Month: August 2014

A’s regain first place tie on Smith’s wild pitch

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By Morris Phillips

A wild pitch, a huge win and mild celebration: for the 2014 A’s, the rhythm of things doesn’t change even after the biggest win of the season to date.

The A’s received a gift in Joe Smith’s wild pitch that allowed Coco Crisp to score the winning run in a 2-1 win over the Angels. A pair of wins to start this series between the teams with the best records in baseball has erased the sour taste of last week’s 1-6 road trip and allowed the A’s to regain a share of first place in the AL West.

But for the resurgent home team—looking for the sweep on Sunday—and closer Sean Doolittle, it’s no time to get giddy or sidetracked.

“I think we did a good job of that today: not coming in too high off of last night’s win and getting right back down to business and winning a hard fought ballgame,” Doolittle said. “And that’s going to be key for us tomorrow—as corny and cliché as that sounds—that’s what we’re going to have to do is not look at the big picture. Obviously we’ve got that goal but we’re going to have to take it step-by-step in order to accomplish anything.”

Jon Lester got the start for the A’s and was as advertised, according to manager Bob Melvin, in pitching seven innings and allowing just one, game-tying run in the seventh.

“He brings a lot of tenacity and guys behind him can feel it,” Melvin said.

Lester kept the Angels in control by retiring the leadoff hitter in five of the seven innings and working quickly to benefit the defense behind him. Lester’s night almost ended perfectly but Erick Aybar was able to send the former Red Sox’s offering into center field. Aybar’s hit scored Howie Kendrick and allowed the Angels to tie the game.

But the A’s responded in the eighth, by getting base runners aboard and putting themselves in position to take advantage Smith’s blunder—a fastball that sailed over catcher Chris Ianetta’s glove.  Coco Crisp’s seeing-eye single up the middle started the rally, and he was at third courtesy of a couple of ground outs when Smith uncorked his wild pitch.

The A’s made it stick in the ninth when Doolittle finished the Angels off, allowing only a single to Howie Kendrick in gaining his 20th save.

The A’s look for the sweep on ESPN’s Sunday Night broadcast with Scott Kazmir facing Jered Weaver of the Angels.

49ers and Raiders commentary:Levis sod squad does quick repairs true test is on Sunday;Raiders taking serious look at corners this week

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by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The landscape issue at Levis Stadium for Sunday’s game replanting of the sod is more of a gardening issue than a game day issue. The bottom line is you want the turf to be as perfect as possible but you don’t want it to come up in chunks and there some value on how you can cut back and forth when your a player running your routes.

You don’t want any inuries so it’s good for the 49ers now as their taking action, it’s hopeful that the field will be nice and ready for the exhibition game against the Chargers on Sunday. It certainly should be open for the home opener for the regular season on September 14th in about three weeks. They have the best people in to fix the problem, it’s grass it’ll grow they’ll just have to tend to it and hope they don’t make the same mistake twice.

One thing that head coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t want is to worry about is things like this when he’s got a game to prepare for and the field certainly qualifies. He shouldn’t have to think about the field at all that should be something that you don’t worry about in any way shape or form. In this game coming up against the San Diego Chargers they have to look like their ready.

The first two games of the pre season they looked out of sync, like they were going through the motions sometimes it’s tough to really get motivated in pre sesaon especially when there’s several injuries on the team. The 49ers have hardly scored at all this pre season and they got blanked last week by the Denver Broncos 34-0. The lost in week one of the pre season to the Baltimore Ravens 23-3.

Oakland Raiders update: The cornerback situation for the Raiders is shakey, Tarrell Brown is not a bad corner so there’s a question of what the problem is, it might just be that Brown is trying to get used to a new defense it’s always something to keep in mind. Just because your a decent cornerback in one place doesn’t mean moving to a different team your going to carry that along.

Brown used to play for the 49ers and was decent but he also had a lot of good players around him to help out. Sometimes if you have the supporting cast that makes you look even better. Brown moves to Oakland and that’s a very young and inexperienced defense and Brown is suppose to be proping everyone else up. Maybe he’s not quite as good without those supporting players.

We saw this with former Raider Nnamdi Asomugha who looked great with the Raiders, he was an All-Pro, a Pro Bowler each and every year and the he goes over to the Philadelphia Eagles with a comepletly different defensive system and Asomugha just couldn’t cut it. He completely fell off the planet and now he’s pretty much out of football.

That’s part of the problem with the Raiders corners and here again, this is a very inexperienced defense. LaMarr Woodley and Justin Tuck two free agents who signed are guys who are talented but their past defined. They can give a little confidence and they can relay sone of their experiences to the younger guys but but their not exactly at the top of their game either.

David Zizmor does commentary on the Raiders and 49ers each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s and Giants commentary: Gentry making great comeback after broken hand injury;Castillo was the Cuban player too expensive for Giant’s taste

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by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s 5-3 victory over the L.A. Angels on Friday night was a great game and it got a little too exciting there, there was one out and A’s pitcher Sonny Gray had left a man on base and it’s the ninth inning and Sean Doolittle came in to relieve Gray. It took 30 pitches for Doolittle to get two outs and win the ball game. Doolittle might be limited on when he can relieve next it’s questionable if he’s going to have to come out in all three game of this series against the Angels if needed.

Craig Gentry has returned as of Friday and he’s rehabbed well over the last few weeks and went one for three and that’s pretty impressive coming off a broken hand injury. That was a good opportunity for Gentry and that gives you an opportunity for you to get in the game and be yourself. He’s recovering the hand and unless he starts walking on the hand he should heal just fine and once Gentry gets on base he’s a disturbing subject for the opposing pitcher to keep an eye on.

San Francisco Giants update: Joe Panik has had himself a week he’s had multi hit games the last several days. He’s gone 15-27 during that time period and he’s close to .600 hitting. He’s another in a line of Giants infielders whose picked up former Giant Rich Aurillia’s mantle pretty well. He’s done pretty well defensively and now he’s been quite a distributor on offense.

They say the best trades are the ones that you don’t make sometimes and there’s no doubt about it in this case the Giants probably got the best second baseman available in the Major Leagues. They got him before the trade deadline and they got him out of their own organization.

The Giants were looking at getting Cuban player 27 year old Rusney Castillo but that winning bid went to the Boston Red Sox who got him for $72.5 million for seven years. The Giants how serious they were on the deal is in question but the were alledgedly in on the deal supposedly he was going to play centerfield and another thing is with Cuban players your not really sure how old they really are.

Castillo is a solid centerfielder and a lead off hitter and the Giants already have that in Jose Pagan. Castillo could have ended up being a development player and would have been playing out of positon and the next position for him to play is shortstop. The Giants are tied up at the position too, what they might have done next is make someone like him a corner outfielder.

I’m not sure if I believe this notion that Castillo is too expensive for the Giants $72.5 million for seven years for the Giants to compete for a potential impact player. Then there is the contract of Pablo Sandoval whose seeking Hunter Pence type money so will the Giants be able to free up some money and bring back the Panda for next season?

When they sell out every single night when the streak is close to 400 games you have to consider these things when big name players come out on the market. It’s a little bit surprising that people would say the reason why they didn’t go after Castillo was he’s too expensive. It’s hard for me the imagine the Giants management group not willing.

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

Super Sam’s Triple Seals The Deal, Oakland Defeats Anaheim 5-3

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OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 22: Sam Fuld #23 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammates after he scored against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the bottom of the six inning at O.co Coliseum on August 22, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 22: Sam Fuld #23 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammates after he scored against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the bottom of the six inning at O.co Coliseum on August 22, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

by Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Sam Fuld hit a deep line shot to right center field in the bottom of the sixth that hit the wall that scored Alberto Callaspo from first to give the A’s their first lead of the game and proved to be the game winning run of the night. Fuld went 1 for 4 on the night with one RBI and one run and Alberto Callaspo went 2 for 4 with a run and of his own. Coco Crisp hit his second lead off homer of the year to contribute to the A’s scoring who are now 4-0 against the Angels at home this year.

On the offense coming through, especially Coco Crisp, head coach Bob Mevin said, “They hit a home run. Then Coco answers. That was big. That was huge. That was like alright we’re fine. You can’t put too much pressure on him but when we play our best he’s playing well.”

The bottom of the A’s batting order had 6 hits and three runs tonight.

“That’s what we need. We need to have a deep line up sometimes and that really is the strength of our line up and why offensively we’ve got the numbers we put up this year,” beamed Melvin.

Sonny Gray also had a gem of a game tonight. Gray (13-7) went 8 and 1/3 innings and gave up six hits, including a pair of homers but only allowed those two solo shots. Gray also struck out five and was backed up by some great defense by Josh Donaldson who started a nice double play in the top of the sixth. Gray is now 9-1 against all teams in the AL West.

“Mixing in all three of his pitches. Fastball had good life, curve ball backdoor to lefties, away from righties, enough change ups to keep you off balance. It was pretty impressive,” said Melvin on Gray.

Gray started off shaky in the first when after getting the Angels lead off batter to ground out, he threw an 81 mph curve ball that Mike Trout got a hold of and went over the left center field wall for his eighth home run of the year and give the Angels a 1-0 lead. Coco Crisp wasted no time to respond as he hit his 15th career lead off home run to the exact same spot and tied the game up at one a piece.

After the Trout home run, Gray was able to put out the next nine batters until Josh Hamilton ripped a curve ball into the right field stands to give the Angels the lead again 2-1.

The A’s tied it up in the bottom of the fifth when after a Crisp double and a Gentry walk, Josh Donaldson smacked a line drive to Angels pitcher Santiago who was able to get a hand on it and deflected the ball into the second baseman’s glove to get Gentry out at second but on a throwing error by shortstop Erick Aybar, Donaldson was able to advance to second and Crisp was able to cross the plate.

In the sixth, Sam Fuld came up and smacked his third triple of the year into right center to score Callaspo and give the A’s a 3-2 lead. Andy Parrino then followed with a sac fly to bring in Fuld and make it a 4-2 Oakland lead.

The A’s received an insurance run in the eighth when Stephen Vogt hit his ninth homer of the year to make it a 5-2 game. The Angels tried to make it interesting in the ninth as they put up a run against Sean Doolittle and got the bases loaded but he settled down and got Chris Ianetta to strike out and end the game 5-3.

Tomorrow the Angels send up their ace C.J. Wilson (10-8, 4.59) against the A’s ace Jon Lester (13-8, 2.58). Game time 6:05 pm.

 

Giants End Nationals Ten-Game Win Streak With Blowout

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Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports

By: Joe Lami

After a hellish three days in Chicago that included a suspended game and all sorts of rain delays, a tired San Francisco Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 10-3 on Friday Night. Washington had been on a tare of late winning ten-straight, tying their franchise record.

The night didn’t start off so good for the men in orange and black, as they gave up a run in the first inning due to a Joe Panik error. However, Panik would redeem himself in the fourth inning when he hit a three-run homerun to center giving San Francisco the 3-1 lead, his first career home run. Jason Werth would get one back in the bottom half of the inning for the Nationals, as he hit his first homerun since July 13.

San Francisco added another run in the sixth inning, when Posey went yard for the 15th time this season to give them the 4-2 lead. The Giants opened the floodgates in the late innings as they added two in the eighth and four in the ninth to solidify the ninth win of the season for Tim Hudson.

Hudson was chased out of the game somewhat early, as he only pitched 5.1 innings while throwing 95 pitches. He recorded three strikeouts, gave up five hits while surrendering two runs, with only one of them being earned.

Doug Fister was given the loss for Washington, only his fourth all year (12-4). Fister threw 107 pitches in six innings pitched. The Giants had seven hits and four runs against him, with two of the hits being homeruns.

The win was an important one as both the Braves and Dodgers earned victories keeping the Giants three games back of the Dodgers and a game up on the Braves.

Packers drop Raiders

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GREEN BAY, WI - AUGUST 22: Maurice Jones Drew #21 of the Oakland Raiders runs past AJ Hawk #50 of the Green Bay Packers for a first quarter touchdown run during a preseason game at Lambeau Field on August 22, 2014 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Konstantaras/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WI – AUGUST 22: Maurice Jones Drew #21 of the Oakland Raiders runs past AJ Hawk #50 of the Green Bay Packers for a first quarter touchdown run during a preseason game at Lambeau Field on August 22, 2014 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Konstantaras/Getty Images)

By Jeremy Kahn

After an impressive win over the Detroit Lions on August 15 at the Coliseum, the Oakland Raiders could not make it two wins in a row.

Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdowns, while Eddie Lacy scampered in from one-yard out and the Green Bay Packers defeated the Raiders 31-21 at Lambeau Field.

Raiders linebacker Sio Moore was carted off the field with a neck injury in the second quarter. Moore gave a thumbs up sign to the hushed crowd, and the fans gave the linebacker a standing ovation.

Moore was not the only member of the Raiders defense to suffer injuries to their upper extremities, as cornerback Tarell Brown and linebacker Nick Roach each suffered head injuries.

Rodgers went nine-for-20 for 139 yards passing and those two touchdowns, before giving way to former Raiders quarterback Matt Flynn.

Matt Schaub went 13-of-27 for 110 yards passing, as he played all the way into the third quarter.

Matt McGloin, who engineered that comeback against the Lions on August 15, threw two fourth quarter touchdowns to Brice Butler, while McGloin finished the night going 10-for-17 for 162 yards passing.

Following Lacy’s touchdown that put the Packers on board, Maurice Jones-Drew scampered 40 yards to get the Raiders on the board.

That would be the only score by the Raiders until McGloin found Butler with 2:41 remaining in the game.

Following a three-and-out by the Packers, McGloin found Butler in the end zone with 11 seconds remaining.

A’s Reinstate OF Gentry from the DL; Option RHP Otero to Sacramento

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OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland A’s reinstated outfielder Craig Gentry from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-handed pitcher Dan Otero to Triple-A Sacramento, the club announced today. Gentry was placed on the 15-day dis abled list July 28 with a broken right hand. He began a two-game rehab assignment with Sacramento on Monday against Oklahoma City and went 0 for 7 with a RBI and three strikeouts in starts at designated hitter and in right field. Gentry was 4 for 29 (.138) over his final 12 games with the A’s before the injury and is batting .264 with 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts in 80 games overall.

Otero has spent the entire season with the A’s and is 7-1 with a save and a 2.28 ERA in 56 relief appearances. He has allowed a .250 opponents batting average and has issued just nine walks, an average of 1.14 per nine innings. Otero leads American League relievers in wins, ranks second in innings pitched (71.0) and is fourth in fewest walks per nine innings.

*Official Oakland Athletics Press Release

Giants bounce Cubs after dropping protest game

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By Jeremy Harness

While the night before was good all the way around, Thursday was more of a mixed bag.

While they were more than thankful for the opportunity to finish the game from Tuesday that was halted by rain, to go along with a grounds-crew gaffe, the Giants could not make it all the way back in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

That game was finished off late Thursday afternoon, and they had only had about 40 minutes to bounce back for the rubber match. That did not turn out to be a problem at all.

Madison Bumgarner took the ball Thursday night and, even though he had to endure a three-run first inning from the Cubs, held on and did not allow a single run for the next six innings that he was on the mound.

In all, he gave up seven hits in seven innings while striking out 12 hitters. Meanwhile, his offense got hot around him and gave him plenty of run support, making it much easier to digest that rough initial frame.

In particular was catcher Buster Posey, who went 4-for-4 and smacked his 14th homer of the season to pace the Giants’ offense and allowed the team to take the three-game series from the Cubs.

It came at a great time, too. The Dodgers did not give up any ground in the National League West, as they rallied part the San Diego Padres to keep their division lead to three games.

Injury-wise, though, the Giants are struggling to stay afloat, and the news got worse on Thursday. According to reports, infielder Ehire Adrianza’s recovery from a strained groin has been very slow, and it is expected to sideline him until the end of September and is likely out for the season.

Meanwhile, catch Hector Sanchez suffered his second concussion of the season in a minor-league game, and there is no timeline on when he is expected to return.

However, there is a little more optimism concerning first baseman Brandon Belt and his return from a concussion, as he is reportedly expected to return in time for the stretch run.

A’s set to host critical AL West series with Angels

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, August 21, 2014

Going into this weekend, the surging Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have supplanted the Oakland Athletics atop the American League West Division, going 8-2 in their last 10 games, including a 2-0 win Thursday at Boston.

It’s getting interesting in the home stretch in the AL West, as the Athletics are now two games out of first after maintaining a season-long lead. While the Angels have been hot, the A’s are not. Oakland is 2-8 in its last 10, in part allowing Los Angeles to catch up.

This all matters because, with the one-game playoff, it’s paramount to win the division and avoid baseball’s version of Russian Roulette if possible. Oakland leads the Wild Card standings by 5.5 games over Detroit, with Seattle six back.

As the Tigers continue to fade, look for the Mariners to move up to that second Wild Card spot. Also look for newfound intensity to win the division and avoid facing Seattle (and Felix Hernandez) in a nine-inning showdown.

This scenario will help fuel a critical weekend series between the Angels and Athletics at the Coliseum. Sonny Gray will try to snap a personal four-start losing streak on Friday, with Jon Lester and Scott Kasmir the probables for Saturday and Sunday. The Angels will counter with Hector Santiago on Friday, C.J. Wilson on Saturday and Jered Weaver on Sunday.

The Angels’ rotation is suddenly in disarray after starter Garrett Richards suffered a season-ending injury (torn left patellar tendon on Thursday, when his knee gave out while trying to second base in a win over Boston.

Sunday’s game will be the ESPN Sunday Night selection.

During the Saturday A’s-Angels games, the Chevron Stem Zone, an interactive exhibit that explores the scientific concepts of baseball, will be on display behind sections 201 and 217. A fireworks show follows the game. The Stem Zone display is free with a game ticket.

It’s Crunch Time for The A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s continue to flounder. They lost to the New York Mets on wednesday and have now lost eight of the last 10 game played to fall 1 ½ games behind the Los Angeles Angeles in the AL West. The road doesn’t get any easier for the A’s as they meet the Angels for three this weekend in Oakland then go to Houston for three and then four more with the Angels. The A’s must take five out of seven from the Angels in order to gain ground. If they go 3-4 or 4-3 they will still be in second place in the division.

The other factor will be the rapidly improving Houston Astros. Last time the A’s went to Houston they lost the series 2 games to one . The Astros as mentioned are improving and will not be a pushover for the A’s.

In the meantime, the Angels were dealt a blow when pitcher Garrett Richards went down with a knee injury and may be out for the season. The Angels have the edge over the A’s when it comes to hitting. Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, David Freese , Kohl Calhoun and even the slumping Josh Hamilton present a formidable lineup. The Angels’ starting pitching took a blow with the loss of Richards but Jered Weaver, C.J.Wilson, Matt Shoemaker, Hector Santiago and Michael Roth may not look as strong as the A’s rotation but they are getting the job done. The Angels’ bullpen was bolstered by the arrival of Jason Grilli from Pittsburgh and Huston Street from San Diego.

The A’s pitching has to right the ship. Sonny Gray is in a slump right now. Jon Lester won his first three starts for the A’s but lost his time out. Jeff Samardzija was bombed by the Mets Wednesday. Scott Kazmir won his last outing and Jason Hammel has not pitched well at all. The A’s were able to bump Hammel out of a start due to two off days this week. It will be up to Gray, Lester and Kazmir to stop the Angels this weekend and will have to do it again next week in Anaheim.

Lastley, the A’s have a five game lead as the first wild card team but guess who would be the second wild card if the season ended today? That’s right-the Detroit Tigers and the A’s woul