Month: April 2016

Bullpen Ruins Bumgarner’s Gem, Blast

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Less lip more bat flip the Dodgers Yesiel Puig heads to first base on bases on ball walk off San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner in the first inning Saturday at AT&T Park

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Madison Bumgarner appeared well on his way to pitching, and hitting, his way to his second win to open the season, but a blown save by Santiago Casilla turned a 2-1 Giants win into a 3-2 Los Angeles Dodgers victory. Bumgarner pitched six innings of one-run ball and homered off Clayton Kershaw, but LA took the game in the 10th inning on an RBI double from Charlie Culberson.

“In a game like that, you’re hoping to have the lead with your closer out there,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. “It just didn’t work out today.”

Bumgarner handed the game over to the bullpen in the 7th inning with the Giants ahead 2-1. Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Hunter Strickland combined to pitch a scoreless pair of innings to turn the game over to Casilla in the 9th. Casilla, looking for his 2nd save of the season, allowed a one-out walk to Chase Utley to begin a rough frame. The next batter, Yasiel Puig singled, then Justin Turner was hit by a Casilla pitch to load the bases.

“He had good stuff,” said Bochy of his closer. “The walk got him. Then he had two strikes and left a breaking ball up. Hitting turner didn’t help. Now you’re facing there big guy.

Casilla appeared to coax the game-ending double-play ball out of Adrian Gonzalez, but Kelby Tomlinson struggled to field it and settled for the lone out at first base. To this point, the Giants had played stellar defense, with Matt Duffy committing the team’s first error of the season earlier in the game.

“(Casilla) made some good pitchers,” said Bochy. “We just didn’t turn it.”

Casilla would get out of the inning without surrendering another run, but George Kontos (0-1, 3.00 ERA) would cough up back-to-back doubles to put LA ahead. Kenley Jansen pitched a 1-2-3 inning to notch the save.

Saturday’s soggy duel was Bumgarner and Kershaw’s 8th meeting all time, with the Giants south paw leading in wins 4-2. Bumgarner struck out 8 Dodgers, yielded his lone earned run on a hit-by-pitch while stranding 8 Dodgers over his 6 innings of work. Kershaw would pitch 8 innings, allowing the two earned runs on home runs, but reliever Chris Hatcher (1-0, 3.38) would be the beneficiary for the Dodgers rally, picking up the win.

“I feel pretty good with the results on my end,” said Bumgarner. “It would have been nice to pull that one out, but that’s the way it goes.”

Bumgarner became the first pitcher with multiple homers off Kershaw when he opened up the game’s scoring in the 2nd inning. Bumgarner took Kershaw’s 93 mile-per-hour fastball and hit it on a line over the wall in left field to become the only player in the majors with multiple dingers against the Dodgers ace since the start of last season. It was the first run Kershaw allowed after a scoreless opening day start against the San Diego Padres.

“My job is to go out there and pitch,” said Bumgarner. “I’m going to go up there and compete when I’m at the plate but I don’t want to get out of what I’m doing out there.”

The opening day starter now has 12 home runs, tying him with the Baltimore Orioles’ Yovani Gallardo for most amongst active pitchers. With Gallardo limited to only interleague play for at-bats, Bumgarner could hold the active lead by season’s end.

The Dodgers worked Bumgarner for a tie in the top of the 3rd after Kike Hernandez led the frame off with a single. He advance to second on Justin Turners one-out single, then LA loaded the basses on soft single by Adrian Gonzalez. Bumgarner plunked Scott Van Slyke to plate the Dodgers’ first run before punching out Trayce Thompson and A.J. Ellis to end the inning.

“I don’t know that he moved all that much,” said Bumgarner. “You don’t have to. He obviously can’t lean in to it, which he didn’t. It’s unfortunate. A couple inches further away from him and it might have been a different story.”

Bumgarner would not allow a run over his next 3 innings, setting the stage for Adrianza to hit the game-winning homer. Adrianza took Kershaw’s first offering in the bottom of the 5th, a 92 mile-per-hour heater, and hooked it inside the foul pole in left field for his first homer of the season.

The big fly to give the Giants a 2-1 lead was the shortstop’s 2nd career round-tripper, with his first coming during his 9-game rookie campaign in 2013. Since the September 22nd, 2013 at-bat, the utility infielder has had 259 plate appearances between dingers.

The Giants look to win the series, sending Johnny Cueto to the mound. The Giants big pitching acquisition in the offseason will face down one of LA’s, with Scott Kazmir on the bump for the rivalry finale.

Hill rebounds with strong outing in A’s 6-1 win over the Mariners

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Coco slide

By Morris Phillips

Rich Hill has experienced a bunch of adversity on and off the diamond since October 6, 2007, the day he made his one and only post-season appearance, giving up a home run to Chris Young on the first pitch of the game, and lasting just three innings in the Cubs sobering, season-ending 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks in the NLDS.

For the purpose of capsulizing the A’s eye-opening 6-1 win over the Mariners as opposed to retelling Hill’s decade-long saga, here’s what’s important to know: While most baseball decision makers were mixed at best on Hill’s ability to be a major league reliever, the 6’5” left hander steadfastly, and quietly, felt he could once again be a quality big league starter.

That difference of opinion lasted nearly eight years until Hill, on his third, abbreviated stint with the Red Sox made four career-altering starts, throwing 23 innings, striking out 36, walking five and winning three times, including a complete game, two-hit shutout against the Orioles.   In each of Hill’s first three starts in September, he pitched at least seven innings and struck out 10.

At 36 years old, having pitched just 182 major league innings in the eight seasons following his 11-win 2007 campaign, Hill qualifies as the A’s high risk/high reward signing of 2016, and in the sixth inning on Saturday night, Oakland got an indication if the $6 million gambit will pay off.

Leading 5-1, Hill was dealing to that point, allowing four hits and a run, while striking out seven. Distanced from the circumstances of his first start as an Athletic, on Opening Night in which he was a game day replacement for the under-the-weather Sonny Gray, Hill had all his pitches working in Seattle from his signature sweeping curveball to his above average fastball and occasional slider.

In the opener, all of the pitcher’s negatives culled over the previous eight years resurfaced: no sweeping break on his curve, which he threw 16 times, poor control as evidenced by two hit batters and a walk, and just three strikeouts. Lifted in the third, Hill was charged with all four runs in the A’s 4-3 loss. Hill’s line for the opener ominously mirrored his 2007 playoff start right down to the premature exit.

But on Saturday, Hill was in control, pitching briskly, and even varying his release point with an occasional sidearm delivery. Then in the sixth, with his pitching count rising, he faced some adversity.

First, Hill hit the speedy Ketel Marte with a 3-2 curve ball that broke too sharply–busting Marte on his mid-thigh—putting the leadoff man aboard. The veteran recovered quickly, completely fooling Robinson Cano on two-strike curve that had the slugger lunging across the plate. Nelson Cruz followed with a solid single that prompted pitching coach Curt Young to visit, no doubt to remind Hill that he would be lifted if he allowed another batter to reach with his pitch count approaching 100.

But the lefty finished strong, fanning Kyle Seager on a 2-2 pitch, and getting Chris Iannetta to swing and miss a hard slider with the count full. For Hill, a step in the right direction, for the Mariners, who have faced four lefty starters in five games, and lost three times, a step back.

“Rich Hill has a good curveball,” Mariners manager, Scott Servais said. “He finished us off late in counts and went to it often. And we weren’t able to adjust.”

In all, Hill threw his curveball 52 times in 99 pitches. But it wasn’t the same pitch every time. Hill varied his arm angles, as well as the break.

“It was his go-to pitch in big situations, early in the count he was using it and he was very versatile with it too,” Iannetta said.

Only Iannetta figured out Hill, homering in the second in response to the A’s two, first inning runs off Nathan Karns. Josh Reddick gave the A’s some breathing room with his two-run shot in the fifth. And the A’s finished off Seattle with a run in the sixth, and then another on Stephen Vogt’s double in the seventh.

Coco Crisp got the start in center, and showed that he’s not done. Crisp compiled two knocks, scored twice and stole two bases, including the 300th of his career.

The A’s moved into a first place tie in the AL West with Texas at 3-3. While the division’s had a rough first week as a whole, the A’s will take their early perch, given they’re coming of a 90-loss season in 2015, and three losses in their first four home games.

On Sunday, the A’s look for the sweep, but it will be a tricky proposition with King Felix Hernandez looking for his 23rd career win against the A’s in a matchup with Chris Bassitt. Bassitt was 0-2 in four starts against Seattle in 2015.

 

 

 

Sharks Win Last Game Before Playoffs

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

AP photo: Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith stops a shot from the San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl (48) during the first period at SAP Center Saturday

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks defeated the Arizona Coyotes to win their final game of the 2015-16 regular season. The lone goal of the game was scored by Joe Pavelski in a third period power play. Martin Jones made 20 saves for the shutout. It took the Sharks 32 shots to get one by Arizona’s Mike Smith.

In Los Angeles, meantime, the Kings fell in a shootout to the Winnipeg Jets. As a result, the Anaheim Ducks have a chance to supplant the Kings at the top of the Pacific Division on Sunday. The Sharks, therefore, do not know yet who they will play to start the first round of the playoffs.

Paul Martin did not play on Saturday, and Mirco Mueller got the call to fill in. Mueller started the game with Justin Braun, while Dylan DeMelo was paired with Brent Burns. Dainius Zubrus was back in the lineup after missing Thursday’s game, on a line with Tommy Wingels and Chris Tierney.

The Sharks were on the penalty kill early in the first, after a boarding call to Roman Polak. Arizona did not do much with that, and not long after the penalty expired, the Sharks had their first power play. With Connor Murphy in the box for two minutes, the Sharks did not even manage a shot on goal.

The teams were almost half way through the first when Polak dropped the gloves with Shane Doan. That sprouted from some bumping and pushing in the Sharks’ zone that also involved Joe Pavelski. Polak went to the box for his five minutes, but the Sharks wound up with a four minute power play, as Shane Doan received two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, two minutes for instigating a fight, five minutes for fighting, and a ten minute misconduct. Anthony Duclair served the four minutes for Doan.

The Sharks power play still did not produce. Better chances came back at even strength, where the Sharks kept the pressure on the Arizona defense.

The Sharks had a third power play in the first period, when Oliver Ekman-Larsson went to the box for hooking. The Sharks went 0-3 on the power play in the first period.

To start the second period, coach DeBoer switched his defensive pairs around, putting Justin Braun with Brent Burns, and Mueller with DeMelo. Arizona came out with some grit, trapping the Sharks in their own zone for a couple of minutes, but that seemed unrelated to the line adjustments, as Polak and Dillon were on the blue line for that unhappy spell.

The Coyotes had their second power play at 5:20 of the second, a cross checking call to Joel Ward. The Sharks’ penalty kill was a little fast and loose but it was effective and showed the Sharks to advantage. That was the only penalty for the second period, and by the end of forty minutes the game was still scoreless.

It was on the Sharks’ fourth power play of the game that they finally scored. The Sharks had a two man advantage at 6:33 of the third period, after Boyd Gordon was called for hi-sticking and Oliver Ekman-Larsson was called for unsportsmanlike conduct simultaneously. A little under a minute into the power play, Joe Pavelski scored his 38th of the season. Assists went to Joe Thornton and Brent Burns.

The NHL Playoffs start on Wednesday and a more specific schedule is expected late Sunday.

The Sharks presented their end of season awards during and after the game. Joe Thornton received the Sharks Foundation Player of the Year Award, as voted on by members of the media. Joe Pavelski won the Xactly Inspired Performance Three Stars of the Year Award, for the number of times he was named as one of the stars of the game. Joonas Donskoi took home the Rookie of the Year Award presented by SAP, also voted on by members of the media. Brent Burns won the Fan Favorite Award presented by Enterprise Exotic Car Collection. This was tabulated by fan votes on social media.

Saturday’s game was the 300th NHL game for Tommy Wingels and 200th for Tomas Hertl.

Barracuda fail to gain ground on playoff spot with loss to Stars

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

After an impressive 3-0 shutout over the Stars on Friday night, the San Jose Barracuda could not repeat the result on Saturday, as they were defeated 8-5 by Texas to remain out of the playoff picture.

The Charlotte Checkers, who lost earlier on Saturday, currently occupy the eighth and final playoff spot, but the Barracuda are just percentage points behind them with two games left to play.

It was a disappointing loss for the Barracuda, considering they held a 5-2 lead in the second period, only to have the Stars put six unanswered on the board to win the game.

The Stars trimmed the three goals Barracuda advantage down to one before the end of the second, scoring twice in the period’s final two minutes. They tallied four more times in the third. Justin Dowling evened the score at 5-5 less than two minutes into the final period, and Madej Stransky gave the Stars the lead at the midway point.

Dowling scored again and Jason Dickinson provided extra insurance for Texas, which ended up running away with an 8-5 victory.

It was all fun and games for the Barracuda early on. John McCarthy and Ryan Carpenter helped San Jose jump out to a 2-1 lead after the first period of play, and Carpenter scored again early in the second period. Jeremy Langlois and Barclay Goodrow also tallied to give the Barracuda five goals.

But it wasn’t enough, as Aaron Dell faced 51 shots from Dallas and stopped just 43 of them.

The Barracuda have a week off before taking on the Stockton Heat next Saturday on the road.

Warriors Keep Record Dreams Alive, Complete Comeback Against Memphis With 100-99 Victory

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By Shawn Whelchel

Draymond Green was candid about his desire to chase history this week when asked about breaking the Chicago Bulls’ record for most wins in a season.

On Saturday, he showed just how serious he was with big plays down the stretch on both ends of the court to secure a hard-fought 100-99 win against the Memphis Grizzlies on the road.

After being down by double digits at multiple points throughout the dwindling fourth quarter, Green would answer the call for the struggling Warriors with a pair of consecutive and-1’s to cut into Memphis’ lead. Green’s presence would be felt again with a tip in off a Steph Curry layup to give the Warriors a one point advantage with just a minute to go, which would ultimately be the difference in the game.

But perhaps just as important as his offensive contributions was Green’s defensive efforts in keeping big-man Zach Randolph from scoring on the Warriors late in the game. Green forced two clutch misses from Randolph late in the game while disallowing Memphis to rely on their biggest scoring threat with the game on the line.

The efforts by Green erased what was at times a 10-point deficit for a Warriors team struggling to find the long-ball that is crucial to their success. Golden State shot just 10-for-36 from the field from beyond the arc on the night, with Curry failing to connect on a three-pointer in the first half.

But with a chance at history on the line, Golden State rose to the occasion with three’s from Curry, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes- whose shot would give the Warriors their first lead of the fourth quarter with just over 90 seconds left in the game.

Lance Stephenson had a chance to win the game for Memphis on a wild drive to the hoop against Klay Thompson, but help from Curry caused an errant layup to be tipped out to the corner, where Stephenson would hoist up a final hail mary shot that would bounce off the side of the hoop to go out of bounds with .8 of a second left, securing the win for Golden State on an inbound pass.

The difference in the game was the play of Memphis’ bench, who would outscore the Golden State reserves by 32-17. The Warriors also found themselves on the other end of the free-throw differential, with Memphis getting to the line for 18 points compared to their 12.

But despite the balanced scoring attack throughout the Memphis lineup, strong nights from the Warriors’ starters in Green (23 points, 11 rebounds), Thompson(20 points), Curry (17 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) and Barnes (14 points) saved what was a lackluster effort through three quarters for Golden State.

Matt Barnes would lead the scoring for the Grizzlies with 24 points on 17 shots, followed by Vince Carter with 15 points Stephenson with 13 of his own.

The win, which gave them their 71st of the season, was a record in its own right, as the 33 road wins ties the Bulls record for road victories in a single season. Golden State has one chance to claim sole possession of that record with their final road game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Quarterback Competition Tightens at Stanford’s Spring Game

Published on by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By Ben Leonard

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photo credit Stanford Athletics Dept: Stanford Cardinal preparing to face White shirts on Saturday afternoon at Stanford Stadium

STANFORD, Calif. –Historically, Stanford’s spring game has been dominated by defense. The coaching staff is generally unwilling to flash out their entire playbook, so a vanilla offense usually gets trampled by a party in the backfield.

Saturday, that script was flipped by two quarterbacks, who led the offense (Cardinal) to a 42-31 win over the defense (White). The program’s winningest quarterback, Kevin Hogan, graduated and headed to the NFL Draft, leaving a void at the position. Enter Keller Chryst and Ryan Burns, two strong-armed, physical quarterbacks, vying for the job.

Heading into Saturday’s Spring Game, the word around the program was that Chryst was the internal favorite to win the job, despite head coach David Shaw’s maintaining that the two are neck-and-neck. A Palo Alto High School grad, Chryst had been touted as the next Andrew Luck before he had even stepped on campus, but that notion might have changed a little bit after Saturday.

Shaw seemed pretty accurate in that assertion, as both struggled early but played similarly well. Chryst got the bulk of the reps with the first team, if you want to read into that, but their stat lines were comparable. Burns was slightly more efficient and certainly gained momentum in the race, completing 17 of 23 attempts for 153 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while Chryst completed 16 of 25 for 156 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Overall, Shaw was happy with his quarterbacks’ performances, but declined to comment on who was leading the pack.

“It’s hard to say who had the upper hand because we had to see what the decision making looked like, but I was exctied to see both guys come back and make some big throws,” Shaw said. “We’ve got two big quarterbacks with strong arms that are athletic, and they made some big plays downfield and some accurate throws down the middle to Dalton Schultz and the tight ends and checking the ball down. There were a lot of positives for both guys.”

The well-built, 6’5″, 235 pound Chryst started out with the game with two drives, and struggled to find a rhythm. His timing was off, throwing too late, and paid the price, fluttering a deep ball that was picked off by Noor Davis. Chryst had a window to hit Michael Rector for an open touchdown, but underthrew it.

“I saw him, and there was lane behind him, and I should have hit it,” Chryst said. “Six inches more and it would have been a touchdown to Michael Rector, but I mean it’s in the past, and I’m looking forward.”

After that, Chryst “found a rhythym,” and the offense started to roll along with him. He connected with tight end Greg Taboada for a score, hitting a tight window in double coverage for a long touchdown pass. Overall, after that rough stretch, Chryst felt pretty good about his performance:

“I did pretty well, but I have a lot of things to work on,” Chryst said. ” I missed some check downs and missed some little things, but overall, I think it was a pretty good day for myself and as an offense.”

On the other hand, Burns hadn’t looked quite as confident heading into this spring, but he seemed to turn a corner on Saturday, aside from the one interception. The 6’5″, 233 pound senior from Leesburg, Virginia looked much better under pressure than he had previously, an encouraging sign. He pushed Chryst, if not outperformed him on Saturday, making this quarterback race very tight.

Burns felt that with Hogan gone, he could finally step up and be “the man” for the Cardinal. “Being under him (Hogan), it was hard to take control of the offense,” Burns said. “When you’re getting reps, you’re the number two or number three guy, so you can’t get those guys behind you 100 percent. Now, with him gone, I felt like there was a void to fill, and I’m trying to fill it.”

Now, he feels much more assertive in a leadership role, and encouraged by his performance: “Ever since spring started, things have just started clicking a little more,” Burns said. “The guys have gotten behind me a little bit, and that helps with your confidence and your overall play tremendously. That’s the biggest thing for now, as well as to keep progressing…I started out kind of slow, but the middle was pretty good.”

The duo of quarterbacks was faced with a unique challenged on Saturday — playing without Heisman runner up Christian McCaffrey. The dynamic playmaker only fielded punt returns, which were no contact plays, because Shaw wanted to rest his workhorse for the long season ahead.

Shaw took the media through his thought process on Saturday: “I’ve been around putting a lot of carries on a lot of running backs,” Shaw said. I’m convinced that we start spring so early now, there’s no way that he’s physically ready for what we do in practice. There’s no way with 400+ touches and with how physically he runs, there’s no way he’s ready. We took care of Toby Gerhart in the spring, we took care of Stepfan Taylor in the spring, but we didn’t have to with Gaffney because he always played baseball in the spring. I kept looking at how many times he touched the ball and how physical he was, and he got through all the practices and did really well in the practice, but we’ll get him back to some tackle stuff in training camp. For me, it was just a mileage thing, to get him completely recuperated before we start beating him up again.”

Even with McCaffrey out, the pair still had a great set of playmakers to work with. Shaw expressed confidence in a multitude of offensive weapons after the game:

“I’m excited about Francis Owusu, coming off an outstanding last week of practice, and capped it off with a great day today. Michael Rector has had a really good spring. Trent Irwin has been making some plays. Dalton Schultz is now the go-to guy at tight end, and you have three receivers with some experience. We have explosive running backs coming out of the backfield, and quarterbacks now that can get them the ball. It’s exciting, but we have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to shore up, but it was a good start for this team.”

With the way things looked on Saturday, it’s going to be a very tough decision for David Shaw to make, one he won’t decide on until roughly a week before the season opener September 3rd against Kansas State. Either way Shaw chooses, Stanford will have itself an at least competent, if not great quarterback of the future — and the present.

 

 

 

MLB podcast with Matt Harrington: Nearly no hit on Friday this team always finds a way to get out of a jam

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AP photo: Los Angeles Dodgers starter Ross Stripling delivers during his no hit bid in his Major League debut

On the MLB podcast the Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Friday night Ross Stripling pitched a no hit bid after 7 1/3 innings only to be removed by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Stripling who might have been the Dodgers best hope to win a ball game in this series with the Giants saw his no hitter dissipate after being removed and the Giants catcher Trevor Brown hitting one out on the first pitch to tie up the ball game later to see Brandon Crawford go yard for a walk off in the 10th for the gamer.

On Saturday the Giants starter Madison Bumgarner made good work of the Dodgers he helped his own cause as well going deep to left field. Mad Bum struggled a little bit on the mound against the Dodgers.

Plus the Oakland A’s Chris Coghlan went deep for a go ahead home run which led to the A’s first road win of the season 3-2 over the Seattle Mariners. They got the win and it was regarded as a confidence builder too.

Matt Harrington does the MLB podcast each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Friday post game wrap: Coghlan’s Homer, Bullpen Propel A’s to 3-2 Win In Seattle

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Oakland A’s Chris Coghlan heads home after belting a ninth inning homer that gave the A’s a one run win off Seattle Mariners pitcher Steve Cishek

The blueprints general manager David Forst laid out for the Oakland Athletics were in full display for Friday’s 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field Friday night.

The revamped Oakland bullpen pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings and super-sub Chris Coghlan hit his first home run as an Athletic to give Sean Doolittle (1-1, 3.38 ERA) his first win since the south paw tallied his lone 2015 victory on September 17th. Closer Ryan Madson, another free agent signing for the Green and Gold, picked up his 2nd save of the season  for the A’s (2-3) after recording a 1-2-3 inning including a pair of punchouts.

Coghlan, getting a spot start in right field after Josh Reddick was moved to DH to nurse back stiffness, knocked in the first run of the game off Mariners starter Taijuan Walker in the 4th inning after a sharp liner deflected on first baseman Dae-Ho Lee’s glove and into the outfield.

Josh Reddick would add to the A’s lead with a two-out solo home run, his first of the year, in the fifth inning, golfing a 77 mile per hour pitch into the stands in right field.

The Mariners (2-2) answered back with their American-league leading 9th homer of the season after Lee took A’s starter Eric Surkamp’s offering over the wall in straight-away centerfield in the bottom half of the inning. It was Lee’s first homer in the United States after playing the beginning of his career in the Koreon Baseball Organization and more recently the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Surkamp was called up before the game, taking the place of outfielder Andrew Lambo on the active roster. The A’s made the decision on what to do with their rotation with members battling the flu and expected 5th starter Felix Doubront nursing an injury, sending the journeyman Surkamp to the hill. He’d pitch well, but would surrender another run on a Ketel Marte sacrifice fly in the fifth and depart the game with a no-decision after 4 1/3 innings with runners on 1st and 3rd base.

Fernando Rodriguez induced a double-play ball out of Nelson Cruz to escape the inning tied, then throw another hitless inning. December signee John Axford also pitched a perfect  7th inning, then Doolittle worked around a leadoff walk, retiring the next three Seattle hitters in order to give Oakland a chance to take the lead in the 9th.

That’s where Coghlan took over. The slugger, who hit 16 homers last year, hammered Mariners offseason acquisition Steve Chisek’s 92 mile-per-hour fastball at the knees, depositing it deep into the bleachers in right field for a one-out solo shot. Madson would shut the door to give the Chisek (0-1, 4.50) the loss and give the A’s their second win of the season.

Game two of the three-game set will feature two new faces to the American League West, with Mariners offseason acquisition Nate Karns making his Seattle debut while Opening Day starter Rich Hill takes the bump for Oakland after giving up four runs total in 2 2/3 innings against the White Sox. A’s nemesis Felix Hernandez will face Chris Bassitt in the finale Sunday.

 

San Francisco Giants Friday game wrap: Brown, Crawford Go Deep To Down Dodgers In A Wild Comeback Win

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: No hitter going? That’s all for you, as Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts takes Dodger starter Ross Stripling out in the eighth inning despite pitching a no hitter vs. San Francisco Giants

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-After nearly being on the receiving end of a historic no-hitter, the San Francisco Giants’ bats came alive late in the game to launch two home runs that would give the home team 2-0 series advantage over their rivals from the south.

After mustering just three baserunners through seven innings-all on walks- Trevor Brown’s homer in the eighth and Brandon Crawford’s long ball in the 10th would send the rain AT&T Park crowd home on a high note after the hometown squad would take both a no-hitter and a win away from the Dodgers on Saturday for a 3-2 victory.

Dodger rookie Ross Stripling put on a dazzling display of offspeed pitches mixed with solid fastball location that looked to put the Giants on the wrong side of a century old record for being no-hit by a debut pitcher.

But after completing 7 1/3 with a no-hitter in tact, a questionable move by manager Dave Roberts to pull the streaking youngster would lead another rookie to the spotlight instead.

The Giants first hit of the game would prove to be a crucial one, as C Trevor Brown’s first career home run would not only break up the Dodgers’ impending no-hitter, but would look to breathe new life into a stagnant Giants offense and send the game into 2-2 tie in the 8th inning.

Crawford would follow up the rookie’s display with an opposite shot of his own to lead off the 10th inning, launching his second career walk-off home run into the left field bleachers to hand his team the win.

The combination of home runs would see a Los Angeles kid in Brown hurt his hometown team, and a Bay Area native deal the finishing blow to his long-standing rival.

Lost in the fray of home runs and near no-hitters was Matt Cain’s impressive return to the mound. After a pair of injury marred seasons that saw the former ace hit the disabled list, the workhorse made a triumphant comeback in his first start of the season, surrendering just six hits over six innings of work while giving up just two runs.

The back of the rotation for both clubs saw strong outings from the returning ace in Cain and the newcomer Stripling. Both pitchers worked through the opposing lineups masterfully, while holding each team to just three runners in scoring position through the first five innings.

The duel was an encouraging sign for both clubs, as the former ace in Cain looked to rebound from injury-marred and ineffective seasons for the Giants, while Stripling looked to add some back-of-the-rotation punch for the Dodgers. But the Dodgers gained the advantage after five innings, as an RBI single from catcher A.J Ellis ended Cain’s scoreless streak after Joc Pederson came around to score following a leadoff double.

The Dodger’s young shortstop Corey Seager would pile on the damage with a two-out RBI single up the gut to make it a 2-0 deficit for Cain before he would escape the inning with a flyout to Justin Turner.

Meanwhile, Stripling continued his strong effort by mixing using an effective mix of offspeed pitches and fastball control to keep Giants runners off the base path, with just  two runners coming on consecutive walks through six innings.

The 26-year old looked to run into trouble heading into the 7th inning after issuing a leadoff walk to Hunter Pence, only to fall behind to Brandon Belt 0-3. But the Texas native rebounded by inducing a double-play ball from Belt, which was followed by a weak grounder from Matt Duffy to keep the no-hitter in tact.

Stripling looked to continue his quest to become the first rookie to throw a no-hitter in over a century during his debut, but after issuing a one-out walk to Angel Pagan, new Dodgers manager showed his short leash by yanking the youngster after an impressive debut.

The questionable move by manager Dave Roberts would come back to haunt the Dodgers, as Brown-who got his first start of the young season- would launch a two run home run off of RP Chris Hatcher to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th just moments after Stripling’s departure.

The Giants would work another runner into scoring position, before Hatcher would end the threat. But not before Brown’s longball would breathe new life into the ballgame.

Just as they had done the day before, the Giants would complete their comeback with a dagger of a homerun, as Crawford would connect with a 1-0 pitch from reliever Joe Blanton to secure the second straight win for the Giants against their NL West rivals.

The Giants look to make it three straight over the Dodgers tomorrow, as aces Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw square off in an afternoon start.

San Jose Barracuda Friday post game wrap: Barracuda shut out Stars for crucial road win

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

Fighting for a playoff spot with the regular season winding down, the San Jose Barracuda notched a crucial win on Friday night on the road over the Texas Stars as they recorded a 3-0 shutout.

Aaron Dell recorded 33 saves to help the Barracuda claw closer to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. With a 30-24-8-3 record, the Barracuda now trail the 36-38-2-5 Charlotte Checkers by mere percentage points.

The Barracuda scored a goal in each period to methodically pull away from the Stars. Bryan Lerg struck first at the 7:30 mark of the first period, finishing on a nifty backhand off a loose puck in front.

They doubled up on the lead less than a minute into the second period. Julius Bergman connected on a one-timer off a pass from Ryan Carpenter to give the Barracuda a 2-0 lead. Though San Jose was outshot 16-3 in the second, Dell stopped all 16 shots to preserve the two-goal advantage.

An empty-net goal by Nikolay Goldobin in the third period sealed the pivotal win for the Barracuda.

The Barracuda are back at it against the Stars again on Saturday in Dallas.