Month: July 2014

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-
Wade Miley made the San Francisco Giants miss all day, and as a result of that, he came away with his fifth win of the season.

Miley went seven innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, walking three and striking out four, as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Giants 2-0 before crowd of 41,267, the 298th consecutive sellout at AT&TPark.

This was the 10th time this season that the Giants have been shutout, and the second time this week, as they were shutout on Monday against the Oakland A’s.

By shutting out the Giants on this day, this was the first time that the Diamondbacks shut the Giants since August 27, 2010,

Aaron Hill supplied the only offense that Miley would need, as he planted a Ryan Vogelsong pitch into the left-center field seats for his seventh home run of the season in the top of third inning.

Hill added a double in the top of the seventh inning, went to third on a Martin Prado groundout and then scored on a Gerardo Parra single.

Ryan Vogelsong was the hard luck loser, as he went six and one-third innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking no one and striking out four, as he saw his record on the season fall to 5-7.

Vogelsong became the first Giants pitcher since Lynn McGlothen from April 16, 1977 to May 1, 1977 to receive no runs of support during a single season in four successive starts this according to STATS, LLC.

Jonathan Sanchez went four straight starts between September 12, 2007 to April 9, 2008 without receiving any run support, according to STATS, LLC.

Tyson Ross of the San Diego Padres was the last pitcher to go four straight starts without receiving runs in four straight starts from June 6-June 21, 2014, according to STATS, LLC.

Marco Scutaro made his long-awaited season debut, and despite the fact that he did not get a hit, Scutaro showed the AT&TPark crowd why he was worthy of coming back with his defense.

Scutaro made a dazzling play to end the top of the second inning, as he flipped the ball out of his glove to get Parra out at first base.

The Scutaro play was the second great play in a row by the Giants, as Hunter Pence made a great diving catch in right field Prado of a possible extra base hit.

Pablo Sandoval made a great play to end the top of the fifth inning, as he dove into the hole to snare a Paul Goldschmidt grounder, get up and throw to Brandon Belt to retire the side.

After Michael Morse flew out to leadoff the top of the seventh inning, Belt walked, then Joaquin Arias singled to bring up Gregor Blanco to face Miley.

Blanco hit a chopper to first base that Goldschmidt fielded, threw to Miley and first base umpire Gabe Morales called Blanco safe; however Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson challenged the ruling and after a one minute 53 second review, the play was overturned and Blanco was called out.

Hector Sanchez then came up to pinch-hit for Jeremy Affeldt, and he was robbed of hit, when Goldschmidt snared the Sanchez ball that would have tied up the game.

Morse extended his hitting streak to nine games after singling off of Miley in the bottom of the fourth inning, matching his season high, as he also hit in nine straight from April 2-April 11.

By Kahlil Najar

SAN JOSE – San Jose Quarterback Nathan Stanley completed 24 of 41 passes for 291 yards and 5 touchdowns to give the SaberCats their 12th win of the year 52-43 over the 8-8 Tampa Bay Storm in their final home game of the year.

Stanley was able to find six receivers through out the night including star Wide Receiver Dominique Curry who hauled in three touchdowns on 49 yards receiving. However Curry didn’t stop there as he had a pair of rushing touchdowns to give him five total touchdowns on the night. Reggie Gray and Rod Harper were the other receivers to get a touchdown through the air.

Both teams battled it out in the first half of the game as they traded  scores back and forth and went into the locker room tied at 28 a piece. Curry had one on the ground and one in the air while Gray and Harper provided the other scores for San Jose.

Curry continued his dominance in the third quarter as he scored two times in a row until the Storms Randy Hippeard found T.T. Olliver got a nice 22 yard score to bring the San Jose lead to only one touchdown. Pertuit was able to make it a 10 point lead with a little over nine minutes left in the game.

It looked like the Cats were going to put it away when Curry scored again to make it a 17 point lead but with 23 seconds left in the game, Hippeard was able to find Hillis for a touchdown and a successful two point conversion. Luckily that was all the Storm was able to bring in the last quarter and ended the game with a 52-43 win for the SaberCats.

The SaberCats now head out on the road for the final two games of the regular season with the first game next Sunday in Philadelphia, game time 1pm PST.

 

 

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Tim Lincecum is beginning to like the pitcher that he was during his back-to-back Cy Young Award seasons of 2008 and 2009, but before you get your hopes up for a World Series parade down Market Street, remember there is three months left in the season.

Lincecum went seven innings, allowing zero runs, allowing three hits, on two walks, and striking out six and the San Francisco Giants took game one of their three-game series with a 5-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks before a crowd of 41,647, the 297th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the ninth win of the season for Lincecum, and his fourth consecutive win, his longest winning streak since winning four in a row from April 5-23, 2010.

Since a no-decision on June 13, 2014 against the Colorado Rockies, Lincecum is middle of a streak that sees him not allowing a run at AT&T Park since Justin Morneau hit a two-run single in the top of the third inning.

After losing to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 20, Lincecum returned to AT&TPark and he pitched the second no-hitter of his career, a 6-0 whitewashing of the San Diego Padres.

Just six days after the no-hitter, Lincecum went eight scoreless innings in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals, as he scattered four hits, walking two and striking out four.

Lincecum’s scoreless inning streak of 27 at AT&TPark is the longest since Ryan Jensen threw 27 scoreless innings back during the 2002 National League Championship season.

Pablo Sandoval got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as he planted a Mike Bolsinger pitch onto the arcade for his 11th home run, a two-run shot that scored Brandon Belt, who singled just prior to Sandoval’s home run.

Brandon Crawford singled to right field off of Bolsinger in the bottom of the second inning to Tyler Colvin, who led off the inning with a single.

Then Lincecum got in on the act, as he hit a sacrifice bunt back to Bolsinger that scored Joe Panik from third base.

It was the first run batted in of the season for Lincecum, and the 19th run batted in of his major league since joining the Giants on May 6, 2007.

Sandoval drove in the fifth and final run of the night in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he double down the left field line to score Hunter Pence from second base.

Bolsinger lasted five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out five, as he fell to 1-6 on the season.

Usual Lincecum nemesis, Paul Goldschmidt went 0-for-2 with a walk and a caught stealing on the night.

Entering the game, Goldschmidt in his career was hitting at a .577 clip (15-for-26) with seven home runs and 17 runs batted in since joining the majors in 2011.

NOTES: Prior to the game, it was announced that Marco Scutaro was activated from the 60-day disabled list and to make room for the 2012 National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player, Brandon Hicks was designated for assignment.

Mark Trumbo, who was activated by the Diamondbacks prior to the game, went 1-for-4 in his first game since suffering a stress fracture in his left foot.

To make room for Trumbo, former Giants outfielder Roger Kieschnick was assigned to the Diamondbacks Triple-A team, the Reno Aces.

Diamondbacks Catcher Miguel Montero was named as a replacement to the National League All-Star team, replacing Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, who suffered a torn thumb ligament.

By Morris Phillips

It wasn’t as lopsided as the notable Bay Bridge encounter 25 seasons ago, but the concluded A’s-Giants series was decidedly for the Athletics.

The Giants fell flat again in a 6-1 loss at AT&T Park, a performance that looked all too familiar. San Francisco’s offense has disappeared, scoring just 40 runs over their last 18 games, which covers most of a month of bad baseball that’s seen them drop 15 of 19 at home.

Josh Donaldson homered off Tim Hudson in Oakland’s four-run sixth inning that put them up 6-0. In a meeting of free agent starters acquired in the off-season, Scott Kazmir was the winner, his 11th that puts him line for a possible start in Tuesday’s All-Star game while Hudson dropped his fourth straight decision.

“There were a couple bad pitches that they took advantage of, and they hit a couple decent pitches, I thought,” Hudson said. “I don’t really know what to say. Kind of unraveled on us a little bit.”

Kazmir kept the Giants’ bats stymied with nine strikeouts that had the Giants looking tentative at the plate. Manager Bruce Bocy provided some inight into why his team’s offense struggled, while acknowledging Kazmir and Oakland, who continue to lead all of baseball with a 58-34 record.

“It just looks like we’re caught in between as an offensive group. Late on fastballs, out in front of off-speed pitches,” Bochy assessed.

“It was a tough series, but we’ve played a good club with a great staff. The guy we faced today, he’s on the All-Star team, so a lot of clubs haven’t done well against him. Still, we need to find a way to plate some runs.”

The Giants fell a game back of the Dodgers when they won Thursday night in Dodgers Stadium, 2-1 over the Padres. The rivals are even in the loss column, even as the Giants have slumped horribly and next meet July 25 with Marco Scutaro and possibly Angel Pagan both back in the everyday lineup.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, July 10, 2014

Oakland starter Scott Kazmir struck out nine in his seven innings of work Thursday, and, with some hitting punch from Josh Donaldson and Stephen Vogt, the Athletics downed San Francisco 6-1 in interleague action at AT&T Park.

With the victory, the A’s took three out of four games in the Bay Bridge series , have won seven of their last eight overall, and lead the AL West with a 58-34 record.

Kazmir, an American League All-Star selection, allowed only three hits and a walk while his record improved to 11-3. He has allowed one run or fewer in 11 of his 19 starts this season.

Kazmir didn’t allow a walk until he issued a pass to Hudson in the third inning and didn’t allow a hit until Michael Morse led off the fifth with a base hit.

San Francisco starter Tim Hudson (7-6) lost his fourth straight decision for the struggling Giants, who have lost 15 of their last 19 home games. Hudson allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings while suffering his second career loss against the A’s, where he spent the first six years of his career.

Oakland opened the top of the sixth with four straight extra-base hits, including a two-run homer by Donaldson, his 20th of the season. A two-run single by Vogt off Javier Lopez gave the Athletics a 6-0 lead.

Vogt also had an RBI single in the fifth, driving in John Jaso, who tripled.

San Francisco scored its only run in the eighth on an RBI single by Pablo Sandoval.

The game ended on a replay challenge when Oakland manager Bob Melvin questioned a call that Vogt pulled his foot off first base on an infield hit by Gregor Blanco. The call was reversed when the replay showed that Vogt kept his foot on the bag.

A’s ACORNS: Oakland OF Yoenis Cespedes, an AL All-Star, went 0-for-5, striking out four times and hitting into a double play. … The A’s open a three-game series in Seattle against the Mariners Friday. Jeff Samardzija (1-0) will make his second start for the A’s in the series opener, facing Felix Hernandez (10-2).

BY PAUL GACKLE

SAN FRANCISCO — Scott Kazmir made his case for being the American League’s starting pitcher at the 2014 All-Star game in Minneapolis next week, throwing seven shutout innings on Thursday as the Oakland A’s picked up a series win over their cross-bay rivals at AT&T Park.

With a 6-1 win over the Giants, Kazmir is now tied for the second in the AL in wins (11), he’s third among starters in earned run average (2.38) and third in WHIP (0.98).

“He’s been as consistent as anyone in the league,” A’s Manager Bob Melvin said.

Kazmir (11-3), who’s only two years removed from being out of the majors completely, put together his best performance of the season, surrendering only three hits while tying a season high with nine strikeouts. With another stellar outing, Kazmir’s now allowed one run or fewer in 11 of his 19 starts this season.

“They seem like they’re all the same to me,” Melvin said, referring to Kazmir’s starts this season. “He gives up, it seems like zero, one or two runs, and gets you deep in the game.”

After keeping the Giants hitless through four innings, Kazmir ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth with the A’s ahead 2-0. First, Michael Morse singled and then Gregor Blanco smacked a two-out double to the right field wall.

But with runners on second and third, Giants manager Bruce Bochy allowed pitcher Tim Hudson to bat — rather than sending out a pinch hitter — and Kazmir escaped the jam by inducing a long fly wall to the base of the warning track in center field.

The A’s made Bochy pay for the decision in the sixth, chasing Hudson (7-6) out of the game with four consecutive extra-base hits, three doubles and an opposite field home run over the brick wall in right by Josh Donaldson.

“To kind of be under [the baseball] and behind it a little bit and not extend it and still hit it out up top there means you’re awfully strong,” Melvin said, referring to Donaldson’s blast over Levi’s Landing at AT&T Park.

Stephen Vogt put an exclamation point on the rally later in the inning, stretching the lead to 6-0 with a two-out single to center, scoring Jed Lowrie and Alberto Callaspo.

Vogt, who’s riding a career-high 10-game hitting streak, went 2-for-5 with three RBI. He also picked up an RBI single in the fifth.

“His at bats have been phenomenal,” Melvin said, referring to Vogt, who played first base on Thursday. “His versatility has been — we’ve really needed it here with some of the injuries we’ve had, so he’s been a star for us.”

Donaldson snapped out of a 3-for-23 slump in the contest, picking up two hits in three at bats while driving in a pair of runs. Prior to the game, the All-Star third baseman learned that he will be participating in this year’s Home Run Derby at Target Field on Monday.

“For me, it just kind of adds icing to the cake,” Donaldson said. “Hopefully, I’ll go out there and put on a show.”