Month: April 2016

Barracuda can’t overcome Gulls in road loss

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By: Eric He

With time running out on the 2015-2016 regular season, the San Jose Barracuda failed to bolster their playoff bid on Saturday night after a 5-3 loss to the San Diego Gulls on the road.

After failing to gain ground on the Charlotte Checkers for the eighth and final playoff spot last night, the Barracuda remained behind the Checkers as their road trip continued on Saturday.

Brandon Montour scored the eventual game-winner for the Gulls with under six minutes gone by in the third period. That came after the Barracuda rallied from a two-goal deficit to even the score with a goal by Petter Emanuelsson early in the frame.

But it would not be enough. On an odd-man rush later in the period, Nic Kerdiles finished it off to give the Gulls an insurance marker. They would hang on for the win.

Three second period goals by the Gulls served as the turning point. The Barracuda jumped ahead with a first period marker by Barclay Goodrow, but they were quickly tripled up by the Gulls in the next frame. Antoine Laganiere, Corey Tropp and Ondrej Kase all beat San Jose net minder Troy Groesnick to give the Gulls a 3-1 advantage.

But the Barracuda answered with a clutch shorthanded goal by John McCarthy on a terrific individual effort.

San Jose outshot San Diego 25-24, but could not pull off the road win. The Barracuda’s six-game road trip continues on Wednesday against the Rampage in San Antonio.

Earthquakes Force Draw With A Late Score Against D.C

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By Shawn Whelchel

SAN JOSE, California-The San Jose Earthquakes nearly avoided dropping their second consecutive game after returning home to Avaya Stadium on Saturday night, as some late game heroics saw the retro-clad home team escape with a 1-1 draw against D.C. United.

After 87 frustrating minutes that saw San Jose squander multiple looks at the net, the Quakes finally broke through their string of misfortunes when Adam Jahn made a sprinting strike off of a beautiful cross from Shea Shalinas to notch the Quakes one and only goal.

The goal would be all San Jose needed to avoid consecutive losses after a 3-1 downing in Los Angeles two weeks ago.And while the outcome isn’t ultimately what head coach Dominic Kinnear would have hoped for, it was a welcomed sight at the end of a trying effort.

“I though the effort tonight was great. Ties aren’t the same, they’re a little bit different where if we got scored on late, the feeling would have been sickening. But it does give you a lift when you score late and you can get something.”

The score came from an unlikely hero in Jahn, who played a game-low eight minutes. But Kinnear said that the substitution was intended to take advantage of his height to break the opposing defense.

“I thought with Adam we could get a little more territory…I think at that time it helped to have Adam’s height and his eagerness to get on the other side of crosses. Good for him.”

Despite being the aggressors early and often, the San Jose Earthquakes couldn’t find the back of the net in what turned out to be a frustrating first-half for the home team.

San Jose had multiple looks at the net, including tries from Tommy Thompson, Chris Wondolowski and Quincy Amarikwa, but couldn’t cash in on the stumbling D.C. defense. But despite the aggressive pushes from the Quakes, it was United who struck first, as Patrick Nyarko took advantage of a momentary lapse in the San Jose’s defense to put the first goal on the board with a sprinter header past the outstretched hands of David Bingham at the 34′ minute mark.

San Jose would nearly add an equalizer just moments later off a beautiful feed from a Wondolowski header near the net, but Amarikwa would be caught jumping offsides to negate the goal. Nyarko’s goal energized the previous lackluster D.C squad, leading to another dangerous attempt from Fabian Espindola at the 38′ minute mark before the Earthquakes would retreat to the locker room at the half with a one score deficit.

The frustrations continued to spill over from the first half for San Jose, as the home team frantically sought to appease the loud Avaya crowd with a flurry of shots to open the second frame.

Alberto Quintero played spoiler to his team’s own cause on a three-man rush towards the net for San Jose. Quintero found himself alone on the left wing with two attacking Quakes on the far side of the pitch, but couldn’t chip the ball over Travis Worra for the score. Moments later, Amarikwa would put his second and third shots on the goal, only to be denied in back-to-back attempts. Both Tommy Thompson and Wondolowski would later find themselves in front of the goal, only to send lazy attempts into the chest of Worra in what seemed like a contest where the Quakes couldn’t buy a goal.

But with the time winding down on San Jose’s efforts, a pair of substitutes would breathe new life into San Jose’s lackluster offense. With San Jose seeming desperate for a solution, Shea Salinas would shake his man on the wing to send a cross towards the sprinting Adam Jahn, whose split-legged slide would add the equalizer for the Earthquakes in the 88′ minute.

The Earthquakes would add one last furious attempt to find the back of the net before the whistle would sound on stoppage time, sending D.C home still in search of their first win of the season, while sneaking away with a point of their own.

 

San Francisco Giants Saturday game wrap: Giants End Spring with Loss in Oakland

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By: Joe Lami

AP photo The Oakland A’s Eric Surkamp pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the last A’s exhibition game of spring on Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND, Calif.—The San Francisco Giants finished their spring across the bay in Oakland on Saturday afternoon. The third game of the Bay Bridge Series went to the Athletics, who were victorious in a 4-1 victory in front of 21,157 fans at the Coliseum.

Matt Cain polished off his spring with a loss, in which he gave up just one earned run in five innings pitched. The earned run came off the bat of Khris Davis, who homered to left for his second of spring to open up the third inning. Trouble came in the outfield later in the third when Denard Span was charged with two errors, which allowed Jed Lowrie to round the bases completely, bringing in Marcus Semien in the process to make it 3-0.

Cain ends spring training with a 1-2 record, pitching 17 innings after he was sidelined for a month with a minor surgery to his throwing arm. “I was very pleased with the job that he did. He made a couple of mistakes, but overall, it was a great effort and a great tune-up,” added manager, Bruce Bochy.

He enters the regular season looking the Giants’ fifth man on the rotation if he can remain healthy. Cain mentioned that the cyst on his throwing arm hadn’t been bugging him until it reputed and after the surgery that cleaned it out he was ready to go within a week but was held back to try and avoid infection.

Buster Posey didn’t suit up for the Giants and was a late scratch due to illness and was taken out of Friday’s night game early as a precaution. Bochy expected him to be in the lineup as San Francisco’s Designated Hitter. Posey is questionable to start on Monday, according to Bochy, “whatever it is, I hope he’s good to go on Monday.”

The story of the day for the Athletics was starting pitcher, Felix Doubront exiting the contest after just one inning pitched. The expected fifth starter for the A’s was relieved of his duties after complaining about tightness in his left arm. Non-roster invitee, Eric Surkamp took over and shut down the Giants. He gave up just two hits in seven innings while striking out seven and walking one. Surkamp was reassigned to minor league camp following Saturday’s game.

Matt Chapman homered in the eighth inning to extend the lead to 4-0. The shot to left was his sixth of the spring and his fifth RBI in the last five games.

The Giants lone run came in the ninth inning when Ehire Adrianza hit a solo shot to right field for his first of spring training to make it 4-1.

The Giants begin their season on Monday, as they will travel to Wisconsin to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in the Brewer’s home opener.

MLB podcast with Matt Harrington: A’s planning to honor Phillips and Hendu opening night; Al Jazeera sites steroid use; D-Backs Pollock out with broken elbow

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photo credit: Bay Area News Group–Former A’s players Jose Canseco (33) and the late Tony Phillips (18) attending the A’s 1989 Championship reunion on Sat July 19, 2014

On the Major League Baseball podcast with Matt Harrington the Oakland A’s plan to honor former A’s players on Monday night. The A’s will pay tribute to Dave Henderson and Tony Phillips both who passed away this past year. The A’s will show highlights of their careers with the A’s and in baseball.

Al Jazeera reported that former New York Mets catcher Taylor Teagarden used performance enhancers and has been reportedly suspended from baseball for 80 games. Teagarden is not signed with a ball club and MLB has not released an official reason why Teagarden has been suspended. Meanwhile the Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and the Washington Nationals Ryan Zimmerman were also named in the Al Jazeera report for performance enhancing. Zimmerman’s attorney William Burck said that the accusations were “outright lies.”

There’s much more MLB headlines with Matt click below to hear all the latest right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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Golden State Warriors Friday game wrap: Warriors’ home streak falls

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~ PC: (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ If only it was an April Fool’s Day prank, but it was not, as Golden State’s streak fell at 54 to the Boston Celtics, Friday, 109-106.

The Celtics had ties to another one of the Warriors’ streaks. While last matchup, Boston was not directly tied to ending the streak of Golden State aiming to be the first to go 7-0 on the road, the Celtics did take the game the night before to double overtime.

The Warriors’ Stephen Curry finished with 29 points, all but one his shots from the field a three, five rebounds, six assists and nine turnovers. For Boston, Isaiah Thomas, Evan Turner and Jared Sullinger had 22, 21 and 20 points respectively. Sullinger had a double-double with 12 rebounds.

Golden State lost the turnover battle 14-22. The Celtics outscored the Warriors in the paint 48-30.

It was a tough first quarter for Curry. After a rebound, he committed four straight turnovers when he had the ball, five overall in the quarter. Curry did not have a point until a three with 4.3 seconds left in the quarter, to give Golden State the lead heading to the locker rooms.

The second did not have that much activity until the very end. With 2:14 left, Curry hit another three. There were two ties. Sullinger had four points and the Warriors’ Klay Thompson had three. Curry had an offensive foul turnover and the next possession, a backcourt turnover. Bradley gave Boston the 45-43 lead with a three after missing one earlier and Thompson tried a three with .4 seconds left. Golden State had a seven point lead during the quarter.

Curry came out firing with two consecutive threes in the third. They would be the first of six total in the quarter, as Curry went three crazy. He scored a total of 21 points in the quarter. When Curry made the first of three consecutive free throws with 2:19 left in the third quarter, that was his first non three pointer. Curry’s last three in the quarter would be the last time the Warriors led though.

The Celtics’ lead grew to 10 points by 8:41 left in the third quarter, thanks to an 11-4 run. Marcus Smart had five points and Golden State missed three straight. Draymond Green almost single handedly brought back Golden State to within three with 3:58 left. He had six straight out of eight points he made starting with 5:26 left. Harrison Barnes’ three made it 106-107 with 10.2 seconds left, but a layup by Thomas with 8.3 seconds left, sealed the deal. Curry and Barnes tried a three apiece after to no avail.

Game notes: The Warriors’ Andrew Bogut left the game early after taking a drive to the ribs. Golden State also lost their six game win streak. The Warriors play the Portland Trailblazers Sunday at 5pm.

San Jose Barracuda Friday game wrap: Barracuda struggle on special teams in loss to Bakersfield

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By: Eric He

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda fell to the Bakersfield Condors 4-2 on Friday night on the road, with all four Bakersfield goals coming on special teams.

The Condors converted on two power plays in addition to scoring a shorthanded goal and an empty-netter to put away the victory. With six games remaining, the Barracuda fall out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the West behind the Checkers.

San Jose trailed 1-0 after the first period as Bakersfield converted less than two minutes into the game with a shorthanded marker, as Rob Klinkhammer scored on an odd-man rush. The Condors in rapid succession in the second period, finding the back of the net twice in a 38-second span on consecutive power play goals as the Barracuda were shorthanded 5-on-3.

Down 3-0, the Barracuda got one back late in the second period Ryan Carpenter scored from the left circle to put San Jose on the board. They clawed within a goal with less than five minutes to play in the second period on a power play goal by Jeremy Morin, but an empty-netter from the Condors ended the Barracuda’s hope at a comeback.

As their fight for a playoff spot ramps up, the Barracuda head to San Diego to face the Gulls on Saturday.

San Francisco Giants Friday night game wrap: Peavy Finishes His Spring on a High Note

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By: Joe Lami

AP photo: San Francisco Giant Matt Duffy scores ahead of the throw as Oakland A’s catcher Josh Phegley waits for the ball in Friday night’s exhibition game at AT&T Park

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—In the final pre-season game at AT&T Park, Jake Peavy pitched five strong scoreless innings for the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, earning his second win of the spring in a 3-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

It was clearly his best start of the spring, in which he gave up two hits and struck out three. Coming into Friday night’s contest, Peavy has struggled with a 7.43 ERA in the 23 innings he’s pitched over six outings.

Peavy said the change of scenery really helped him out in Friday night’s win, as he was comparing San Francisco to the Cactus League “with such thing air, Arizona is a lot like Colorado with that type of weather and being outside. The ball flies when it gets hit, the infield is like concrete and the ball is getting through. It plays a lot more like baseball when you get out of the Cactus League,” said Peavy.

Peavy’s next start won’t come until Thursday, where he takes the bump in the Giants’ home opener against the Dodgers.  Clearly fired up about the opportunity of starting in the home opener, Peavy exclaimed, “Anytime you get a chance to start your home opener, it’s special and then when you get it versus the Dodgers, you can’t draw it up much better than that as far as the intensity and rivalry. It will be fun to go out there and get thrown right into the fire. It will be as high as you can get, it will be like a post-season game with a lot of intensity and a lot of excitement around the ballpark”.

Two of the Giants runs came in the first inning off the bat of Buster Posey, who hit a double down the left field line to bring in Denard Span and Joe Panik. Posey finished his night two for two, adding another single in the third. Gregor Blanco brought in the Giants’ third run in the seventh inning with a single to left, bringing in Matt Duffy.

Duffy made the play of the game defensively, snagging a short hop at the hot corner, before throwing out A’s catcher Josh Phegley to end the second frame. “The plays Duffy made are [wow], they’re game-changing plays, and that’s what defense will do for you,” added Bruce Bochy.

Santiago Casilla earned his first save of the spring in his ninth appearance, pitching a scoreless ninth inning to close things out.

The Giants and A’s end their battle of the bay series on Saturday in Oakland with Matt Cain pitching against Felix Doubront in the final pre-season game of the year. Expect Cain to be held around five innings, depending on how the game goes of course.

Oakland A’s Friday post game wrap: Graveman Sharp Despite Early Struggles in Final Spring Start

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit:bloguin.com file photo Oakland A’s right hander Kendall Graveman improved his ERA to 4.73 throwing five shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – In the bigger picture, spring training stats mean little to a team’s World Series chances. A win in March won’t make a difference in the standings the way a game in July does. That being said the Oakland Athletics still have to be concerned, albeit ever so minutely, after dropping their 5th straight exhibition contest 3-0 to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park Friday.

The A’s dropped the middle contest of the Bay Bridge Series after their cross-Bay foes plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning off starter Kendall Graveman. Jake Peavy (2-0, 6.11 ERA), taking the hill for the home team, pitched 5 scoreless innings and wound up the winner thanks to a two-run double from his batterymate Buster Posey. Outfielders Coco Crisp and Josh Reddick were the only A’s to get hits off Peavy. The Giants also scored a run off Oakland’s bullpen.

Graveman (1-2, 4.73) entered Friday coming off his best start of the spring after allowing 12 runs over his first 14.2 innings. The 25-year-old righty held the defending World Champion Kansas City Royals to a lone run over 7 innings of 4-hit ball Sunday in Arizona.

“It started off slow,” said Graveman of his spring. “I thought I got incrementally better each outing. It’s something I wanted to do, tune it up before the regular season. I wanted intent with every pitch. I don’t think I could say that with honesty in the first couple outings.”

His Friday appearance looked to be skewing more towards his previous starts than his recent run. Giants leadoff man Denard Span reached base on a single to right, then two-hole hitter Joe Panik reached base after drawing a full-count walk. The 2012 Most Valuable Player Posey punished Graveman for setting the table for the catcher, lining a sinker down the left field chalk to plate a pair of runs with no outs. Graveman recovered though, retiring Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy in order, stranding Posey at third base.

“Give Posey credit,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “(Graveman) keeps him on the ground, he just hits it down the line. I thought he did well, he kept the ball down. When he’s right the ball is on the ground.”

From there, one of the pieces of the Josh Donaldson trade with Toronto remained locked in on the mound. He finished the night firing 5 innings, yielding 5 hits while walking a pair with a quartet of punchouts.

“It was just like last start,” said Graveman. “I was throwing all 4 pitches for strikes. As long as I can do that and keep all four of them in the zone and throw them in any count.”

Graveman is penciled to fit somewhere in the A’s starting rotation behind opening day starter Sonny Gray and offseason acquisition Rich Hill. He is hoping to build off a 6-9 2015 campaign that saw him compile a 4.05 earned run average over 21 starts while missing the final month of the season with a strained oblique. He hopes the addition of a changeup will help him solidify a spot towards the front end, not the back when the A’s open the season against the Chicago White Sox Monday.

“It felt good,” said Graveman of his new pitch. “I got some ground balls, a couple broken bats. It’s something I’ll have to carry throughout the whole season to be successful. Tonight, being behind in the count or ahead, it was a good pitch.”

The new surroundings helped Graveman and his arsenal of cutters and sinkers he has thrown so well in his time in green and gold. Going from the band boxes and thin air of the Cactus league to 24 Willie Mays Plaza proved beneficial to the bounce-out specialist.

“It’s good for guys who throw sinker balls,” Said Graveman of the change in atmosphere. “You can see some sliders and some people’s pitches shaping up nicer than they do in Arizona. It’s because the air is so thin.”

While Graveman will have to wait until the regular season to test his performance in-game, Oakland still has a chance to improve an offense that only produced 4 hits and put a solitary runner in scoring position. Saturday, the first game exhibition or otherwise at the O.Co Coliseum, will give the A’s a chance to move past a 7-hit, single-run first two games of the  preseason Bay Bridge series.

“We had a really good spring,” said Melvin. “We feel like we have guys who can swing the bat. We didn’t here the last couple nights. They pitched well. We hit four or five balls right on the nose too. They play great defense. It’s what they do.”

Felix Doubront, recently named the A’s fifth starter, will square off against Matt Cain. The one-time no-hitter is looking to prove he is healthy enough to lock down the Giants fifth and final spot in the rotation.

Notes: The A’s are expected to announce their final roster after Saturday’s game. Bob Melvin said he expects to start some of the regulars… Chris Coghlan played 2nd base, 3rd base and the outfield in Friday’s contest….Franklin Barreto was a last-second addition to the A’s dugout Friday, arriving at the park around 8 pm to fill in for the injured Eric Sogard. Sogard is dealing with a neck injury and is day-to-day.

 

Sacramento Kings Friday night game wrap: Kings second half come back falls short

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by Michael Martinez

picture credit USA Today

SACRAMENTO- The Kings had a horrendous defensive first half, giving up 39 first quarter points and 66 in the half. 66 points for the Heat in the first half was their season high and Sacramento looked doomed. The game looked very out of reach for the Kings when they were down by 24 points a little over halfway through the third quarter.

But the Kings found their stride and played tough defense in the second half. The Kings turned things on, especially in the fourth quarter with big offensive production from Darren Collison who had 11 fourth quarter points. Seth Curry was big as well with nine points in the quarter.

Sacramento was able to cut the lead to one with a minute and a half remaining as the crowd got louder. A surprising turn of events made a blow out into an incredible come back. As the Kings played tough defense and worked on double teaming and trapping Heat players, they left Luol Deng wide open for a corner three. Deng sunk the three with 45 second left to go and put the Heat up by six. Ultimately, the three would be the dagger as the Kings were unable to complete their valiant effort of trying to win their third straight at home.

Once again, the Kings lose a game with DeMarcus Cousins not playing in the game as he was suspended by the NBA for his 16 technical of the season. The Kings first half mishap cost them the game as they gave up 20 first half points to Gerald Green who started in place of Dwayne Wade. Green finished the game with a game high 30 points.

Collison scored 26 points for the Kings as he played while Rajon Rondo sat out for most of the second half. Curry matched his career high with 21 points as he continues to play well for Sacramento. The Kings defense forced ten second half turnovers, but the Heat’s first half was too much.

The Kings will head to the Mile High City to take on the Denver Nuggets tomorrow. Sacramento will be without Cousins in tomorrow night’s game as he will not play in road games for the rest of the season. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors believe in themselves that they can get to 72 wins

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On the Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor the Warriors who picked up their 68th win their closing in on the Chicago Bulls all time winningest record. The 1995-96 World Champion year and during that regular season the Bulls lost only ten games that season going 72-10. The Warriors can make it interesting if they can win their next four games in a row. They face the Boston Celtics Friday night at Oracle in seeking win number 69.

The Warriors played the Utah Jazz in their last game it was a hard fought game in Salt Lake City and the Warriors who were down by eight points in the closing minutes miraculously escaped defeat for their 68th win of the season. Their aiming to get number 72 in the win column and according to the Warriors star Stephen Curry he’s a believer.

David has lots more Warriors comments on the podcast click below listen at http://www.sportsradioservice.com