AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Rich Hill throws at the Seattle Mariners line up in the first inning at Safeco Field on Monday night
The A’s lefty, Rich Hill, became King of the Hill Monday night as the A’s defeated the Seattle Mariners 5-0. Hill and the Mariners’ Tijuan Walker engaged in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel Monday night at Safeco Field in Seattle. The A’s must love playing there as they won their fourth straight there this year. They also snapped the Mariners’ four-game winning streak.
The A’s scored all the runs they would need in the top of the seventh. A’s catcher, Stephen Vogt, homered to put the A’s in the lead 1-0. They scored four unearned runs in the top of the eighth when shortstop Chris Taylor made two errors to open the floodgates.
Hill went eight innings and allowed just eight hits, no walks and had six strikeouts. Hill became the first A’s pitcher to pitch into the seventh inning. Ryan Madson closed out the game for Oakland in the ninth.
Hill’s record for the year is 7-3. Walker drops to 2-4. Game two of the series will be played Tuesday night at 7:05 PM at Safeco field in Seattle.
Cast: Jerry Feitelberg (host), Jeremy Harness (SF Giants reporter), Joe Lami (NHL analyst), Mary Lisa Walsh (SJ Sharks reporter), Len Shapiro (NHL analyst) and Lee Leonard (producer). Podcasting from the beautiful Le Colonial Vietnamese-French Restaurant at 20 Cosmo Place downtown San Francisco our thanks to our hosts Nur Zayed, Chef Jean Paul, Server Kevin and the very talented and wonderful staff at Le Colonial.
When visiting Le Colonial please try our favorite dishes that the cast enjoyed Appetizers: Goi Cuon, fresh spring rolls, Cha Gio Tom Cua Crispy rolls with Dungeness Crab, Goi Du Du Tom Nuong Green papaya (a Jerry favorite), Suon Nuong, Hoisin & passion fruit glazed baby back ribs
Main Courses: Ga Chien Xa Roasted Lemongrass Chicken, Thit Heo Nau Cot Dua, Coconut milk braised pork shoulder, Ca Hap Nuoc Cot Dua Coconut poached Alaskan Halibut.
side dishes: Xu Bruxelles Crispy sweet Chili-glazed brussel sprouts and Com Chien Le Colonial Wok fried Jasmine rice with bay shrimp.
On the Sports headlines discussions on the San Jose Sharks Stanley Cup Playoff in St Louis as the Sharks dominated the Blues in a three goal win 6-3 Monday night. The Sharks and Blues are headed back to San Jose for game six of these playoffs a win by the Sharks brings the Stanley Cup Finals to San Jose for the very first time. A win by the St Louis Blues forces a game seven back to St Louis. A crucial game for a pair of very intense hockey teams part of the Sportstalk discussion click below to hear it all.
~ In another 6-3 game, San Jose came out on top over the Saint Louis Blues in Game 5 Monday, with one win separating the Sharks from the Stanley Cup Finals.
Captain Joe Pavelski nabbed the game winner with another early third period goal. 16 seconds into the third, he helped San Jose scored consecutive goals for the first time in the game as Pavelski gave the Sharks back their first lead since the first. Pavelski won the faceoff and the puck went to Joe Thornton. Thornton then passed to Brent Burns who shot. Hertl chased the rebound and returned the puck along the boards. Burns’ shot again and Pavelski deflected the 4-3 puck past goalie Jake Allen.
The last time Pavelski scored two goals, he also had the game winning goal. Thornton, with a season-high three assists, had his first three point night since February 29.
The game featured the first three goal period of the series and it happened two more times.
In the first, San Jose scored the first goal but the Blues scored two to take the lead.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored his first goal of the playoffs, aided by Pavelski and Thornton at 3:51.
Saint Louis got their first goal to tie the game at 7:04. After a battle along the boards, Patrik Berglund eventually got the puck. He shot at net and David Backes’ shot after was blocked by Roman Polak. Jaden Schwartz then took the rebound to score.
Troy Brouwer made it 2-1 at 15:08, batting in Paul Stastny’s shot and helped by Alexander Steen.
Burns and Logan Couture were the only ones with multiple shots in the first period.
The second period featured three power play goals, two of them from fights. Each team’s rougher ended up conceding a goal during the ensuing power play.
At 4:37, the Sharks capitalized on the first man advantage. Paul Martin passed to Vlasic who hit the post with a shot from the left. The puck then bounced to the right where Joel Ward put the puck in the net to re-tie the game. It was San Jose’s first power play since Burns’ second in Game 2.
Two slot goals followed.
The Blues got their second lead at 11:58. Rookie Robby Fabbri’s shot, primarily assisted by rookie Colton Parayko, slid underneath goalie Martin Jones. Alex Pietrangelo also aided.
Pavelski then tied the game at 3-3 with his first goal of the night. He initially had a shot blocked by Pietrangelo. Leading up to Pavelski’s second attempt, Couture fished the puck from the boards and passed it to Thornton who fed Pavelski at 18:33.
The Sharks’ fifth and sixth goals came via empty net.
After Chris Tierney worked Pietrangelo and stole the puck from him, Tierney took a hit from Backes. The loose puck went to Thornton who lured Saint Louis away from the net. He then passed back to Tierney behind the net and Tierney stuck the puck into the net just in time. The goal at 19:06 was his second goal in as many games.
Ward got his second of the night unassisted at 19:27.
Game notes: Game 6 is Wednesday at 5pm at SAP Center.
AP photo: San Francisco Giants congratulations all around as they get a 1-0 shutout against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at AT&T Park
On the Giants podcast with Morris the Chicago Cubs whom the Giants just finished a three game series with wining two games to one. The Cubs really propelled itself last season by sweeping the Giants in Chicago and it really got the Cubs to where they able to gain the type of confidence they need to take into the post season.
The Cubs have turned out to be the main team to worry about in the National League and the Giants showed in this past series that they could get ready for them. For Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner he’s on track and this is his sixth win of the year. He can obviously help himself with some hitting and he got an RBI that helped his cause in the 1-0 win on Sunday night.
AP photo: Stephen Vogt belts an RBI double to left field as the New York Brian McCann watches in the sixth at the Oakland Coliseum
On the A’s podcast with Jerry, A’s pitcher Sonny Gray who was diagnosed with a quad trapezia and the trapezia is a large muscle up on your shoulder where your shoulder blade hangs out. When you throw a pitch your moving your trapezia and if there is something not going right in there it can really throw your motion off.
A person or player who has a sore shoulder and tries moving it around and tries to get the right position and this could very well be happening to Gray. The A’s say Gray’s velocity was okay the big problem they had with Gray was he wasn’t able to locate his pitches where he wants them to be.
Jerry discusses Sonny Gray and a whole lot more concerning the A’s on the podcast below and each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
After the Warriors 27 point blow out win in game 2, the momentum seemed to be in there in Golden State’s favor.
But the Oklahoma City Thunder made it seem like that game was in the very far past.
While the first quarter was close, OKC broke things open in the second quarter thanks to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The big key for the Thunder in the game was that they were able to get to the free throw line and get easy points. In the second quarter alone, the Thunder went 17 of 18 from the charity stripe.
As everything went right for the Thunder, everything went abysmal for the Warriors who shot 22.6% from the field in the second quarter. Golden State also only made two three pointers in the quarter.
At the half, the Thunder led 72-45 and the third quarter was no different. Golden State showed a little more offensive life, but were still outscored by their opponent. The Thunder took their biggest lead in the game in the third quarter, going up by 41 points at one point in the game.
Golden State scored more than OKC in the fourth quarter, but it was a very lost cause. Oklahoma City blew out the defending world champs in dominate fashion. Durant and Westbrook both had huge games and the Thunder shot 50% from the field for the game.
Westbrook neared a triple double with 30 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. Durant scored a game high 33 points and eight assists while going 10-15 from the field. The two All Stars played really well and collectively as a whole the Thunder played well.
Steph Curry had a team high for the Warriors with 24 points and Klay Thompson added 18. The Warriors just looked flat and were completely outplayed.
Draymond Green was not a factor in the game at all, which played a role in why the Warriors did poorly. Green also picked up a flagrant one foul after kicking Steven Adams in the groin, which he claims was inadvertent.
Whether it was or not, my guess is that Green will not pick up a suspension for the foul. In the end, the Thunder defeated Golden State, 133-105. OKC’s blowout victory was a point more than the Warriors game two win. After everybody thought the Warriors would have the momentum, Oklahoma City struck right back.
Can Durant and Westbrook continue their incredible play? With the Warriors down two games to one in the series, they will look to try to even the series on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on TNT.
AP photo: San Francisco Giant pitcher Madison Bumgarner throws in the second inning on his way to a shutout against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at AT&T Park
SAN FRANCISCO-Madison Bumgarner did it all by himself in the series finale against the Chicago Cubs.
Bumgarner drove in the only run of the game on a double that scored Gregor Blanco from first base in the bottom of the fourth inning, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Cubs 1-0 before 41,359, the 432nd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.
The duo of Matt Cain and Bumgarner became the first Giants pitchers since May 29 and 30, 1978 to drive in the game-winning runs in back-to-back games. Ed Halicki singled in the game-winning run on May 29, and then Bob Knepper turned the trick with a sacrifice fly on May 30, this according to STATS, INC.
Not only did Bumgarner drive in the only run for the Giants, but his outing on the mound was solid. Things did not begin well for Bumgarner, as he threw 28 pitches in the first inning alone and the Cubs loaded the bases; however Bumgarner got out of the jam, when struck out Addison Russell looking to end the inning.
This was the first time in Bumgarner’s career that he won a game with just one run of support, as the Giants are now 2-27 in such games with Bumgarner on the mound. This was the first time that the Giants won a game with just one run of support for Bumgarner since July 1, 2011 against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
Bumgarner is the second pitcher this season to drive in the only run of the game and come out with the win, the other pitcher is Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After that first inning, where he hit a batter, gave up a base hit and walked a batter, the 26-year old left-hander gave up only two hits until he was replaced by Cory Gearrin with two outs in the top of the eighth inning.
Gearrin threw one pitch to Kris Bryant, and the reigning National League Rookie of the Year lined out to Brandon Crawford at shortstop.
Just prior to Bryant lining out to Crawford to end the inning, Anthony Rizzo walked and that was the end of the night for Bumgarner.
In all, Bumgarner went 7.2 innings, allowing only three hits, walked two and struck out six in raising his record to 6-2 on the season.
Matt Szczur broke a streak of where Bumgarner retired 16 consecutive batters, when the right fielder singled with two outs in the top of the seventh inning; however Bumgarner regrouped and struck out David Ross to end the threat and the inning.
Blanco walked to leadoff the inning where the Giants scored their only run of the game on the Bumgarner double.
Despite being on the short end of the 1-0 loss to the Giants, Kyle Hendricks pitched a great game for the Cubs, as he went 5.1 innings, allowing just that one run on just three hits, while walking three and striking out one.
Santiago Casilla came on in the top of the ninth inning, and retired the Cubs in order to pickup his 12th save of the season.
This was the third time this season that Cubs have been shutout, as it also happened on April 17 versus the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field and on May 11 against the San Diego Padres also at Wrigley Field.
As for the Giants, this was the second time this season that they have thrown a shutout, as they also shutout the San Diego Padres 1-0 on April 26, as Johnny Cueto threw a complete game, the first of two against the Padres.
CARSON– Late goals in the California Clasico highlighted the already intense competition between San Jose and the Los Angeles Galaxy in a 1-1 draw.
It was the largest crowd of the year at the StubHub Center, a 27,167 standing-room-only sellout.
As Thuc Nhi Nguyen mentioned, another Sebastian Lletget cross turned into an own goal, after a deflection by Marvell Wynne in the 83rd minute.
The own goal came after a flurry of shots against goalie David Bingham, several handled directly by him. Robbie Keane had a breakaway in the 78th minute and Giovani dos Santos followed with another breakaway in the same minute. Robbie Rogers also missed with a close chance in the 81th minute.
For the second goal, Shea Salinas put the ball towards the net from the right side. Goalie Brian Rowe was able to get a hand on it and Chad Barrett got to the ball after it landed on the grass on the left side. Barrett hung on to the ball, was blocked, played with his defender and then sent the ball in from the left side. Fatai Alashe finished with an equalizing header past Row in the 87th minute.
It was the fewest goals for Los Angeles since April 2.
Bingham was called on to make three saves in his 50th start for the team.
The Earthquakes had the majority of the possession in the first half, even in the early minutes, including a sequence for a while, that involved two corner kicks by Matias Perez Garcia leading up to the 9th minute.
Then Keane bounced a header wide in the 10th minute, during the Galaxy’s next opportunity.
Alashe had San Jose’s first shot in the 11th minute and forced Rowe to make his first save.
Rowe made his second save when the Earthquakes’ Chris Wondolowski made a shot from right outside the goal box after a collision with his defender caused him to go parallel in the 14th minute.
San Jose’s Shaun Francis had a nice takeaway from Mike Magee in the 20th minute.
The Earthquakes’ Alberto Quintero & Rogers made contact twice in a row in the 22nd & 23rd minutes. The second one ended with the game’s only yellow card to Quintero.
San Jose’s Victor Bernardez left the field temporarily after a kick in the face by Jelle Van Damme in the 24th minute.
Van Damme was able to avoid a yellow when he tripped Simon Dawkins outside the box in the 34th minute, resulting in a free kick.
In the 38th minute, Wondolowski with Daniel Steres behind him, hit the crossbar kicking from a left corner angle.
The last attempts in the first half came in stoppage time. Bingham made his first save when dos Santos shot at 45:24 and Wondolowski shot in the 46th minute.
Keane was the only one with multiple shot attempts for Los Angeles in the first half. Alashe, Perez Garcia and Dawkins all had two shots apiece. Wondolowski led all with three.
In the first half, the Earthquakes had more passes, passing accuracy and possession with the Galaxy winning duels. In the second half, it was the opposite.
There were several upsetting challenges on both sides.
Los Angeles had its own missed opportunity off the crossbar when dos Santos’ shot bounced off in the 72nd minute. Giovani had a crossbar shot
San Jose’s Cordell Cato came on for his first MLS action of the year in the 77th minute. After being injured in the preseason, Cato played in the Earthquakes’ previous friendly game against La Liga Side Real Sociedad. Game notes: The Galaxy now have a nine-game unbeaten streak and San Jose now three. Los Angeles’ is now 3-0-3 versus the Quakes at Stubhub since the 2012 playoffs. The Galaxy’s Nigel de Jong returned to play 88 minutes. Teammate Alan Gordon came in during the 90th minute. San Jose next plays FC Dallas Saturday at 7:30pm.
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher John Axford Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
By Charlie O. Mallonee
OAKLAND–The New York Yankees downed the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Sunday at the Coliseum in Oakland. It was a painful loss on three fronts.
First, the loss gave the Yankees a four-game sweep over the A’s in the series. The last time the Athletics were swept in a four-game series at home was in April of 1999. After sweeping the Texas Rangers in three games to begin the home stand, the A’s could have never imagined closing it out 0-4 against a team they swept in New York earlier in the season.
Second, the A’s are not being able to take advantage of their home field environment. Oakland’s record is now just 8-15 at home while they are 11-11 on the road. That is really quite extraordinary as most teams fare much better in home stadiums before fan friendly crowds. For some unknown reason that is not happening for the Athletics at this point in time.
Third, it was another one-run loss. All losses are frustrating, but the one-run loss games just seem to come back to haunt a team because they are contests that could have been won if one thing had gone differently in the game. The A’s are 6-7 in one-run games this season.
On Sunday, the A’s took the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Billy Burns was able to steal second and third base and then score on a Stephen Vogt ground out. It looked like things might be going to go the A’s way in the game.
The Yankees scored single runs in the second and third innings off solo home runs from Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury. The crowd became nervous as New York took the 2-1 lead.
Oakland came back to score to two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Stephen Vogt hit a double to left field that scored Jake Smolinski and Billy Burns. The crowd came to life with the A’s back in the lead 3-2.
The Yankees served notice that they were not going to go down easily by putting together a four-hit two-run inning in the top of the sixth to retake the lead 4-3.
The Yankees put the dagger into the A’s in the top of the seventh inning. With two and runner at first, Carlos Beltran hit a double down the left field line that allowed the Aaron Hicks to score from first giving New York a 5-3 lead.
The A’s did make it interesting by scoring a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, but it ultimately was too little too late and the Yankees won the game 5-4.
In the batter’s box
Carlos Beltran went 2-for-4, scored a run, had a double and a RBI for the Yankees. He has now hit safely in five straight games (10-for-22, .455).
Jacoby Ellsbury had a 1-for-4 day that featured a home run. He is hitting .310 over his last 24 games.
Mark Teixeira snapped an 0-for-19 hitless streak with an RBI single in the sixth inning
Billy Burns had a big day for the A’s scoring three runs to go with two stolen bases. He went 2-for-4 for the game.
Coco Crisp hit a double and that extends his hitting streak to six games.
Stephen Vogt had a big day going just 1-for-4 but he had three RBI in the game. Two of those RBI came off a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth.
On the hill
The Yankees put together a strong pitching performance on Sunday against the A’s. Starter Michael Pineda (2-5) picked up his second win of the season working six strong innings. Pineda gave up three runs (all earned) on six hits while striking out six batters and walking just one.
Pineda working six innings allowed the Yankees to then go to their three-headed bullpen monster of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. Miller did give up a run but it was unearned as it was created by an error. Chapman picked up his sixth save of the season and threw a number of pitches in excess of 100 mph.
Jesse Hahn did not have a bad start for the A’s. He went 5.2 innings giving up four runs (all earned) on six hits. He struck out three and walked none, but he did give up two home runs.
John Axford was asked to come in and get Hahn out of trouble in the sixth was not able to make it happen. The bullpen cannot save the day every time.
Daniel Coulombe who was just called up from Nashville worked the final two innings of the game. He did not give up a hit or a run. Coulombe struck out two and walked none.
The Disabled List continues to grow
The Athletics announced on Sunday that Sonny Gray has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right trapezius. The A’s now have 13 players on the DL which is the most in the Major Leagues.
Gray had been struggling through a very tough beginning to his 2016 season. His record stands at 3-5 with a 6.19 ERA in nine starts.
This is the first time Gray has been on the disabled list in his career.
Left-hander Daniel Coulombe was brought up from Triple-A Nashville to replace Gray on the Major League roster.
This is Coulombe’s second time up with the big club this season. He faced the Red Sox on May 10 giving up three runs (all earned) in two innings of work. Coulombe had a 0.56 ERA in 13 appearances for Nashville.
Up next
The A’s travel to Seattle for a three-game series with the Mariners. The Mariners are coming off a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds and have won four games in a row. Seattle has sole possession of first place in the American League West.
The pitching probables are:
Mon 5/23 LHP Rich Hill (6-3, 2.54) vs RHP Taijuan Walker (2-3, 2.95)
AP photo: Exaggerator and jockey Ken Desmoneaux ride at the 141st Preakness at Pimlico Race Pimlico Race Course
For those of hoping for the second coming of American Pharoah in 2016 will be disappointed after Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist placed third behind Exaggerator and Cherry Wine in the 2016 Preakness. It seems the Triple Crown drought is back on, at least for one year. The race was tight throughout, but in the end Exaggerator had more left in the tank coming down the stretch.
J Paul Reddam, the principal owner of Nyquist also had a horse contend for the Triple Crown in 2012. The horse by the name of “I’ll Have Another” won both the Derby and Preakness Stakes, but a swollen leg on the day of the Belmont kept “I’ll Have Another” out of the race.
The Belmont Stakes on June 11th is set to be an underwhelming affair. For the past three years, the Triple Crown has been up for grabs. With all the excitment over the Triple Crown drought ending last year, there was hope that Nyquist would be able to carry the torch this year. It remains unclear how much attention the Belmont Stakes will bring in. Especially from the causal fan.
London Marq is a talk show host for Sports Talk radio at http://www.sportsradioservice.com and does a talk show at KWDC 93.5 FM Stockton
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