Month: May 2016

Walk off walk: Giants avoid sweep thanks to Toronto’s 13th-inning gifts

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By Morris Phillips

Professional baseball players are no different than anyone else: If you’re about to embark on a business trip plane ride out of town, after a bullish day at work, but yearning to bathe in momentary contentment, occasionally, you have to walk, not run.

The Giants avoided being swept at home by the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon by getting the very most out of what’s often considered the least, a walk. In this case, with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to end 4 ½ hours of baseball, avoiding a 2-5 finish to a frustrating home stand, giving it just a bit more significance which manager Bruce Bochy captured.

“Especially having the lead like that, we coughed it up, that would have been a tough one to lose, and get swept, to hit the road on, and (we) kept fighting.”

“I’ll take the walk.”

Still early in a marathon of a season, the Blue Jays and Giants, both 18-18, leave San Francisco in entirely different moods. For the Giants, a lighthearted jaunt to Phoenix to see the Diamondbacks. For the Jays, a longer, slightly quieter flight to Dallas for a weekend with the Rangers.

“The guys played a good game out there,” Toronto’s John Gibbons said. “We came back to tie it against a good pitching staff, we battled our asses off. We came up short.”

Gibbons most regrets the comfortable path his team allowed the Giants in the 13th. With reliever Ryan Tepera pitching, Brandon Belt was hit by a pitch, then Denard Span’s bunt was poorly handled allowing Belt to take second, and Span first. Tepera’s wild pitch allowed both runner’s to move up, and prompted Toronto to walk the bases full, ahead of Matty Duffy’s line out to first, and a four-pitch walk to Buster Posey to end it.

“I mean, you get to a point where you’re almost four-and-a-half hours in, it doesn’t really matter,” Posey said in jest.

The Giants won two 13-inning contests on the home stand, proving once again, they never shy away from tense ballgames that other clubs might consider torture. But all their warts were exposed in the series with the Jays: an offense slathered in molasses, a bullpen trying to find itself, starters too with Peavy and Cain starting–and losing–the first two games, and then on Wednesday a meltdown with closer Santiago Casilla on the mound.

Putting a personal side on the Giants woes, Buster Posey narrowly avoided the worst hitless streak of his career with a single in the first, ending an 0 for 18 slide.

The Giants led 4-1 buoyed by Madison Bumgarner’s quality start, which took the Giants deep into a game with a lead of more than a run for the first time in a week. But Cody Gearrin relieved Bumgarner in the seventh, then opened the eighth by allowing a pair of singles before hitting Troy Tulowitzki to load the bases. Russell Martin’s sacrifice fly made it 4-2, Josh Osich relieved, and allowed a run-scoring single to Justin Smoak, making it 4-3.

Casilla came on to close it in the ninth, but Michael Saunders homered over the center field fence on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. For Casilla, it marked his third blown save in 14 appearances, for Saunders a nice bounce back after he saw a batted ball glance off his head on Monday, his first career game at AT&T Park.

The Giants open a four-game set on Thursday in Phoenix with Johnny Cueto facing fellow, deep pocketed free agent signee Zach Greinke at 6:40pm PST.

 

The A’s woes continue as the Red Sox complete the sweep.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Boston Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr gets an early shower after hitting two big flies against the Oakland A’s Wednesday night at Fenway Park

The Boston Red Sox continued to punish the A’s pitching as they scored thirteen times and has seventeen hits Wednesday night to defeat the A’s 13-3. The Red Sox outscored the A’s 40-15 in the three-game series and the A’s own a new record for futility as they allowed forty runs in the three games. That had never happened in the A’s history. The A’s also have allowed more than eleven runs in a game for the fourth straight time. They have lost five in a row, nine out of the last ten and fourteen of the last eighteen. Their record now stands at 14-21 for the season. A’s manager Bob Melvin needs to right the ship soon or the season could be lost.

Lefty Eric Surkamp started for the A’s Wednesday night. A’s manager Bob Melvin hoped that Surkamp could give the A’s at least five innings of work and let the bullpen get some rest. That did not happen. The A’s scored the first run of the game in the top of the second. The lead did not last long as Boston scored three times in their half of the inning.The big blow was by Jackie Bradley. Bradley hit a three-run dinger to propel Boston into the lead. The A’s tied the game in the top of the third. Khris Davis singled to drive in two to knot the score. Surkamp could not keep the Red Sox down. They scored their fourth run of the game in the bottom of the third. Melvin removed Surkamp with two out in the inning. Surkamp went two and 2/3rd innings and allowed four runs and four hits. The Red Sox own a 4-3 lead after three innings of play.

The Red Sox punished the A’s bullpen in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In the fifth, with Mookie Betts aboard, Dustin Pedroia homered to make it 6-3. In the sixth the Sox scored five times to give them an 11-3 lead. In the eighth, Jackie Bradley hit his second home run of the game to make it 13-3. Bradley had six RBIs in the game and was 8-for-14 in the series. He had three home runs and drove in thirteen runs.

Game Notes- The A’s have an off-day on Thursday as they travel to Tampa Bay to face the Rays in the final three games of the nine-game road trip.

The A’s made some more moves on Wednesday. Jed Lowrie went on the 15-day DL. He hit a ball off his ankle in Baltimore. X-Rays were negative but Lowrie was on crutches and needs a few days to recover. The A’s recalled RHP Zach Neal from Nashville to fill a spot in the bullpen and made his Major League debut Wednesday night. He pitched three innings and gave up three runs. Eric Surkamp was also called up from Nashville. He Did not pitch well and took his third loss of the season

Ryan Dull, Marc Rzepczynski, and Zach Neal pitched batting practice as the bullpen is showing signs of weariness as the starters continue to pitch poorly.

Line score for Oakland was three runs, eight hits, and no errors. The Red Sox line was thirteen runs,seventeen hits, and no errors.

Time of game was three hours and seventeen minutes. 33,283 watched Red Sox win the final game of the series and sweep the A’s.

 

 

MLB Podcast with Tony Renteria: Giants Cain’s pitching show encouragement; A’s Manaea struggles in debut

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On the MLB podcast with Tony Renteria Giants pitcher Matt Cain broke out with a fine pitching performance but lost the game dropping his record to 0-5. Cain had one of his best outings in years going eight innings, six hits, two runs, two earned, seven strikeouts. The Toronto Blue Jays only scored twice on Cain in the second and eight innings. Also Cain had his teammates believing in him played great defense behind Cain.

The Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea struggled on Tuesday night pitching 2 1/2 innings, giving up ten hits and eight runs all earned and striking out just one batter at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. The A’s pitching has suffered of late Kendall Graveman struggled against the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend and the A’s have over a half dozen pitchers out on the DL.

Tony Renteria does the MLB podcast each week right here on http://www.sportsradioservice.com take a listen below

The Return of Matt Cain?

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By: Joe Lami

USA Today file photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Tuesday was a promising night for Giants’ pitcher Matt Cain. The one-time perfect pitcher sported his best outing in recent memory and bounced back exponentially from his last start in which he gave up eight runs on ten hits in just four innings of work.

“I could tell it was going to be a good night in the bullpen, he was really crisp in the pen,” commented catcher, Buster Posey.

Even though Cain earned his fifth loss of the season in the 4-0 defeat to the Blue Jays, it gives San Francisco fans something to look forward to. He finished after eight innings of work, giving up two runs on six hits. He also got his season-high in strikeouts with seven.

“He looked very determined, and it was big that he could get through that first inning and get settled in. He then had a good rhythm going and he was locked in and just got his normal rhythm,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

The eight innings of work marked his longest outing since August 1, 2013, in which the right-hander also finished with eight. Cain was keeping the ball down for the most part, and that was the biggest difference maker. “He threw the ball great today. He was down in the zone the most I’ve seen him this year. Had a great breaking ball going, fastball had good carry through the zone. Hate to spoil this one for all of us and for him too,” added Posey.

There were a few exceptions of course with the biggest coming in the second inning, as Troy Tulowitzki launched his sixth home run of the season to left. Tulo also earned the second run of the game off a sac fly in the seventh.

Unfortunately for Cain, he remains winless in his last 14 starts. The Giants record when Cain is on the mound is 2-12 since July 22 of last year. However, things could be looking up for the 31 year old as he looked like classic Matt Cain, right down to the poor run support. As Tuesday, marked the 49th time in his 298 career starts in which he saw zero runs of support.

“The way he threw the ball and maintained his stuff eight solid innings, it’s a shame we couldn’t get him some runs,” Bochy added.

The biggest thing for Cain is to follow up his excellent performance and get back on track. Tuesday night’s game was his best since his first outing of the year against the Dodgers, in which he gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. However, Cain wasn’t able to follow that one up his next time out, pitching only 4.2 innings in an 11-6 loss.

Cain’s next scheduled start is slated for Sunday in Arizona, a team the Giants haven’t beat yet this season.

San Francisco Giants Tuesday game wrap up: Tulowitzki drives in three in win

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By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: Toronto Blue Jays Troy Tulowitzki slides in safe as San Francisco Giant catch Buster Posey is late putting down the tag on Tuesday night at AT&T Park

SAN FRANCISCO-Matt Cain looked like his old self with the exception of a pitch to Troy Tulowitzki on a 2-1 pitch in the top of the second inning.

Tulowitzki launched the Cain offering into the left field bleachers, helping the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 41,464, the 428th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the sixth career home run for Tulowitzki off of Cain.

Tulowitzki added a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning that scored Michael Saunders from third base after the left fielder tripled to right-center field with one out.

Once again, Tulowitzki was at again in the top of the ninth inning, as he doubled in pinch runner Ezequiel Carrera and then Russell Martin closed out the scoring, when singled in Tulowitzki.

The other big story for the Blue Jays was the pitching of left-hander J.A. Happ, who allowed zero runs on just six hits in eight and two-third innings of work, as the Blue Jays made it two straight over the Giants.

Happ did not allow a hit to the Giants until Kelby Tomlinson beat out a bunt single with one out in the bottom of the third inning; however Tomlinson was caught stealing at second base for the second out of the frame and then Cain ended the inning on a ground out to Josh Donaldson at third base.

This was Happ’s first career win versus the Giants in five career starts, as he was 0-4 coming into the game. Happ last faced the Giants on June 16, 2015 as a member of the Seattle Mariners.

As a matter of fact, Happ was the losing pitcher for the Houston Astros when Cain threw the only perfect game in Giants history on June 13, 2012.

It was a tough loss for Cain, who went eight innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, while not walking a batter and striking out seven, and saw his record fall to 0-5 on the season.

The Giants base running gave another away a huge opportunity in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Denard Span walked to leadoff the inning and then Joe Panik hit a sinking line drive into left field that Saunders was unable to haul in; however Saunders was able to recover and throw to Ryan Goins at second base for the first out of the inning.

Unfortunately, the inning ended, when Buster Posey hit into a nifty double play that saw Goins make a nice backhand stab, then threw to Tulowitzki at second and the double play was completed, as the South Bay native threw to Edwin Encarnacion to end the inning.

It looked like the Giants were about to start a rally in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Jarrett Parker walked to leadoff the inning, went to second on Tomlinson’s second hit of the game; however Parker was thrown out at third base when Cain’s sacrifice attempt was hit right to Happ, who threw to Donaldson for the first out of the frame.

Span ended the inning, he hit into the Giants second double play of the game.

Donaldson’s bid for extra bases was brought to a halt, as Span made a leaping catch at the left-center field wall to end the eighth inning. Happ reached on a opposite field single with one out in the inning.

With a chance to get back in the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants once came up short.

Parker singled thru the hole at second base with one out, then Tomlinson picked up his third hit of the night and on the play, Parker went to third; however pinch-hitter Trevor Brown struck out looking at a third strike and then Span ended the inning when he flew out to Saunders in left field.

Once again in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Giants started a rally with two outs. Hunter Pence singled, then Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy walked to load the bases. With a chance to tie the game with one swing of the bat, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons took no chances, as he called for his closer Roberto Osuna. The closer did not disappoint his manager, as he struck out Parker on three pitches to end the game.

The Red Sox continue to pound the A’s Starters.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea heads to the dugout after being lifted in he third inning of Tuesday night’s game at Fenway Park

The Boston Red Sox, for the second straight night, pounded the A’s starting pitcher. The Red Sox won a laugher 13-5. The A’s were hoping to have their starting pitcher, Sean Manaea, go deep into the game so that the overtaxed bullpen could get a rest. That did not happen as the Red Sox scored early and often to send the A’s down to their thirteenth loss in their last seventeen games. The A’s find themselves at 14-20, and the A’s starters are finding themselves pitching batting practice. The A’s starters, in the last seventeen games, have yielded seventy-six earned runs in their last eighty-three innings to produce a dismal 8.24 ERA. It is no accident that they have lost thirteen of those games.

The Red Sox wasted no time in solving Sean Manaea. Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the first with a home run on a 2-2 pitch. Xander Bogaerts singled with one out. Red Sox first baseman, Hanley Ramirez hit a monster shot that went way over the Green Monster to put the Red Sox in the lead 3-0. The ball traveled an estimated 468 feet. It was the second longest home run of the season.

In the bottom of the third, the Red Sox scored five times to send Manaea to an early shower. Manaea pitched just 2 and 2/3rds of an inning and gave up eight runs and ten hits.The Red Sox scored three more in the bottom of the fifth to take an 11-0 lead. The big blow was a three-run dinger by Travis Shaw over the Monster. The A’s scored four times in the top of the sixth to end Sean Sullivan’s night. The A’s added another run in the seventh, but the Red Sox scored two in their half of the frame. There was no more scoring as the Red Sox won going away 13-5.

Game Notes- There were not too many bright spots for the A’s and manager Bob Melvin. The A’s did manage to score five times and had fifteen hits, but the pitching has to be a major concern. The starters are not going deep into the game, and the bullpen is being heavily taxed. The bullpen leads the league in most innings pitched, and that is not a good sign so early in the season.

The A’s have allowed eleven or more runs in three straight games. The last time that happened was August 9-11 against the New York Yankees in 2001.

The A’s made several roster moves Tuesday. Mark Canha went on the 15-day disabled list with a back strain. He was joined on the DL by pitcher Liam Hendricks, who has a right triceps strain. J.B.Wendelken was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. The A’s recalled infielder Tyler Ladendorf, pitchers  Andrew Triggs and lefty Daniel Coulombe.

Eric Surkamp was also recalled from Nashville, and he will face The Red Sox Wednesday night. Rick Porcello will go for Boston

Tuesday night’s game lasted three hours and two minutes, and 32,167 fans filled the seats at Fenway to see their beloved Bosox down the A’s.

Game time will be at4:10 PM PT

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Preds-Sharks game seven could very well be one for the ages and maybe for overtime too

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AP photo: Nashville Predators center Colin Wilson 33 celebrates with teammates after scoring game winning overtime goal on Monday night beating the San Jose Sharks in game six

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa the Nashville Predators force the Sharks into a game seven after Viktor Arvidsson’s overtime game winning goal to give the Predators a 4-3 victory in Nashville on Monday night. The two clubs get some rest before game seven scheduled on Thursday night at SAP Center in San Jose. Sharks goalie Martin Jones allowed four goals in Monday’s game six but his defense was out of place when those goals found the back of the net.

With the series tied at 3-3 Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer has some concerns to strengthen the defense and to capitalize on the Preds during five on four power plays. DeBoer whose been here before with his old team the New Jersey Devils wants the Sharks to fight out of this one and be done with the second round to advance.

Mary Lisa talks Sharks playoff hockey on the podcast click below for a listen at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Podcast with Joe Lami: Game sevens to decide semi finalist Preds@Sharks; Blues@Stars

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On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe the San Jose Sharks are forced by the Nashville Predators into a seventh and deciding game on Thursday at SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks who took a 3-2 lead going into game six after a game five win 5-1 in San Jose were in another overtime situation in Nashville. With score tied up 3-3 the Predators Viktor Arvidsson scored at 2:03 of the overtime for the winning goal. This time unlike game three when it went into three overtimes the Preds were able to get it done in one overtime.

Joe also takes a look at other Stanley Cup matches St Louis and Dallas in their game seven on Wednesday, Tampa Bay’s 4-1 series win over the NY Islanders, and the Pittsburgh Penguins leading the Washington Caps 3-2 with game six in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

Listen to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Categories NHL

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Opponents taking advantage of A’s bull pen problems

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file photo: A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O the A’s have had a pitcher disaster of a week after getting shelled on Sunday in Baltimore 11-3 and losing by a touchdown 14-7 to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Monday night behind the grand slam of Jackie Bradley Jr. The A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman was lit up on Sunday by the Orioles hitter Manny Machado who hit two home runs and one of them for a grand slam.

A’s pitcher Sonny Gray who has not been throwing in the same way like he did last season is having trouble getting the ball past the hitters was the pitcher of record when Bradley Jr hit his grand slam for the Sox. Gray looks like he might be having arm problems much like his teammates who are either on the 60 DL or just completely off. Gray’s line for Monday against the Sox 3 1/3, eight hits, seven runs all earned, two walks and two strike outs.

Listen to Charlie O’s podcast on the Oakland A’s each week right here at http://www.sportsrsadioservice.com

Curry Drops 40 In Legendary Performance, Warriors Take 3-1 Lead.

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry who led the Warriors in scoring in game four over the Portland Trailblazers is jubilant to be back in the line up

For fans of the Golden State Warriors, watching star point guard Stephen Curry drop 40 points on an opponent is something that could happen on any given night. But last night’s performance from the unanimous MVP of the league carried with it the type of legendary ethos that put’s him in the conversation with the likes of Michael Jordan and other playoff legends.

Returning for the first time since spraining his MCL in Game 4 of the Houston series, Curry was at the forefront of a resurgent effort from the Golden State Warriors, as he would score an NBA-record 17 points in overtime to notch a 132-125 win, giving his squad a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Curry was only supposed to play sparingly, if that, in his first return to action. But a uncharacteristic ejection from guard Shaun Livingston thrust him back into the thick of it in the second half. Curry didn’t disappoint, going on to secure yet another personal record while stomping any notion of momentum from a scrappy Portland team in the series standings.

Golden State trailed for most of the game, taking their first lead late in the third quarter. The two team’s exchanged baskets in a close contest until a late Harrison Barnes triple forced overtime.

From there on, it was the Curry show, as the sharpshooter went to work all over the court to put his first mark on the series. After giving his team the lead with a layup with just over two minutes to go, Curry would come down the court to nail a three from the top of the key, pounding his chest while stating “I’m back” to the Portland crowd.

Portland would be unable to make up the difference, being sent to the fringe of elimination following the loss.

Damian Lillard played big for Portland again, scoring 36 points on 9-for-30 shooting, with five of his buckets coming from behind the arc. Nearly all Portland starters would end up in double-figures besides Maurice Harkless, who finished with 8 points.

The game was a scrappy showcase from both teams who seemed to refuse to quit. But it was yet another notch in Steph Curry’s legendary belt, and showed how dangerous a team the Warriors are on the court with their healthy MVP knocking down buckets.

Should Curry be fully recovered from his knee injury-and by the looks of things last night it appears he is- last night may have been a dagger in Portland’s season.