Month: June 2015

Oakland loses another close game, this time to the Rockies.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

It was a pitcher’s duel Tuesday night at the Coliseum Tuesday night by a score of 2-1. The A’s starter, Chris Bassitt was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to fill in for A’s ace, Sony Gray. Gray was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms  Monday night and was not able to take his turn in the rotation. Bassitt pitched extremely well. He went five innings and gave up just five hits and just one run. He threw 84 pitches as he was working on three days rest. The Rockies’ starter, Jorge De La Rosa, was magnificent as he had was in the zone all night and kept the A’s hitters off-balance as he varied the speeds on his pitches. De La Rosa’s line was seven innings pitched, four hits and no runs. De La Rosa’s record is now 5-3 and Bassitt is 0-1 for the season.

The Rockies scored the first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning. First baseman Ben Paulsen and catcher Michael McKenry singled to put men on at first and second with no out.  Bassitt retired the next two hitters but centerfielder Charlie Blackmon singled softly to center to drive in Paulsen. The inning ended when A’s catcher Josh Phegley threw out Blackmon as he attempted to steal second base. 1-0 in the middle of the fifth.

The A’s threatened to score in the bottom of the sixth. Billy Burns led off the inning with a single. Burns advanced to second on a passed ball and stole third when Stephen Vogt received a walk to put men on at first and third with no out. Ben Zobrist hit a rocket to third. Burns was running on the crack of the bat but that turned out to be a mistake as Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado threw to home. Burns was caught in a rundown. The play went 5-2-5-1 with the Vogt being the man tagged out as the A’s had two men standing on third. De La Rosa struck out Phegley for the second out. Brett Lawrie hit into a 5-4 force out to end the threat. The Rockies still lead 1-0 after six.

The Rockies added a run in the top of the seventh. Wilin Rosario led off the frame with a single. Rodriguez retired the next two batters but left fielder Brandon Barnes singled to send him to third. Rodriguez uncorked a pitch that went to the backstop that allowed Rosario to score. Barnes took second on the play. D.J. Lemahieu struck out to end the inning. A’s trail 2-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

The Rockies replaced De La Rosa with Tommy Kahnle in the bottom of the eighth. Kahnle retired the first two batter that he faced. Ben Zobrist, however, doubled to right centerfield to put a man in scoring position with two out. The designated hitter, Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler singled sharply to right to drive in Zobrist with the first run of the game for Oakland. Kahnle struck out Josh Phegley to end the inning. A’s trail 2-1.

The ageless wonder, LaTroy Hawkins, set the A’s down 1-2-3 to close out the game for Colorado. He earned his second save of the year. Rockies win 2-1.

Game Notes – The A’s are 4-14 when the opponents start a left-handed pitcher as compared to 31-31 when they start a righty. After the game, A’s manager Bob Melvin replied that the A’s are “having a tougher time with lefties.”  Melvin also commented on Bassitt’s performance,” 85 pitches was the limit for him” and that he “couldn’t ask for more” from Bassitt. His pitches had good movement” and he “pitched well.” Melvin said that De La Rosa pitches “had lots of deception”and he threw “lots of splits and few fastballs.”

The A’s are 1-4 on the ten-game homestand and are ten games under .500 with a record of 35-45. Wednesday’s game will be game 81 of the season, the exact halfway point of the year.  The Rockies’ win was their first in interleague play this year, and they are now 1-7 against the American League.

The rubber game of the three-game series will be played Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. Game time will be at 12:35 pm PT.  Jesse Hahn will pitch for the A’s. Hahn will be trying to even his record at six. Chad Bettis will pitch for Colorado.

Time of game was 2 hours and fifty-six minutes and 19,206 fans were on hand to watch the game.

Gordon with a first in Marlins win

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By Jeremy Kahn

Dee Gordon did something in the series opener that never occurred in the history of Marlins Park.

Gordon hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the second inning, to help the Miami Marlins defeat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 at Marlins Park.

It was the first-ever inside-the-park home run in the short four-year history of the park.

Entering the game with a major league leading 112 hits, Gordon used his speed to get around the bases against Ryan Vogelsong. The ball hit by Gordon eluded Gregor Blanco, and the scoop from Blanco’s glove went behind Angel Pagan and Gordon rounded the bases with a three-run home run.

Buster Posey hit his 12th home run, and added a double.

Vogelsong allowed four runs on the evening in six innings of work.

The contract of infielder Ehire Adrianza was purchased from Triple -A Sacramento, while Casey McGehee was designated for assignment for the second time this season.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Which A’s team is going to show up? Jekyll and Hyde club drop one after winning one

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by Charlie O Mallonee

OAKLAND–The A’s who crushed their guests the Colorado Rockies at the Oakland Coliseum on Monday night 7-1 got knicked and lost by a run 2-1 on Tuesday night. I said last week if the A’s could get one win in Texas maybe two wins at home against Kansas City things would be okay because they would be about .500 that was the thought during that three game stretch.

Never in my wildest imagination they’d go to Texas and the A’s would sweep them. Then I got optimistic I thought wow the A’s could take two out of three from Kansas City, whoops! that was a little optimistic. So the their .500 after that six game stretch, it’s just that they did the sweeping and then they got swept. It’s pretty much the pitching and no offense against Kansas City.

That’s pretty much what you get, right there, right now the Athletics are 35-45. Their still in fifth place ten games behind Houston but if they keep creeping up on Seattle the A’s are just a half game back of Seattle for fourth place and we talked about it before when they hit before that it’s really a tremendous physiological barrier.

If the A’s can just get out of the cellar and leapfrog over Seattle then they realistically can think about “lets get to .500” right now their nine games under .500 that’s not insurmountable if they get to .500 they then could start thinking about other things. Their 6-4 in their last ten games which a lot of teams would take 6-4 in their last ten. They’ve won one in a row starting on Monday night, the A’s have the third best record in the American League since May 23rd.

The A’s have been playing so much better over this stretch and they need to do something to get over the hump and getting out of last place is a big physiological jump that will lead them to better things. One thing they’ve got to be thinking positive about is playing interleague games right now their 4-1 in interleague play this season. They are second best in the majors with that record of course the A’s always as you know have done well in interleague play.

Charlie O does Oakland A’s commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Duffy has all the stuff of an MVP or Rookie of the Year yet it’s still early to say that

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by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants (42-36) who are in Miami for this week’s three game series with the Marlins (32-46), theoretically Ginancarlo Stanton who is out on the disabled list the team’s home run hitter is out with injury and it gives the Giants have a slight advantage in the series. Almost since he Marlins inception the Giants have matched up well against the Marlins. The Giants took a loss in the first game of their series on Tuesday night 5-3.

Casey McGehee who was designated for assignment just before Tuesday night’s game got his stroke back after the first designated assignment back on May 24th. He came back and sat on the bench and lost his timing after sitting for two weeks. That’s a recipe for hitting disaster for McGehee.

If you were to take Giants third baseman Matt Duffy’s season statistical line and lay it out directly next to ex Giant third baseman Pablo Sandoval’s season statistical line including errors you would find that Duffy was equal or slightly better than Panda in every single category and he makes a dollar for every 33 that Pablo makes.

Duffy and catcher Buster Posey were the entire offense against the Colorado Rockies in the series at AT&T last weekend to win two out of three. Buster is finishing the best RBI month of his career and Duffy is too, although Duffy’s career is a little shorter. Duffy’s count success is 12-15 hitting .377, 7-13 with seven runs over the weekend against Colorado.

Also Duffy has gone.424 on first pitches,.553 on 0-1 counts, .462 on 1-0 counts. If I was pitching him I would spot Duffy with a 2-0 count and start pitching from there because I would have a fighting chance then. Buster the same and I get the feeling Buster has taken Duffy aside already a couple times this year particularly after he’s moved up to the three hole and he kept pressing a little bit in more than what he needed to do.

Michael Duca does Giants commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

Sharks Acquire Martin Jones From Bruins

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks have acquired goaltender Martin Jones from the Boston Bruins. From the Sharks press release: “Martin was at the top of our list of players that we had targeted,” said Wilson. “We’re extremely excited to have him on board.”

In return, the Sharks gave up a first round pick in the 2016 draft and unsigned prospect Sean Kuraly. Kuraly was drafted in the fifth round in 2011 and is starting his senior year at Miami University.

In 2013-14, Jones won his first eight NHL starts to tie an NHL record. In that span, he was the first NHL goalie to average less than a goal a game in that win streak. The 6’4″, 25 year old goalie spent the majority of the past few seasons playing with the AHL Manchester Monarchs. In 2013-14, he played 19 games with the Kings, and this past season he played 13 games. Three of those appearances were against the Sharks: a win and two losses, one in relief of Jonathan Quick.

In the most recent World Championships, Jones started and won twice for Canada, helping the team earn the gold medal. His World Junior team won the silver medal in 2010, and he was named to the AHL All Star teams in 2011 and 2014.

Boston acquired Jones in a draft weekend trade from the Los Angeles Kings, along with a 2015 first round pick and defenseman Colin Miller in exchange for Milan Lucic. Jones was originally signed by the Kings as a free agent in 2008.

The Sharks also announced that they have issued qualifying offers to goalie Aaron Dell and forward Daniil Tarasov. By issuing the offers, the team retains negotiating rights to both players. The sharks did not issue offers to forwards Eriah Hayes and Rylan Schwartz, goalie JP Anderson, and defenseman Taylor Doherty. Those four players become unrestricted free agents.

Sharks Sign Brenden Dillon

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks have signed Brenden Dillon to a five year contract. The contract was first reported by Katie Strang of ESPN.

Dillon was acquired last fall from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Jason Demers. Dillon played 60 games on the Sharks’ blue line, earning nine points. Before joining the Sharks, he played two seasons with the Stars.

The Sharks also traded defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser to the St Louis Blues in exchange for a conditional seventh round pick in 2016.

To wrap up the recent trade for negotiating rights, the Dallas Stars announced that they have signed former Sharks goalie Antti Niemi to a three year contract with a 4.5 million cap hit.

Giants don’t figure to stand pat, or be too attached to established faces with the playoffs on the line

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By Morris Phillips

The flipside to the Giants regaining their health with the impending returns of Hunter Pence, Matt Cain and Jake Peavy is that the team is likely to part ways with two or more significant faces.

And from all appearances, those decisions won’t be popular or based on sentiment.

The rotation comes first and has the most moving parts.  But, solidifying the starting rotation could be the difference in whether the Giants miss the playoffs entirely, or overtake the Dodgers and win the NL West.

As it stands the Giants have seven candidates for five spots.  And given that Ryan Vogelsong’s performances out of the bullpen early in the season weren’t encouraging, none of the seven would appear to have much value as anything other than starters.

General manager Bobby Evans had discounted the possibility of a trade for another starter, saying the team needs to see what it has on hand first before venturing outside the organization for rotation depth. Given that, it appears that faltering Tim Lincecum—who’s headed to the disabled list—could be a non-factor for the remainder of the season not unlike Barry Zito was banished in 2010.

Could the Freak be traded?  Doubtful, given his prodigious contract and the fact that the contract extends to next season.

So that would leave six candidates for the five spots, and in that scenario, either Vogelsong or Peavy would be the likely odd men out, especially if Cain returns healthy regardless of whether he struggles or excels in the short run.

Could the 37-year old Vogelsong be released or traded?  With his affordable contract–$4 million for just this season–either would be a possibility.  The team wouldn’t flinch if it forfeited the remainder of the money or hesitate if Vogelsong could be attractive in a trade that would undoubtedly net the team another starter or an upgrade in the bullpen.

Vogelsong could be an option as the team’s long reliever if the plug is pulled on the incumbent at that position, Yusmeiro Petit.  Petit played a significant role in the 2014 postseason, but he hasn’t looked like the same guy this season in limited work. Once again, Vogelsong nor Petit have hefty contracts, so either guy could be expendable.  And maybe both if the five, veteran starters click, clearing a spot for Chris Heston to be the long man.

In the bullpen, Jean Machi could be let go, especially with the emergence of George Kontos.  In spring training, all signs pointed toward the Giants parting with either Machi or Kontos, since there didn’t appear to be spots for both.  Injuries sorted that one out at the beginning of the season, but at this stage of the season, only the real contributors are essential, and that could cost Machi.

Offensively, don’t expect the Giants to make many changes.  Andrew Susac, Joe Panik and Matt Duffy are establishing themselves as high-level major leaguers and the team will afford them every opportunity to explore the limits of their ability.  Also, Nori Aoki has proven himself as a leadoff man on a team that appears to no longer have Angel Pagan as a viable option in the role.

Given all the players entrenched in their roles in the Giants’ lineup, the only possible subtractions would be Travis Ishikawa, Casey McGehee (for a second time) or in a surprise, Justin Maxwell, who was a revelation in April and May, but far less in June.

And one other thing: if the Giants don’t find suitable candidates for their rotation spots then all bets are off, and several players could be traded to bring back a front line starter.

On Tuesday, the Giants begin a stretch of 12 consecutive games against four NL East opponents, starting with a trip to Miami to face the Marlins minus major league home run leader Giancarlo Stanton.  Vogelsong faces Mat Latos in the series opener at 4:05pm.

The A’s snap their losing streak, beat the Rockies 7-1.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s snapped their three-game losing streak by defeating the visiting Colorado Rockies 7-1 before 12,125 fans, the smallest crowd of the season. The story of the game was the pitching of Kendall Graveman. Graveman did not start the season well and was sent down to Nashville to get back in the groove. He did just that. With the win his record improved to 5-4 and he has now gone seven innings in each of his last five starts. Josh Reddick, Ike Davis and Billy Butler homered for the A’s and it was the eighth time this season that the A’s have had three home runs in a game.

The A’s used the long ball to score four times in the bottom of the first. Stephen Vogt singled to left with one out. After Ben Zobrist struck out swinging, Josh Reddick put the first pitch from Rockies’s pitcher, David Hale, over the right field wall to put the A’s up 2-0. For Reddick, it was his thirteenth home run of the season. The A’s weren’t finished. Designated hitter Billy Butler followed with a solid single to center. Ike Davis hit a long, long drive to deep right field that went about ten or twelve rows into the stands. Oakland has a 4-0 lead after one inning of play.

The A’s added a run in the bottom of the fourth on the strength of Billy Butler’s seventh home run of the year. 5-0 after four.

The Rockies scored a run in the top of the eighth. Kendall Graveman was no longer in the game. He went seven innings allowing just five hits and no runs. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Evan Scribner to pitch. Scribner gave up a home run to Charlie Blackmon on a 2-1 pitch leading off the inning.  Scribner retired two but gave up a single to Troy Tulowitzki. Lefty Drew Pomeranz came in to face the left-handed hitter, Carlos Gonzalez. Pomeranz did his job and struck out Cargo for the third out of the inning.

The A’s added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Josh Reddick walked. Billy Butler doubled to left to drive in Reddick all the way from first. Tulowitzki’s throw home got by the catcher and Butler reached third on the play. Butler scored on a triple to right off the bat of Brett Lawrie.

Tyler Clippard pitched the ninth to close out the win for the A’s.

Game Notes- The A’s starting pitchers are 18-10 with a 2.46 ERA over the last 35 games. The A’s are now 35-44 and are 15-11 so far in the month of June.

Billy Burns had his sixteen game hitting streak snapped as he went 0-for-4. Billy Butler had three hits and was a triple shy of the cycle.  Ike Davis was 2-for-4 and hit his first home run since May 7th at Minnesota. Stephen Vogt went 2-for-4 and is 21-for-50 in his last thirteen games.

Ben Zobrist’s wife Julianna sang the National Anthem.

Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at 7:05pm in Oakland. A’s ace Sonny Gray will pitch for the A’s. Gray will be seeking his tenth win of the year and will be opposed by Jorge De La Rosa.

Sacramento Kings arena: Mayor Johnson and Kings owner Ranadive to testify in arena hearing on Tuesday

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by Jerry Feitelberg and Charlie O Mallonee

SACRAMENTO–The price tag on building the Sacramento Kings brand new arena has climbed to $507 million from the original estimate of $448 million then went to $477 million. Sacramento Assistant City Manager John Dangberg said in Sacramento Superior Court this week that the reason for the cost increase is that the new arena would help bring millions of dollars to Sacramento which would benefit the city. The city has put in $225 million for the land and other assets.

Dangberg admitted that the $60 million cost increase will go up further than the current $507 due to cost overruns, part of the cost of the hotel that will be built next door to the arena will run up to $13 million with the hotel plaza being shared with the Kings new arena will be constructed and factored in with the cost.

The arena is expected to open in October 2016 and is said to be one of the most advanced technologically arenas in the world. Plaintiffs in the case Issac Gonzalez, James Cathcart, and Julian Camacho say that Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has not been forthcoming with the full value of the new arena. Gonzalez, Cathcart and Camacho point out that the city didn’t disclose in the beginning that they would throw in a parking lot with 3700 parking spaces and six digital signs along the freeways.

The plaintiffs said in the hearing that the city hid those pay out costs and benefits because the Kings ownership overpaid for the team in their bidding war with a Seattle group in 2013. The plaintiffs attorney Jeff Anderson in his opening comments said “fraud pervades the entire action by the city.” Meanwhile in her opening remarks to the court Attorney Dawn McIntosh representing the city said that the city was fully transparent and that the plaintiffs are disgruntled over the city subsidy.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley did not have a jury selected for this hearing and will render a decision himself at it’s conclusion. Mayor Johnson with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive are scheduled to testify on Tuesday.

Charlie O Mallonee and Jerry Feitelberg are talk show hosts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kyle Busch Back in Winner’s Circle

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By Tom Zulewski

SONOMA, CA –

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying 2015 has been one of the most stressful years in the career of Kyle Busch. He missed nearly three full months after suffering multiple broken bones following a wreck at the Daytona XFINITY race that opened the season in February.

Winning races took a back seat to regaining his health. The Chase was a distant thought, but Busch knew the sooner he could get back to full health and be cleared to race, the faster he could start the charge to get to the goal.

Win a race, get to the top 30 in points, and earn a spot for the Chase.

It took all of five races, but Busch can kick the first part of the mission off the to-do list.

Taking the lead away from Jimmie Johnson with five laps to go, Busch grabbed the checkered flag at the Toyota/SaveMart 350 on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway. Kyle beat Kurt Busch by .532 seconds and zoomed into Chase contention.

He may have one more hurdle ahead to make the Chase, but the win was the most satisfying moment for the younger Busch brother. Busch broke a streak of 10 straight different race winners at Sonoma and won for the first time on the 1.99-mile road course since 2008.

“Normally it’s kind of a nightmare for us sometimes and this 18 team, but we had a great day today,” he said in the post-race media center interview. “We needed to come in and get tires, and that was going to be our best chance to win the race.”

After the last of the race’s five cautions came out at lap 100, only 10 laps from the finish, Busch’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, knew the timing was right to get the work done.

“We had decent short run speed and were able to show it on some mock runs,” Stevens said. “There at the end, it just kind of fell into the strategy that we wanted to run anyway, and we knew that we didn’t have what we needed to outrun them on old tires, so it was a no-brainer call for me to come down and do everything we could to put him in a position where he could drive to the front.”

Mission accomplished, but the hard part is still to come.

With 10 races remaining until the Chase field is set, Busch sits 37th in points, 136 behind 30th-place Cole Whitt. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver likes his chances to be in the championship mix.

“Yeah, you know, certainly it’s feasible. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be,” Busch said. “This team is good enough to be that way, and I should be good enough to be that way.

“Now having a win, I think that that treats us a little bit better.  We don’t have to race as hard for a win.”

NOTES: Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer (who finished third after qualifying sixth) were the only drivers who qualified and finished in the top 10 Sunday at Sonoma. Pole-sitter and Los Gatos native A.J. Allmendinger had to replace a fuel cell in his No. 47 and finished 37th, 12 laps down. … Fox finished its 15th season of NASCAR broadcasts at Sonoma and will make one big change for 2016. Larry McReynolds will move from the booth to the Hollywood Hotel, and Jeff Gordon will join Mike Joy and Darrell Waltrip to call the races. … NBC Sports will return and start its coverage of the rest of the 2015 season at Daytona for the 4th of July weekend. The XFINITY Subway Firecracker 250 runs Saturday on NBC Sports Network, then the Coke Zero 400 happens next Sunday night on NBC. Rick Allen will call the races after 12 years as the voice of the Camping World Truck Series on Fox.