Anderson gave up just one hit, walking one and striking out two.

Tommy Kahnle, Matt Belisle, Adam Ottavino, Rex Brothers and LaTroy Hawkins combined to allow two hits, walking two and striking out five in relief of the injured Anderson.

Hawkins picked up his second save of the season, as he was able to retire the Giants in order in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Clippers run away from the Kings 117-101

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Image

Photo credit: NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Los Angeles Clippers scored 54 points in the paint, 25 points off fast breaks and added 27 points plus nine assists from Blake Griffin to defeat the Sacramento Kings 117-101 on Saturday afternoon in LA. It was a franchise tying 56th win of the season for the Clippers who won 56 games in the 2012-13 season.

The game was much more entertaining that the final score would indicate. The Kings scored 32 points in the third quarter and closed the Clippers’ lead to just two points in the fourth quarter before Los Angeles started hitting 3-pointers to open up the lead and score 32 points in the final quarter.

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins’ 32 points. Cousins added 12 rebounds and five assists to post his franchise record 52nd double-double of the season. Rudy Gay scored 16 points but had a rough game as it took him 18 shots to score those points.

Ben McLemore was held scoreless in the first half but scored 14 points in the third quarter to help the Kings to have a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, McLemore was ejected from the game early in the fourth quarter for putting his hand in the face of J.J. Redick. The loss of McLemore put a major crimp in the Kings run to steal a win in LA.

Reggie Evans had another outstanding game for the Kings. Evans posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Ray McCallum played 40 minutes on the point scoring eight points, dishing out eight assists and blocking two shots. Isaiah Thomas was in street clothes on the Sacramento bench again for this game.

DeAndre Jordan scored 21 points for Los Angeles despite going a dismal three for 17 from the free throw line. Chris Paul put up 17 points from the point plus 10 assists for the double-double for the Clippers. J.J. Redick scored 13 points and Matt Barnes added 12 points for LAC.

The Kings shot under their season average as they were just 42.7-percent (35-82) from the field. They had one of their better days from 3-point territory as the team went four for nine (44.4-percent) from beyond the arc. Sacramento was 27 for 33 (81.8-percent) from the free throw line.

One stat that will make Coach Michael Malone happy was the Kings’ 21 assists versus just 10 turnovers. That marks a vast improvement for Sacramento. Los Angeles did out-rebound the Kings 43-38.

After the game, the Kings headed home for their game on Sunday night with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Curry’s Triple-Double, Romping of Lakers Clinches Playoff Berth for Warriors

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By Matthew Harrington

The Golden State Warriors locked in their spot in the 2014 NBA Playoffs Friday night at the Staples Center, riding a Stephen Curry triple-double to a 112-95 dismantling of the host Los Angeles Lakers. By matching or outscoring the Lakers (25-54) in all but one quarter the Dubs clinched their second-consecutive playoff berth under coach Mark Jackson and their first back-to-back postseason qualifications since 1992.

Warriors All-Star Curry fired off 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds over 34 minutes for his fifth-career triple-double. Klay Thompson and reserve Marreese Speights finished with 16 points apiece. David Lee joined Curry in double-digit rebounded with 10 boards.

Nick Young paced the forum purple with 25 points, and Jordan Hill and Ryan Kelly pitched in 18 and 14 respectively. Hill also had a game-high 12 points.

Golden State (49-30) nailed 48.9 percent of shots attempted, including a 13-for-25 clip from beyond the arc. The injury-riddled Lakers hit 39.3 percent of their field goals including only 9-of-28 from downtown. The Warriors dominated the glass with 57 rebounds to LA’s 42.

Both sides finished the first 12 minutes with 26 points. The Warriors rode a huge second quarter to pull ahead 58-42, notching 32 second-quarter points to Los Angeles’ 17. Golden State survived a Lakers 26-25 third quarter scoring margin before finishing off the home team with a 29-26 run to wrap up a playoff bid.

For now, the Warriors sit 1.5 games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for sixth-place in the Western Conference with Golden State boasting a game in hand. The Portland Trailblazers sit 2.5 games ahead of the Warriors with three games remaining for the Dubs meaning in all likelihood, Golden State will be returning to Los Angeles and the Staples Center to face the third-seed Clippers when the playoffs begin. For now, the task at hand for Jackson’s side is a showdown with the Blazers on Sunday in Portland before the second half of a back-to-back against Minnesota at Oracle. The Warriors then get a chance to wrap up the regular season with revenge against the Denver Nuggets, 100-99 winners in a April 10th showdown in Oakland.

Hernandez Mows Down 11, A’s Lose 6-4

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SEATTLE, WA - APRIL 11: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Oakland Athletics reacts after being called out on strikes with the bases loaded in the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on April 11, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – APRIL 11: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Oakland Athletics reacts after being called out on strikes with the bases loaded in the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on April 11, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

 

SEATTLE – King Felix continued his dominance over the A’s and he struck out 11 A’s batters and handed the A’s the fourth loss of the season with a final score of 6-4. The A’s mounted a nice rally in the bottom of the eighth as they were able to snag four runs but came up short when Coco Crisp struck out to end the game in the top of the ninth. The loss also ended the A’s four game winning streak.

Hernandez (3-0) didn’t allow a hit until the top of the fourth when Jed Lowrie his a single into the outfield and Josh Donaldson was able to run out a grounder and landed him safe at first.

The Mariners got on the board first when Robinson Cano drove in Abraham Almonte from third when he grounded a ball to Daric Barton who hesitated and didn’t get the ball to Milone who was going to cover first in time to get Cano. In the bottom of the fourth, Seattle received two gift runs from the A’s on two errors committed by Donaldson at third and Lowrie at short.

Dustin Ackley who was on second was able to score when Mike Zunino hit a ground ball to Donaldson that he threw wide to Barton and went past first base and landed Zunino at second. On the very next pitch, Almonte hit a sharp grounder to Lowrie that ricocheted off his arm and allowed Zunino to score from second and make it a 3-0 Seattle lead.

Zunino hit a two run shot and Brad Miller got himself solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to give the Mariners a what seemed insurmountable 6-0 lead.

The A’s were able to finally score in the 8th when Fernandez hit Daric Barton to start the inning then gave up a single to Eric Sogard. After the hit batter and single the Mariners who appeared to have the game in hand, sent Fernandez to the bench to make way for the relievers to take care of the game. Unfortunately for Seattle, the A’s had just started to make this game interesting.

New Mariner reliever Lucas Luetge came in to face Sam Fuld and walked him on four straight pitches to load the bases. Sensing that this could get out of hand if something happened, the Mariners pulled Luetge and put in Danny Farquhar to face Jed Lowrie. New pitcher but same results, Lowrie was walked and brought in Barton for the A’s first score of the game. After a Donaldson strike out, Brandon Moss hit a broken bat single over the jumping Cano and scored Sogard to make it 6-2 and keep the bases loaded. Cespedes came up to the plate and hit a grounder to third that was sent to Cano for the second out but Cespedes was able to beat the throw to first and that allowed Fuld to score to make it 6-3. On the next batter, Charlie Furbush who was now in for relief for Seattle threw a wild pitch that hit the back stop and brought in Lowrie to make it 6-4. Unfortunately Callaspo, who was at bat hit a high pop to end the inning and the A’s momentum.

Tommy Milone who started his first game of the season performed excellently as he went five innings and struck out 7. What has to be a highlight for the A’s tonight is that Jim Johnson who was recently relieved of his closing duties came in for the final two innings of the game and pitched them perfect and struck out four.

Oakland and Seattle head back to SafeCo park tomorrow night when the Sonny Gray  (1-0, 0.75 ERA) takes on Erasmo Ramirez (1-1, 5.73 ERA), game time 6:10pm PST.

Slammin’ good night by Bumgarner

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Madison Bumgarner not only pitched a good enough for his second win of the 2014 season, but he helped out his own cause at the plate.

Bumgarner drove in the first run of the game with a long sacrifice fly to left field that Carlos Gonzalez caught at the left-center field wall, but it was the at-bat in the bottom of the fourth inning that shocked the crowd at AT&TPark.

The 24-year old hit a Jorge De La Rosa offering deep into the left field bleachers in the bottom of the fourth inning for his third career home run, and first career grand slam and the San Francisco Giants came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Rockies by the final score of 6-5 before a sellout crowd of 41,707, the 250th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the first grand slam by a Giants pitcher since Shawn Estes connected for one on May 24, 2000.

“It felt pretty good,” said Bumgarner about the swing that he connected on the grand slam versus De La Rosa to give the Giants.

The last time was Bumgarner hit a grand slam was while he was in the minor leagues.

Bumgarner’s grand slam came after Pablo Sandoval singled to lead off the inning, Michael Morse then walked, after fly out to centerfield by Hector Sanchez, then Brandon Belt struck out for the second out of inning, Brandon Hicks then was hit by a pitch to load the bases, then Brandon Crawford walked to score Sandoval and then Bumgarner launched the first pitch he saw from De La Rosa into the left field bleachers to give the Giants a 6-3 lead.

Crawford led off the inning with a triple into the big part of the ballpark that is known as Triples Alley, a whopping 421 feet from home plate.

Bumgarner pitched six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out seven and won for the second time this season without a loss.

His counterpart, De La Rosa pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs, scattering just four hits, walking two and striking out six, as he fell to 0-2 on the young season.

While Josh Rutledge was being picked off at first base by Bumgarner, who threw to Belt and in turn threw to Crawford, who tagged out Rutledge, Brandon Barnes was scoring from third base.

Barnes led off the game with a single off of Bumgarner, advanced to third on a single by Rutledge and then scored while Rutledge was picked off.

Carlos Gonzalez then gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning, as he planted a Bumgarner offering into San Francisco Bay, also known as McCovey Cove that scored Rutledge just in front of him.

Rutledge singled for the second time in as many at-bats, and then Gonzalez sent one into the water for his fourth home run of the season.

Sergio Romo came in top of the ninth inning, and proceeded to strike out the side for his third save of the season.

Sharks blow out Avalanche for 50th Win

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (50-22-9) hosted the Colorado Avalanche (52-22-7) on Friday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks defeated the Avalanche 5-1 in an offensive explosion for San Jose. Marty Havlat recorded a hat trick in the third period to give the Sharks some insurance goals and assure the win for San Jose.

The Sharks took the early 2-0 lead in the first period. Dan Boyle put San Jose on the board first with a goal at 3:01. Boyle’s wrist shot was assisted by Brent Burns and Joe Thornton. Patrick Marleau doubled the lead at 10:11 with a slap shot goal that was assisted by Logan Couture and Havlat.

Colorado scored their lone goal in the second period. Patrick Bordeleau scored on a wrist shot at 15:18 to prevent the shutout for Colorado. The loss for Colorado prevented them from clinching the Central Division title.

Havlat completely took over the third and final period as he registered his sixth career hat trick. Havlat scored at 5:26, 13:40, and 15:04. Havlat’s last goal on the night was scored on an empty netter. The Sharks will be back on the ice on Saturday as they will be hosted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the regular season finale. The puck will drop at 6:00 pm.

Michael Duca on A’s and Giants: Pablo will have to bring up numbers to get asking price; Donaldson was deliberate than thoughtless

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by Micahel Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–You have to remember everything that happens in contract negotiations is behind closed doors such is the case of Giants third baseman Pablo Sadoval. Giants general manager Brian Sabean has said he has stopped taking Sandoval’s agent Gustavo Vasquez’ call. Everything that’s said is private and the rest is public posturing on both sides.

Nobody knows what really is going on in the Sadoval negotiations and it’s my understanding that both sides of the conversations had agreed that opening day would be sort of the cut off. I heard Giants VP of Operations Bobby Evans talking about this on opening day on Tuesday basically saying that Sandoval has the opportunity to go out and earn himself a big deal for his performance this year.

The basis of that thought process is the Giants have had five years of Sandoval and they had two years of extraordinary Pablo and three or ordinary Pablo. Evans said if you want five more years of Pablo all we can do is look back at the last five years and say which of these guys are we signing? The great two years or the mediocre three?

It’s because you pay for those things, the Giants would like to see Pablo get through an entire season maintaining the lower weight to see him go out and perform consistantly. If he can go out and approach the game mentally and he has the self discipline to maintain that weight their not going to have a problem paying him.

A’s hitter Josh Donaldson forgot the code of ethics: How many times have I said when you hit a long foul ball which Donaldson did against the Twins and Twins pitcher Glenn Perkins you can kind of watch it but you watch while your moving down the line. You don’t stand in the batters box and admire it before you take off.

I know if you hit it that far your either are going to cadillac around the bases or you don’t have to go anywhere. Nevertheless show some kind of respect for your opponents and that’s not the kind of player that Donaldson is and it kind of surprised me with the whole bat flipping and admiring a long foul ball thing he had going on Thursday.

Then Donaldson gets badly fooled on a breaking pitch and strikes out flips his bat and you might have got away with flipping the bat, you might have got away with admiring the long foul ball but your not going to get away with both admiring the foul ball and flipping the bat.

You put two of them together and now it looks more deliberate than thoughtless, it’s a matter of respect for the game. Donaldson admired a long ball he hit but he also has to show them how big you are when you fail like when Donaldson struck out.

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