Month: May 2016

Khris Davis hits a walkoff Grand Slam to send the Rangers down to defeat.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Oakland A’s Khris Davis goes yard for a walk off grand slam as shown in this follow through swing to defeat the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday night

OAKLAND–The A’s and Texas Rangers played a very entertaining game Tuesday night at the Coliseum.The A’s won in a walk off 8-5. The A’s starter Jesse Hahn gave the A’s a quality start as he went six and 2/3rds innings allowing three runs and ten hits. He had trouble in the fourth as he gave up solo homers to the first two batters he faced. The Rangers scored another run in the inning. He left the game with the game tied at three. The Rangers starter Cole Hamels also went six and 2/3rds innings but he was on the hook for the loss if the A’s could hold the Rangers. They couldn’t as the Rangers rallied for two in the top of the ninth with two out . The A’s refused to quit and they won when Kris Davis hit his third home run of the game with the bases loaded to send the fans home happy and the A’s also put a big smile on manager Bob Melvin’s face with the come-from-behind win.

The A’s jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. The A’s third baseman Danny Valencia, a very hot hitter who hit five home runs last week after a stint on the DL, blasted his sixth dinger of the year into the bleachers above the 367-foot mark. The next hitter-left fielder Khris Davis, hit the first pitch he saw from Cole Hamels and sent it into the bleachers above the 367-foot mark. A’s in the lead 2-0.

The Rangers, just as the A’s did in the bottom of the second, started the top of the fourth with back-to-back solo home runs. Right fielder Nomar Mazara , leading off, hit a 2-0 pitch over the fence in right-centerfield. Future Hall-of-Fame player, Adrian Beltre tied the game  with his seventh home run of the year. Texas scored another run with singles by Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland, and catcher Bobby Wilson. Texas leads 3-2 in the middle of the fourth.

Khris Davis launched his second bomb of the night in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at three apiece.  The ball went over just to the left of the 398-foot marker in left center field. For Davis, it was his second two-homer game of the year and eighth of his career. The A’s broke the tie in the seventh. Catcher Matt McBride struck out but reached first on a passed ball. Coco tried to bunt him over to second but the sacrifice failed. Reddick singled to put men on at first and second with two out. The A’s hottest hitter, Danny Valencia, did it again as he singled to drive in Crisp with the fourth run of the game.

The Rangersscored twice in the top of the ninth to regain the lead. A’s closer Ryan Madson retired the first two batters. Ranger second baseman, the infamous Rougned Odor singled. Ian Desmond homered to put Texas in the lead 5-4. It was the first blown save of the year for Madson. Madson had been 11 for 11 in save opportunities but that streak is now over.

The A’s rallied in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 8-5. Stephen Vogt, pinch-hiting for Matt McBride, reached on an infield single. Coco Crisp doubled down the righ field line to put men on at second and third with no out. Rangers’ closer Shawn Tolleson retired Billy Burns for the first out. The Rangers walked Josh Reddick to load the bases. Tolleson got Danny Valencia to fly out to short right field. Vogt could not tag and score to tie the game. The next hitter was Khris Davis. Davis had a feast or famine night. He had two home runs and two strikeouts. Tonight was Khris’s night. David took Tolleson deep for a walk off Grand Slam. Davis had the first three-homer game of his career. The team jumped onto the field to give him a huge welcome when he crossed the plate.

GameNotes- The A’s improved to 18-22 and have won four of their last five games. The Rangers drop to 22-18 for the season. It was 76 degrees at the start of the game and the ball was flying. The A’s had four homers. Three were hit Davis and one by Valencia. The Rangers hit three out of the park. Very rare to have that many home runs hit at the Coliseum at night.

Ryan Madson, who blew the save, was the winning pitcher. Shawn Tolleson took the loss for Texas.

Update on Mark Canha. The A’s outfielder-first baseman saw a doctor in Vail, Colorado and he will have season-ending surgery to correct a hip injury. The recovery time is six months.

Lefty Rich Hill (5-3, 2.68) will pitch for Oakland and lefty Martin Perez(1-3, 3.23) will go for Texas. Time of ame was two hours and thirty-five minutes and 12,718 fans saw a terrific ball game. Game time will be Wednesday afternoon at 12:35.

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s looking to have better homestand then last road trip

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AP photo: Oakland A’s Khris Davis covered in pie gets the bubble gum treatment from Yonder Alonso after Davis’ walk off grand slam in the ninth inning on Tuesday night at the Coliseum

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O the Oakland A’s ended up with a relatively decent record from the last road trip they finished that road trip that took them to Baltimore, Boston and Tampa Bay 3-6. They started off going 1-2 in Baltimore they won the first game then lost the last two games. Then they went to Boston and Boston was just a disaster, they lost those three games 14-7, 13-5, and 13-3.

It could be said that Boston had gone on a tear and they set a record scoring 73 runs that homestand and that was a Fenway record for the Sox for a homestand. The record for a one, two and three homestand all set by Boston all set at Fenway Park. Do you see a pattern there? It’s not an unusual situation for a lot of runs to be scored at Fenway Park.

Charlie has all your Oakland A’s news for the week click below to listen right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks put game one out of their memory going for game two in St Louis

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photo by bayareanewsgroup.com: San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski tries to put one past the St Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott last Sun May 15th at the Kiel Center

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa the Sharks didn’t play very well in the first round in game six in Nashville but played extremely well in game seven for a 5-0 win to move onto the second round against St Louis. Logan Couture’s response after the game six loss to Nashville was that the Sharks just had a bad game and that’s the same thing going on with the Sharks 2-1 loss in St Louis in game one.

In game one they just didn’t haven’t together the fact that they did have a good second period and it was a bad game and if you remember back to the first game of the Nashville series that was more kind of a predictable outcome where games were a little bit quite for them in the first period. It was like the two teams were feeling each other out. So this first game against St Louis didn’t do that with the Sharks being a little bit too careful.

Mary Lisa has a lot more on the Sharks playoffs podcast join her below and each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News, and Commentary: Halos welcome Lincecum to a much needed starting rotation

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USA Today photo: One thing former Giants pitcher Tim Lincecun won’t have to worry about pitching for the Angels is swinging a bat in every game

On That’s Amaury’s Podcast former San Francisco Giants pitcher and two time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum will be a much needed addition to the Los Angles Angels pitching rotation. Lincecum is someone that Angels manager Mike Scioscia would welcome to a hurting starting rotation in Anaheim. Lincecum who had many offers made it clear through his agent that he wanted to start. The Giants his former team came calling but didn’t want to sign Lincecum as a starter but as a reliever.

Other big league clubs didn’t want to sign Lincecum to a Major League contract but sign him first to a minor league contract and see how he progresses from there. With the Angels Lincecum gets to start, sign with the big club, and gets a chance to stay on the west coast which he prefers anyways.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the TV Spanish voice for the Angels, the radio Spanish voice for the A’s and does podcast commentaries each week at http://www.sportsradioserivce.com

Categories MLB

Everything OK with the Giants? A closer look at the Bochy-Casilla flareup

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Giants wait

By Morris Phillips

Looking for a statistical category that shows the NL West-leading Giants on top of the heap?

Well, after 40 ballgames, and nearly 25 percent of the season completed, there was just one heading into Monday’s off day—innings played.

And what conclusion can be drawn from that statistic? That after playing 17 games in 17 days—and winning the last five–this group’s enjoying a much-needed day of rest.

As for the remaining 122 games in the 2016 regular season, the Giants might want to give this directive a shot: work smarter and make things easier.

In beating the Diamondbacks in Phoenix four straight over the weekend, the Giants did something they hadn’t done in more than a century. They swept a four game series on the road while scoring just 14 runs, the fewest they’ve scored in such a road sweep since 1910.   This is a team leading a torturous existence, and that constant tension caused by repeated close games seemed to spilled over on Thursday when closer Santiago Casilla voiced his displeasure with how manager Bruce Bochy removed him from a save situation with the bases loaded, two outs, and the Giants clinging to a 4-2 lead.

“He didn’t want to come out,” Bochy said of Casilla storming off the mound angrily, prompting Bochy to call Casilla back in attempt to get the reliever to change his attitude. “You want these guys not to want to come out, but he got a little too emotional.”

“The reason I got upset was because he took me out of the game where I thought he had confidence in me,” Casilla said through an interpreter.

Casilla went on to say that he deserved an explanation for the rare move of removing a closer just one out from the potential conclusion of the game. Instead, Casilla said, Bochy took the ball and said nothing.

The incident was hashed over in private the next day, and Casilla was summoned to get the final two outs in the Giants 3-1 win on Friday. Casilla apologized publicly, and Bochy stated the incident was brushed over, but the manager took heat for his actions from the media, just as did his closer for his hot-headed departure.

ESPN’s Dan LeBatard reacted emotionally on his radio show, saying rather harshly that Bochy treated his player like a dog, not an adult. LeBatard especially was displeased that Bochy called Casilla back to the mound in an attempt to get the closer to immediately change his attitude, saying that Bochy should have admonished Casilla in private after the game, not on the field in front of the cameras and the assembled crowd.

Casilla’s thoughts were similar to LeBatard’s as he also said after that game, “Don’t just take the ball and say nothing. It is not a kid. It is a man on the mound.”

Did the incident speak of a bigger issue within the team’s clubhouse, perhaps a ball club divided? Probably not, given the team’s past harmony and all of the familiar, long time faces on the coaching staff and the roster that have plenty of time to adjust to each other’s personalities and idiosyncrasies.

But the incident surely points to this: close ballgames take a toll on a team, especially at the rate the Giants play them. Twenty-one of the team’s 40 games thus far have been decided by one or two runs, and five games have gone into extra innings. All five of the team’s wins on their current streak fit into one or both of those categories.

Call it Torture 2016.

On Tuesday, Madison Bumgarner takes the ball in the opener of a three-game series in San Diego. He’ll be opposed by the Padres’ Colin Rea, a pitcher who has shown marked improvement since he was lifted in the fourth inning of his first start of the season on April 8. In that one, Rea allowed six hits, four walks and five runs in a game the Padres rebounded to win 13-6 over the Rockies. Since then, Rea has thrown at least five innings in all six starts, including an eight-inning effort against the Mets in which he picked up the win, allowing one run, three hits.

 

 

 

The Thunder stuns the Dubs in Game One; Adams apologizes for calling Warriors Guards “quick little monkeys”

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by Jerry Feitelberg

photo espn.com: OKC Thunder’s Steven Adams stops for a post game interview following the Thunders’ defeat of Golden State at Oracle Arena

In a post game interview following the victory over the Golden State Warriors the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steven Adams who is from New Zealand said that the Warrior guards are “quick little monkeys” when word of this spread and there was some complaint to outrage. Adams quickly apologized saying “It was a poor choice of words mate, I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know it was going to offend anyone but I’m truly sorry. It was a poor choice of words. I was trying to describe how difficult it was chasing those guys around.” said Adams

The OKC Thunder stunned the Golden State Warriors 108-102 in Game One of the Western Conference Finals. The Dubs had a fourteen-point lead in the third quarter, but OKC shut down the Dubs offense to win. The Warriors have to win Game Two as game three and fours will be played in Oklahoma City. As it stands now, the Thunder owns home court advantage even if the Dubs win game two.

The Warriors won the first half. They were able to contain Russell Westbrook to three points for the first twenty-nine minutes of the game. The Dubs led 27-21 after the first quarter and 60-47. The taller Thunder erased the lead in the third quarter. The Thunder, the best rebounding team in the NBA, used their big men to control the boards. They also shut down the Warrior offense in the fourth quarter by holding them to just fourteen points. The Thunder outscored the Warriors 61-42 in the second half.

The story of the game can be shown in the production of the big men. The Thunder’s centers, Steve Adams, and Enes Kanter combined to score 24 points and had 18 rebounds. Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, and Mo Speights combined for four points and six rebounds. Bogut did not score at all. He was questionable before the game as he had a groin injury. Hopefully, he will be at full strength Wednesday night.

Steph scored twenty-six. Klay added twenty-five and Draymond had twenty-three. The Thunder’s big three were Kevin Durant with twenty-six, Russell Westbrook had twenty-seven and Steve Adams knocked down sixteen.

Game two of the series will be Wednesday night at the Oracle Arena at 6 PM PT. There is no question that the game is a MUST win for Golden State.

Changed Manaea Shuts Down Rangers, Earns First Win

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By Ben Leonard

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legendsondeck.com file photo: Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea got his first MLB victory game against the Texas Rangers Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum
OAKLAND, Calif. — Sitting in the clubhouse after a disheartening outing against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, Sean Manaea knew he couldn’t rest on his laurels, or lack thereof.

After getting just eight outs, he had to hit the showers, staring down an 8-0 deficit and potentially watching his spot in the A’s rotation slip away. With Jesse Hahn or Henderson Alvarez coming back from the disabled list soon, things had to change. A 2013 first round pick and the key piece in the Ben Zobrist deal, Manaea probably had never been rocked at any level like he did in his first three career starts, giving up 16 runs in 12.2 innings. 

Baseball is a brutal game — one week, you’re the hottest thing since sliced bread, and the next, you’re thrown out in the dumpster. To stay in, you have to adapt — or suffer the consequence. Boy, did he change. 

Armed with a new hair cut, a new changeup and a newly beaming smile, Manaea threw 6.2 brilliant innings of four-hit, one run ball to guide the A’s to a 3-1 win over the Rangers, the first of his career. 

First, he took a trip to a hair stylist in Tampa and sheared the “annoying” flowing afro he once rocked — he was happy to get rid of it. “The first three starts didn’t go as well as I wanted to,” Manaea said Monday. “And as a team we were just struggling, so it was time for a change.”

Manaea’s clean fade took Melvin aback when he first saw it. “It took me back for a second, and I think everybody went from whatever you call that to the clean cut young man,” Melvin said. “It took you a minute to focus and realize what happened. that’s a lot of hair that he cut off — he probably lost a few pounds.”

But Manaea’s changes weren’t just superficial — he completely changed his focus and repertoire. He brought back an old changeup, with a grip he hadn’t used since college. The Royals told Manaea to drop the comfortable grip that his roommate had showed him at Indiana State, and it never felt natural. He made the switch in the bullpen before his second start in Baltimore, and used it against Boston for the first time — the first time since college a changeup felt good coming out of his hand.

The reason it didn’t work against Boston: he “pretty much threw everything right down the middle.” Not quite a recipe for success, unless you’re in Little League. Monday against Texas, Manaea threw a 55-pitch bullpen instead of his customary 35. “I just really tried to harp on locating my fastball,” Manaea said. “[I would throw] 2 inside, 2 outside, 2 inside 2 outside. That was the biggest thing for me, locating my fastball instead of throwing it right down the middle.”

Rangers’ hitters felt the effects — they mustered just four hits and one walk against the left-hander, managing only a sacrifice fly in the seventh. “It’s a dream come true,” Manaea said, hardly able to control his huge smile. “I’m really glad that I got to do it at home, but it’s just an awesome feeling.”

He started pounding his fastball early and often, giving him a huge confidence boost to get him going. “I was able to throw my changeup off the bat, and I was able to inside on guys and get broken bats and quick outs,” Manaea said. “It just made my changeup that much better. They’re looking for the inside fastball, and then I throw the changeup.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin lauded Manaea’s ability to bounce back after such a difficult outing in Bean Town. For Melvin, his outing was a huge boost “not only for us, but for himself. He came off a pretty tough outing for someone who’s never experienced something like that in Boston. You see what they’re made of the next time around. This is a good lineup, and they’re playing pretty well. To do what he did and hold them to one run is a pretty tall order. It was impressive…As far as his stuff went and his command throwing the ball, it was by far his best.”

Manaea wouldn’t have been able to earn his first career “W” without the help of his offense. Rangers’ starter Derek Holland did his best to limit the A’s to three hits in six frame, but let the A’s scratch and claw their way to two decisive runs in the fourth.

Billy Burns was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Josh Reddick reached on a bloop single, and Danny Valencia walked to load the bases. A Khris Davis sacrifice fly and a Billy Butler single later, the A’s and Manaea would have all they needed to win — a 2-0 lead.  Marcus Semien added an insurance run in the seventh with a booming solo shot to center field against reliever Luke Jackson, giving Oakland a 3-1 lead.

What’s a 24-year-old rookie like Manaea going to do to celebrate before going to bed? Get Ben and Jerry’s in his hotel and watch Game of Thrones, of course.

 

 

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s Valencia had Mickey Mantle like game on Sunday

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AP photo: Oakland A’s Danny Valencia gets congratulated by the A’s Billy Butler after hitting his third home run of the game against the Tampa Bay as the Rays catcher Curt Casali waits for the celebration to end

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F the A’s Danny Valencia swung the bats on Sunday like he was teleporting ex Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle. Valencia clobbered three homers in Tampa Bay hitting a solo shot in the first, a two run shot in the fifth, and another solo shot in the ninth. Valencia’s three homers ties a franchise record for most home runs by a player in a game.

The A’s are schedule to host the Texas Rangers for three games starting Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum and they look to get sure fire help from starter Sean Manaea who suffered a rough loss to the Red Sox on the last road trip at Fenway Park. The A’s and the Rangers will be throwing all lefthanders in this set the first time in A’s history that they were involved in a series where all pitchers from both sides were southpaw starters.

Jerry Feitelberg is an Oakland A’s beat writer and does the A’s podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants sigh of relief sweep of D-Backs and Cain is back on track

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AP photo: San Francisco Giants Hunter Pence slides into home plate on an RBI double by teammate Brandon Crawford in the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday

On the Giants podcast with Morris the Giants catcher Trevor Brown has been a God send for San Francisco Brown allows starting catcher Buster Posey to get some breaks and rest from behind the plate. None was any different on Sunday night at Chase Field when Buster sat down and Brown who is hitting .261 got a hit and a run in a game that was made up by a one run difference. The Giants who were off on Monday are in San Diego Tuesday night and are coming off a three game road trip.

The Giants Matt Cain helped in the success of the Giants sweep on Sunday pitching his second straight effective game. Cain didn’t get the win but went seven innings, seven hits, one run, five strikeouts, and Giants manager Bruce Bochy is relieved that Cain looks like he’s got his old self back.

Morris Phillips covers Giants baseball and does the Giants podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Game Notes: Manaea Looks to Make Strides Versus Rangers

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By Ben Leonard

file photo: A’s starter Sean Manaea

OAKLAND– Sean Manaea isn’t used to getting knocked around. The A’s second-best prospect dominated hitters the while playing at Indiana State and through the minor leagues, but has gotten a rude awakening in the majors.

He’ll need to step it up on Monday if he wants to stay on the roster when Henderson Alvarez and Jesse Hahn return from the disabled list, having given up 20 runs in just 17.2 innings with Oakland.

The A’s expected more out of the 2013 first-rounder, who mowed down minor league competition to the tune of a 2.82 ERA in 214 innings, striking out an eye-popping 257 strikeouts. He made just three starts for Triple-A Nashville before being called up to Oakland on April 29th, going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA. The A’s acquired Manaea as the centerpiece of the deal that sent utility player Ben Zobrist to the Kansas City Royals.

Manaea hasn’t been the only A’s starter that has struggled to be effective and go deep into games this season. Oakland is the only MLB team this season who hasn’t had a starter go more than seven innings in a start, and four of the A’s last seven starters have gone fewer than four innings.

He’ll look to get the A’s off to a good start on a long stretch of home games — Oakland will play 13 of their next 16 contests from the friendly confines of the Oakland Coliseum. Prior to taking 2 out of 3 from the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, Oakland had dropped five straight games, and is just 3-10 in May.

He’ll face Rangers’ left-hander Derek Holland (3-2, 6.09), who despite his struggles this season, is 5-4 with a 3.26 ERA in 18 career games against Oakland. Holland will be just the seventh left-handed starter Oakland has faced all season, and he won’t be the last — Texas will send three lefties to the hill this series. Fellow southpaw Cole Hamels (4-0, 2.95) will take the ball Tuesday, along with Martin Perez (1-3, 3.23) on Wednesday in the series finale.

The A’s offense broke out against the Rays, hitting eight home runs in the three-game set, their most in a series since 2012. Danny Valencia supplied the power on Sunday, going yard three times, giving him the second three-dinger game in franchise history.

Lineups: 

 

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