Month: June 2014

Stanley Cup Final: Kings Shut Out Rangers in Game 3, Lead Series 3-0

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By Mary Walsh

After a 3-0 win in New York, the Los Angeles Kings are the verge of sweeping the New York Rangers out of the the Stanley Cup Final. Two seasons ago, they were in the same position against the New Jersey Devils. They also started that series by winning two overtime games, then winning the third with a shutout. The Devils rallied and won the next two to stretch the series to six games.

Of being up three games to none, Justin Williams said:

Just because you’re leading a series doesn’t mean that you’ve won anything.

The game showed improvement in some areas for the Kings. They skipped the sluggish first period and falling behind early. They showed the defensive prowess they are known for. Jonathan Quick turned in an impressive 32 save shutout in his first game at Madison Square Garden.

Of the mood in the Kings’ room, Williams said:

It’s all business in there. Certainly right now, yeah, we’re happy, we’re up three-nothing. But we know as good as anyone that three-nothing doesn’t mean four and the fourth one’s the hardest and we’re going to be ready for it.

Being ready might have to include generating more offense. The Kings were dangerously outshot, testing their goaltender and defensive resilience. In the second period the Rangers outshot the Kings 17-8, in the third 11-2.

A 3-0 shutout might look like an about-face from the two games they won in overtime, but this game should have been closer on the scoreboard than it was. Two of the Kings goals relied on unlucky bounces off of Rangers players.

The Rangers have to be feeling frustration now, and there was one penalty that could well be a focal point of that frustration. At 14:02 of the third period, the Rangers’ Chris Kreider was called for goalie interference, after pushing Drew Doughty in the direction of Jonathan Quick. Doughty went in to Quick and took him down, but no goal, no good scoring chance resulted.

It was not a completely insane call, but it was wildly inconsistent. It made the non-call against Dwight King even more grotesque, as he scored a goal by falling on Henrik Lundqvist in Game Two. Granted, the calls were not made by the same referees, but it is likely to be a sore point.

The first period was noteworthy for two reasons: the Kings scored first, which is so infrequent that it seemed like a mistake. Additionally, the NHL server was down for most of the period so there were no stats available. Once the server came back up, the officials finally made a call, a coincidence no doubt. The call went for New York but they did not score with the man advantage.

Though the penalty took up most of the time remaining in the period, Los Angeles’ Jeff Carter still managed to squeak an even strength goal in before the period ended. Justin Williams found him in the slot, where Carter put a quick wrist shot past Lundqvist. The shot appeared to go off of Dan Girardi’s skate and the tip of Henrik Lundqvist’s glove. It was an auspicious start for the Kings and another point for Justin Williams.

The second period was littered with penalties. They were called at a rate of about one every three and a half minutes, three against each team. Only the Kings converted, and they only did so once.

Starting with a lead did not put the Kings off their rhythm. As usual, they scored early in the second period again, this time with the help of a power play, giving them a 2-0 lead. This put them doubly in unfamiliar territory, since it is their habit to be on the other side of the two goal lead before they win.

The goal was a little later than usual, a power play goal made possible by Marc Staal being called for high-sticking. The call may have been overdue, as other players, including Staal, had gotten away with some high-sticks already. It took the Kings just under a minute to score. Jake Muzzin threw one in from the point while Jeff Carter screened Lundqvist. New York’s Martin St. Louis tried to block the shot but only deflected it around his goaltender.

The third Los Angeles goal came off a two on one of Trevor Lewis and Mike Richards versus Ryan McDonagh. Richards tried to pas the puck but it went off of McDonagh and came back to Richards. By then, he had the shot and he took it.

The Rangers entered the third period trailing by three, having gone 0-7 in the playoffs when trailing after two periods. That had to be as discouraging as the three goal deficit.

The Rangers did make one change late in the second: head coach Alain Vigneault put Rick Nash on the power play. He started by crashing the net, something the Rangers have not done enough of through the series. The collision did little more than aggravate Quick, who gave Nash a glove to the head for his trouble.

Nash was again on the ice for the Rangers power play early in the third period. The power play as a whole was ineffective, mostly taken up by a game of keep away by the Kings.

Henrik Lundqvist made 12 saves for New York. Derick Brassard led the Rangers in shots with five. Ryan McDonagh and Marc Stall each blocked two shots and no Ranger blocked more, but there were not very many to block. McDonagh led the team in time on ice with 26:56.

Jeff Carter led the Kings in shots with four, Jake Muzzin led in blocked shots with four, and Drew Doughty led in time on ice with 26:03.

Game Four will be played Wednesday  in New York at 5:00 PT.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Attention K-Mart shoppers and bandwagon fans!

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–There are bandwagon fans in baseball everywhere. The Bay Area is no exception, however Boston and St Louis, win or lose they show up all the time, they are there for baseball not because of a Bobblehead or Towel Day. The 12,350 fans that show up for Monday night games at the Oakland Coliseum to see the A’S are as good, if not better than the fans at Boston and St Louis, and the same can be said about the 8,560 fans that used to show up until 1999 to watch the Giants play at Candlestick, those were real baseball fans.

Not there for the “selfies”with their I-Pods, or to post a photo with their girlfriends on their Facebook page. I recently spoke in front of class of young men and women, who had an interest in baseball. About 22 of them, I asked them, who many knew how to score a game, I only counted 5 hands that went up. Both of the Bay Area teams are on top of the baseball world. There are still like 100 games left. But these are different times.

A team that finishes 86-76 and advances to the playoffs can be as dangerous as a 110-52 team during the regular season that makes it to the playoffs. It all depends who is hot, who is peaking at the right time. And then, of course, who goes in really healthy into the postseason, since nobody these days can escape injuries. Tommy John is the most popular name in the press box these days, not your favorite pitcher in the Bay Area.

There is a new movie out there, classified as a comedy; “A Million Ways To Die In The West”. The American League West might be the strongest division, with only one team, Houston, under .500, and Houston has shown they are getting better by the day, and can spoil anybody’s party, nobody is dying there. The same cannot be said about the National League West, where either 1-The Giants are the best team of all time, or 2-Nobody else is worth a damn. That division, could, could have 4 teams under .500. There is a lot of dying on that division. You can come to your own conclusion. It is your call, and it will not be challenged or reviewed.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for Angels baseball and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA Championship Finals: LeBron cramps San Antonio’s style 98-96, as the Heat take their talents to South Beach Tuesday

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by David Zizmor

Miami @ San Antonio Game #2: We watched game one with the air conditioning broken at AT&T Center in game one in which the Spurs won. While the Heat were able to hang in there for that game for three quarters they completely fell apart in the fourth especially the Heat’s LeBron James who cramped up in that one due to the indoor 90 degree temperatures.

For game two on Sunday night the temperature returned to the normal, 74 degrees indoors and nobody cramped up in this game. LeBron played from start to finish and you could tell he was kind of angry at all of the fun everyone was making of him for cramping up in game one. He took it pretty seriously and he took it out on the Spurs.

LeBron came out and dropped 35 points with ten boards on the Spurs and it was a big 35 points. It was LeBron being LeBron, it was LeBron dominating the game in which the Heat took game two 98-96. LeBron dominated the game especially late, this one was not a blow out by Miami but it definitely was a close one.

LeBron’s superpowers were definitely needed in this one and he delivered. 35 and ten in an NBA Final against a team like the Spurs that is good defensively like San Antonio is impressive and he did it on both ends of the floor. Not only was LeBron getting the 35 in the basket but he was playing great defense.

LeBron made a ton of critical plays and while the Heat’s Chris Bosh hit a three pointer late that put Miami ahead for good it was LeBron who dished it to him. He was involved in everything from start to finish he was the man, he was the guy that controlled the fate of the game and he came through.

Whatever happened in game one let’s write that one off, chances were the Heat were going to split the series in the first two games in San Antonio anyway. It happened to come at an unusual fashion with that air conditioner blow out but never the less the Heat are taking this series back to Miami for game three on Tuesday night.

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

Break out the brooms

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After seeing the New York Mets jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the San Francisco Giants knew the game was long from over.

Gregor Blanco hit a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning that scored Tyler Colvin and Brandon Crawford, as the completed their first three-game sweep of the Mets since August 20-22, 2002 with a 6-4 victory before 41,911, the 277th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

This was the Giants fifth win in a row overall, and fifth win in a row at AT&T Park, a place they have not lost since losing to the Chicago Cubs 8-4 on May 26 and their fourth sweep of the season, including their third at AT&T Park.

On the flipside of things, the Mets have lost a season-high six consecutive games, their longest losing streak since May 10-15, 2013, when they also lost six consecutive games.

Curtis Granderson gave the Mets that 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as he hit a Tim Lincecum pitch into the center field seats.

Crawford got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the second inning, as he completed a trio of Giants who led off the inning with singles, when Hector Sanchez scored from second base.

Former Giants farmhand Zack Wheeler then struck out Brandon Hicks and Lincecum, and then Blanco doubled to right field to score Colvin and Crawford; however Blanco was thrown out at third base while attempting to stretch his double into a triple.

Lincecum went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking one and striking out six on his way to his fifth win of the season.

Over his last seven starts versus the Mets, Lincecum improves to 6-0 with a 1.72 earned run average with 55 strikeouts.

Granderson got the Mets within one run in the top of the sixth inning, as he hit his second home run of the game, a solo home run that landed in McCovey Cove.

It was the first multi-home run game for Granderson of the 2014 season, and his first as member of the Mets and the 15th multi-home run game of his career.

Granderson’s last multi-home run came on October 3, 2012 against the Boston Red Sox, while he played for the New York Yankees.

The “Splash Hit” by Granderson was the fifth by a Mets player since AT&T Park on April 11, 2000, as Granderson joins Carlos Delgado with two and Cliff Floyd with two.

Delgado’s second and last “Splash Hit” came on May 9, 2007 off of former Giants pitcher Matt Morris

Wheeler lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking two, striking out six and hitting a batter.

Blanco gave the Giants a two-run lead for the second time on the afternoon, as he singled in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Ehire Adrianza, who singled while batting for Ehire Adrianza, went to second on a Carlos Torres wild pitch and then scored on the Blanco single.

After getting the first two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Jeremy Affeldt gave up a single to Daniel Murphy and then Granderson picked up his third hit of the game after he doubled to right field.

Jean Machi then came on to replace Affeldt, and with Chris Young at the plate, Machi unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Murphy to score from third base and send Granderson to third base.

Machi then recovered to get Young to flyout to Colvin in left field to end the threat.

Brandon Hicks gave the Giants their third two-run of the afternoon, as he singled up the middle to score Crawford from second base after he doubled to the base of the center field wall.

Sergio Romo came on to replace Javier Lopez, who walked Lucas Duda to leadoff the top of the ninth inning and Romo promptly struck out Eric Campbell, got Anthony Recker to ground out to Hicks at second base and then ended the game by striking out Wilmer Flores to notch his 20th save of the season.

A’s win a “laugher” over the O’s 11-1

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics were involved in a wild baseball affair on Sunday in Baltimore. The game featured 12-runs, 16-hits, 15-walks, an overturned grand slam home run, a bench clearing confrontation between the teams and two ejections as the A’s defeated the Orioles 11-1. The win also gave the series victory to Oakland two games to one.

The A’s not only showed off their high-powered offense but they also demonstrated their high-quality pitching. Scott Kazmir worked seven innings of shutout baseball giving up just four-hits while striking out seven hitters and walking just two men. Kazmir threw 96 pitches (62 strikes) en route to his seventh win of the season. Kazmir’s ERA is now a paltry 2.20.

The overriding philosophy of the A’s is to have their hitters “get on base”. They do not care if you get a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch as long as you get on base. On Sunday, the A’s walked more times than they got a hit. Oakland recorded 11 bases-on-balls off Baltimore pitching. Add to that 10-hits and you can see that the A’s had runners on base almost constantly.

The big inning for the A’s came in the top of the third. Derek Norris led off the inning with a walk. Callaspo then walked. Kyle Banks walked to load the bases for John Jaso. Jaso hit a fly ball to deep right-center field that appeared to leave the park and was called a home run by the umpires. The umpires reviewed the play and changed the call to a double. Norris and Callaspo scored but Banks was sent back to third while Jaso returned to second with a two-run double.

With runners at second and third and no outs, Nick Punto walked on four straight pitches from Ubaldo Jimenez. Josh Donaldson hit into a force out at home but the bases remained loaded with one out. Brandon Moss then took the first pitch to him over the center field wall for a grand slam home run with no review required. Moss’ 16th home run of the season gave the A’s a 6-0 lead and sent Jimenez to the showers after just 2.1-innings.

The A’s went on to score a run in the fourth inning, three-runs in the fourth inning and one in the ninth inning for the 11-1 win.

Jaso and Moss finished the game with four-RBI each. Nick Punto posted two-RBI and both came with two outs in the inning. The A’s left only two runners in scoring position with two out.

John Jaso went two for six and a run scored to go with his four-RBI. Punto went two for three with a run and two walks plus his two-RBI. Yoenis Cespedes went two for five on the day. Alberto Callaspo went one for three with two walks and three runs scored.

The Athletics went six for 10 with runners in scoring position.

In a lineup oddity, the A’s used three catchers in the game but only two worked behind the plate. Jaso was the DH, Vogt played right field and Derek Norris was the starting catcher. In the bottom of the sixth-inning, Manny Machado hit Norris with his back-swing and Norris was taken out of the game as a precaution. Vogt came in from right field to take over the catching duties.

In the bottom of the eighth-inning, Machado came to bat with two out. Machado thought a 1-1 pitch from Abad was deliberately thrown at his knees. On the next pitch, Machado swung and let the bat fly down the third base line. There was little doubt that he intended the bat to fly at Abad. Both benches cleared their dugouts and the pitchers emptied the bullpens. There were a few shoves and some yelling but it was a “nothing to see here” situation. The umpires ejected Machado and Abad once calm was restored.

Machado was also the instigator of the benches clearing brawl in the Friday night game. Machado can expect a less than warm welcome from A’s fans when Baltimore comes to Oakland in July.

The A’s are four for six on the road trip and now head to Los Angeles for a three-game series with the Angels.

NHL Stanley Cup Finals commentary: Rangers goalie Lundvquist still talking about non interference goal by Kings

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by Larry Leavitt

NY Rangers vs. Los Angeles: I’m not a big fan of goaltender interference that’s too opinionated with too many variables, and whether the L.A. Kings Dwight King was pushed into New York Ranger goalie Hendrik Lundvquist in the third period at 1:58 of Saturday night’s game two to cut the Rangers lead to 4-3, there is a lot of discussion if King fell on him or if the Rangers Ryan McDonagh pushed King on Lunqvist.

Also Lundqvist was disputing that the officials got that call right and the Kings certainly and in my opinion it looked like goaltenders interference and the officials say it didn’t look like it was goaltender interference and it didn’t look like he was shoved into Lundqvist. King was shoved into Lundqvist but he was kind of pinched by King.

One thing that Lundvquist has to do is calm down let the refs call the game realize their going to miss calls and he and the Rangers need to go and play their game. It took Lundvqist off his game here and there. There were so many controversial calls and there were so many tough plays and the speed of the game was so quick that either team could be leading this series and the Rangers for instance could be the team leading 2-0 instead of the Kings going into game three on Monday, it’s that close.

It’s just a shame that it’s so controversial but the play was so fast and so furious and their going back and fourth in that double overtime game on Saturday night at Staples Center that you can’t see it all and you can’t catch it all. The non interference call made for good press as everyone who follows the Stanley Cup Finals is talking about that play and it’s making it’s way onto the talk show circuit.

My question is did Lundqvist over annunciate how the power play went so that maybe he’ll catch a better break by the refs or did he feel that it was that bad and it didn’t look that bad but there was definitely contact. The rule is contact period and it didn’t say how severe the contact. Lundqvist was arguing the point hoping the call would go the other way and to capitalize on it.

There was a fair amount of penalities called and how the refs put their whistles in their pockets and the problem that I have is there are a lot of calls that aren’t getting called because their both playing on the edge, both teams are playing for all the marbles and the contact for retaliation is getting called but their missing the initial hits.

Game one the Kings got away with the obvious too many men on the ice which would have gave the Rangers a power play going into the overtime if they didn’t score in the third period. The NHL should worry about cleaning and making it tight but they want the players to play the game. They don’t want the game to count for what it is and their trying not to control the game and take advantage here either.

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

Quakes’ first loss at BMO Field

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Photo credit: The Canadian Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes’ three-game win streak came to a halt as the Toronto FC Reds were victorious 1-0 Saturday.

Toronto FC’s Nick Hagglund did not show up on the score sheet, but had two looks on net in the 24th minute. In the 26th minute, after a corner, Hagglund, who was being guarded by Alan Gordon, was fouled in the box, leading to a penalty kick. Jermain Defoe slightly curved the ball to the left and scored to make it 1-0 in the 27th minute. It is the second penalty kick San Jose goalie Jon Busch has faced in as many games.

Hagglund also missed a header in the 29th minute and assisted on an attempt by Defoe in the same minute, that was blocked.

The Reds dominated the first half with shots on goal 4-0 and having an overall 11-1 shots margin.

Dominic Oduro made his debut for Toronto FC in the second half.

From the 74th to the 77th minutes, the Quakes had four different players attempt shots and had two corners.

The Reds’ Daniel Lovitz had to leave the game in the 79th minute due to an injury.

San Jose’s Tommy Thompson made his Major League Soccer debut in the 88th minute and is also the first homegrown player to play in a professional match .

The game ended in the 96th minute.

Game notes: Monday, the Quakes announced, that with both the team and the San Francisco 49ers getting new stadiums close by each other, they will be partnering to attract international soccer to the South Bay for the next five years. Thursday, San Jose announced they were expanding their youth development programs, creating Under-9 to Under-16 teams. The Quakes next play Sacramento Republic FC in the Open Cup Wednesday at 7:30p before the World Cup break. San Jose rounds out June with the California Clasico against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium, June 28 at 7:30p

A’s suffer rare, rough outing in 6-3 loss to the Orioles

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By Morris Phillips

Unfortunately, the Camden Yard crowd’s reaction to seeing former Orioles’ All-Star Jim Johnson paled in comparison to the reaction Baltimore hitters had on Johnson’s pitches.

The A’s demoted closer relieved starter Sonny Gray in the sixth inning on Saturday night, and his second pitch of the night was deposited beyond the right field wall by David Lough. Trailing 4-1 at the time of Gray’s departure, the A’s fell behind 6-1 on Lough’s homer and went on to lose to the Orioles, 6-3.

So much looked different about the A’s on Saturday than has been their recent, lofty standard, it’s hard to figure out where to start. Gray had been undefeated on the road in five starts in 2014, and perfect at night, and almost perfect when allowed five days’ rest. But the A’s presumptive ace had trouble with his curve ball, walked too many batters (4) and came up on the short end for only the second time all season.

“You’re so used to him putting up zeros all the time,” manager Bob Melvin said of Gray. “He just got knicked up on a couple of pitches.”

When Lough connected to put the Orioles up 6-1, it marked the first time the A’s had trailed by as many as five runs since May 6. The A’s ridiculously stellar team statistics have them averaging well above five runs a game and allowing well less than three. Both numbers are major league bests and explain how the A’s run differential is nearly twice that of the Giants, who rank second in the category.

What do all the numbers mean? The A’s have won big and lost small with a whole bunch of close, hotly contested games in between. Being down five runs at one point on Saturday measures as about as near as the A’s have had to an uncompetitive ballgame in the last month.

Individually on Saturday, Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss fared the worst. The A’s 3-4 hitters went 0 for 7 with six strikeouts. The pair was baffled by Kevin Gausman, who was promoted from AAA Norfolk and picked up his first major league win as a starter.

Gausman went seven innings allowing four hits and a run. The 23-year old LSU product displayed some serious gas, fooling the A’s with his varied, late moving fastballs. Only Coco Crisp managed to square one up, hitting a solo shot that tied the game, 1-1, in the third.

The 30-year old Johnson established himself as a premier closer with the Orioles with 50-save seasons in 2012 and 2013. But even as Baltimore secured a playoff berth last season, Johnson was held accountable for his nine blown saves more so than heralded for the 50 he converted. When his arbitration number for 2014 hit $10 million, the Orioles decided they were better off without him and Johnson was dealt to the A’s for Jemile Weeks.

Whether Orioles’ fans missed Johnson wasn’t crystal clear based on the mixture of boos and cheers he received upon entering the game Saturday. What’s clear from the A’s perspective is Johnson hasn’t been worth the money in 2014.

After a shaky start to the season that led to Melvin taking Johnson out of the closers’ role, the big right hander hasn’t fared much better in different roles.   Saturday marked the 10th time in 23 appearances that Johnson has allowed multiple hits.

The A’s look to capture the rubber game of the three-game set on Sunday when Scott Kazmir faces Baltimore’s Ubaldo Jimenez at 10:35am.

SaberCats Rock and Roll All Night Over The Kiss 63-35

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sc4

By Kahlil Najar and Emily Zahner

SAN JOSE – The San Jose SaberCats (8-4) easily handled the LA KISS (2-10), 63-35 tonight in San Jose. Rookie SaberCats quarterback Nathan Stanley completed 25-of-37 passes for 280 yards and 7 touchdowns. Reggie Gray caught 6 passes for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Dominique Curry had 3 touchdowns to lead the San Jose receiving core. Defensively Clevan Thomas and Simeon Castille each pulled down a pair of interceptions and Ken Fontenette had 8 tackles on the night.

Stanley started tonight over regular starter Russ Michna who was hurt in the loss to the Rattlers and has been placed on injured reserve. 

On his start Stanley said, “I’m still learning every day, but I am trying to shake that rookie thing off. I know it can be a boost to the other team if they know they are playing a rookie. It was great to go down and score on the first drive. It was good for my confidence.”

The Sabercats scored first with a nice strike from Stanley to Jason Willis who was able to score from six yards out and give the Cats a 7-0 lead. Aaron Garcia, who was starting for the Kiss, tied up the game less than a minute later with a touchdown pass to Julius Wilson. The Cats retook the lead with 5:27 left in the first on Curry’s first touch down of the evening.

The Cats struck again early in the second when Curry pulled down his second TD of the contest at 10:45 of the second and made it a 21-7 lead for San Jose. Garcia found leading Kiss receiver Donovan Morgan streaking down the middle of the field and brought the SaberCat lead back to 7 points at 21-14. The Cats the scored 14 unanswered points to end the half and go into the half leading 35-14.

The Kiss started the second half strong when Garcia found two receivers open for a pair of touchdowns and made the score 35-28 with San Jose in the lead and less than 8 minutes left in the quarter. In the final quarter, San Jose scored four times including a 13-yard touchdown interception by Simeon Castille and ended the score at 63-35.

The Cats stay home this week and face the Spokane Shock next Saturday at 7:30pm.

Morse the hero on this night

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-If the one word for the 2012 San Francisco Giants was resilency, what is the one word that can describe the 2014 Giants? Maybe determined is that one word.

Michael Morse hit a bases loaded single in the bottom of the ninth, as the Giants came back to defeat the New York Mets 5-4 before 41,296, the 276th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

Jenrry Mejia came on in the bottom of the ninth inning, and despite striking out Pagan, Mejia threw a wild pitch and Pagan beat the throw by Andrew Recker to first base that pulled Lucas Duda off the bag.

Mets manager Terry Collins challenged the call, as he thought Duda beat Pagan to the base; however after a one minute 12 seasond review, the play stood.

Pence then doubled up the left-center field gap to score a sliding Pagan from first base to tie up the game.

After Posey flew out for the first out, Mejia walked Pablo Sandoval intentionally to get to Morse and he promptly greeted Mejia with a single over the head of Bobby Abreu to set off a wild celebration on the field.

It was an off night entirely for Tim Hudson, who went five innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, while walking a season high three and striking out five; however he did not fare in the decision.

This was the second time this season that Hudson did not go at least six innings, the first time came on May 22, when the Giants game against the Colorado Rockies was suspended due to weather at Coors Field.

Bartolo Colon, making his return to the Bay Area after pitching the last two seasons across the Bay, where he pitched for the Oakland A’s went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out four, but did not fare in the decision.

Recker singled to left field to score Duda with the first run of the night in the top of the second inning for the Mets.

Gregor Blanco came on to pinch hit for Hudson in the bottom of the fifth inning, and singled off of Colon and then Angel Pagan singled him to second and then Hunter Pence walked to load the bases.

Buster Posey got the Giants on the board, as he hit into a double play that scored Blanco from third base; however Pablo Sandoval flew out to Young in left field to end the inning.

George Kontos came on to replace Hudson in the top of the sixth inning, and promptly gave back the run that the Giants scored in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he walked Matt den Dekker to lead off the inning, David Murphy then singled and then den Dekker scored on a wild pitch by Kontos.

Colon got into trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning after he retired Morse and Tyler Colvin, Brandon Crawford singled and then Brandon Hicks hit a ground ball to Wright at third and he promptly air mailed into right field, sending Crawford to third and Hicks to third.

With the pitchers’ spot coming up, Bruce Bochy sent Hector Sanchez to pinch hit and he walked to load the bases and then Pagan supplied some AT&T Park magic, as he singled in Crawford and Hicks.

After Mets manager Terry Collins pulled a double switch that brought Jeurys Familia into the game, Pence greeted him by beating out a infield single to load the bases.

Posey was then unable to be the hero for the second night in a row, as he struck out on a 3-2 pitch that ended the inning and the threat.