Month: May 2014

Michael Duca on the A’s and Giants: Donaldson is turning out to be the A’s gamer;The Giants Panda is back with improved average

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by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–I was right down on the field when Josh Donaldson hit his walk off homerun on Wednesday night at the Coliseum in the A’s 3-1 win and I had mentioned to somebody standing next to me that the bottom of the ninth was not going to be quick and easy just because the Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez had thrown a lot of pitches. Sanchez had 104 and the A’s Coco Crisp worked the count on Sanchez for awhile and hit a ball down the third base line for a double.

Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus came out and replaced Sanchez with relief pitcher Joe Nathan whose scuffled this year, he brought an ERA of 4.58 into the game and if your closer has an ERA like that you’ve given up a lot of runs. There was a long at bat by the A’s John Jaso that resulted in an opposite field ball that hit off Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos’ glove to put runners on first and third.

With one out the Tigers were looking for the double play and Nathan tried to sneak a first pitch sinker in that didn’t sink and Donaldson went yard with it. The most excited guy was A’s pitcher Scott Kazmir who was in danger with a terrible loss at 1-0 after pitching a brilliant game out there.

Sanchez painted the strike zone beautifully, his fastball was clocked at 94-95 but he was moving it in and out, he was able to back off just a little bit and then he threw it at 91-92, he was not finding the strike zone and Sanchez is not a really tall pitcher and plate umpire was Jerry Meals who is about 5’6 and that by defintition is when your sight changes, his visual has his eyes starting lower so the strike zone is going to be a little bit lower.

SF Giants update: Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum who pitched five innings of no hit ball against the Cubs on Tuesday afternoon at AT&T was lifted he could have pitched maybe one more inning and he had 94 pitches, with 32 pitches in the first inning, and in that inning he had absolutely no command of the first inning and Timmy had no idea where the ball was going.

Despite the result SF won it 5-0 and Lincecum was able to fight and figure out ways to win games when doesn’t bring his best stuff out to the mound with him. The fact of the matter he still is mechanically out of whack. He’s not leaning forward into the pitches. He’s not pushing his upper body forward into the target.

If Lincecum can find a way to quickly correct that things will go well because he’s clearly becoming more and more of a pitcher and less and less of a thrower. However you have to be concerned about back to back outings like he’s had and he’s throwing a ton of pitches and this is a guy whose walked three hitters in his first three starts this year. Now Lincecum has 35 walks, the Giants have to be worried about that he averaging more and he’s walked 11 batters in nine innings his last two outtings.

As far as Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval is concerned the Panda is back, there’s just no two ways about it, the Panda is back, that guy who was occupying his uniform for the first month of the season and hitting .166 and working counts and looking like he was struggling on every swing, has been replaced by the original article.

Sandoval is aggressively swinging at anything that is within the same time zone as home plate, you can’t be a good bad ball hitter and all of sudden be a good select ball hitter. There were a lot of people happy to see that Sandoval worked 13 walks in the first month and half of the season. Sandoval is now hitting .246 an improvement since April.

Michael Duca does commentary each week on the A’s and Giants for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kazmir, Athletics Walk Off to Complete Game Win

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By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. — The narrative surrounding the Oakland Athletics over the past three season states that the green and gold achieve with a line-up devoid of super stars but rife with supporting cast members. Josh Donaldson tossed that notion out the window with one swing of the bat Wednesday night, crushing a three-run walk-off home run off closer Joe Nathan to give the A’s (32-21) a 3-1 decision over the American League Central leading Detroit Tigers at O.Co Coliseum.

“For the fans that was a fun game to watch,” said A’s starter Scott Kazmir. “Throughout the game it seemed like (Detroit Tigers Starter) Anibal Sanchez and I were battling it out. We ended up getting a couple base runners in the ninth and you just kind of had that feeling when Josh came up. He swung at the first pitch and didn’t miss it. That was awesome.”

Kazmir pitched a complete game but watched the bottom of the ninth on the hook for a loss after allowing a solo blast to Torii Hunter with two outs in the fourth for the only Detroit run. Donaldson picked his starter up, launching his 13th four-bagger to extend his streak of reaching base to 43 games when penciled on the line-up card at third base.

The pitchers’ duel expected Tuesday night in the much ballyhooed showdown between ace Sonny Gray and 2013 AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer never materialized, instead morphing into a battle of the bullpens in a 6-5 home team loss. The true display of pitching prowess came Wednesday night, with Kazmir (6-2, 2.36 ERA) and Detroit’s Sanchez allowing a combined eight hits.

“You always want to give your starting pitcher support,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “Sanchez was unbelievable tonight. He pitched backwards. Fastballs in breaking ball counts, a lot of change-ups in counts where you’d expect fastballs. It took us a while to score some runs at the end but we kept grinding.”

Sanchez dazzled the Oakland hitters, scattering three hits over 8 1/3 innings, striking out nine while only walking one. He appeared en route to his ninth career complete game, but a one out double in the ninth by Coco Crisp knocked him out of the game after 111 pitches. First-year Detroit manager Brad Ausmus tabbed Nathan to close out the contest and nail down his 13th save of the season.

“I don’t think anybody thought we were going to come up short,” said Melvin. “Once Coco got on I think we had a really good feeling we were going to win the game. That’s what this team has been great at here in the last couple years. Until that last out is recorded, we always feel optimistic that we have a win.”

John Jaso continued the rally, flipping a 2-2 Nathan delivery over the third baseman Nick Castellanos’ outstretched glove for a single, setting up base runners on first-and-third with one away for Donaldson, the fourth place finisher in the 2013 AL MVP voting.

“In that situation, they’re looking for a double play,” said Donaldson. “I was just trying to hit something in the air and get one run.”

Donaldson wasted little time against Nathan(2-1, 4.58), crushing the first-pitch offering from the four-time All-star deep to left field to hand the righty his fourth blown save of the year. The A’s third basemen stood at home plate watching as his blast sailed dangerously close to the foul pole.

“I was just trying to watch it to see if it stayed fair,” said Donaldson. “If it went foul, I didn’t want to waste my energy running.”

The ball indeed landed fair for Donaldson’s second career walk-off home run, the first also coming against Detroit last April. While the homer, Donaldson’s 13th of the campaign, marked a huge highlight in the young slugger’s career he remained humbled about its significance.

“It’s just one of those things,” said Donaldson sheepishly. “I just go out there and play to win.”

The homer, which no doubt will play repeatedly on sports highlight shows until the next news cycle tomorrow, boosts Donaldson’s candidacy for a 2014 All-Star game starting spot. He currently sits in first place amongst third basemen in the fan vote, and could be the A’s first position player to appear in a Mid-Summer Classic in 11 seasons.

Donaldson entered play Wednesday second in the AL in runs scored (42), tied for second in go-ahead RBIs (38) and fifth in home runs (12). He’s also ranks in the top ten in slugging percentage, walks, RBIs and extra base hits. Those numbers are reminiscent of former A’s basher Jason Giambi, green and gold member elected by the fans to the All-star squad back in 2000.

No stranger to the All-star game, Torii Hunter made his presence felt earlier in the game. The right fielder crushed Kazmir’s only mistake, a full count pitch to deep right center field for his second home run in as many nights. The 38-year-old Hunter now owns eight long balls on the season along with 29 runs batted in for the Motor City Kitties. Kazmir finished the night with eight strikeouts and no walks for his first complete game since 2006.

“We’ve seen him pitch pretty similar to this a few times,” said Melvin. “He’s been consistent for us. It probably rates up there with some of his games. But when you’re pitching against a guy that’s throwing the ball that well, you’re not scoring very many runs. You have to be perfect. He was close to that.

Melvin would like to receive another near perfect performance when he sends Jesse Chavez to the mound to stymy the AL’s best offensive team in the matinee finale of the four-game set Thursday afternoon. Detroit (29-20) sends Rick Porcello, owner of seven wins in 2014, to the hill seeking a series split after losing the first and third games in Oakland.

Lincecum and a host of relievers shut down the Cubs for the second straight day

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By Morris Phillips

The Cubs aren’t very good, rarely win on the road, and after three rough days facing Giants’ pitching, obviously don’t have much magic with the bats.

Given that, the Giants 5-0 Wednesday matinee win didn’t provide much drama.  But it did provide some: Tim Lincecum and reliever George Kontos kept the Cubs hitless into the seventh inning.  With all the story lines surrounding Chicago’s offensive futility—and ample down time– the game also inspired a poem only a clumsy sportswriter could pen:

After Petit and Huff had it rough

The rest of the Giants staff said “enough”

That turned AT&T into one of those uninviting places

Where no Cubs were allowed to round the bases

The Cubs went the final 20 innings of the three-game series without scoring a run, including eight plus consecutive innings spanning Tuesday and Wednesday without a hit.  As a result, a bunch of Giants’ pitchers got to lower their ERAs by facing the lovable losers, all excepting Monday’s starter Yusmeiro Petit and David Huff, who were around when Chicago put up seven runs in just three frames.

First-year Cubs’ manager Rick Renteria who’s had the misfortune of directing an offense that has the second-worst batting average and has scored the sixth fewest runs in either league, attempted to put a good face on the afternoon, which among other things didn’t see no-hit Timmy have anything near his best stuff.

“We drove (Lincecum’s) pitch count to almost 100 in five innings, so we were having good at-bats.  We actually hit a few balls hard, didn’t find any holes.  And then the last four innings, we weren’t able to do anything but I thought we put together some pretty good at-bats, we just didn’t generate any runs,” Renteria said.

“That was weird,” John Baker said.  The backup catcher got the Cubs’ first hit off of Jeremy Affeldt.  “It was a weird game too in that we had guys on base in every inning and it didn’t feel like we were getting no-hit.  You kind of knew it when you looked up and saw the zero on the scoreboard but I know when I got the hit, (Giants’ first baseman Buster) Posey had no idea that we were getting no-hit.”

For the Giants, the series played as validation of their outstanding month on the mound coinciding with their ascension in the NL West and current, best record in baseball at 34-19.  With May almost concluded, the Giants’ starters have the National League’s lowest ERA this month at 3.08, and the bullpen leads the big leagues in saves (19) and is second in wins (14).  Unlike 2013, this year’s team has shown the ability and desire to win the games they’re supposed to, like those against the lowly Cubs.

The 20-inning streak served as bit of an answer to the Dodgers’ 17 consecutive innings of no-hit ball that concluded on Monday, a feat that had only been accomplished once in MLB since 1974.  The Dodgers remain five games back of the Giants, but their strengths often seem a lot more impressive than those of the current division leaders.  But on Wednesday that wasn’t the case as the Giants put up one scoreless inning after another.

With two World titles in the bag, and the best record in baseball, the Giants don’t have to worry about whether other teams are taking them seriously.  But they may be the least imposing “best team in baseball” you’ve seen in a while.  Firstly, their .642 win percentage was surpassed by five of the last six teams with the best record after 53 games.  They aren’t imposing offensively, although their home run total (60 in 53 games) is impressive.  Pitching-wise, the Giants seem just fine, but no one knows for sure if this staff can sustain this level of performance for a full season.

Lincecum threw 30 pitches in the first inning, and got a huge assist from Pablo Sandoval on a diving stab of Starlin Castro’s shot down the third base line.  Timmy walked four and saw his pitch count climb quickly, but a developing blister may have been a bigger factor in when he departed on Wednesday.  The pitcher said he could have thrown at least one more inning had he not developed the issue, but for sure, he wasn’t keen on a repeat of his 148-pitch no-hitter in San Diego in July.

“Granted I only went five innings, but zero runs so I’m happy with it,” Lincecum said.

On Thursday, the Giants take the field in hot St. Louis where Ryan Vogelsong will face the Cardinals’ Jaime Garcia.

Warriors arena at Mission Bay: Potential voters for Prop B most likely no shows on election day

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The poll takers have asked around and when the question comes up about San Francisco Propositon B the intitiative that seek height limits on San Francisco’s Waterfront those taking the polls get a surprise in the previous weeks, but not so much a surprise now. The response has been some won’t be coming down to their local polling place and vote for the measure.

Pollsters have reported that ever since the Golden State Warriors opted out of building at Piers 30-32 at the Embarcadero that was satifactory to the pro B voters and they have figured why bother. Recent polls have shown that Prop B is losing by as much as 5-9 points ever since the W’s said they were going to build their new arena at Mission Bay the team’s second choice.

Before the Warriors Mission Bay arena announcement it looked like Prop B was going to win hands down after neighborhood groups rallied to City Hall to get the amendment on the ballot but now that all has changed and voters or enough of them have said they won’t attend the yes on Prop B voting campaign this coming Tuesday.

Also if the trend on elections is correct on off season elections one out of four of the electorate will not show up. Both sides of the Prop B fight have seen huge campaign donations pour into what might be one of San Francisco’s most important and conroversial elections in recent memory. A lot is riding on Prop B from both sides, for those in favor of the measure such as the Sierra Club, former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, former San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and the greater Waterfront neighborhood who don’t want to see high rise development unless voter approved that stretches from the Ferry Buiding to Pier 70 in the Dog Patch district of the city the measure if passed means protection for their views of the Bay, the Bridge and the East Bay.

Mission Bay development for the Warriors was not going to be an objection with the Yes on B campaign as it’s further away enough that it won’t block the Bay views that the neighborhood wanted to protect. Meanwhile the No on B campaign lead by Bruce Agid a community advocate who appears on a number of TV ads is a energy consultant who also had a stint with PG&E said in the ad that Prop B is a ” political free for all” he said that the measure would open up loop holes that developers can use to avoid environmental regulations.

Agid says that Prop B which restricts height limitations on the waterfront would reduce support for transportation, open space, and affordable housing. Former Mayor Agnos questioned the Warriors at the time of the planning at Piers 30-32 about affordable housing and would there be any at all when Golden State proposed building retail and condo towers across the street from the new arena at the piers.

The argument of developer restrictions on the No side goes mainly to the side of development that would be profitable for the city translating jobs, retail, condos, transportation and the like but no arena where the Warriors originally wanted it by Piers 30-32 because of their committment to Mission Bay. If Prop B loses and as of this writing it’s behind in the polls the Waterfront could be a development mecca and a backfire to what it’s writers originally intended it for to protect over development.

It would ironically leave the Warriors out of the picture because they’re committed at Mission Bay and businesses like the San Francisco Giants can develop on Parking lot A where they have plans for retail and a retail village near the AT&T site and a full retail development at Piers 70 as proposed by Forest City Development, without height restrictions there will be free reign and it’s all because voters thought that Prop B was delivered once the Warriors backed off from Piers 30-32.

The Yes on B folks say that if the measure loses it will be a developmental free for all at the Embarcadero. One things for certain free for all indeed.

Jerry Feitelberg is covering the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings arena developments for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Habs get a breath of life in game five win head back to MSG;Hawks pinned to the mat with Kings counting down

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by Larry Leavitt

Montreal vs. NY Rangers: On Tuesday night in game five to trail by just one game 3-2 the Montreal Canadiens played one of their best games at this point in this best of seven series with a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Habs ended up giving up a three goal lead in the second period when it literally looked like a tennis match going back and forth, it’s amazing how quiet the Bell Centre got in the middle of the second period.

Then how loud it got in the third period when the Habs scored two goals to pull away, there were some really poor goaltending in the second period there were some lucky goals but that’s part of winning the Stanley Cup you have to have some luck with you and get some lucky bounces. Some of those goals deflecting off the skate and purely destroying the puck at the net.

Some of the goaltenders (there were three, two for NYR and one for the Habs) they really should have stopped some of those shots and some were some great shots. You had a little of everything and the Habs had to come back and they had a little of everything to make it happen. The physicality and the hitting folks in this series has helped Montreal make the difference this thing is not over.

The Canadiens Rene Bourque who scored a hat trick on Tuesday night was spectacular and if Montreal can get that out of a player whose scored nine goals all season and here he is in the playoffs and he’s got seven goals so far he’s really lifted his game.

That little spark is going to help people like, Max Pacioretty who hasn’t really had his game lifted and hasn’t been the All-Star that he should be, he scored his fifth goal of the Stanley Cup on Tuesday night. There is more potential in him and he’s going to have a good game and he should be looking forward to the next game and this will lift the team and it will show they have the attitude, they have the drive, they can do it they had some really good goaltending from Dustin Tokarski.

Los Angeles vs. Chicago: The Kings who are just one game away from putting this one away leading the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1, the Kings are actually showing that they can dominate a team. The Hawks just kind of folded after winning game one, they just disappeared but there’s no doubt about it the Hawks have the depth to make this a series and they have the talent.

It’s just the Kings absolutley controled them and showed them whose the boss in this series. The Kings just displayed all facets of the game which just took over. The Kings goalie Jonathan Quick did a fantastic job, tough, great passing, he played a great game and the Kings are playing a great game of hockey right now and their going to be very hard to beat.

What the Hawks have to do right now is pull themselves into a room and say “look guys we obviously didn’t play our best game we have much better games in us let’s go back to where we were and let’s go back to what won us Stanley Cups in the past, let’s go back to playing Blackhawks hockey, let’s play our game, let’s beat this goal but not to the point that it takes us out of our play, let’s get our passing down, let’s get our rushes together.”

The Hawks just didn’t look like they were on the same page as far as the game plan, their last game in which they lost by three goals in game four. If the Hawks head coach Joel Quenneville can settle them down and make a new list and remind these guys they have been there before, they just need to stop and reset their game plan. We’ll see how this all works out as the Hawks and Kings match up for game five at the United Center in Chicago Wednesday night.

Larry Leavitt is covering the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA Playoffs:OKC showing strong come back with Westbrook and Durant help;Heat one more away from advancing

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by David Zizmor

San Antonio vs. Oklahoma City: This series is a big one and it should go all the way and at this stage this series is doubt and you have no idea whose going to win it. The Spurs went up 2-0 they did it in pretty dominate fashion and one of the big loses in this series was OKC’s Serge Ibaka who was pulled out of this series when it started and everybody thought he wasn’t going to play again, not only in the series but the entire post season because the calf injury was that serious.

He misses the first two games, OKC had no real answer down low to stop the Spurs Tim Duncan and it was just a mess for OKC they couldn’t do anything and Ibaka miraculously comes back and in game three OKC wins that one 106-97 and before that game Ibaka was truly in doubt needless to say if he could play.

After watching that game three Ibaka was clearly playing really well, he may not necessarily have been at 100 percent but he’s darn close he had a huge impact in that game three and then in game four he had only nine points but the proof is in the pudding. You look at what Duncan did he had only nine points he was 3-8 with six boards and he just couldn’t get it going and in large part it was because Ibaka was down there.

On the flip side, in game four this game was not about Ibaka his defense was certainly key. It was OKC’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s show, these guys were amazing in the game they both shot 50 percent from the field. Westbrook was 40 percent and Durant was 31 percent. When those two guys are on the only other duel that is quite as potent in the NBA is Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Clay Thompson.

Miami vs.Indiana: The Pacers are a Jekyll and Hyde team because we saw that first round against Atlanta and they stunk, the Pacers were lucky to get out of that series alive. In the Second series against Washington the Pacers looked terrible for the first couple of games and all of a sudden they found their magic again.

The Pacers then took that second round series in six games and then early on in this series went against the Heat they looked really good in game one but the Heat squeaked out a win in game two, in games three and four the Heat just took it to them with 99-87 and 102-90 wins.

The Heat now have a 3-1 lead in the series with the Pacers on the brink, it’s not likely that anyone out there is picking Indiana for this series. In game four it was all Miami and the Pacers who went back to their old selves again. The Heat got out to a pretty solid start and never let go.

The Pacers Roy Hibbert did an disappearing act and Hibbert was pretty good that last few games but all of sudden he went back to zero points, five boards, he was a complete non factor in this one. On the other side of the ball the Heat’s LeBron James dropped 32, ten boards, five assists and it was a typical phenomenal LeBron game.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Gray Gives Up Season High Four Runs and Relievers Give Up A Pair, A’s Lose 6-5

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OAKLAND, CA - MAY 27: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detoit Tigers trots around the bases after hitting a solo home run off of Sonny Gray #54 of the Oakland Athletics in the top of the third inning at O.co Coliseum on May 27, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – MAY 27: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers trots around the bases after hitting a solo home run off of Sonny Gray #54 of the Oakland Athletics in the top of the third inning at O.co Coliseum on May 27, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Sonny Gray gave up a season high four runs on eight hits and Luke Gregerson gave up the game winning run in the top of the 8th and the A’s (31-21) lost to the Tigers (29-19) 6-5. John Jaso hit his fifth homer of the year in the fourth and Jed Lowrie and Albert Callaspo contributed with a double each in the second to provide the majority of the A’s offense tonight. The A’s have now lost five of their last six games.

“I felt really good. That’s why it’s a little bit frustrating,” said Sonny Gray on his performance tonight. “You felt like you have good stuff, and then you just get hit around a little bit.”

Jaso echoed the frustrations of his pitcher, “It just seemed like his two-seamer wasn’t moving like it normally does and that’s where he ran into trouble.”

The first inning proved rough for Gray as he gave up a single, two doubles and a walk to the Tigers who took advantage and took a 2-0 lead on a single by Miguel Cabrera and a double by J.D. Martinez. The A’s got a pair of runs in the bottom of the second off of a double from Jaso and a double from Callaspo to tie the game at two. In the top of the third Cabreba hit his 8th homer of the year deep to left field and in the fourth Avila hit a double to drive in Jackson to give the Tigers a two run lead again and brought the score to 4-2.

In the bottom of the fourth, Josh Reddick scored on a balk from Scherzer and Jaso hit a two-run homer to give the A’s their first lead of the game 5-4.

Torri Hunter ruined the party in the top of the 7th as he hit a deep shot to center field that Coco Crisp wasn’t able to corral  and tied the game at 5.

Detroit took the lead for good in the top of the eighth when after a walk to J.D. Martinez, former Athletic Rajai Davis came in to pinch run. Davis advanced to second after a passed ball from Abad and then later on in the same at bat, Abad wasn’t paying attention to Davis and Davis stole third that surprised everybody.After Castellanos walked, Austin Jackson hit a ground ball to Lowrie who got the ball to second for one out but Jackson beat out the throw at first and was able to bring Davis home to secure the 6-5 Detroit win.

Tigers closer Joe Nathan said, “I think he caught the whole stadium by surprise. I know I missed it.”

A’s coach Bob Melvin said “That was the difference. He timed it perfectly. As soon as Norris let go of the ball he took off. I haven’t seen the replay yet if he had a chance to get it and throw him out, but that’s a big chance he took and it paid off.”

The A’s send Scott Kazmir (5-2) to the mound on Wednesday night with his 3.99 ERA in 13 career starts against Detroit against the Tigers Anibal Sanchez (2-2).

Duo up to old tricks

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-If people thought that the injury to Brandon Belt would be devestating to the San Francisco Giants, they do not know this team.

Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse have picked up the slack in place of Belt, and they showed it again in the second game of the three-game series against the Chicago Cubs.

Morse hit a run-scoring single in the bottom of the first inning, added a double in the bottom of the fourth, while Sandoval picked up a key hit in the bottom of the fifth inning and the Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-0 before a crowd of 41,060, the 273rd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Tim Hudson was his usual solid self, as he went seven innings, allowing zero runs on six hits, walking zero and striking out five, as he won for the fifth time against two losses.

By not walking anyone again, Hudson continues to not have broke the double figure plateau in free passes, as he stands at six walks with 44 strikeouts.

In six starts at AT&T Park this season, Hudson has issued just two walks, both coming against the Cleveland Indians on April 25.

Buster Posey drove in two runs for the Giants, as he hit two sacrifice flies, the first in the bottom of the first and only run that the Giants would need.

Posey drove in Angel Pagan from third base, after Pagan singled, and advanced to third on a Hunter Pence siand then scored on the sacrifice fly.

Following a Sandoval groundout to shortstop, Morse drove in Pence with a single.

Posey drove in the Giants third run of the evening after Ehire Adrianza singled to lead off the inning, stole his first career base and then scored the all important third run of the night for the Giants.

Following the Posey sacrifice fly, Sandoval blooped a single into left field that scored Pagan with his second run of the night, after he singled for the second time in the game.

Despite taking the loss, Jake Arrieta pitched admirably, as he went six innings, allwoing four runs on seven hits, walking just one and striking out six.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:Taste of the World Cup served up at Candlestick Tuesday night

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The soccer fans came in droves and they were pumped up about World Soccer on Tuesday night at Candlesick Park as the U.S. Men’s team welcomed visiting Azerbaijan and this was an event that can facilitate 50-60,000 fans. This game was the first of three exhibition games before both teams take off to Brazil for the real deal next month at the World Cup.

This was special on the local angle as this is the last year before they blow up Candlestick Park and this tournament was something that the World Cup wanted to show case being at the Stick. This was an opportunity to say goodbye to the park with a big event.

The Brazil controversy: The citizens of Brazil or a great number of them have been protesting about the building of these new stadiums and villages in Rio that will accommodate the players, coaches, team personnel, media and the fans and after they leave these stadiums they will no longer be needed and be virtually a shell kind of like the Silver Dome in Pontiac.

What people forget that Brazil is larger than the United States territorial wise but it’s still a third world country. There’s a lot of poverty there, the Brazilian goverment has been criticized and FIFA will be selling tickets and concessions at top dollar and getting a hotel and dinning will be at top prices something the average citizen cannot afford and I read an article a couple weeks ago that the government of Brazil doesn’t know what is going to happen to those stadiums once the World Cup is done.

They are spending billions of dollars, it’s always controversial and most of those events make money and people seem to forget it’s a huge country and still it’s a third world country with profits going towards TV, FIFA and the hotels. It’s not a rich industrialized nation.

Media still talking about the A’s getting swept in Toronto: The Jays are very hot right now, they’re playing great ball especially at the Skydome and baseball is 162 games and you can have a team that can lose five, six or ten games in a row. Look what happened to the Boston Red Sox, they just ended a ten game losing streak it was the first team since the 1998 Miami Marlins to lose nine or more games in a row after winning the World Series.

So this happens to all of the teams and the A’s just ran into a very hot team like the Jays but look what happened they took the Detroit Tigers in the opening game of the homestand with a whopping 10-0 shutout laugher. One of the best teams in the American League and in first place in the A.L. Central. That’s baseball and the Tigers I think are the best team in the American League some other people might disagree and the A’s came back on Monday and scored ten runs.

Tuesday night the A’s are throwing Sonny Gray against the Tigers and Gray could be a future Cy Young winner against a guy who won the Cy Young last year the Tigers Max Scherzer. The Blue Jays they had something to prove when the A’s came to Toronto last week and thats what happened and then on Monday night everything went the A’s way. When your not playing well things go wrong the line drives over third base are foul, the potential doubles turn into long singles, and home runs hit the top of the wall or are grabbed just above the fence by the outfielder.

Baseball is a game of opportunities and when you grab that opportunity you keep winning and the Jays have a great line up with Melky Cabrera hitting .322, Edwin Encarnacion leading the Jays with 15 homers,Jaun Batista with 37 runs scored. My friend wrote about them and called them the Dominican Jays because they’ve filled that line up with six or seven Dominicans.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice of Oakland Athletics baseball and does News and Commentary weekly on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings interested in Love?

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports is reporting the Sacramento Kings are interested in trading the number eight draft pick and an unnamed player package to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love. Of course, the Kings are not the only NBA team interested in Love.According to Yahoo:

The Sacramento Kings have let the Minnesota Timberwolves know they are interested in trading for All-Star forward Kevin Love – and the Kings would make a deal without any assurance from Love he’d re-sign with them, a league source told Yahoo Sports.

The Kings are willing to give up their eighth overall pick in this year’s NBA draft and a combination of players for Love, even though he would not be expected to sign a contract extension before next season – if ever, with the rebuilding, small-market franchise, the source said. Sacramento envisions Love and DeMarcus Cousins playing alongside each other in the front court. Swingman Rudy Gay has a player’s option for next season.

The Kings know they’d have to gamble on convincing Love to re-sign, given that the franchise is rebuilding and Love is looking to play for a contender after never reaching the playoffs with the Timberwolves. Love’s suitors also figure to include a number of bigger markets, including the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls.

Love’s representatives with Excel Sports have pushed Timberwolves president Flip Saunders to find an acceptable trade prior to the start of free agency in July. Without a trade, Love plans to opt out of his contract in the summer of 2015 and likely leave Minnesota as a free agent.

The Kings showed in their first season under new owner Vivek Ranadive and general manager Pete D’Alessandro they are willing to spend money. They acquired Gay and signed Cousins to a four-year, $62 million extension.

Sacramento struggled to a 28-54 record last season and missed the playoffs for the eighth straight season. The Kings expect to begin playing in a new downtown Sacramento arena in 2016.

The Kings have not issued any reaction to the Yahoo Sports report.

 Love has never played in a post-season game in the NBA. He most likely wants to be traded to a contender. A team that is just one player away from competing for the NBA Championship. That does not describe the Sacramento Kings who must first make the playoffs before thinking about playing for a title.

 The Kings have become an aggressive team when it comes to acquiring personnel. Going after a Kevin Love is admirable but not realistic at this time. The packaging of the eighth pick for a veteran impact player is a logical move if the right player is available. If a fair trade cannot be arranged then it’s time to choose the best available player on draft night.

 The next 30-days will be active ones for the Kings player personnel department.