by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–Before we get started for those of you who didn’t know Sam Goldman, Sam was a college Sports Information Director and worked the Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T before the game moved to Levis Stadium in Santa Clara. Sam also worked San Francisco Giants baseball in the information department and was a big asset to information for players, coaches, and managers whether it be in baseball and football.

Sam Goldman passed away Tuesday night at the age of 87 our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. Sam was more than an ikon he was a pioneer, Sam was the first to make that job truly a professional job he’s in the SID Hall of Fame.

Oakland A’s update: Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish got lit up by the A’s which is rare for Darvish who surrendered five hits, three runs all earned and walked five on Tuesday night. No doubt the A’s are in his head. Darvish beat the A’s the very first time he faced them and hasn’t beat them since. They are paitent they wait out his pitches that are out of the zone and when he’s required to throw strikes based on the count they seemed to know where it’s going to be.

Lots of offense in this series with Texas Monday night the Rangers took the series opener 14-8, Tuesday the A’s went to work and won 10-6 and when the weather warms up the A’s get their hitting shoes on. It’s just hasn’t been that way in this series. It was during the Yankees series there was a 10-5 (A’s win) and 7-0 (Yanks win) game the Coliseum is a hitters ball park when it’s warm.

A’s catcher Derek Norris has been seeing the ball hitting .359 going into Wednesday afternoon’s game and Norris hit a three run homer in his first at bat on Sunday on Father’s day against the Yankees, he hit a three run home run against the Rangers on Tuesday night and the way rest of the game went it must have been Wicked Step Mother’s day.

Also on the Texas Rangers I’m amazed that Rangers manager Ron Washington is managing this team you would think at this point in the season think Alan Alda would be needed to start a regular M*A*S*H unit for these injured players. It’s a wonder how the Rangers hang in there and it’s wonder how Wash has done it, it’s one of the greatest managing jobs that’s ever been seen how he’s able to keep this team on an even keel and keep them competitive.

Giants update: Matt Cain’s struggles in his last outing on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Cain pitched five innings, gave up ten hits, eight runs, seven of them was earned. The Giants lost that one by six runs 8-2. That game was an absolute puzzlement. They went through the first two innings on 22 pitches and retired the first two guys in the third inning and then he gave up a scratch single to the White Sox Adam Eaton.

In a nine pitch at bat the Sox Gordon Beckham hits the ball out of the ball park for his fifth homer of the year and Cain gets away from the fast ball and starts throwing the slider, he’s not throwing strikes and the hitters wait him out and it just snowballs on Cain. His pitches were sharp his command and his control was good as they’ve been at anytime in the last several years to the first eight hitters and then everything deserted him.

Eventually his fielding deserted him, everything deserted him, the Giants Gregor Blanco made a couple of questionable plays and some misjudged balls. To Blanco’s credit it was twilight time based on the swings the guys took their first steps back and it was wrong and it was both times.

That sort of stuff seems to snowball when your winning two out every three games, everything you do like tag up and take third on a play when the Giants played the New York Mets on the last homestand on Sunday and then all of a sudden you stop doing that for awhile and some how the other team seems to be doing everything right and your whole game goes to hell in a hand basket.

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