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Month: May 2014
Moss Homer, No-Hit Rally Lift Athletics over Rays 3-2
By Matthew Harrington
The Oakland Athletics managed only one hit against the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday evening at Tropicana Field, but the lone base knock proved to be an efficient one. Brandon Moss’ solo home run in the fourth inning proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 decision over Tampa Bay (19-28). Oakland (30-16) also scored two unearned runs in the second, proving to be all the run support Tommy Milone (2-3, 3.99 ERA) would need. The lefty fired 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball, outdueling Erik Bedard for a fifth-straight victory for the Green and Gold (30-16), leaders of the AL West by four games. Sean Doolittle converted the save just hours after manager Bob Melvin declared the flame-throwing southpaw full-time fireman, replacing the previously employed closer-by-committee approach.
To open the second inning, the A’s loaded the bases on Bedard without registering a hit. Yoenis Cespedes reached on an errant throw from shortstop Yunel Escobar that pulled James Loney off the bag at first base. Derek Norris and Brandon Moss followed the error with back-to-back walks and nowhere to put Alberto Callaspo, but the second basemen struck out for the first out of the inning.
Defensive miscues doomed Bedard’s brilliant performance though after a second error in the inning brought Cespedes and Norris around for a 2-0 lead. Rays second-sacker Sean Rodriguez turned a surefire double-play from Josh Reddick into a two-run mistake, sailing the potential twin-killing feed to Escobar into left field instead. The misplay gave Cespedes and Norris ample time to cross home plate from third and second base respectively.
While the A’s bedeviled the Rays to two runs on four base runners without a hit earlier, it only took one batter in the fourth for Oakland to add to the lead. With two outs in the top of the fourth, Brandon Moss crushed a first-pitch hanging breaking ball from Bedard to right field for his 10th long ball of the season to make it 3-0 for the visitors. Moss collected his 40th RBI of the season, the fourth-highest total in the Majors this season. Moss is also second in the junior circuit in on-base plus slugging percentage (.988) and sixth in the AL in on-base percentage (.393) in a quest for his first All-star bid of his career.
Tampa scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth on run-scoring singles from Loney and Escobar, the latter of which greeted reliever Fernando Rodriguez into the game. Rodriguez relieved Milone, who departed the game responsible for one run already and on the hook for a pair of runners on base as well. Only one of the runners scored before Rodriguez could retire the side, closing the book on Milone after three strike-outs and a solitary walk issued. His opponent Bedard (2-2, 2.63) went 5 1/3 innings, striking out six Athletics while yielding the lone hit to Moss for the only earned run of the night
After closing out the sixth inning, Rodriguez pitched a scoreless seventh before handing the ball over to Luke Gregerson for the eighth. Gregerson retired Evan Longoria looking at strike three but surrendered consecutive singles to Loney and pinch-hitter Matt Joyce to put the tying run at third with only one out.
Fernando Abad, the Athletics most reliable reliever this season, entered the game trying to cut off the Rays rally. He lost David DeJesus on a full-count base on balls to fill the bases with Rays but induced a lead-saving double play from Escobar to end the inning and the stamp out the Tampa scoring threat at two runs.
Sean Doolittle pitched a near-perfect ninth for his fourth save of the season, striking out two while allowing a lone hit to close out the game and put Oakland in line for the sweep in the Sunshine State. A’s ace Sonny Gray will take the bump for Thursday’s matinee from the Trop looking for win number six in a row for Melvin and associates. He’ll be opposed by the Ray’s Alex Cobb in the finale before the team heads north of the border for a weekend series in Toronto. The Blue Jays currently stand tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East.
Spurs dominate Thunder, lead series 2-0
By George Devine, Sr.
The San Antonio Spurs won the second game of their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 112-77, in what resembled a badly-matched collegiate game. The Spurs now lead the series 2-0 and the two teams will meet again at 5:30 p.m. PDT on Sunday, May 25.
This was not a pretty sight for the visitors, who shot only 39.3% from the floor and 30% from the charity stripe, compared to 50% and a sizzling 91.3%, respectively, for San Antonio. With a strong defense of their own, and an impaired defense from the Thunder — still without Serge Ibaka — the Spurs scored almost at will, dominating in all quarters excepting the first where they trailed 26-24; in that period the Thunder began with a 5-0 run. In the second period San Antonio led 34-18 and this included a 25-8 run.
Leading the effort for OKC were Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook with 15 points each; Westbrook also had 5 assists. Jeremy Lamb had 13 points, Steve Adams 9 with 8 rebounds and Reggie Jackson 8 with 4 assists.
For San Antonio, Tony Parker led with 22 points and Denny Green was close behind with 21. Tim Duncan had 14 with 12 boards, Manu Ginobili had 11 and Tiago Splitter had 9 with 10 rebounds.
Giants’ win bittersweet
By Jeremy Harness
It’s always a good thing when the Giants are able to get a win in Coord Field, a place that has been a place of utter frustation for the road team over the years.
Wednesday night’s 5-1 win over the Colorado Rockies erased the memory of the previous night’s dramatic loss. At the same time, however, it created more issues that look like they will last longer than any loss would.
Starter Matt Cain had to leave the game in the third after suffering a slight hamstring injury following a strikeout to end the inning. The encouraging thing, however, is that Cain was able to walk off the field on his own power.
The timetable to return was not immediately determined at press time.
Santiago Casilla’s injury appears to be considerably serious and drastically shifted the mood of the entire Giants dugout.
Casilla, who was solid in relief on Wednesday, came up to bat in the top of the ninth – this was only his fifth career at-bat – and worked the count to 3-2 to the delight of his teammates, including Pablo Sandoval.
That quickly changed when he hit a dribbler up the middle, which shortstop Troy Tulowitzki gobbled up and threw out a hustling Casilla.
The righty then fell to the turf in serious pain, and he was eventually helped off the field by two trainers, as Casilla was unable to put weight on either leg as he was helped into the clubhouse following the play.
“I was shocked that he was running like that,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I told him, ‘Don’t even swing.’ I’ve never seen him run like that. I guess when he hit it, he thought he had a hit.”
Jeremy Affeldt entered in the ninth and was able to pick up the save to even up the series at 1-1.
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Kings trying to protect the net in game two; Rangers take upper hand into game three
by Larry Leavitt
Chicago vs. Los Angeles: The things that we’ve seen with the L.A. Kings as we’ve seen in rounds one and two their never out of it and the Kings could be down 3-0 and still win the series. The Kings will be a little more prepared on Wednesday night in Chicago.
The Kings had to face a quick turn around to start the series after playing seven games with the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. The Hawks had a few extra days off and it showed in their skating and ability to have fresh legs in game one. The Kings have had a couple days off they’ve seen what their opponent’s got and they should be better prepared for Wednesday night against the Hawks.
The Kings want to protect the net against the Hawks offense and there are two main ways that you can score a goal the first one is the goalie can’t stop what he can’t see. So if you have somebody in front of the goalie you can’t see the puck when it’s coming. So how do you get something by the goalie when you can’t see it coming?
The second one is the quick passes and crosses the east-west passes, side to side when you have the goalie moving or the feed pass before the redline behind the goal off front when the goalie is hugging that corner expecting you to do a wrap around or something and you shoot it above ice he has no time to react.
Jamie Quick the Kings goalie was the victim of both those circumstances in game three Wednesday night at United Center.
Montreal vs. NY Rangers: If the Rangers are smart they would take advantage of the fact that the Candaiens don’t have their number one goalie in net Carey Price, the Habs for that matter don’t have their number two goalie in net Peter Budaj was pulled for the third string goalie after game one and the Canadiens are now starting goaltender Dustin Tokarski.
Tokarski started game two and will also start game three, Tokarski is a rookie goalie and played a few games in the season and went 2-0 during the regular season and was sent back down to the minors and now they brought him up. The Canadiens are playing the trump card but the Canadiens have to play a lot better hockey and help Tokarski out.
The Habs need to try to control better in the zone and really grind the boards against the Rangers. The Rangers right now are just playing hot, hot, hockey right now their on a roll and I don’t know if the Rangers can be stopped right now.
You know if your in the NHL you have to be prepared and especially in the playoffs and if your a back up you have to be prepared and getting blitzed 7-2 in game one did Budaj in. You have to be prepared at any moment to step in and be on your A game. Which is one of the tougher jobs in the NHL and your almost a cheerleader on the bench and when your called out in the game you get serious and concentrate.
Some goalies really have made a huge mark for themselves in doing that and being able to come in and be in the game and save the day. Tokarski is going to have to do a lot better in game three than he did in game two and be prepared but realistically it’s really all about the Montreal defense.
Larry Leavitt is covering the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com
NBA Playoffs: Heat-Pacers take talents to South Beach on Saturday for game 3
by David Zizmor
Miami vs. Indiana: The second game of this series was not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, when you look at the final score 87-83 your defintely not going to get very pretty basketball but the bottom line for Miami is that they won a game on the road in Indiana and the series is tied 1-1.
The old adage is the playoffs series doen’t start until the team wins a game on the road and Miami just did that. So were into the thick of it now, it’s 1-1 going back to Miami and the Heat are the defending champs despite Indiana having the number one seed.
This will be a tough series and what we’ve seen so far is the Pacers has kind of regained it’s mojo whatever they had at the end of last season when the started off at 40-12. The Pacers seemed to have found it again and it almost got them booted out of the playoffs while they were finding it.
Somehow in the middle of that series against Washington the Pacers rediscovered themselves and their playing really good sound basketball and they won that first game 107-96 rather handily. They had the problem that the Heat had in game one that the Pacers didn’t perform and they didn’t get any production out of their back up guys. So this could very well be a see-saw series.
Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio: The Spurs who lead the series and the Spurs did a good job in game one of asserting themselves and establishing their game. You have to figure after game one that OKC is going to go out and make a few adjustments to try and counter that.
I’m not getting a great feel from this OKC team they’ve had issues back and forth all season long in terms of their consistency and their defense and I’m not sure if they’re going to be able to hang with San Antonio over seven games without Serge Ibaka. That was the big blow to OKC and it didn’t happen in this series as Ibaka went out in the tail end of that Clippers series.
Ibaka was such a key player for them and everybody talked about Durant and Westbrook for OKC and rightfully so because their fantastic players they’re All-Stars and Durant is an MVP, Westbrook is one of the best point guards in the league.
Ibaka is a very good scorer and a fantastic defender and when you going against a team that has Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli and Duncan who put up 20 points and ten boards you need Ibaka out there and make him work. Remember Duncan is getting the numbers but you he’s 39 years old, to have Ibaka out there it’s like in the Miami series the Pacers Paul George makes LeBron work for those points in rebounds.
David Zizmor covers the NBA Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Kings get the No. 8 pick but may trade it
Photo credit: NBAE/Getty
By Charlie O. Mallonee
Last night was the NBA Draft Lottery where dreams are made or dashed by a combination of numbered ping pong balls. If the teams drafted based on their win-loss records alone, the Sacramento Kings would draft seventh. After adding in the lottery factor, the Kings will draft eighth in the 2014 NBA Draft. This is the fifth time the Kings have fallen one spot from its pre-lottery position.
The 2014 draft class is very solid and deep. There will be star quality players available for eighth pick in the draft, but the Kings may never use the pick.
According to a story by Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, the Kings are going to put their number eight pick on the trading blocking as of today. Per Howard-Cooper, the Kings are looking to add a veteran impact player in exchange for the number eight selection.
The idea of trading the pick is a plausible one. The Kings could use additional veteran talent to reduce the amount of time it will take to become playoff contenders. The addition of Rudy Gay had a major positive impact on the club last season. The addition of an impact small forward or shooting guard would help the Kings improve their win-loss record in 2014-15.
If the Kings choose to keep the pick or unable to find an acceptable trading partner, the mock draft experts think Sacramento will wind up with a power forward or point guard. Gary Parish of cbssports.com believes the Kings will select Arizona power forward Aaron Gordon at number eight. Parrish’s colleague Matt Moore concurs. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com believes the Kings would select point guard Marcus Smart from Oklahoma. InsideHoops.com sees the Kings selecting power forward Noah Vonleh out of Indiana.
A power forward pick would provide some insurance in case the Kings cannot sign Rudy Gay to a long term deal. A young player could learn much from the veteran Gay.
Choosing a point guard would allow the Kings to keep Isaiah Thomas and use him as a sixth-man off the bench. The Kings could also choose not to resign Thomas and save up to $10-million to use on a small forward or shooting guard.
One thing is for sure. The number eight pick will change the landscape for the Kings’ 2014-15 season.
Sacramento approves new arena project
Artist rendering of the new Sacramento Entertainment and Sports Center
By Charlie O. Mallonee
The waiting is over in Sacramento. Last night the Sacramento City Council approved the downtown Entertainment and Sports Center (arena) project that will keep the Kings in town for the next 35-years. The final vote was 7-2 which has been the typical tallies for almost all of the legislation concerning the arena that has come before the body.
“Tonight’s vote is a historic moment for Sacramento and the culmination of years of hard work from so many in our city and our region,” said Mayor Kevin Johnson, “Sacramento has had a vision for its future and I am so proud of our community for their fight and resolve to ensure that vision became a reality. I can’t wait till groundbreaking in the fall.”
The vote means that work can begin on the demolition of the Downtown Mall and the former Macy’s building in order to begin construction of the new complex. All of the remaining tenants of the mall will vacate the property by the end of May.
“We want to thank Mayor Johnson and the Sacramento City Council for their leadership,” said Kings’ owner Vivek Ranadivé. “We are humbled by tonight’s historic vote and the opportunity to truly transform this great city. Most importantly, I want to thank Kings fans and the amazing people of the entire region for their passion and support. As I’ve always said, the Sacramento Kings belong to you.”
The total cost of the arena project will be $477-million. The City of Sacramento will pay $223-million with the Kings providing $254-million. The Kings’ lease will start at $6.5-million per year and will contribute $391-million over the course of the 35-year lease. The city will raise its portion of the funds from bonds to be paid with parking revenues, hotel taxes and other revenue created by the arena project.
Demolition efforts will begin almost immediately. The groundbreaking for the project will take place in the fall. The opening of the Entertainment and Sports Center will be in October 2016.
A’s Shutout the Rays 3-0, Pomeranz Wins His Third Straight
By Kahlil Najar
ST. PETERSBURG – Drew Pomeranz tossed five straight scoreless innings and three other A’s relievers shut out the Tampa Bay Ray’s 3-0. Pomeranz struck out three and only walked a pair of batters. His ERA for May dropped to 0.73 and his ERA on the year is an amazing 0.94.
On his starts Pomeranz said, “my three starts have been a great team effort. We scored a lot of runs and the bullpen shut them down.
A’s reliever Sean Doolittle, who earned the save tonight said, “He’s done an incredible job for us. The numbers speak for themselves, but he pitched out of a couple of jams today and seemed to be in control for the most part, mixing his pitches and changing speeds. He’s looking real comfortable and like he’s pitching with a lot of confidence.”
Speaking of confidence, head coach Bob Melvin alluded to the fact that with his third save of the year, Doolittle may have earned his spot as the closer for the team.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Doolittle.
The A’s scored all their runs in the second inning when after a Norris walk and a Sogard single, Coco Crisp hit his sixth double of the year ans scored both runners and made it 2-0. John Jaso then smacked a single to left field and scored Crisp to make it 3-0.
The A’s forced five Rays pitchers into the game and made it a long night for their pitching crew.
“That’s when we’re at our best. There will be games where we have 11, 12 guys left on base like we did today, and it will feel kind of frustrating, but then there’s other games we’ll get them in and score 10 runs. Either way, the way we work, the starter is significant in scoring the runs and winning the game,” said Melvin.
The Rays and A’s head back at it tomorrow night when Oakland sends Tommy Milone to the mound against Erik Bedard, 4:10pm PST.
Arenado beats Romo in the ninth
By Jeremy Kahn
Nolan Arenado did something against Sergio Romo that was only accomplished one other time during the 2014 season.
Arenado hit a two-run double off of Romo in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-4 at Coors Field.
It was only the second blown save of the season for Romo, who saw his record fall to 3-1 on the season.
The Arenado double bounced off the wall to score Troy Tulowitzki with the tying run and motoring Carlos Gonzalez, who was running from first base with the winning run.
It was the second straight walkoff win for the Rockies, who defeated the San Diego Padres on a Justin Morneau two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday afternoon.
The Giants took a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth inning, as Tyler Colvin hit a RBI double against Rockies closer and former Giants reliever LaTroy Hawkins.
Wilin Rosario drove in three of the Rockies five runs on the evening, as he hit a RBI double and a two-run home run, as he recently returned to the Rockies lineup after missing 12 games because of a viral infection that caused him to lose nearly 10 pounds.
Madison Bumgarner was his steallar self again, as he went six innings, but gave up the game-tying home run to Rosario in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Bumgarner set a Giants team record by allowing three runs or less in his 18th consecutive road starts, surpassing Ed Whitson.
The Giants scored three of their four runs in the top of the fifth inning, as they were helped by a overturned foul ball that turned into a fair ball.
Colvin hit a double that dropped on the foul line that was called foul, but Bruce Bochy challenged the call and it was overturned..
Gregor Blanco then hit a two-run triple and then Hunter Pence hit a slow roller that Tulowitzki was unable to clean fieldly.
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