Month: March 2018

Golden State too much for Kings to handle; Warriors win 112-96

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
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Warriors vs Kings Photo: Sports Radio Service

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings dream of winning the 2017-18 season series versus the NBA World Champion Golden State Warriors will not be realized as they were soundly beaten by the Dubs 112-96 on Saturday night in Sacramento. The Kings will finish the four-game series with a very respectable 2-2 record. No one would have predicted that outcome back in October.

The Warriors had to play with this game without their superstar Steph Curry but unlike the last time the teams met in Oakland, Golden State had their other three All-Star players available to face the upstart Kings. Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were all healthy and ready to go at the opening tip-off.

The Kings kept it close in opening 12-minutes as they trailed the Warriors by just three points – 28 to 25 – at the close of the quarter. Durant scored 15 for Golden State while De’Aaron Fox put up 10 for the Kings. Both teams were ice cold from 3-point land as the Warriors went 1-for-4 and Sacramento hit just 1-of-7 from long-range.

The Warriors opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run that really set the tone for the rest of the game. Golden State maintained a lead of nine to 11 points for most the period. SAC was able to cut the Warriors lead to eight points at the half when Buddy Hield hit a 25-foot jump shot at the buzzer. At the half, Golden State held a 57-49 lead over the Kings.

Frankly, there really is not that much more to talk about in what became a runaway game. The Warriors held a 93-69 lead at the end of the third quarter and the Kings second unit played hard in the final period to outscore Golden State 27-19 for the quarter.

The Warriors won the game 112-96. Golden State’s record improves to 55-21 while the Kings drop to 24-53 for the season.

A Dark Cloud Over the Game

McCaw
Teams huddle in prayer for McCaw Photo: @SacramentoKings

With less than 50-seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors Patrick McCaw cut across the lane to attempt a layup. Vince Carter stepped in front of McCaw to defend against him. McCaw’s leg came down on Carter’s shoulder and McCaw free-fell to the floor landing on his tailbone.

McCaw was not allowed to stand up and was eventually removed from the court by a stretcher. He was taken to the hospital where he will undergo testing.

The Warriors and Kings huddled together in prayer for McCaw before continuing the game.

Top Performances

Kings

  • Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 19-points. He shot 6-for-11 from the field and hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
  • De’Aaron Fox added 15 points of his own for SAC. He also led the team in assists with eight.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 12 points in the game.
  • Bruno Caboclo played 15-plus minutes in the game and scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.

Warriors

  • Kevin Durant put up a double-double scoring 27 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in just over 30-minutes on the court. He was their leading scorer.
  • Klay Thompson returned after missing eight games to score 25 points against the Kings.
  • Draymond Green scored eight points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Up Next

Kings

The Kings get to celebrate Easter in Los Angeles by playing the Lakers at the Staples Center. The game is scheduled to get underway at 6:30 PM PDT.

Warriors

Golden State will also have to work on Easter Sunday as they will host the Phoenix Suns for a 5:30 PM PDT tip.

 

 

Sharks Fall to Golden Knights 3-2, Knights Clinch 1st in Pacific

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sjsharks.com photo: The Vegas Knights’ center Cody Eakin (21) and the San Jose Sharks Logan Couture (39) chase down the puck during Saturday night’s game at T Mobile Center

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost on the road to the Las Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 Saturday. Las Vegas goals came from Shea Theodore, Oscar Lindberg and William Karlsson. Sharks goals came from Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.  Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the win, while Martin Jones made 35 saves for the Sharks.

Saturday’s win clinched first place in the Pacific Division for the Knights. Sharks forward Chris Tierney said, of the NHL’s newest team:

They have a lot of speed. You know, they create chances off of turnovers and they move pucks well in the o-zone. If you’re sleeping a bit or if you lose your guy they’re going to find him and make plays. They play with a lot of speed, a lot of energy, and they cane hurt you if you don’t manage the puck well.

As the playoffs approach, the return of injured players is particularly good news for the Sharks. Saturday saw Joonas Donskoi return for his first game since March 14. Joel Ward played his third game since his lengthy absence. Barclay Goodrow and Eric Fehr are out now. Fehr is expected back before Goodrow, who in recovering from finger surgery. No return date is set yet for Joe Thornton, though he has been skating.

Shea Theodore opened the scoring in the first period at 2:21. A nice play from blue line to faceoff circle and back up to the high slot was aided by a good screen from Alex Tuch. Assists went to William Karlsson and Deryk Engelland.

The Sharks answered back at 7:14 with a goal from Joe Pavelski. Joonas Donskoi carried the puck into the zone along the boards and found Timo Meier near the faceoff dot. Meier’s shot created a big rebound that went right to Pavelski for the goal.

The second Vegas goal came after Kevin Labanc’s failed clear landed right on Shea Theodore’s stick at 3:03 of the second period. Theodore’s shot went through traffic, off Oscar Lindberg’s stick and right under Jones. Theodore got the only assist.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic tied the game at 9:50. The Sharks had just added an extra skater during a delayed penalty against Las Vegas when Joe Pavelski took a shot from the blue line. The shot hit Fleury and came back out for Vlasic to put away. It was Vlasic’s 11th goal of the season, a career high. Assists to Pavelski and Justin Braun.

The Knights challenged the goal for goaltender interference, as Timo Meier looked close to Fleury. Meier and Fleury did make some contact. but not inside the crease, and well before the shot came through.

William Karlsson scored the game winner short-handed at 8:35 of the third period. The Sharks power play was struggling mightily, hardly able to get through the neutral zone. Karlsson picked off a failed pass from Joe Pavelski to Brent Burns and took off on a breakaway. He went all the way to the net, then let the puck go between his legs for a nice little trick shot.

The Sharks play next on Tuesday in San Jose, against the Dallas Stars at 7:30 pm PT.

Patrick McCaw’s injury overshadows Warriors’ 112-96 win over Kings

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors had three of their All-Stars back in the lineup Saturday night, and they looked like they were the defending champions. They won the game 112-94 over Sacramento, but all the air went out of the Golden 1 Arena with just 41 seconds left in the third quarter. Patrick McCaw, who had recently returned from a wrist injury, was seriously hurt going in for a layup. While he was in the air, he was brushed by the veteran player, Vince Carter. The force of Carter’s action caused McCaw to fly into the air, and he landed on his backside and was in immense pain. He rolled over on the floor twice, and everyone in the arena knew that McCaw was seriously hurt. The EMT people had to immobilize McCaw, and he was taken on a stretcher to UC Davis Medical Center for examination and tests. A member of the Warriors’ training staff went with him. Nothing was known about his condition after the game. Neither Steve Kerr nor any of the Warrior players felt that Carter’s foul was intentional. Carter apologized to McCaw and Carter participated in a team prayer with the Warrior players before play resumed. Steve Kerr spoke to the media about McCaw after the game. He made some comments about the injury, but did not discuss the game as he felt that was rather inappropriate.

However, a game was played, and the Warriors had Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green back in the lineup. Steph Curry was not able to play, and he will miss the last six games of the season. The Warriors were looking to snap a three-game losing streak, and they accomplished their goal. Thompson looked sharp. He wore a protective guard around his right thumb, and that did not appear to affect his shooting. He tallied 25 points and made three 3-point shots. Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 27 points, five assists, and 10 rebounds. Draymond Green was a force on the court and flirted with a triple-double. He recorded eight points, seven assists, and nine rebounds. Quinn Cook added 10 points.

The Warriors won the first half 57-49. They went on a 19-2 run midway through the first quarter to regain the lead and were never headed after that. As they have done so many times this year, they owned the third quarter. They outscored Sacramento, 36-20, in the period and had a 24-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. If the game could have been stopped at this point, the Warriors would have gladly ended the game. The Kings won the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t catch the Warriors.

Notes: Warriors chief operating officer Rick Welts was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, part of a 13-person class that also includes player development consultant and former MVP Steve Nash.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to Oracle Arena Sunday night to play the Phoenix Suns. Game time is at 5:30 pm PT.

 

Cozart comfortable all over the diamond as the Angels cruise past the A’s

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Photo of Angels’ Zack Cozart courtesy of mlb.com

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Zack Cozart has some history at the Coliseum, just none as eventful as his first 72 hours as a member of the Angels.

After seven seasons as a shortstop with the Reds, Cozart opted to sign a three-year deal with the Angels and all the uncertainty that comes with it. So far, the uncertainty of what position he’ll play, and where he’ll hit has been quite motivational for Cozart.

On Saturday, as Anaheim’s second baseman hitting leadoff, Cozart led the Angels past the A’s 8-3, with a pair of hits and two runs batted in. Cozart filled in at third base for Ian Kinsler, who landed on the disabled list before the game.

A’s starter Daniel Mengden allowed runs in four of the six plus innings he worked, and trailed 7-0 at one point. But Mengden wasn’t solely culpable as the A’s defense behind him committed an error and several misplays. While Mengden wasn’t as sharp as he was to finish 2017, he wasn’t far off, according to manager Bob Melvin.

“Hopefully we put that one away, because obviously the defense got a lot better as the game went along, but Mengden didn’t deserve the fate that he got,” Melvin said.

Khris Davis got the start in left field, and Rene Rivera’s line drive in the third eluded his glove for two-base error. Two other defensive lapses would follow and the A’s fell into a 3-0 hole early.

In the sixth, Cozart doubled, scoring Rivera and Jefry Marte. Mike Trout–who had three hits–followed with a well-placed single, scoring Cozart, and the Angels led 6-0.

Cozart’s double and triple gave him a cycle through the first three games of the season and an early .357 batting average. He hit leadoff on Opening Day and had three hits, including a home run. He hit fifth on Friday, moving from third to second during the game. All of the activity dwarfed Cozart’s previous appearance at the Coliseum, a pair of hitless interleague games for the Reds in 2013.

“Usually I just show up to the park and I know I’m playing shortstop,” Cozart said. “Now it’s different, but I kind of knew what my role was going to be: starting third baseman, but just in case, second base, shortstop, whatever. It’s just unfortunate that Kins got a little banged up and now I’m playing second for a little bit.”

Matt Shoemaker held the A’s offense in check for five innings before a three-run sixth made things competitive. Shoemaker was mostly good, and some bad, starting 17 batters with a strike, but walking four. Manager Mike Scioscia opted to remove his starter after Stephen Piscotty singled home a pair of runs in the sixth. But Cam Bedrosian came on to limit the damage, striking out Boog Powell to end the inning.

“We’re one swing away from tying it,” manager Bob Melvin recounted. “So it was good that we battled back-sitting at a 7-0 deficit and we continued to fight back, the attributes you want to see–but we dug ourselves too big of a hole.”

The A’s conclude the opening series on Sunday at 1:05pm with Daniel Gossett facing international sensation Shohei Ohtani, in his first major league pitching assignment.

 

Maeda shuts out Giants for Dodgers’ first win of season 5-0

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Photo credit: @DodgersDigest

By Jeremy Kahn

You knew that the San Francisco Giants were not going to go 162-0, and the Los Angeles Dodgers were not going to go 0-162 on the season.

Kenta Maeda struck out 10 over five innings, as the Dodgers scored for the first time and they went on to defeat the Giants 5-0 at Dodger Stadium Saturday.

The fans at Dodger Stadium exploded with ecstasy in the bottom of the first inning, as Yaisel Puig hit a sacrifice fly to score their first run of the season. Matt Kemp hit a RBI single to increase their lead to 2-0.

Kike Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning to lengthen the Dodgers lead up to 3-0.

The Dodgers scored their final two run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Gregor Blanco and Andrew McCutchen miscommunicated on a fly ball that allowed Austin Barnes and Cody Bellinger to score.

Derek Holland pitched five innings, allowing five runs (three of them earned) on three hits, Holland also walked three and struck out four in his Giants debut.

Joe Panik, who solo home runs in the first two games of the season ended the game as he grounded into a double play to end the game and the undefeated season for the Giants.

NOTES: Chris Stratton will make his season debut for the Giants on Sunday afternoon, as he will take the Dodger Stadium mound and the Dodgers will send veteran left-hander Rich Hill to the mound.

Jeff Samardzija threw a side session of 20 pitches, and will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, prior to the Giants home opener at AT&T Park. If all goes well with the session, Samardzija could begin a rehab assignment within a week.

UP NEXT: Both teams meet again Sunday night at 5:38 pm PT on ESPN.

Earthquakes drop 2-1 decision to NYCFC

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes returned home for a redemption match, hosting NYCFC at Avaya Stadium Saturday night.

In case you missed it, San Jose dropped a 3-2 decision to Sporting KC at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Mo., on March 17.

The Quakes had a lot to look forward to coming into this nationally televised match against NYCFC on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and TSN2. Vako Qazaishvili returned to the field and these two teams were just moments away from competing in a West Coast vs. East Coast match.

The Quakes didn’t waste any time getting on the board as Yeferson Quintana got his first goal as a member of the Blue and Black at the third minute of the first half. Just moments later, Quintana had a good look on the field.

Oh yeah, and Krazy George was in attendance. In case you didn’t know, Krazy George is the world’s most famous cheerleader as well as the creator of the “wave.”

For the second time in one week, Vako made a powerful kick that went just above the opponent’s net at the 31st minute of the half in an attempt to be featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays on ESPN.

The Quakes held a 1-0 lead over NYCFC at halftime. Shots were 5-3 in favor of San Jose.

NYCFC’s Anton Tinnerholm scored his second career MLS goal to even the score 1-1 at the 49th minute of the second half.

Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski applied pressure on the NYCFC backline at the 54th minute of the half, but the score remained tied 1-1.

NYCFC took a 2-1 lead when Maxi Moralez scored the go-ahead goal at the 60th minute of the half.

Harold Cummings was kicked by an NYCFC player at the 75th minute of the half. Cummings was able to pick himself up off the ground, but he was shook up pretty bad, so Quincy Amarikwa stepped onto the field to replace Cummings.

There was six minutes of stoppage after these two teams battled it out in two halves. Vako kicked a goal into the net at the 95th minute, but a NYCFC defender blocked the kick from entering the net.

The Quakes lost to NYCFC 2-1 in full time.

Notes
Quakes’ starting lineup: Andrew Tarbell, Nick Lima, Chris Wondolowski, Shea Salinas, Anibal Godoy, Magnus Eriksson, Yeferson Quintana, Florian Jungwirth, Danny Hoesen, Harold Cummings and Vako Qazaishvili.

NYCFC’s starting lineup: Sean Johnson, Anton Tinnerholm, Alexander Callens, Maxime Chanot, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Ebenezer Ofori, Yangel Herrera, Maximiliano Moralez, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, David Villa and Jesus Medina.

Up Next
The Earthquakes head to Talen Energy Stadium to take on the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, April 7 at 4:00 pm PST.

IceHogs score four unanswered goals to down Barracuda 5-3

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

Hawaiian Night was underway at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Ill., on Saturday night and the San Jose Barracuda took on the Rockford IceHogs.

Apparently, the Barracuda and IceHogs got to witness flowers on the ice, which was a pleasant, tropical sight to see on a chilly 48 degree evening in the Windy City.

Cuda goalie Stephon Williams made his second start for the club and made a noteworthy save on a short-handed breakway early in the opening period. After that, the Cuda played 4-on-4 hockey following an IceHogs penalty.

The IceHogs made the unfortunate mistake of leaving the puck unattended at the blue line and Sam Warning picked up the first goal of the game, beating IceHogs goalie Jeff Glass, at the 12:11 mark of the period. Noah Rod collected the lone assist on Warning’s fifth goal on the season.

But the IceHogs were able to score just three seconds into their power play as Adam Clendening fired a long wrist shot from the high slot that beat Williams to get his team on the board and tie the game at one apiece with 4:22 left in the period.

Both teams were tied at one apiece after 20 minutes of play. In addition, the Cuda had some fun on Twitter by coming up with a random poll in the first intermission. The Cuda asked: “Thoughts on bacon?” and 83% answered “Really delicious” while 17% answered “Delicious.”

The Cuda scored two quick goals to start the second period. Brandon Mashinter got his 11th goal on the season at the 13:02 mark of the period. The assists on Mashinter’s goal went to Radim Simek and Rourke Chartier. Just 32 seconds later, Caleb Herbert scored on the power play to make it five straight games in which the Cuda have scored on the man advantage. Warning collected the lone assist on Herbert’s second goal on the season.

The Cuda thanked the IceHogs via Twitter for the nice tribute for left winger Brandon Mashinter in Rockford.

The Cuda led the IceHogs 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The IceHogs’ “Rally Crab” apparently helped the home team dominate in the third period. IceHogs left winger Lance Bouma scored a goal to pull his team within one just 41 seconds into the period. Clendening and Chris DiDomenico got the assists on Bouma’s fifth goal on the season. Then, Henrik Samuelsson scored the game-tying goal at the 17:49 mark of the period. Highmore Luc Snuggerud got the assists on Samuelsson’s eighth goal on the season.

The IceHogs continued to pour in the goals as Snuggerud scored the go-ahead goal, his fifth on the season, and Matthew Highmore expanded the lead to 5-3 with his 22nd goal on the season.

The Cuda pulled their goalie (Williams) for an extra attacker late in the game. That didn’t help the road team at all.

The Cuda lost to the IceHogs 5-3. Williams allowed five goals and made 25 saves in a losing effort for San Jose. Meanwhile, Glass stopped 19 of 22 shots in a Rockford win.

Notes
Barracuda starting lineup: Adam Helewka, Manny Wiederer, Jon Martin, Jacob Middleton, Nick DeSimone and Stephon Williams.

IceHogs starting lineup: Matthew Highmore. Tyler Sikura, Henrik Samuelsson, Viktor Svedberg, Cody Franson and Jeff Glass.

Up Next
The Barracuda return home to host the San Diego Gulls Wednesday night at 7:00 pm PST.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Who will be the NHL’s MVP; Sharks head into Vegas trying to avoid losing three straight; Emergency goalie is NHL’s player of the week

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Photo credit: @GlobalSportsCtr

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Who do you like as the NHL MVP? Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay, Connor McDavid of Edmonton, Taylor Hall New Jersey, Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado, Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh, Blake Wheeler of Winnipeg, Pekka Rinne of Nashville, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron of Boston, Anze Kopitar of L.A. or the Claude Giroux of Philadelphia.

#2 The Sharks, after dropping their last two games, are trying to avoid losing a third they’ll be put to the test tonight as they face off with the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the Western Division’s toughest teams at the T-Mobile Center.

#3 NHL player of the week no doubt goes to the Chicago Blackhawks emergency goalie Scott Foster, who played 14 minutes after the starter and the backup went out with injuries. Foster ended up stopping seven shots.

#4 The Anaheim Ducks got a big win past the LA Kings when Rickard Rakell scored in OT at 4:41 for the Ducks 2-1 win.

#5 The Tampa Bay Lighting continue to win this time with a 7-3 victory past the New York Rangers. Brayden Point and Cedric Paquette got two goals apiece for the win.

Matt Harrington does the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

A’s battle to the end, but lose to Angels 2-1

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By Charlie O Mallonee

Oakland — On the night the Oakland Athletics introduced their 50th Anniversary Team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the A’s gave the 27,665 fans a real show on the diamond. Unlike the the run-fest on Opening Day, it was an old fashioned pitchers duel on Friday as the Angels downed the Athletics 2-1.

Angels stater–LHP Tyler Skaggs–was in midseason form as kept the A’s hitters off-balance by mixing up his pitches and changing speeds. Skaggs worked 6.1-innings of shutout baseball while giving up just three hits to Oakland batters. Skaggs struck out five and walked none.

When Skaggs left the game in top of the seventh inning, he took a 1-0 lead with him to the clubhouse, thanks to Mike Trout’s first home run of the season that he hit out of the park in the top of the first.

Blake Wood worked the final two outs of the seventh and Kenyan Middleton kept the A’s from scoring in the eighth inning.

After the Angels added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, Mike Sciosia handed the ball to Blake Parker to close out the game and that is when it got interesting.

Khris Davis was A’s lead off hitter in bottom of the ninth. Davis walked. Matt Olson then hit a single through the right side of the infield moving Davis up to second. Parker struck out Stephen Piscotty and Matt Chapman.

Oakland catcher Jonathan Lucroy kept hope alive when he hit a solid single to right-center field that drove Davis home and moved Olson up to third. Parker induced Matt Joyce to ground out third to first to end the game.

Skaggs got the win and the save (just barely) went to Parker. The antacid went to Mike Sciosia.

The A’s Sean Manaea took the loss but he pitched well enough to win. Manaea pitched 7.2-innings giving up just one run off four hits. He walked none and struck out seven LAA hitters. The lefty threw 95 pitches–65 strikes. Oakland manager Bob Melvin told reporters after the game that Manaea did not want to come out of the contest when he was lifted in the top of the eighth inning.

The one blemish on the scoresheet for Manaea was the first inning home run he gave up to Mike Trout. As Melvin mentioned, after going 0-6 on Thursday Trout was overdue. Trout has now hit 14 home runs at the Coliseum in his career.

The A’s scattered seven hits divided between seven different batters. They had only one extra base hit in the game. Oakland went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

The A’s did not hit poorly on Friday night. They were stopped by a very outstanding performance by a starting pitcher and excellent support from two of his three relievers.

Oakland A’s 50th Anniversary Moment
The A’s played on March 30th for the first time in their history.

Opening Day Trivia
Khris Davis hit his third home run on an Opening Day as a member of the Oakland Athletics on Thursday which ties him with Dave Henderson and Terry Steinbach for the A’s record.

Matt Olson became just the fourth player in MLB history dating back to 1908 to hit an Opening Day home run on his birthday (Jeff Mathis (2011) Ian Stewart (2010) Scott Rolen (2000)).

Up Next
On Saturday the “second-coming” of Rollie Fingers, RHP Daniel Mengden will make his first start of the season for the Athletics. Mengden posted a record of 3-2 in seven starts last season with an ERA of 3.14. The Angels will counter RHP Matt Shoemaker who made 14 starts for the Halos in 2017 and finished with a 6-3 record while recording a 4.52 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 P.M. The game can be seen on NBC-California, heard on the A’s Radio Network and en Espanol on 1010 AM and 990 AM.

The Big Reveal
The MLB debut that everyone has been waiting for will happening in Oakland on Sunday when the highly touted, two-way Japanese player Shohei Ohtani will make the start for the Angels. Game time is 1:05 P.M.

Panik makes history in Giants’ 1-0 win over Dodgers

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

Just two days in the 2018 Major League season, San Francisco Giants second baseman Joe Panik made history.

Panik hit a solo home run off of Kenley Jansen in the top of the ninth inning, as the Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 at Dodger Stadium.

His home run was the only run of the game for the second game, as he became the first player in the 139-year history of Major League Baseball to hit home runs in back-to-back games with the final score of 1-0.

The Giants became the first team since the 1943 Cincinnati Reds to pick-up 1-0 wins in their first two games of the season, as they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 75 years ago.

Johnny Cueto retired the first 18 batters of the game until Chris Taylor led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single. That would be the only baserunner to reach base against Cueto on the evening.

Cueto walked no one and struck out four, as he went seven innings after he threw 97 pitches in his first start of the season.

Former Dodgers reliever Tony Watson struck out two in the bottom of the eighth inning, before giving way to Hunter Strickland, who retired the Dodgers in order that included getting Joc Pederson to pop out to Buster Posey on the first pitch he saw on from Strickland.

It was the second game in a row that Pederson made the final out of the game, as he grounded out to Brandon Crawford to end the opener on Thursday.

Through their first two games of the season, the reigning National League Champions have yet to score a run, while allowing just two runs to their longtime rivals from San Francisco.

If you thought Cueto pitched a great game, the guy across the diamond for the Dodgers was not too shabby either.

Alex Wood pitched eight innings, as he allowed just a base hit to Brandon Crawford in the top of the fifth inning and nothing else.

Wood struck out five and did not walk a batter like Cueto, but it was one pitch by the best reliever in the game that cost the Dodgers the game.

Logan Forsythe, playing at third base in place of the injured Justin Turner, who suffered a broken wrist during spring training, committed three of the four Dodgers errors on the night.

The four errors in a game by the Dodgers are their most in a game since they committed four on August 11, 2013 against the Tampa Bay Rays. In that game, like Forsythe, Dee Gordon committed three errors for the Dodgers.

NOTES: Derek Holland makes his Giants debut on Saturday night, as he takes the Dodger Stadium mound, while the Dodgers will send Kenta Maeda to the hill.

UP NEXT: These two teams face each other again Saturday night at 6:10 pm PST.