Month: June 2015

Oakland’s Championship turn: highlighted recap

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Photo credit: (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ June 19, 2015

OAKLAND– Around 500,000 fans repping the blue and gold with different slogans, signs and jerseys, showed up for the Golden State Warriors’ first championship in 40 years, with a parade, followed by a rally.

It has been four and a half years since the Bay Area had a similar championship void filled, that being the San Francisco Giants. Mentioning the Warriors’ past woes, co-owner Joe Lacob said,”I’m not sure many people can say they’ve been booed by 20,000 people and cheered by millions.”

At 10am, the San Jose Mercury News reported, the top Bart station of entry so far was Fremont with 9,717 entries. The Fremont Bart line for tickets wrapped around the parking lot before it split into two, some people waiting an hour. Then suddenly, without notice, fans were allowed to pass through the without a ticket, as people scrambled excitedly to get on their way to Oakland.

Chants of “Warriors!” were interspersed throughout the day.

During the parade, which began at 12th and Broadway, signs with names were put on the different modes of transportation, as blue and gold confetti filled the air. For the players, that included their number and their Twitter account names. It was usually two players, one in the front and one in the back of the open-air high-rise vehicles. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but David Lee and Shaun Livingston were sitting opposite their names. Adonal Foyle was also there. Stephen Curry, accompanied with daughter Riley and wife Ayesha among others, entered to the chants of “MVP!” and “Curry!” repeatedly.

Non-Warriors notable appearances were MC Hammer on Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s famous fire-breathing snail car and Marshawn Lynch rolling with Draymond Green on his float.

After the parade, fans made the at least 2 mile trek to the rally, according to a newscast, because of road closures. Musical performances could be heard alongside car honk cheering and sausages, some covered with bacon, looked like the popular choice for hungry fans.

The rally was held at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center next to Lake Merritt, where an audible splash was heard.

Big screens were put up showing interviews being given before the rally, which started at 12pm, fans impatient for it to start.

At 12:11pm, there was a shooting incident blocks away where three people were hurt.

Mayor Schaaf gave the team a key to the city made at the Crucible, a nonprofit industrial arts school.

Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty lauded the Warriors style, “work hard, be humble and get the job done.”

Coach Steve Kerr started talking at about 1pm and traded jokes with Draymond Green. “I had to teach Draymond in nine months to become confident, rational, talk trash to the other team, his coach, his mother, to be a general pain in the butt…Sorry, I got carried away.”

Green said, “Every time I take a shot, Steve Kerr complains. Every time I make a shot I look at him. Twenty-four percent, but I got a ring.”

Andre Iguodala was not too behind with the levity. “What an amazing experience. I canceled my tee time this morning, so it must have been something important for me to cancel my tee time.

Riley made an indistinguishable sound at the podium and Curry said, “We’re going to suit up in three more months and try to do it again.”

On the way back walking to the Bart, a balloon simply expressing ‘Thank You’ could be seen and a guy announced, “when I say Dub, you say nation, Dub, nation!”

Posey slams Dodgers

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By Jeremy Kahn

It seems that the San Francisco Giants have the number of their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Buster Posey launched a grand slam deep into the Dodgers bullpen in the top of the third inning, helping the Giants to a 9-5 victory over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Following singles to Gregor Blanco and Nori Aoki and after Angel Pagan loaded the bases with a two-out walk, Posey took a 2-2 offering from Mike Bolsinger and put it into the Los Angeles night. It was the first game for Blanco after missing the prior 10 due to being on the concussion disabled list.

Chris Heston won his seventh game of the season, as he pitched 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, while walking no one.

This was the eighth win of the season for the Giants over the Dodgers in 10 games, as the reigning World Champions moved within 1.5 games of the leaders in the National League West.

Brandon Crawford drove in Brandon Belt with a double in the top of the sixth inning to increase their lead to 5-3.

The Giants blew the game wide open in the top of the seventh inning, as they scored four runs that included a bases loaded walk to Crawford, a two-run single by Southern California native Matt Duffy and a RBI single by Blanco. All four runs came off of Dodgers rookie pitcher Josh Ravin.

Vogelsong leads Giants to a huge bounce-back

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By Jeremy Harness

Ryan Vogelsong had his best outing of the year on Thursday night, as he shut down the bats of the Seattle Mariners in a 7-0 victory at Safeco Field, a win that assured themselves an even split of the four-game home-and-home series.

Vogelsong was never in any serious trouble all night, as he went 6 2/3 innings and gave up only three hits and struck out six guys against only a pair of walks. It was especially timely for Vogelsong, since he was having a rather-futile June that saw him lose his first three outings of the month and give up more than five runs per game.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ bats had a major resurgence, and the hit parade started rather early. In the second, the Giants scored three runs, but it really started on a miscue on the Seattle side.

With one out, Joaquin Arias grounded to second on what looked like a custom-made double play ball. However, shortstop Brad Miller muffed the exchange, and the Mariners could only get the one out to keep the inning while Brandon Belt scored.

That seemed to catapult the Giants, as Nori Aoki and Joe Panik quickly followed with run-scoring hits to bolster their lead and give Vogelsong all the run support he would need.

The Giants added to their led in a four-run eighth inning that was highlighted by Matt Duffy’s two-run triple that scored Angel Pagan and Buster Posey. Duffy would later score on a single by Andrew Susac two batters later.

They will have a chance to narrow the gap between themselves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, starting Friday night, as they will head south to Dodger Stadium to face the National League West leaders.

Chris Heston (6-5, 3.76 ERA), who threw a no-hitter at the New York Mets earlier this month but took a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in his most recent outing will start things off in the Friday opener, as he faces Mike Bolsinger (4-1, 2.25 ERA).

A’s Win Streaked snapped, lose to the Padres 3-1.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Kendall Graveman

The A’s and Padres concluded the four-game home and home series on Thursday at the O.co Coliseum. The game was played in the sunshine, and it was a close game but, as you know, the A’s have a losing record in games that are played in the daytime and are close. Today’s game was no exception as Oakland lost by a final score of 3-1. The Padres snapped their four-game losing streak and ended the A’s modest four-game winning streak

A’s starter Kendall Graveman pitched well, but he made two mistakes and took the loss. He gave up a solo home run to Matt Kemp in the fourth and former A’s catcher, Derek Norris, homered to lead off in the sixth to give San Diego enough runs to win the game. The A’s could not solve Ian Kennedy at all. The only mistake Kennedy made was a solo home run to A’s catcher Josh Phegley in the bottom of the sixth. The Padres added a run in the eighth after Billy Burns and Josh Reddick collided in deep right centerfield on a Melvin Upton, Jr flyball. The ball dropped allowing Upton to reach third for a triple. Reddick fell to the ground after the collision and lay motionless for about a minute or two. Bob Melvin and a trainer rushed out to see if Reddick was OK and after a few minutes he got to his feet and returned to action with no damage done. Nonetheless, it was a scary few moments. Upton scored on a foul out to first baseman Stephen Vogt. Vogt caught the ball over his shoulder, spun around and threw home trying to nail Upton at the plate but the throw was offline, and the Padres added the insurance run to take a 3-1 advantage. The A’s went down in order in the eighth. Vogt doubled with two out in the ninth, but Padres’ closer Craig Kimbrel struck out Billy Butler to end the game.

Game Notes- Kendall Graveman took the loss and is now 3-4 for the year. Graveman is 2-2 with an ERA of 2.27 in six starts since his return from Nashville on May 23rd. His line for the day was 7 IP, five hits and two runs. He lost his last start 1-0 to the LA Angels.

Billy  Burns was 1-for-4 and has hit safely in each of his last nine games. Josh Phegley hit his third home run of the year and the first one against a right-hander.  Stephen Vogt has now reached base safely in all 30 of his home games, which is the second longest season-opening streak in Oakland history. The record is held by Rickey Henderson, who had 33 in 1993.

The line score for San Diego was three runs, seven hits, and no errors while Oakland’s was one run on five hits and two errors.

The A’s continue the homestand against the Los Angeles Angels Friday night at 6 pm. There will be fireworks after the game. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray (8-3, 1.60 ERA) will go for Oakland, and Matt Shoemaker(4-5, 4.85) will pitch for the Halos.

Game time was two hours and thirty-nine minutes, and there were 16,643 people watching.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Bay of Champions

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–With the Golden State Warriors first NBA title in 40 years, and second since they move from Philadelphia, the Bay Area has enjoyed great success in sports.

Once Oakland was called “City of Champions”and we can see why below with all their titles. In the recent past the San Francisco Giants have been winning and have joined the 49ers who are the cunningest team in the bay as far as championships.

Oakland:

Athletics (4)four World Series titles (1972,1973,1974,1989)

Raiders (3)NFL Superbowl tittles (1977,1981,1984)*

Warriors (2)NBA Titles (1975,2015)

49ERS (5)NFL Superbowl titles (1982,1985,1989,1990,1995)

Giants (3)MLB Three World Series titles(2010,2012,2014)

San Jose Sharks: zip

San Jose Sabercats (3) 2002, 2004, 2007

Earthquakes (2)MLS Soccer titles(2001,2003)

*That Superbowl (1984)was won by the Raiders while their short stay in Los Angeles, but we all agree when you talk Raiders, you think of Oakland not Los Angeles. Although the Warriors first played in San Francisco/Daly City, the Cow Palace, and San Jose Arena while they were building what is now known as the Oracle Arena, they have won both of their titles playing in Oakland.

How many more could be in store? Maybe the San José Sharks would win their first Stanley Cup next season, then we could say that all of our professional sports teams are truly champions.

Amaury Pi-González, will be covering the Warriors Victory Parade this Friday Live from 10AM on Telemundo Network Bay Area, KSTS CH 48 San José.
Pearl Lo will be covering the Warriors victory Parade with Amaury for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s win a laugher beating the Padres 16-2.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s exploded for 16 runs and 20 hits to blast the San Diego Padres 16-2 Wednesday night at home in Oakland. Jesse Chavez, who has pitched well all season, finally had run support from his mates as he won his third game of the year against six losses. The A’s have now won four games in a row for the second time this season.  The Padres lost their fourth consecutive game.

The A’s put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Billy Burns, leading off, smacked the first pitch he saw from Padres” starter Odrisamer Despaigne, into right field for a double. Burns went to third on a Marcus Semien single. With one out, Ben Zobrist singled to drive in Burns. Semien took third on the play. With two out, A’s DH, Billy Butler hit a 3-run homer to left-field to put the A’s ahead 4-0. For Butler, it was his fifth home run of the year.

Oakland added a run in the third. With one out, Ben Zobrist hit a line shot down the first base line that went into the rightfield corner for a triple. The next batter, Stephen Vogt flied out to left. Zobrist tagged up and scored easily to give the A’s a 5-0 lead after three innings of play.

The Padres scored in the top of the sixth. Padres’ shortstop Alexi Amarista smacked the first pitch from Chavez into the right-field seats for his second home run of the year. A’s still lead 5-1.

The A’s scored four more runs in the bottom of the 7th to take a 9-1 lead. Mark Canha singled to get thing rolling. The Padres replaced Despaigne with Frank Garces. Garces walked Sogard to put men on at first and second with no out. Billy Burns singled to load the bases. Canha scored on a Marcus Semien sacrifice fly.  Ben Zobrist doubled to right center driving in Sogard and Burns. Zobrist went to third on a throwing error by Matt Kemp. Zobrist scored on a single off the bat of Stephen Vogt.

Fernando Abad relieved Jesse Chavez in the eighth. The inning did not start well as Padres’ third baseman Will Middlebrooks deposited the baseball over the wall in centerfield to make it a 9-2 game. Abad retired the next three batters.

In the bottom of the eighth, the A’s sent 12 men to the plate. They scored seven runs on eight hits to make it a 16-2 game. Arnold Leon pitched the ninth to close out the win for Oakland.

Game Notes- The 16 runs and 20 hits were season highs for the A’s. The A’s have won 4 straight and six of the last eight.The A’s have outscored the opposition 304-266 so far. The A’s starting pitchers are 4-1 with a 1.46 ERAover the last six games. Jesse Chavez set a career-high with 11 strikeouts.

The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Burns, who was 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Billy Butler had four hits including a home run and three singles, and 2 of the singles were if you can believe it, infield hits. Mark Canha had two hits and one RBI. Brett Lawrie was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. And Ben Zobrist had a single, double and a triple and drove in 3 runs.

The line score for San Diego was two runs on five hits and one error while Oakland had 16 runs on 20 hits, and the A’s were flawless in the field. Chavez’ record improved to 3-6, and the A’s are now 29-39. San Diego’s Odrisamer Despaigne took the loss, and his record is now 3-5 and the Padres drop to 32-36.

Time of game was 2 hours and 49 minutes, and the 20,625 people were in attendance.

Kendall Graveman will go for Oakland on Thursday, and the Ian Kennedy will pitch for the Padres. Game time will be at 12:35 PM PT at the O.co Coliseum.

Giants get owned by King Felix

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By Jeremy Harness

The Giants had Madison Bumgarner on the hill Wednesday night, and the left-hander responded with a very nice performance and gave his team a chance to win.

However, the opposing pitcher was a tad more dominant and rendered Bumgarner’s outing an afterthought.

Both went eight innings, but the difference came in a sixth inning that saw the Seattle Mariners drop a two-spot on the lefty that carried the Giants to last year’s World Series title. In that inning, Austin Jackson and Robinson Cano tagged Bumgarner for RBI extra-base hits to give all the run support that Felix Hernandez needed in a 2-0 Giants loss at Safeco Field.

Hernandez gave up only four hits in shutting out the Giants, walking two and striking out five batters. Meanwhile, Bumgarner also gave up four hits and walked just one batter against nine strikeouts, but Cano and Jackson combined to do him in on Wednesday.

The Giants never got any real momentum against Hernandez, and the closest they came to getting on track was in the top of the seventh inning, just after Seattle grabbed the two-run lead. Brandon Crawford reached base on a throwing error by Cano, and then two batters later, Casey McGehee worked the count full before drawing a walk to advance Crawford in scoring
position.

However, as they have frequently experienced at home this year, the Giants could not come up with the big hit to change the momentum of the game. The next batter, Justin Maxwell grounded out to third to end the threat and let Hernandez off the hook.

The Giants only got one more batter on base the rest of the way, and they will return to Safeco Field Thursday afternoon in the hopes of taking the finale to split the four-game home-and-home series.

Sharks Prospect Scrimmage Announced

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By Mary Walsh

Wednesday, the San Jose Sharks announced that they will hold the third annual prospect scrimmage at SAP Center on Thursday July 9 at 7pm. Fans will have a chance to see prospects they have not seen before, as well as more familiar faces like Chris Tierney, Mirco Mueller and Barclay Goodrow. The event is an entertaining break to the off-season for fans missing hockey, and a chance to see players who may be with the Sharks next season and many who certainly will be playing for the San Jose Barracuda. Last year, the scrimmage was well-attended and at first glance could have been a real game.

In their press release, the Sharks described the format and probable rosters as follows:

The teams are currently scheduled to play two 25-minute halves and will be comprised of top prospects attending San Jose’s annual summer development camp. Sharks broadcasters will serve as MC’s before, during, and after the scrimmage. Format of the event is subject to change.

Many of the organization’s top prospects are expected to participate, including San Jose Sharks Chris Tierney, Barclay Goodrow, and Mirco Mueller, WHL Champion and First Team All-Star Rourke Chartier, 2015 SM-liiga Champion and playoff MVP Joonas Donskoi, 2014 1st round pick Nikolay Goldobin, QMJHL All-Star Nikita Jevpalovs, Miami of Ohio Captain Sean Kuraly, Hockey East All-Star Daniel O’Regan, 2014 draftee Julius Bergman, ECAC and All-Ivy League All-Star Joakim Ryan, and many more.

Tickets will go on sale on Friday, June 19 at a price of $5. Season ticket holders will have access to presale tickets on Thursday, June 18.

 

Giants look like nothing’s gone wrong in 6-2 win over Seattle that snaps lengthy losing streak

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Duffy

By Morris Phillips

As confounding as the Giants’ nine-game losing streak at home, its conclusion was just as hard to explain as well.

Why? Because after a truly lackluster stretch, the Giants immediately went back to playing credible baseball and looking like a playoff contender in a 6-2 win over the Mariners on Tuesday afternoon at AT&T Park.

Not every title contender can afford to take what amounts to a week-long vacation, but the Giants have without relinquishing their position atop a competitive NL West.  While the Giants were winning, the Dodgers were dropping a tough one at Texas, leaving the rivals three games apart with another big series against each other coming up this weekend at Dodgers Stadium.

In gaining the mini-split with the Mariners, the Giants got clutch hitting to back a strong start from Tim Lincecum, who in turn was supported by a quartet of relievers who finished it without allowing a hit.

The Giants went the first four games of their home stand without establishing a lead at any point.  On Tuesday, Matt Duffy provided the early lead with a rare, two-run homer.  Lincecum and the bullpen protected 2-1 and 3-2 leads until Duffy and Casey McGehee provided a cushion a three-run eighth inning.

“When you go through a rut like this you need good pitching, a timely hit, and it happened today,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “We played well.”

“We got to play better at home,” Duffy said.  “We had a little meeting today, just pick up the intensity.  And I think that really helped snap us out of what little funk we had going.  These fans are too good, they’re too loyal for us to play like we had been at home.”

Whether the meeting actually had anything to do with the Giants’ resurgence is up to debate.  But unquestionably, the potential is there for a team that’s been all over the map in the first 2 ½ months of the season.  Besides the two losing streaks, the Giants had the best record in baseball for a stretch of 35 days.  Duffy and Joe Panik are emerging, offensive contributors, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt are building their best offensive seasons thus far in their career, and the pitching has the same potential it had last season when it carried the team to a world title.

Now if they just solve that little conundrum of consistency, and playing at home, things could take off.

Lincecum pitched into the sixth inning without his new, best stuff allowing four walks, five hits including a home run allowed to shortstop Brad Miller.  While the Freak hasn’t been anything near what he was at his zenith, he’s won seven games, and justified all the trust the club handed him when he signed a new deal before last season.

Duffy ended up with three hits, and evened his competition with Panik with six homers on the season.  Dubbed the tortoise vs. tortoise home run race, it should maintain some intrigue for the two, young infielders throughout the summer.

“I said, your move, Joe,” Duffy recalled telling Panik after he connected in the second inning.

On Wednesday, the Mariners and Giants continue their interleague series in much warmer Seattle.  The matchup is compelling with King Felix Hernandez looking for his 10th win and Madison Bumgarner motoring along as well in search of his eighth win in a ballgame that starts at 7:05pm.

Quakes Advance To Round Of 16, Defeat Sacramento Republic FC in Shootout.

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By Shawn Whelchel

The San Jose Earthquakes needed 120 minutes of play, and six penalty kicks in a shootout to defeat the Sacramento Republic FC on Tuesday night, but the team earned a second consecutive trip to the Round of 16 on Tuesday night in a spectacular come from behind win in San Jose.

The Quakes drifted lazily throughout much of Tuesday night’s U.S Open Cup matchup, but rode the momentum of a scoring outburst from captain Chris Wondolowski to eventually eliminate Sacramento for the second straight year.

Sacramento wasted no time in putting the pressure on San Jose during their first trip to Avaya Stadium, earning a goal within the opening minutes of Tuesday night’s contest. After sitting out the last three games following a red card suspension, Republic FC midfielder Rodrigo Lopez earned a penalty kick after being tripped up by Shaun Francis inside the box.

Bryan Meredith, who was playing his first minutes of the season in place of normal starter David Bingham, received a tough welcome to the pitch as Lopez was able to shoot the ball past the reserve goal keeper, and into the top left of the net for a goal at the six minute mark.

Sacramento would not let off the gas throughout the rest of the half, continuing to put pressure on Bingham and the San Jose defense. Although they would bend, the defense would not break a second time, disallowing a second goal by Sacramento at the 43′ minute mark following a pair of impressive saves by both defenders and goalie alike.

The Earthquakes failed to return the same amount of offensive pressure that Republic was delivering, only threatening once on a Mark Sherrod header near the halfway mark of the first that bounced wide of the net.

Sacramento started the second half of the game much like the first, earning an early goal while providing all the offensive pressure of the opening minutes. Republic’s second goal of the game came off the foot of Emrah Klimenta, who was able to beat San Jose up the right side of the pitch to sneak a ball under the outstretched leg of Meredith for a 2-0 advantage at the 53′ minute mark.

But San Jose’s fire was ignited at the 73′ minute mark, as a scoring outburst salvaged what looked to be a lackluster game from the Earthquakes up to that point. Mike Fucito started things off by putting goalkeeper Patrick McLain to the test on back to back scoring chances. After sending two tough strikes toward McLain, teammate Chris Wondolowski was able to slip undefended into the front of the net to play the rebound and sink his first goal of the night to cut Sacramento’s lead in half.

Wondolowski would show off his knack for scoring just five minutes later after heading in a perfect cross from Marvell Wynne to tie the match at 2-2. Wondolowski would barely miss a hat trick in the 86th minute but missed just high on the cross bar. The two teams would attack to no avail during the remainder of regulation before being forced to overtime.

Although both teams found a way to threaten, neither could scratch during the first overtime session, leaving a 2-2 tie heading into the second, and final, fifteen minutes. Drained from the extended play, the two sides couldn’t muster up any real scoring threats in the second overtime either, sending the game to a shootout.

San Jose looked to be in trouble after consecutive blocks to Khari Stephenson and Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi put them in a deficit. But Meredith was able to hold off Sacramento’s Emrah Klimenta to keep his team alive. After an equalizer for San Jose notched things back up, Sacramento faltered on their sixth try of the night as James Kiffe launched a ball over the top of the net to secure a victory for San Jose.

Game Notes:

Tonight’s game was the first time San Jose Goalkeeper David Bingham did not play any minutes throughout the entire season.

Tuesday’s win advances their U.S Cup record to 14-11 all-time since the team began participating 12 years ago.

Tuesday night’s game was the first time a non-MLS team has played at Avaya Stadium.

Wondolowski’s two goal night gives him 99 goals as a member of the Quakes, and his franchise leading 176 multiple-goal game.