Month: May 2016

The A’s outlast the Twins, win their fourth in a row.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Billy Burns left and Jed Lowrie celebrate after scoring on the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning of Tuesday nigh’ts game at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s won their fourth consecutive game in a row by beating the Minnesota Twins 7-4 in a game that seemed to go on forever. Time of game was three hours and fourteen minutes. The A’s starter, Eric Surkamp lasted just 4 and 2/3rds innings. The A’s used four relievers to secure the win. Ryan Dull received credit for his first win of the season. The Twins starter, Tyler Duffey also went 4 and 2/3rd innings and took the loss. Duffey’s record is 2-4 for the year. Every time the Twins scored in an inning, the A’s responded by scoring in their half of the frame. The Twins did not have a shutdown inning in the game

The Twins struck first in the top of the second. Surkamp retired the first two hitters he faced to start the frame. Twins left-fielder hit a flyball down the right-field line that landed on the chalk for a double. The next hitter, Byung Ho Park, followed with a double to right to drive in Grossman with the first run of the game. The A’s tied the game in their half of the inning. Marcus Semien led off with a single. Chris Coughlan hit a ground ball to first. Joe Maurer threw to second to record the force out on Semien. However, the throw back to first from Twins’ shortstop Eduardo Nunez was wild, and Coughlan reached second on the error. Billy Burns tripled to drive in Coughlan and was at third with just one out. Twins’ pitcher Trevor Duffey struck out Coco for the second out and got Jed Lowrie to ground out to end the inning.

The Twins regained the lead in the third. With one out, Nunez singled to get things going. Surkamp hit Brian Dozier with a pitch to put men on at first and second. Joe Maurer followed with a single to left to load the bases. Miguel Sano hit into a fielder’s choice driving in Dozier with the Twins second run of the game. Sano appeared to injure his left hamstring beating the throw to first and had to leave the game.  The A’s scored two runs in the bottom of the third. Stephen Vogt led off with a single. He scored when Danny Valencia took a 3-1 pitch to the opposite field for his eighth tater of the season. A’s lead 3-2 after three complete.

The Twins tied the game at three in the top of the fifth. Eric Surkamp retired the first two hitters he faced. However, he could not close out the inning. Trevor Plouffe singled and scored on a double by Robbie Grossman. A’s manager Bob Melvin removed Surkamp from the game and replaced him with Ryan Dull. Surkamp’s line was 4.2 innings pitched, and he allowed eight hits and three runs allowed. Dull struck out Park to end the Twins threat. The A’s scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead. Stephen Vogt led off the inning with a single. Danny Valencia doubled to drive Vogt in with the fourth run of the game. Valencia has driven in three runs so far. Duffey retired Khris Davis and Yonder Alonso. However, he could not get past Marcus Semien. Semien blasted a double to left to drive in Valencia. Twins’ manager Paul Molitor removed Duffey from the game. The new pitcher, Buddy Broshers, retired Jake Smolinski to end the inning. A’s lead 5-3.

The Twins scored a run to cut the deficit to one in the eighth inning. Robbie Grossman led off the inning with a double. For Grossman, it was his third double of the game. Grossman advanced to third when Byung Ho Park flew out to deep centerfield. Former A’s catcher, Kurt Suzuki singled to drive in Grossman with the Twins’ fourth run of the game. The A’s came back again in their half of the frame to score two more runs and increased the lead to three. The big blow was delivered by Stephen Vogt. Vogt doubled to drive in Billy Burns and Jed Lowrie to give the A’s the lead 7-4 after eight.

Game Notes.Stephen Vogt and Danny Valencia were the hitting stars for the A’s. Vogt had two singles, a double and two RBIs. Valencia had a homer and a double and knocked in three. The A’s improved their record to 24-29 while Minnesota drops to 15-36.

The final game of the three-game series will be Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum at 12:35 PM as the A’s go for the sweep. It will be a battle between two lefties. Sean Manaea (1-3,7.03) will pitch for Oakland and Minnesota will send Pat Dean (1-1, 3.43)  out to handle the pitching chores.

12,767 A’s faithful watched their heroes triumph on a very lovely night in Oakland.

 

 

 

Peavy throws a masterpiece on his birthday

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By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy throws against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning on Tuesday at Turner Field

This will be a birthday that Jake Peavy will most likely never forget for the rest of his life.

Peavy, who turned 35 on this day, pitched seven strong innings, facing the minimum 21 batters and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-0 at Turner Field.

Denard Span drove in two runs with three hits, as the Giants evened up the four-game series at one.

In those seven innings of work, Peavy allowed only one hit, a single to catcher Tyler Flowers in the bottom of the fifth inning. Peavy did not allow a walk and struck out three, as he improved his record to 2-5 and lowered his earned run average from 7.26 to 6.34.

The seven innings of work by Peavy matched his longest start of the season.

Peavy retired the first 12 Braves he faced until Flowers led off the bottom of the fifth inning with single. Kelly Johnson grounded into a double play to end the fifth.

The tough luck losing pitcher in this gem by Peavy was Matt Wisler, who gave up three runs on four hits in seven innings of work. Wisler gave up just one hit prior to Peavy hitting a single , and then Span tripled to break the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning.

The Giants broke the game open in the top of the eighth inning, as Brandon Crawford walked, went to third on a Gregor Blanco double and then after an intentional walk to Kelby Tomlinson that loaded the bases, Matt Duffy hit a sacrifice fly to score Crawford, then Span hit a two-run single to Blanco. Joe Panik closed out the scoring, as he sacrificed Span to second and Tomlinson scored from third base.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Game one first period was just one big inattemptive thing for Sharks

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photo by USA Today: Pittsburgh Penguins Nick Bonino scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones at 2:33 in the third period for the go ahead goal on Monday night in game one of the NHL Finals

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa the game one loss on Monday night at Energy Center was a tough loss for the Sharks. The dropped stick by the Sharks Brett Burns was not only bad for Burns but worse for the goal just because the Sharks Paul Martin who was in front of the net with the Pittsburgh Penguins Nick Bonino Martin was kind of focusing on that corner where Burns was playing without a stick the puck was over there and that’s how it got around all of them in the open net.

Listen to Mary Lisa’s Sharks podcast for all the latest from the Stanley Cup Finals at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: For Warriors to win back to back against Cavs not an easy task; Sharks looking to make come back in finals

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photo by nbcsports.com: Golden State’s Steph Curry and  Cleveland’s Lebron James get ready for the finals on Thursday night

On That’s Amaury’s Podcast, congratulations to the Golden State Warriors on winning their NBA Western Conference Championship at Oracle Arena on Monday night against the OKC Thunder. The Warriors move onto face the Cleveland Cavaliers next on Thursday night. They beat all odds and it’s not easy to come back in any professional sport and come back from being down three games in a series like that.

The San Jose Sharks who never made a Stanley Cup Final have finally made it and this is it ironically 25 years since they were founded. You’ve seen from the beginning too and now they have a chance to win it all. The Stanley Cup is one of the oldest trophies in professional sports. SAP Center is going to be rocking this coming Saturday for game three as the Sharks try to close the gap on the Pittsburgh.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish Radio voice for the A’s, the Spanish radio voice for the Angels TV, and will cover the Sharks for Telemundo for the Stanley Cup Finals. Listen to the Amaury below:

 

Historic season not over yet, Dubs back in the NBA Finals

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by Michael Martinez

picture credit Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

Down in the Western Conference Finals three games to one, the Golden State Warriors looked lost, worn out and defeated. While the Oklahoma City Thunder seemed unstoppable and their path to the NBA Finals appeared clear.

But did people forget that this Warriors team won a record setting 73 games? If anybody could come back down three games for just the tenth time in league history, it would be these guys. And the Warriors showed their resiliency and in game seven their fearless leader, Steph Curry showed that his second MVP selection, an unanimous decision, was no fluke.

The best player on the planet and his team defeated the Thunder, 96-88, in a tough game 7.

The first quarter was all Thunder as their defense was relentless and made Golden State take tough shots. The Warriors only scored 19 points, while Kevin Durant looked to be locked in. Oklahoma City showed up in the first and gave the impression that they had forgotten about the past two games.

However, the second quarter was different and the Warriors went back to what they do best, shooting the three ball. Klay Thompson got off to a rough 0 for 7 start, but knocked down four triples in the second to help his team cut the Thunder’s lead, who looked poised to take a big lead.

At the half, OKC led Golden State, 48-42 and out of the half, the MVP reigned supreme.

Curry made three big triples in the third and the Warriors played tremendous defense. The defending champs outscored the Thunder, 29-12, in the third quarter. The third quarter was the turning point and the home team never looked back.

While Curry had a solid third quarter, his clutch performance in the fourth proved why he is currently the best player in the NBA. Curry went 5-6 from the field, including 2 for 3 from beyond the arc for 15 fourth quarter points. Curry absolutely went off and made the big shots when the Thunder tried to make a come back of their own late in the game.

The Warriors lived by the three in tonight’s game, shooting 45.9 percent from behind the three point line. Their defense also did a great job of not allowing Durant the ball and holding their opponents to a shooting percentage of 38.2 percent.

Durant did finish with 27 points on 10 of 19 from the field for a team high and Russell Westbrook totaled 19 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. But Westbrook had difficulty shooting as he went 7 of 21 on the night.

Curry finished with a game high 36 points, hitting 13 fields goals on 24 tries with seven of those field goals coming from three point range. The Warriors win was definitely a collective effort as the team had to come together strong to make this incredible series come back. Thompson ended the game with 21 points of his own as the Splash Brothers once again guided their team to one of the franchise’s most important victories.

The Warriors spent a ton of energy on winning this series and that could be a factor as their next task begins on Thursday. But, the Warriors are headed to back to back finals. They have a player who won back to back MVP trophies. And now, repeating as champions is in plain sight.

The Cavs and LeBron James look better than the team the Warriors saw last year, but again do not count out the Western Conference Champions. History is unfolding right in front of our eyes, can the Warriors be historical once again?

Tune in to ABC on June 2 at 6 p.m, where Golden State and Curry will take on James and company at Oracle Arena in front of a rambunctious Oakland crowd.

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants sleepwalk through first game with Braves in 5-3 loss

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On the Giants podcast with Morris the Giants who concluded a series in Colorado over the weekend started a new series on Monday in Atlanta and lost it 5-3 and the Giants were right at the top of the list for long distance travel of any MLB club on Sunday they had to travel 1400 miles and play a day game to start the three game series with the Braves, The Giants looked sleepy from the start and the Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz was effective with fast ball against the Giants.

Foltynewicz had command of his fast ball and all of his pitches and basically shut down the Giants line up and for the Giants hitting really a sleepy affair. So the Giants are hoping to get a good night’s sleep coming off the jet lag of flying from Denver to Atlanta on Sunday.

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcast each week right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Graveman finds his game; A’s looking for Surkamp to have a good outing

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AP photo: A’s Coco Crisp gets the low five from A’s third base coach Ron Washington after hitting a first inning home run off the Minnesota Twins Monday at the Oakland Coliseum

On the A’s podcast with Jerry the A’s pitcher Eric Surkamp is a left hand pitcher but he hasn’t been able to go deep into the game. None of the games he’s pitched in has made it past the fifth inning and it would be nice if he could give the A’s a quality start and give them at least six innings. Surkamp hasn’t been able to do it yet hopefully he can do it against the Twins and the Twins are having a terrible season they did sweep the Mariners over the weekend.

The A’s are hopeful that Surkamp can get beyond his game he’s got the call to start on Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum and get the A’s some innings and get the relief core some rest. We’ll see what happens it’s not looking too optimistic. The A’s starter Kendall Graveman whose been inconsistent all season got the A’s a quality start with a 3-2 win he pitched six inning on Monday afternoon giving up six hits and two runs.

Jerry gets all the latest on the A’s listen to the podcast right here and each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Penguins take first game of Stanley Cup Finals

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~ (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ San Jose Pittsburgh’s Nick Bonino scored the game winner with less than three minutes to go, as the Penguins took Game 1 in the first playoff game between the two, on Memorial Day Monday.

From against the boards, Kris Letang, with a stickless Brent Burns defending him, passed to Bonino, who shot past Paul Martin and goalie Martin Jones.

Via Darin Stephens, faced 41 shots, his most in regulation in 2016 playoffs and the 41 shots on goal by the Penguins were tied-most in a regulation Stanley Cup Final game since 1988.

Bonino and Patric Hornqvist led with six shots. Bonino also led with six blocks. Dainius Zubrus led with six hits. Burns led in points with two assists.

The Sharks had a rough start to their first Stanley Cup Final period as they were outshot 15-4. San Jose’s four shots came from Nick Spaling, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon and Zubrus.

Between the minutes of 6:33 and 14:39, the Sharks did not have a shot on net and that was when all the main action occurred. Pittsburgh got four shots during a power play at 8:54 and two of their rookies scored two goals 1:02 apart. Via Elias, this was just the second time two rookies opened a Stanley Cup Final.

Bryan Rust picked up where he left off, scoring the Penguins’ fourth straight goal going back to the Eastern Conference Final in three games now. At 12:46, Rust on the left passed to Justin Schultz at center. Schultz’s shot went off Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s glove, rolled back to Rust and he put it in behind Melker Karlsson, who was situated behind Jones. Chris Kunitz also had an assist. Rust’s now six playoff goals set a franchise record for rookies (Darin Stephens).

Leading up to the second goal, Braun and Sidney Crosby raced for the loose puck, Crosby reaching it first. Braun lost his footing when turning to follow Crosby. Crosby passed through Logan Couture to Conor Sheary in the slot. Sheary then moved to the right faceoff circle and shot when Jones was shielded by Vlasic and Hornqvist.

The shot margin went the other way in the second period.

It started with shots from the bigger name players, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau.

With 12 seconds left on the power play, 3:02 into the second, San Jose then got their first Stanley Cup Final goal. The puck began by almost going out of the zone. It went to the very edge of the blue line before being saved by Joel Ward, who passed to Burns. Burns then passed to Joonas Donskoi, who passed to Tomas Hertl who was to the right up front.  Hertl put it in off goalie Matt Murray’s stick to make it 2-1.

The Sharks had at least a pair of consecutive shots in the second, the first from Burns and Pavelski, the second from Donskoi and Chris Tierney.

Marleau nabbed the tying goal with 1:48 left in the period. In another battle to keep the puck by Couture, after winning, he sent it to Burns at the blue line. Burns then sent his hard shot up front. As it went off Murray, Marleau used his speed to achieve a wraparound goal as it went in off Murray’s skate.

In the third, Pittsburgh went back on the offensive, outshooting San Jose 18-9.

24 seconds after the Penguins’ game-winner, the Sharks had another power play opportunity. It turned into a 6-on-4 once Jones left the net, but San Jose was unable to convert.

Game notes: The Sharks held Pittsburgh scoreless on all their three power plays, turning their 1-of-11 power play to now 1-of-14. One of those power play opportunities came through an Illegal check to the head on Rust by Marleau. Kunitz now has a six-game point streak. Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final resumes Wednesday at 5pm.

 

 

Holiday jet lag: Giants suffer a surprising loss to the Braves in Atlanta

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Braves celebrate

By Morris Phillips

Given Monday’s result, it’s likely the Giants aren’t a big fan of holiday travel.

Arriving in Atlanta at 1am local time, after a lengthy cross-country flight from Denver, the Giants limped into their hotel rooms at 2am, in advance of their series opener with the Braves at 1pm EST.

While the team figured to be sleepy given the travel, in reality, they were even sleepier, falling to the last place Braves, 5-3 in a game they trailed by four runs for five of the nine innings. Jeff Samardzija allowed five runs in the first three innings—ending his impressive streak of allowing just one run in each of his last three starts—and the Giants’ offense managed just one run in the game’s first eight frames.

Braves’ starter Mike Foltynewicz was more effective than any jet lag the Giants may have experienced, holding them to three hits and a run over six innings while regularly dialing up mid-90’s heat with his fastball. After allowing a solo shot to Brandon Belt to open the second inning, Foltynewicz retired 14 of the next 15 batters he faced.

“I was settled in out there, just comfortable and went out there and attacked hitters and made them put it in play,” Foltynewicz said.

“Probably the best total package I’ve seen out of him,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, saying the sample size was the two years he’s been with the club. “He just had everything going and was free and easy.”

Of the 17 clubs to end a series on Sunday, and start a new one on Memorial Day in a different city, the Giants landed on the top of the list in terms of miles traveled at 1,402. The White Sox (1-0 losers in New York to the Mets) and the Yankees (4-2 losers in Toronto) traveled the second and third most miles as all three clubs lost.   The White Sox and Giants had an additional burden of having the earliest start time on Monday.

What else other than travel—and Foltynewicz—could explain the hottest team in baseball losing in such a laconic fashion to baseball’s worst home team?

The Giants came in winners of 15 of 17, having survived another laborious visit to Denver to face the Rockies over the weekend. Also, the surge propelled the team to the second best record in baseball behind the Cubs. Meanwhile, the Braves have only made headlines this season for their historically, awful start at Turner Field where they won just two of their first 22 home games.

In advance of San Francisco’s arrival, the Braves had shown signs of life, winning five of 12 after manager Fredi Gonzalez was fired, and two of three in Atlanta after that disastrous 2-20 start. That resurgence continued Monday, no surprise to Snitker.

“They’re unbelievable,” Snitker said of his young club. “Every day they show up, always energetic. They work hard, they grind it out. It’s good to see when they’re rewarded with a win like this.”

Samardzija admittedly wasn’t himself on Monday, missing spots up with his fastball and slider. But he and manager Bruce Bochy were perturbed by home plate umpire John Tumpane’s inconsistent strike zone. Staked to an early 1-0 lead, Samardzija fell in trouble in the second when rookie Mallex Smith tripled home three runs on a liner that evaded left field Jarrett Parker and went all the way to the wall.

In the third, Samardzija allowed singles to the first two hitters he faced. One out later, Belt’s error allowed Gordon Beckham to score. Kelly Johnson followed with a run-scoring sacrifice fly and the Braves led 5-1.

The Giants rallied in the ninth, scoring twice. But with the tying runner at first, and lead runner Brandon Crawford at third, closer Arodys Vizcaino induced Kelby Tomlinson into a fielders’ choice, ground ball that ended the game.

On Tuesday, Jake Peavy looks to pick up where he left off in a matchup with Atlanta’s Matt Wisler.   Peavy shut down the Padres in his last start, his second, strong outing in his last three. Still, the 34-year old veteran has just one win, and has gone without a win in his last seven starts.

NOTES: Matt Duffy suffered a painful injury, taking a 94 mph fastball on his forearm in the sixth inning. Tests done after the injury didn’t reveal a break, but the starting third baseman is likely to miss at least a game or two.   Sergio Romo has completed his rehab cycle with Triple A Sacramento, but isn’t expected to rejoin the club during this series. More likely he rejoins the big league club sometime next week. Right hander Chris Stratton, the Giants’ top pick in 2012, made his major league debut, pitching a scoreless eighth inning.

 

 

The A’s snap the Twins four-game winning streak

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by Jerry Feitelberg

photo by en.wikipedia.org file photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 3-2 on a beautiful, sunny day at the Coliseum. Everything went right for the A’s Monday afternoon. Kendall Graveman, who has been so inconsistent this year, pitched extremely well and gave the A’s a quality start. Graveman went six innings and allowed six hits and two runs. The bullpen did its job and kept the Twins off the board to secure Graveman’s second win of the year. John Axford, Sean Doolittle, and Ryan Madson worked the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to preserve the win. The A’s offense came through with timely hitting to beat Ervin Santana. Santana owned the A’s in the past, especially when he was with the Angels, but the A’s beat him on Memorial Day. Lastly, the defense, so maligned this season, came up big time. The play of the game was Yonder Alonso robbing Joe Maurer of a hit. Maurer’s ball was a rocket that was heading to right field. Alonso dove to his right and caught the ball that prevented two runs from scoring.

Coco Crisp, leading off in the bottom of the first, homered into the right field stands. For Coco, it was the sixteenth time in his career that he had led off the with a home run. The Twins tied the game in the top of the second. Miguel Sano singled to get the rally going for the Twins. With two out, consecutive singles bu Eduardo Escobar and Juan Centeno allowed Sano to score with the tying run. In the top of the fifth, the Twins scored their second run of the game when singles by Danny Santana and Eduardo Nunez put men on at first and third with no out. Twins’ second baseman, Brian Dozier, flew out to deep right centerfield to drive in Santana. Chris Coughlan and Coco Crisp collided on the play. Coughlan held on to the ball, but it was a scary moment as both players appeared to be injured on the play. Fortunately for the A’s, neither player was hurt. The A’s tied the game at two in the bottom of the inning. Yonder Alonso led off with a single. Marcus Semien followed with a double off the wall in left-center to drive in Alonso. Semien was out trying to go third on the throw to the plate. Maurer cut the throw off and nailed Semien at third. Bob Melvin asked for a review, but the call was upheld.

The A’s scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. Jed Lowrie started the inning with a single. Stephen Vogt doubled to left to put men on at second and third with no out. Danny Valencia walked to load the bases. Khris Davis flew out to center to drive in Lowrie with the winning run. The inning ended when Billy Butler ground into a double play.

The A’s brought in John Axford to pitch in the seventh. The Twins Juan Centeno and Danny Santana singled. Eduardo Nunez laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners to second and third with one out. Axford struck out Brian Dozier on a 98 mile-an-hour fastball. Bob Melvin brought in lefty Sean Doolittle to pitch to Joe Maurer. Maurer hit a line shot just to the right of Yonder Alonso. Alonso speared the ball for the final out of the inning. Two runs would have scored. Defensive play of the day.Doolittle pitched a  strong eighth inning, striking out two and Ryan Madson closed out the game setting the Twins down in order in the ninth. A’s win the game 3-2.

Game Notes- The A’s won their third game in a row after losing six of seven to New York, Seattle and Detroit. The A’s improved to 23-29 for the year. Graveman is now 2-6. Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at 7:05 PM.