Month: April 2014

Giants’ comeback wasted, fall to the D’Backs, 6-5 in 10 innings

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By Morris Phillips

Somewhere near the intersection of the circling seagulls and the empty seats, it got away from the Giants on Thursday.  Too little offense after the fifth inning, not enough good pitching early and shoddy defense throughout and the Giants fell short, losing to Arizona 6-5 in 10 innings. 

“We just let the game get away,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “Especially when you come back the way we did.”

The Giants fell into a first-place tie with the Dodgers with the loss, as the NL West rivals have been scintillating on the road, and not so good at home thus far.  The Giants dropped two of their first three at AT&T Park as the questions regarding their starting rotation continued, while their offense has been surprisingly productive. 

Ryan Vogelsong gave up a pair of runs in both the second and third innings before settling in and pitching into the sixth inning.  Miguel Montero’s two-run double off Vogelsong in the third put Arizona up 4-1, but the Giants clawed right back.   After single runs in the third and fourth, Michael Morse delivered a two-run double into the right-field power-alley to give the Giants their first lead, 5-4.

But that would cap the Giants’ scoring as four Diamondbacks’ relievers shut the door over the final five innings.  The Giants didn’t help themselves in the field either as they committed three errors, including Pablo Sandoval’s airmail job on a throw in the eighth inning that sailed over first baseman Brandon Belt and allowed Gerardo Parra to score the tying run.

“He got into rush mode there,” Bochy said of Sandoval’s errant throw.

The D’Backs pushed across the game winner in the 10th off Yusmeiro Petit when Tony Campana singled home Chad Pennington with two outs. 

The Giants return to the park on Friday to take on the Rockies with Madison Bumgarner facing Jorge De La Rosa at 7:15pm.

49ers report: Kap is now being investigated for suspicious activity according to Miami cops

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by Ken Gimblin and David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–Miami Police who filed a report earlier this month on April 1st say that San Francisco 49ers star quarterback Colin Kaepernick and former 49er and current Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Richard Lockette are being investigated for a suspicious incident that involved a female who was in the same hotel room with Kaepernick and Lockette at the time.

Quintin Patton a 49ers wide receiver from last season was also named as a “person involved” at the Viceroy Hotel. The woman was making drinks for the Kaepernick, Lockette and Patton and said she felt “light headed” and went to the bedroom and laid down. She reportedly was naked and that Kaepernick was not in the room when she asked where Kaepernick was to Lockette and Patton.

The police report said that there were no sexual relations that took place during the alleged time of 9:00PM to 12 midnight. A police report was filed two days after the alleged incident described as a black female that Kaepernick has sexual relations with in the past.

Lockette shared a house with Kaepernick during the season before Lockette was cut from the 49ers. Police say the female went to visit Kaepernick at the Viceroy resort and said she made drinks for Kaepernick, Lockette and Patton she claimed that she smoked marijuana with the three from a bong and that the female drank shots with the three.

The female said she felt lightheaded and went to bed and lied down, the report said that Kaepernick allegedly undressed her but the report said they did not have sex. The female asked Patton and Lockette where Kaepernick was and Patton and Lockette closed the door.

The female later awoke in a hospital bed and that is where she was questioned about what she might have remembered last before ending up in the hospital. The female said she didn’t remember anything after Patton and Lockette closed the bedroom door.

There has been no report of DNA samples, no charges made by the female or the Police and any report from the hospital that would tie sexual relations with Patton, Lockette or Kaepernick to the female.

The 49ers organization is fully aware of this incident, “the 49ers organization is aware of a report regarding Colin Kaepernick and are gathering facts” said 49ers General Manager Trent Baalk.

Kaepernick is making $973,766 this season and is in the last year of his rookie contract, Kaepernick and his representatives are scheduled to meet with the 49ers to talk about a contract extension that would make Kaepernick one of the richest quarterbacks in the NFL.

Kaepernick was in Miami working out at Bommarito Performance Systems in North Miami Beach. Kaepernick was conditioning with Lockette, 49ers running back Frank Gore and linebacker Nick Moody plus other NFL players.

Ken Gimblin and David Zizmor are talk show hosts on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors lose heartbreaker to Mozgov, Nuggets, fail to clinch playoff birth

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By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (48-29) lost the Denver Nuggets (34-44) in ugly fashion, 100-99, Thursday night, at Oracle Arena. Losing by one point doesn’t look so bad on it’s face, but the Warriors let a 20-point lead slip away, got out-worked for long stretches, were thoroughly dominated on the glass, and couldn’t convert on their first chance to seal a playoff birth. Stephen Curry nearly saved the day with a last-second floater, but wouldn’t be outdone by Kenneth Faried, who followed with one of his own.

The Warriors played well out of the gate. They quickly built a double-digit lead, a lead that grew to 20 just four minutes into the second quarter. From there the momentum swung to Denver’s favor, and for Golden State it all went down hill. The Nuggets kept chipping away, as the Warriors play slipped. Denver finally grabbing their first lead of the contest half way through the fourth.

Curry did his best Superman impression to try and salvage the win, but came up just short. He scored the Warriors last eight points to bring them back, very briefly giving them the lead. The last two of those points were a thing of beauty. With less then a minute to play, Curry somehow came down with a rebound, took it the length of the court weaving through several defenders, and floated a shot over Denver’s big front court. The shot gave Golden State a 99-98 lead with five seconds to play.

Unfortunately for Curry and the Warriors, Faried countered with his best Kryptonite impression. In those five remaining seconds he received an inbound pass, backed down Draymond Green, got up a floater of his own that he would sink to drown Golden State’s hopes for a win.

Faried may have hit the game winner, but the night belonged to Timofey Mozgov. The big center scored 23 points to go along with a career-high, and an NBA-high this season, 29 rebounds. He also had three blocks and a steal. Faried chipped in a big double-double as well, adding 18 points and 17 boards.

In the losing effort, Curry was the standout, but did struggle with his shot for much of the night in the face of heavy pressure from the Denver defense. He had a team-high 24 points, six assists, and four steals. Klay Thompson was their only other consistent offensive option, contributing 21 points.

Unfortunately Golden State’s other three starters had very poor nights. Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green combined for 14 points, on six-of-15 shooting.

The Warriors will have another shot at clinching tomorrow night in Los Angeles, when they will be facing off with the Lakers at the Staples Center. The game begins at 7:30 PM.

A’s pitching dominates in road sweep of Twins

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, April 10, 2014

After a slow start, Oakland starter Dan Straily hit his stride, scattering three hits over seven innings as the Athletics completed a three-game sweep at Target Field in Minneapolis, defeating the Minnesota Twins 6-1.

Straily (1-1) got offensive support from home runs by Sam Fuld and Josh Donaldson.

Oakland’s rotation is off to a hot start, opening the season with nine straight quality starts allowing three runs or less. In that stretch, the A’s starters have compiled a 1.93 earned run average in 56 innings.

Straily, who allowed a solo home run by Brian Dozier in the first inning, allowed only two Twins baserunners in his final five innings. He bested Mike Pelfrey (0-2), who gave up all six Oakland runs in five innings.

With a five-run lead, Oakland was able to avoid a save situation on the same day the A’s took the closer’s role away from Jim Johnson, who was acquired from Baltimore in the off-season.

Johnson is 0-2 in five games with an ERA of 18.90. Manager Bob Melvin said the A’s will go with a closer-by-committee system while Johnson tries to regain his old form.

The Athletics travel to Seattle for a weekend series against the Mariners. Tommy Milone will make his first start of the season Friday with a tall order, facing M’s ace Felix Hernandez.

(TAGS: Oakland Athletics,A’s,Sports Radio Service)

Lincecum gets knocked around

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jeremy2878's avatarharnessj28

By Jeremy Harness

 

SAN FRANCISCO – With the exception of the no-hitter, the beginning of Tim Lincecum’s 2014 season has looked a lot like his 2013, which is certainly something to be concerned about.

 

After getting away with a no-decision in his first outing of the year April 3, he – along with the Giants -was just about doomed from the outset Wednesday night. The right-hander was ripped for seven runs, from which the Giants could not recover in a 7-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

 

Lincecum was off his mark right from the jump, and it showed in his giving up a leadoff triple to Gerardo Parra while not being able to find the strike zone at all in walking the next batter, Martin Prado.

 

He did, however, throw a nice, straight strike to Paul Goldschmidt, and the first baseman repaid him by sending it…

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Ducks win Pacific; Sharks will face Kings

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Photo Credit: (USATSI)

By Pearl Allison Lo

ANAHEIM– The end of San Jose’s biggest game of the regular season equaled the Ducks’ second straight Pacific Division title, as the home team won for the last time this regular season series, 5-2 Wednesday.

The Sharks now know they will face a familiar Southern California foe in the playoffs, Los Angeles, for the second year in the row as well.

San Jose will have Joe Thornton, which was questionable as he crumbled near the end of the game. Afterwards, what happened was described as a “stinger,” as Coach Todd McLellan said “(Thornton) got hit up in the chest area.”

The game-winner was Patrick Maroon’s first career multi-goal game at 9:35 of the second and brought in goalie Alex Stalock. Teemu Selanne got his second assist and Hampus Lindholm chipped in on the attack. The Ducks never looked back afterwards. Rookie goalie John Gibson won his second game in a row and stopped 36 shots.

The team’s first power play opportunities came almost simultaneously. 15 seconds after the interference penalty to San Jose’s Brent Burns ended, Anaheim was called for too many men on the ice.

Gibson was able to fight off shots by Jason Demers earlier, but Demers broke through at 18:17 of the first, to score the game’s first goal. Joe Pavelski aided on the goal.

The Ducks’ Corey Perry, however, went stick to stick with Justin Braun and tied the game with three seconds left in the first period. Matt Beleskey and Francois Beauchemin got the assists.

Three individual mini fights broke out to cap the end of the first period and led to a Sharks’ power play to start the second period.

Anaheim got their first lead when Selanne passed the puck to Maroon. Maroon then went around the net chased to make the game 2-1 at 3:32 of the second.

17 seconds after San Jose killed their second penalty, Logan Couture re-tied the game at two at 7:23.

The Sharks’ goalie change didn’t halt the Ducks, as they moved further ahead when Beleskey got Perry’s rebound off Stalock. It was the game’s first two-goal margin at 16:46.  Ryan Getzlaf had the second assist.

Beleskey then went in the box with 24.8 seconds left and San Jose started the third period on the power play again.

Demers ran into Stalock who fell backwards and hit the goalpost. After he was down and later came back up again, Stalock was called for delay of game for the puck going beyond the glass at 12:35.

It looked like a 6 on 4 with 2:44 left, but Gibson came back and Jakob Silfverberg scored a shorthanded empty net goal at 18:22. Andrew Cogliano got his 20th assist.

Both teams were coming off 3-0 games as Anaheim killed all five of the Sharks’ power plays.

Game notes: The Sharks’ Bracken Kearns played after returning from Worcester Tuesday. Before the game, it was announced that the Ducks’ Luca Sbisa would not play because of an upper body injury. San Jose’s Marty Havlat and Raffi Torres were also ruled out. Anaheim’s Cam Fowler returned from his mid-March knee injury.  The Sharks’ second to last regular season game will be Friday at 7p versus the Colorado Avalanche.

Norris’ 11th-Inning Homer Salvages Oakland’s Afternoon As Johnson’s Woes Continue

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By Matthew Harrington

Athletics closer Jim Johnson blew his second save of the season, but a Derek Norris three-run homer in the eleventh inning salvaged a 7-4 A’s win in Minnesota Wednesday afternoon. Oakland took a 4-0 led over the Twins in the first inning from Target Field, but a home team rally capped by a two-run ninth forced extra innings for A’s for the second time this season.

Athletics starter Jesse Chavez had a second-straight solid start spoiled, picking up a no-decision after seven innings and only one run allowed. Chavez also was the victim of circumstance in the A’s previous extra-inning game, a 12-inning 3-2 walk-off over the Mariners last Thursday.

Phil Hughes failed to retire the first six batters he faced Wednesday, walking leadoff man Sam Fuld and Jed Lowrie before giving up four-straight base hits including a two-RBI single by Brandon Moss and run-producing hits by Josh Donaldson and Alberto Callaspo for a 4-0 lead with no outs. Hughes righted the ship, yielding no runs for the next four innings then four relievers combined to leave the A’s scoreless over the next five innings before Norris’ blast.

Designated hitter Jason Kubel cut the lead to three, launching a 2-0 Chavez delivery to deep right for a solo home run. It’d be the lone run the Twins produced off Chavez but second baseman Brian Dozier pulled the Twins within two on a solo blast of his own off A’s reliever Sean Doolittle to cut the lead in half.

The ninth inning continued to be a rocky ride with the two-time MLB saves leader Johnson on the mound. The leadoff hitter Kubel reached base on a single to center then ex-Athletic Kurt Suzuki drew a walk with two strikes to put runners on first and second. Johnson coaxed a bunting pop-up off the bat of Chris Hermann but Aaron Hicks took ball four with on another two-strike count to load the bases.

In a series of strange events, the Twins scored runs on the next two plays, but not without an umpire review for each. Eduardo Escobar flared a ball to left that Yoenis Cespedes scooped up and fired to third, looking for the force-out. The umpires ruled Suzuki safe at third after protest from Melvin, who then lifted his closer on the verge of blowing a second lead in three save opportunities in favor of Dan Otero.

Otero suffered the same fate as Johnson when guarding the one-run led. Brian Dozier lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, but Josh Reddick unleashed a laser to home plate to try to cut down Suzuki at home. After review, the call on the field was upheld, Suzuki was ruled safe and the Twins had forced a tie. Otero would walk Joe Mauer before ending the ninth with a ground out off the bat of Trevor Plouffe.

Neither team found the scoreboard in the tenth, with Glen Perkins and Otero pitching perfect innings to set up Norris’s blast. Norris, a pinch-hitter in the ninth who remained in at catcher for John Jaso, rocketed a delivery from Jared Burton (0-1, 9.00 ERA) to deep center to knock in Daric Barton and Callaspo for the decisive blow. It’s the right-handed backstop’s second dinger, both coming off right-handed pitchers. Otero (1-0, 1.69 ERA) walked a tight rope in the 12th, loading the bases on two singles and a walk before retiring Plouffe for the victory.

The A’s wrap up the series against Minnesota with another early afternoon game Thursday. Oakland’s Dan Straily and Minnesota’s Mike Pelfrey each take the hill looking for their first win of 2014.

Kings lose to Portland, 100-99

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By George Devine, Sr.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Kings in Portland, as the home team’s Dorell Wright hit a 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds to play and Sacramento’s Ray McCallum then missed one. Ironically, it was the only field goal Wright would score all evening, but the only one he would need.

After missing the playoffs for the last two years, the Trailblazers made it with a win over New Orleans on Sunday, finishing fifth in the Western Conference. Their leading scorer was LaMarcus Aldridge, with 22 points and 8 rebounds. The Kings will watch the playoffs on TV.

Damian Lillard scored 19 points and had 10 valuable assists, in addition to 5 rebounds. Wesley Matthews also scored 19. Robin Lopez had 13 points and 9 rebounds, one of which was on defense when he picked up McCallum’s missed trey and held it until the game ended.

For Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins led with 30 points; he had a dozen boards. McCallum was next with 23 and contributed 8 assists. Rudy Gay, who typically scores 20 points, was sidelined due to injury and had he played the outcome could have been different.

The Kings were feisty: they trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, but tied the Blazers at 84 in the fourth quarter. Later, Travis Outlaw — who scored only 5 points — tied it again with a jump shot and then Cousins made it 97-95 with a minute and a half left; it was the Kings’ first lead and a short-lived one.

Warriors update report: A Lacob A’s purchase could be his gift to Oakland for moving Warriors to the City

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by Ken Gimblin and David Zizmor

OAKLAND–If Joe Lacob and the Golden State Warriors were able to purchase the Oakland A’s and move them to the Howard Street Terminal at Jack London Square and build a new stadium at the Jack London Waterfront. The A’s are valued at a baseball modest price of $500 million and it would be Lacob’s tribute to the city of Oakland in saving the A’s from leaving town while he plans to take the Warriors to San Francisco.

Lacob is a work in progress on two fronts as the Warriors are in a political battle to try and defeat Proposition B the San Francisco Waterfront height requirement that limits the size of any development over 40-105 feet on the city’s Embarcadero. The voters will be asked in June if the height limit shall be enforced as the Warriors are looking to build a brand new arena at Piers 30-32 but they have been met with much opposition in the Embarcadero neighborhood. Prop B is most likely to pass if put in front of the voters in the San Francisco June election.

Meanwhile Lacob has approached A’s owner John Fisher about the sale of the A’s and Fisher has made it clear that the A’s are not for sale something that Fisher’s business parter Lew Wolff has indicated. Wolff who has stated several times that Jack London Square is a not a viable site for the A’s and he would like to move the team to downtown San Jose but with the Giants territorial rights in place the A’s are bound in Oakland and Alameda County.

The only question that has remained is how long will Fisher and Wolff hold out at the Oakland Coliseum, the management and players have complained about the sewage, water, rain drain, locker room issues at the park just for starts and the A’s want out of the Coliseum. When asked about building a new stadium at Jack London Square and the Howard Street Terminal Wolf said that Jack London Square is not a viable location for the A’s and the A’s have their hearts set on moving to San Jose.

Meanwhile San Jose Mayor Chuck Reid and the city are suing Major League Baseball for the league to clear the territorial rights of the Giants and allow the A’s to move to San Jose. That the A’s have said they want to move to San Jose and that MLB should not allow the Giants to stand in the way of the move. But none the less the document stating the Giants have territorial rights makes it clear the A’s can not move to San Jose.

This brings Fisher and Wolff right back to the drawing board and at some point will the A’s realize that running around on a hamster’s wheel or another Ground Hog Day at the Coliseum continue? Then they might realize they have to live with the Coliseum (that’s the only way they’ll be able to keep the team) or will they sell it to the highest bidder who will keep the team in Oakland and build a downtown stadium for the team.

The Warriors could be one of two major suitors to buy the A’s, the other interested parties are Dryer’s Ice Cream and Clorox. The A’s are concerned about corporate sponsorship but these suitors seem to believe if they can purchase the A’s they also can take care of corportate sponsorship in Oakland.

In the meantime for Lacob he will have to wait to see when and what Fisher and Wolff will do as they bide their time in the rickety Oakland Coliseum a place they want to vacate as soon as possible. If they continue to spin their wheels they might have to face that day when they must sell the A’s and the Warriors for one would be a fitting customer knowing all that Lacob has done in owning sports franchises.

David Zizmor covers the NBA and Ken Gimblin is covering the arena developments for the Warriors and the Sacramento Kings for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Thunder Warm Up for Post Season on Kings

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By Tony Renteria

Sacramento CA:

The Sacramento Kings(27-50) hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder(56-21) tonight, the Thunder who have wrapped up their division title took an early lead in the second quarter kept up the momentum and cruised to a 107-92 road win.

The only highlight for the Kings was snapping Kevin Durant’s scoring streak of 25 or more points in a game at 41 games.  This highlight was dimmed by the fact the Durant played less than 32 minutes as the Thunder used the bench most of the fourth quarter while expanding on their lead.

Travis Outlaw and DeMarcus Cousins both scored 24 points each as no other Member of the team scored more than eleven points.  The Kings were without Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas who both average over 20 points per game.

The Kings missed those much need points as they played one of the hottest teams in the league, they just simply lacked the firepower to keep up with the Thunder.

The Thunder head south tomorrow to play the Clippers, while the Kings head north to play Portland.