Month: May 2014

NBA Playoffs report: Spurs can put it away;Clips Rivers calls out officials;Turning up the Heat;Pacers try to avoid game 7

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by David Zizmor

San Antonio vs. Portland: The Trailblazers are not a bad team they have a lot of the pieces to make the team run in the future their an inexperienced team and going up against a team like the Spurs who have all the experience in the world are a fantastic team in their own right and it’s a really a rough road for Portland.

Portland did pull off a win to avoid a sweep in Portland over the Spurs with a 103-92 victory, the Spurs are ahead in the series 3-1 with game five coming up on Wednesday night in San Antonio. So you have to think that the Spurs are going to wrap this one up.

The Spurs don’t want to have to go back to Portland, the Spurs like we’ve been saying all along they are an older team, so the more rest they get before the Western Conference finals it’s better for them so it’s likely they’ll wrap this one up tonight.

Oklahoma City vs. LA Clippers: You hate to see games this big decided by officials, referees usually should try to make themselves scarce towards the end of these games. If there’s an obvious foul and obviously you call it most of the time in these close and late situations the refs tend to put their whistles away.

Officals in crucial situations don’t call ticky tack fouls that’s not what you want to see, in this situation you have a three point play and the call goes to the Thunder on a questionable call and everybody is going to be up in arms. It’s one of those situations where the ref is putting themselves right in the flow of the game.

The call changed the potential outcome of the game and the Thunder have to make those free throws and your talking about a very good player taking those shots and it wasn’t particularily difficult to see the Thunder hurting in that situation. This was really going to be a very entertaining series and the Thunder are up by one game 3-2 with game six on Thursday night.

Miami vs. Brooklyn: The Nets are a good team their not a glamorous team and to beat the Heat in a seven game series like this you have to be approaching greatness among the great teams in the league. That’s why the Nets were able to push the Heat to seven games.

The Spurs are a great team and they could end up playing a great team like Miami over a seven game series. The Nets have a lot of great players and they have a lot of great players who are well past their prime. Maybe they can turn it off for a night or two in the post season but to sustain enough to win a seven game series is an awful lot to ask of Nets players like Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett,Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.

Without Brook Lopez who the Nets lost much earlier this season they just didn’t have a defensive presence or a guy in the middle to really change how Miami would have to play in this kind of a series. More power to the Nets and to beat a very good Toronto team in the first round and they got a win off of Miami in the second round but if this series goes six games I’ll be surprised Miami should wrap this up in five games.

Indiana vs. Washington: This will be interesting because we’ve been talking about the Pacers and how poorly they’ve been playing you got remember the first series and how the Pacers played against Atlanta. The Pacers are stumbling and this isn’t limited to the post season this is something that has been going on for several months now.

Let’s track it back now, in the first series against the Hawks they struggled and the Hawks are not even a good team at all and in the Eastern Conference their just worthy of an eighth seed and the Pacers are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth. In this series against Washington aside from the first game they Pacers played pretty well.

As we’ve said all along the offense has a lot left to be desired but the biggest development in this series is Roy Hibbert the Pacers center was among the best centers in the league for most of the season until the end and he was a non factor against Atlanta to the point that he was benched for the last few games. The Pacers lead the series 3-2 with game six on Thursday night.

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

Pomeraz and the A’s Hitting On All Cylinders Destroy White Sox 11-0

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Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick, right, is congratulated by Derek Norris (36) after Reddick hit a two -un home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher Scott Carroll in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 13, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo)
Oakland Athletics’ Josh Reddick, right, is congratulated by Derek Norris (36) after Reddick hit a two -un home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher Scott Carroll in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 13, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo)

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Drew Pomeraz (3-1) threw five scoreless innings and struck out a career high eight batters and gave the A’s (25-15) an 11-0 win over the Chicago White Sox (19-22) and extended the A’s win streak to six. The A’s offense was also impressive as they sprayed 17 hits over eight innings with Brandon Moss providing a big push as he hit two deep home runs tonight and drove in five runs. John Jaso had three hits on the night and Jed Lowrie, Josh Reddick, Yoenis Cespedes and Craig Gentry each had a pair of hits to round out the A’s hitting.

“The offense was terrific across the board,” said head coach Bob Melvin. “Moss is really hitting the ball well. Cespedes has a big hit. Norris had a big hit. Reddick and his music. A lot of good performers.”

Melvin is referring to how Josh Reddick changed his walk up music to 80’s Icons Wham’s hit single Careless Whisper.

“I thought it was great. And the fans got a little upset at his last at bat and they didn’t play it. They started booing a bit. You know our fans are always paying attention.”

“It takes everything in my body to hold back a smile. When it didn’t happen in the 8th and everyone booed it was pretty funny,” said Reddick. Apparently the song came on in the clubhouse a few days and it just stuck.

Pomeranz who has now pitched 10 scoreless innings in his last two starts is now a solid man in the rotation with Strailey now optioned to Sacramento.

“He was able to navigate through all right handed hitters (tonight). All guys with power. He strikes out the first three hitters of the game and set the tone,” said Melvin.

“That’s that mentality, I’m kind of just trying to go right after people. That’s what I was doing out of the bullpen and I had success doing that. I don’t see any reason to change that,” said Pomeranz on his execution tonight.

The A’s got the scoring started in the first when Brandon Moss hit his sixth double of the year to left field and scored Cespedes who was on base after a single of his own. The A’s made it a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a Gentry single to center field scored Reddick who was standing on second base. In the fifth and sixth inning the A’s scored seven runs on four doubles and two home runs. Reddick hit a two run homer to center field that bounced off the top part of the wall to give the A’s a  6-0 lead. Then in the bottom of the sixth Moss hit a deep home run to right field that brought the lead to 9-0.

In the bottom of the eighth, Moss added some more insurance runs as he hit another towering shot to right center field with a man on base and brought the score to its final of 11-0.

The White Sox send Andre Rienzo (3-0) to the mound tomorrow against Tommy Milone, game time 12:35pm.

Press conference audio:

L.A. gets clipped at the end; OKC leads series 3-2

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by George Devine, Sr.

The Los Angeles Clippers managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Game 5 of the semifinal series at Oklahoma City, losing 105-104.

Chris Paul, one of the Clippers’ mainstays, turned out to be somewhat the goat of the game, in that he committed the foul that led to the three free throws that put the Thunder ahead, and then failed to make the shot neededfor Los Angeles at the last. With 50 seconds to go in the game, the Clippers were ahead by 7 points, but the home team literally thundered ahead. A key possession call gave OKC the ball, despite the ire of L.A. coach Doc Rivers. Paul then fouled Russell Westbrook who was in the act of shooting a trey, and all three charity shots went in with 6.4 seconds to play. Then Paul got the ball and drove for an inside shot that would have won the game, but the Thunder defense stopped him: Reggie Jackson stole the ball and the game was over.

Westbook was the star for the home team, scoring 38 points. Kevin Durant accounted for 27, 10 of them within the last 4 minutes. Prior to that point the Clippers led, 101-88, but once more it was demonstrated that virtually no lead is safe in the NBA.

Despite his unfortunate performance at the end, Paul scored 17 points and contributed 14 assists. Jamal Crawford had 19 points. Blake Griffin poured in 24 points and had 17 boards.

Los Angeles led the scoring, 34-25, in the initial frame. Oklahoma City outscored them, 27-24, in the second, but the visitors still led at halftime, 58-52. The third period was even at 28, but it was in the final quarter that OKC came out strong, 25-18.

Game 6 will be on Thursday, May 18 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Oklahoma City can win the round with a victory in that matchup.

One bad inning does in Giants

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Ryan Vogelsong was cruising all the way into the top of the sixth inning, but it was in that inning that his night began to unravel.

Freddie Freeman hit a sharp single into right field, and Hunter Pence came up throwing and despite the fact that the ball beat Jason Heyward to the plate, Heyward was able to get under the tag.

The run scored by Heyward was huge, as it helped the Atlanta Braves defeat the Giants 5-0 before a sellout of 41,506, the 263rd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Bruce Bochy challenged the call, but after just 35 seconds, the play stood and the San Francisco Giants fell to 6-3 on the season in challenge

B.J. Upton then singled in Freeman, who advanced to second on the Pence throw to the plate and the Braves scored their final run of the inning, as Andrelton Simmons singled to left field to score Chris Johnson, who reached on a Fielders’ Choice that retired Evan Gattis at second base.

It was a Gattis triple to the right-center alley that got the Braves on the board in the top of the fourth inning, as Freeman scored all the way from first base after he walked with one out.

The other big story of the game was the pitching of left-hander Mike Minor, who entered the game with an 0-2 record and 6.97 earned run average.

All Minor did was allow just three hits in 6.2 innings of work, walked two and struck out six on his way to his first win of the 2014 season.

Vogelsong went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking just one and striking out a career-high tying eight; however his record fell to 1-2 on the season.

It was the sixth time in Vogelsong’s career that he struck out eight in a game, and the first time since April 21, 2012 against the New York Mets at Citi Field.

The Giants attempted to get a rally together in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Angel Pagan walked with two outs, breaking a streak of 16 in a row retired by Minor and then Pence doubled to left field; however Posey struck out to end the inning.

When Posey struck out to end the sixth inning, it was first time he struck out since April 29 against the San Diego Padres, a span of 52 plate appearances.

The Braves added another run in the top of the seventh inning, as Freeman beat out a throw from Brandon Crawford throw.

Originally Freeman was called out by first base umpire Lance Barrett; however Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez challenged the call and it was overturned after a 1:04 review.

Justin Upton was retired on the play on the attempted double play at second base on a great throw by Hector Sanchez, but the Crawford throw pulled reliever David Huff off the bag.

Tyler Pastornicky, who led off the inning with a single against Huff scored from third base.

Despite Rough Ninth, A’s Preserve A Chavez Gem

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By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics made it five straight wins Monday night at O.Co Coliseum, but they didn’t make it easy on themselves against the Chicago White Sox. Despite a dominant performance from starter Jesse Chavez, the green and gold needed four different pitchers to get through a three-run ninth inning to hang on for a 5-4 win. Jed Lowrie and Josh Donaldson connected on two-run hits each and Sean Doolittle collected his second save in three opportunities to anoint Chavez the winning pitcher.

Jesse Chavez (3-1, 2.44 ERA) turned in a masterpiece, pitching 8-plus strong innings highlighted by seven strikeouts and only two walks. The lone mistakes were solo home runs issued to Dayan Viciedo & Jose Abreu, Chavez’s fourth and fifth home runs allowed on the year. All five long balls on the campaign have come with the bases empty for the righthander, a runner-up for the American League Pitcher of the Month in April.

“He’s been doing it all year for us,” said manager Bob Melvin. “I tried to get him all the way through it. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Seeing eight strong innings again, he’s consistent in that regard.”

The journeyman reliever-turned-starter has found new life in Oakland after stops in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Kansas and Toronto. Monday night proved a reason why, with the Southern California native pitching an effective game, using 93 pitches to retire 24 batters. 68 of Chavez’s deliveries were strikes.

“It’s amazing,” said fellow pitcher Sean Doolittle. “It’s amazing the way he can pitch to both sides of the plate with both a cutter and a sinker and obviously that big curveball he had tonight. He really pitches. The way he adds and subtracts, moves the ball around. It’s really fun to watch. That’s the guy that over the last few years has really reinvented himself.”

Dayan Viciedo took a 2-1 delivery from Chavez to the opposite field over the wall in right center, his third long ball of the season, to give Chicago (19-21) a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The A’s (24-15) responded in their next turn at the plate, with right fielder Josh Reddick skying a fly ball to straight-away center field for an RBI triple. The ball carried over center fielder Leury Garcia’s head and a foot below the top of the wall, giving Nick Punto plenty of time to score from first base and tie the game.

Third basemen Josh Donaldson enter play scuffling through the month of May, hitting .194 with no home runs and a lonely pair of RBIs over 36 at-bats. He turned around his May misfortunes in the bottom of the fifth by about-facing an 87 mph 2-1 delivery from Danks. Donaldson pulled a line drive just inside the left field foul pole for a two-run home run, giving him what appeared to be his league-leading 10th go ahead RBI at the time. Reddick walked to open the inning but Danks struck out the next two Athletics to bring Donaldson to the dish with two down for the homer. Danks (3-3, 4.88) retired Cespedes on strikes to end the inning and close the book on his outing after three runs over six innings with five outs coming on strike threes.

Shortstop Jed Lowrie added what at the time appeared to be a pair of insurance runs on his 500th career hit, a double in the gap in left off reliever Daniel Webb in the seventh. Leadoff man Craig Gentry scored from first on the hit, nipping on the heels of Reddick who came around on the play to create a 5-1 Oakland edge. Reddick singled with one out to start the rally then advanced to second on Gentry’s four-pitch walk.

Lowrie advanced to third on a wild pitch with Yoenis Cespedes at the plate, but the Oakland clean-up hitter grounded into an inning double play after second basemen Gordon Beckham snag the grounder on the shortstop side of second. Beckham flipped the ball to Alexei Ramirez who pirouetted over the bag before relaying to first to gun down Cespedes by a step and avoid the big blow and set up a tense finish.

No sooner did Chavez get A’s fans on their feet by taking the mound to try to finish off the game did Jose Abreu put fans back in their seats stunned. Entering the ninth inning, Chavez managed to void the presence of dangerous designated hitter, holding him to a pair of strikeouts and a fielder’s choice in three plate appearances. Abreu finally managed to display his raw power, taking a well-pitched 0-2 offering to deep right field for his MLB best 14th homer to chase Chavez trailing 5-2.

Melvin tabbed Fernando Abad to face Adam Dunn, but the lefty specialist failed to finish the White Sox first basemen off, getting him to two strikes before issuing a walk. Chicago manager Robin Ventura replaced Dunn with the speedy Moises Sierra who moved to third position on a double by Viciedo off Jim Johnson with no outs. Alexie Ramirez, tied for the American League lead in batting average Monday morning at .333, added to his total by picking up a run-scoring single off Johnson to trim the A’s lead to two.

“Once Chavez gave up the first hit, we knew it was going to be Abad for the next guy,” said Melvin. “After that it was going to be Johnson against the righty. If we needed the backstop we had (Sean Doolittle).”

Melvin elected to utilize the backstopper Doolittle to try to neutralize pinch hitter Paul Konerko with the tying run on first base and no outs. Instead, Konerko popped the first pitch he saw to center field for a sacrifice fly, plating Viciedo from third to make it a slim 5-4 lead.

“It’s situations like that where you look at the bigger picture,” said Doolittle. “It really breaks down to, it sounds cliché to say, but one pitch at a time. There were so many things going on, Runners on first and third, a guy like Paul Konerko at the plate. I was focused on making a quality pitch right from the very start. Getting that first out was really big.”

Ramirez stole his seventh base of the season to move into scoring position but pinch hitter Tyler Flowers struck out swinging then Doolittle overpowered Leury Garcia, forcing him to chase a fastball at the eyes to convert his second save of the season.

“I really did want to get the save,” said Doolittle. “I wasn’t really thinking about it. When we were high-fiving and going through the line after the game I was really happy with preserving the game.”

While the ninth inning proved exciting for one reason, Josh Reddick’s plate appearance in the fifth was a memorable one for a different reason. Reddick finished the day 2-3 with a walk, two runs and a run batted in, but most of the talk postgame was on his switch in walk-up music in his second at-bat. The professional wrestling enthusiast ditched the entrance music of recently deceased WWE Hall of Famer The Ultimate Warrior for George Michael’s “Careless Whisper”. It certainly was a far departure from the guitar-heavy anthems players usually employ in their approach to the plate. It caught some of his teammates off guard.

“It’s just an awesome song,” said Doolittle with a straight face after the game. “It puts everyone in a good mood. I hope he keeps it up. “

Doolittle won’t be switching his battle hymn from Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” if he’s called upon tomorrow night against the White Sox to close out Drew Pomeranz’s first start as a full-time member of the rotation against Scott Carroll.

“Sometimes last year I thought about changing it,” said Doolittle. “But every time I hear it, it riles me up. I’m sticking with it for a while.”

 

Timmy’s Gem pushes Giants past the Braves, 4-2

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By Morris Phillips

Tim Lincecum’s been all over the place since 2010.  Just look at the numbers.

From being a big disappointment at AT&T Park (15-23 record overall and a 6.59 ERA in three starts this year) to his star turn as a reliever in the 2012 playoffs and World Series, to his no-hitter at San Diego in 2013 and to his three consecutive seasons with a losing record, it’s been a mixed bag for Timmy: mostly bad, occasionally good, and every once in a while brilliant.

Then in the off-season the Giants resigned the 29-year old righty to an extremely generous contract that will pay him $17 million this season, and Giants’ fans freaked.

But on Monday, those same fans gave Timmy a rousing round of applause after he allowed a run on two hits and struck out 11 in the Giants 4-2 win over the Braves.  Again those numbers show the peaks and valleys the Franchise has covered: Lincecum lasted 7 2/3 innings and threw 112 pitches to become the last of the Giants’ starters to go at least six innings in a start this season.  In his best start at home since last August when he threw a gem against the Brewers, Licecum had it all going, especially those tricky off-speed pitches.

“Great for Timmy, he came off such a rough outing there (at Pittsburgh where he lasted just four innings).  Great ballgame for us,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

“It was vintage Timmy with his secondary pitches going along with his fastball.”

“He threw a lot of off-speed pitches and threw that heater every once in a while,” Atlanta’s Freddy Freeman said.  “He kept us off balance all night.”

Lincecum’s far and away the Giants’ franchise leader in games of 10 strikeouts or more with 35, but he hadn’t turned the feat in his last 18 starts dating back to 2013.  In fact, with his fastball in decline, Lincecum pulled the feat just three times in 2013, and only once in 2012.

But against the Braves on Monday, Timmy had ‘em flailing away, striking out every hitter in the Braves’ starting lineup with the exception of Freeman, who went 0 for 2 with a walk.  Critics will say Lincecum did what a lot of pitchers have: shut down the big league’s worst offense that’s already scored two or fewer runs 17 times including Monday.

People who aren’t critics, like Giants’ announcer Mike Krukow, like what they saw.  According to Kruk, Lincecum should take this one, run with it and have a great season.  If he does, it would be his first since 2010 when he went 16-10, or 2009 when he won the second of his Cy Young awards with a 15-7 record.  Just like the he did in his high times, Lincecum had command of his pitches, a tight, compact pitching motion and control over his fastball, which these days he throws sparingly.

The Giants did their part behind Lincecum in the seventh inning when they scored three times to break a 1-1 tie and chase Braves’ starter Gavin Floyd, who to that point had been just as good as Lincecum.  Floyd—making only his second start of the season—had put up four scoreless innings after allowing a well-struck, splash hit home run to the newest Giant, Tyler Colvin.  Then in the seventh, Floyd gave up a single to Hector Sanchez, then watched Brandon Crawford’s grounder ricochet off Freeman’s leg near first base.  The next batter was Colvin, and he made history by being the first Giant to triple and homer in his home debut since Darrell Evans pulled the feat in 1976.  Colvin’s drive put the Giants up 3-1.

“To be a part of a winning ballclub and get the hits I did right there, help Timmy out, he pitched a great game, I feel pretty good about it,” Colvin said.

The Giants increased their lead in the NL West to 2 ½ games over the Rockies, with the Dodgers 4 ½ games back after they beat the Marlins Monday in Los Angeles.  The Giants are the first major league team this season to win 25 games after winning nine of their last 11 and surpassing the Brewers as the early pacesetter.

On Tuesday, the Giants continue their seven-game homestand with Ryan Vogelsong facing off against Atlanta’s Mike Minor.

Feitelberg report: Prop B passage would shut down Giants parking lot A developement hopes

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The San Francisco Giants hopes to develop retail and condos on parking lot A at AT&T Park might be all but a memory with the very probable passing of Proposition B a city initiative that limits any buildings to 40 feet or less. Niether the Giants or San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee are taking a position in the June election on Prop B.

The Giants had hoped for developments on the 27 acre property of two 380 foot towers, ten commmerical and residential buildings that would house 1,000 units, the Giants wanted to add another 280 feet to the towers.Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos who opposed any development that exceeds the height limit on the Waterfront said that the Giants proposal at the time was “Donald Trump style planning.”

It is the long shot hopes (behind the scenes) of the Giants who have not come out against the measure publicly, that it would not pass so they would not have to go to the voters for any development approvals but that’s real long odds as Prop B is predicted to win convincingly.

Agnos, former San Francisco Board of Supervisor president Aaron Peskin and Prop B campaign co-chairman Jon Golinger took their fight to City Hall to get the initiative on the ballot when the Warriors were in the planning stages to build at Piers 30-32 a new arena and have a luxury condo tower and hotel built across the street from the arena.

With that in mind Waterfront residents with San Francisco voters in tow took more than the minimum amount of petition ballots needed to put Prop B on the ballot, according to some reports it was almost double the minimum amount needed to qualify for the June election.

The Warriors shortly thereafter took the cue and realized that this was not a fight that they wanted to have with the San Francisco voter and made their land purchase from Mission Bay land owners Salesforce and purchased the property for the Warriors new arena without objections from the residents, Agnos, Peskin, or Golinger.

The Giants still wanted their retail, commericial and residential property development on Lot A but also realized by not opposing the measure that they didn’t want to take on the San Franisco voters. In talks with residents and downtown workers, some said that the underlying arguement against the development was also because of gentification and that they questioned how much affordable housing from the condos would be available something that Agnos had asked about a few times much to the sound of crickets.

The strong arguement that defeated waterfront development will always be height limits as neighbors argued they wanted a strong protection of the views of the Bay Bridge, Bay and East Bay. What was surprising was when Lee, the Giants, and the Warriors, actually thought they could get these projects done after the loss of last November’s election propositions B and C the Washington 8. Washington 8 was set up to develop retail and condo towers by the Ferry Building.

Washington 8, both Props B and C lost by a large margins and shortly thereafter the Warriors went big on the new arena idea at Piers 30-32 but after this recent Prop B campaign it’s very likely any future developements will have to be approved by the voters.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:Texas’ Yu Darvish can’t figure out Latino batters in near no-hit bids

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–In just his third season in the Major Leagues, Texas right hander Yu Darvish has not been able to pitch a no hitter in three different occasions, because of Latino hitters.

Here is the actual list for Yu Darvish, who in the past two season 2012 and 2013 has struck out more hitters than anybody in baseball.

-August 12, 2013 Minute Maid Park, Houston(9th inning) Darvish came within one out of a no hitter, but Houston catcher Carlos Corporan(Puerto Rico)hit a Home Run.

-April 2, 2014 Minute Maid Park, Houston(9th inning)Darvish came within one of a “perfecto” but Houston’s Marwin González(Venezuela) broke it, with a single.-

-May 9, 2014.Fenway Park, Boston(9th inning) Darvish came within one out of a no hitter,but Red Sox David Ortíz(Dominican Republic)broke it with a single.

In three different occasions, in less than two full seasons, Yu Darvish no hitter or Perfecto, has gone Sayonara against Latino hitters.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Vice President of the Major League Baseball Latino Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Clippers make it happen at the end, 101-99

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By George Devine, Sr.

The Los Angeles Clippers left Staples Center tied in the western division semifinals with the Oklahoma City Thunder, 2 games apiece, thanks to some last-minute dramatics.

The visitors dominated the first period, 32-15. Even though the Clippers outscored them in the second, 31-25 — including a 14-3 run at one point — OKC led 57-46 at the half and it did not look good for L.A. In the third, it got tighter, with the Thunder leading only by a point, 18-17. Then, in the final frame, Darren Collison scored 8 of his 18 points for the evening and the Clippers took charge, 38-24. Even then, the home team did not lead until 1:21 left to play. And as the final buzzer was about to sound, Russell Westbrook had a three-pointer headed to the net, which swirled around one side of the rim and fell away, at 01.4 seconds to go, and Los Angeles won, 101-99.

Kevin Durant led for the Thunder, with 40 points, playing almost all of the game (44:54); he also had 7 boards. Westbrook had 27 points and 8 assists. Reggie Jackson had 10 points and Serge Ibaka 8. Oklahoma City was 44% with 29.2% on treys and 76.5 from the line.

For Los Angeles, Chris Paul played almost the entire time (44:58), scoring 23 points and contributing 9 rebounds. Blake Griffin scored 25 and had 9 rebounds as well. Collison, in addition to 18 points, was good for 7 boards. Jamal Crawford also scored 18. DeAndre Jordan had 7 points and twice as many rebounds.

The next game in the tied series will be at 6:30 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, May 13 at Oklahoma City.

Norris’ big day buries Gio and the Nats in the A’s 9-1 win

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By Morris Phillips

Friday night’s catalyst and Saturday night’s hero took a seat on Sunday, giving him extra time to wipe the whipped cream off his face and neck, then find the offending culprit last seen wearing a green A’s jersey with number 16 on the back.

In his place the sullen, bearded one took the field for the A’s on Sunday with an agenda of his own.

Derek Norris—half of Oakland’s suddenly potent platoon at catcher—squeezed a whole weekend of intentions into just two at-bats leading the A’s past the Nationals, 9-1. Norris hit a pair of three-run homers off Gio Gonzalez, the guy he was traded for—ending his four plus seasons in the minor league system of the Nats, the team that drafted him in 2007.

Surely a prideful moment for a guy who never got a major league shot until he was traded to Oakland. Right, Derek?

“Most definitely. And against the guy I was traded for,” Norris said.

“It’s not that they didn’t want you, but it’s always nice to stick it to them.”

Norris homered in each of the first two innings, both coming on 3-0 counts. It was the biggest game of the Kansas native’s big league career and he joined Jose Abreu of the White Sox and the Twins’ Chris Colabello as the only American Leaguers to have six RBI in a game this season. After a lot of fits, starts, dings and nicks endemic to being a big league catcher who needs to have an offensive presence as well, Norris is catching on in his third year in Oakland. The career .247 hitter is currently at .385 with four homers in 19 starts.

For Gonzalez, Norris was a major slice of a bad, first return to Oakland after the December 2011 trade.   Gonzalez couldn’t find his spots, fell behind in counts, allowed six consecutive A’s batters to reach base in the first and was seen on television yelling at a teammate after the disastrous start to the game. The likely offender, shortstop Ian Desmond saw two A’s reach base in the first inning on ground balls hit his way.

Manager Matt Williams allowed Gonzalez to battle for another two plus innings after the A’s struck for seven runs in the first two innings. But when Norris walked and Brandon Moss singled in the fifth, Gonzalez was done, seeing his ERA jump a full run to 3.97 in the process.

“He fell behind a lot today and had to throw the ball over the plate,” Williams said of Gonzalez.

“Just couldn’t find the strike zone,” the lefty said. “Mistake pitches, left them up in the zone and good hitters made contact.”

Lost in the Billy Beane shuffle was A’s starter Scott Kazmir who threw seven shutout innings, allowing just four singles while striking out four. Kazmir was a machine, retiring all three batters he faced in five of the first six innings.  

“Location-wise, everything was right there,” Kazmir said. “I was able to attack the strike zone in on righties a lot and I think that helped me.”

Kazmir–like Norris, Moss, Sonny Gray and John Jaso, the star of the series’ first two games–is a breakout star in 2014, and just like three of the other four guys, excluding Gray, this after some serious hard times along the way. The lefty is 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA after an arduous journey over the last five seasons.

In 2010, Kazmir pitched for the Angels and lost 15 games. In July of that year, he came to the O.co Coliseum and allowed—catch your breath—13 earned runs in a 15-1 loss. Things didn’t get better in 2011 and the Angels released him. He logged just 1 2/3 innings at the big league level in 2011 and 2012 as he pitched for various independent clubs in an attempt to regain the snap on his pitches. In 2013, good things happened to Kazmir in Cleveland where he resurrected his career with 10 wins and finishing fourth in AL Comeback Player of the Year voting.

This season, Kazmir—armed with a $24 million deal—is as good an early Cy Young candidate as anyone and has a great shot to surpass his career-best 13 wins in 2007 as a Tampa Bay Devil Ray. And on Sunday, he was fortunate to catch the Nats minus Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche—all out recuperating from injuries.

The A’s improved to 10-9 at home, increased their lead in the AL West to three games over the Angels, and swept an opponent for a major-league best fourth time in 2014.

On Monday, the A’s see the White Sox for the first time this season with Jesse Chavez facing Chicago’s John Danks at 7:05pm.