Month: March 2018

A’s Jharel Cotton undergoes successful Tommy John surgery; A’s lose fourth game in a row

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Photo credit: @rockies_fanly

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, March 22, 2018

MESA, Ariz. – Following through on a previously reported diagnosis, Oakland Athletics’ right-hander Jharel Cotton underwent successful ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (Tommy John) surgery at a hospital in Arlington, Tex.

The A’s said Cotton will remain in Arlington until Saturday, then return to Oakland on Sunday to begin the rehabilitation process.

Cotton was projected to be in the A’s rotation in 2018. He was 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA in four Cactus League games, while holding opponents to a .195 batting average.

Cotton was 9-10 in 24 starts over two stints with the A’s last season.

Elsewhere, the A’s optioned catcher Dustin Garneau to Triple-A Nashville. This leaves the Athletics with 35 active players in camp, including 32 on the 40-man roster and three non-roster invitees.

THE GAME
Colorado led early and hung on to beat Oakland 4-2 in the Athletics’ next-to-last Cactus League game before a crowd of 7,356 at Hohokam Stadium. It was the A’s fourth Cactus League loss in a row.

Charlie Blackmon liked what he saw in the game’s first at-bat, belting a home run off A’s starter Andrew Triggs. In the second inning, Ian Desmond’s RBI single made it 2-0. Desmond drove in Trevor Story, who reached on an error and stole second.

Chris Iannetta hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth off Triggs, extending the Rockies’ lead to 3-0. Oakland’s Marcus Siemen hit a two-run shot off Chad Bettis, pulling the Athletics to within 3-2.

Iannetta’s RBI double in the seventh – after Gerardo Parra – put the Rox up 4-2.

Triggs surrendered six hits and two earned runs – both on home runs – while striking out three in 5 1/3 innings. Emilio Pagan, Frankie Montas and Trevor Cahill – the free agent who was recently signed to a one-year contract – threw in relief for Oakland.

Bettis was the winning pitcher (2-0), logging four strikeouts, two walks and two earned runs. Austin House worked a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his second CL save.

Siemen wound up 2-for-4. Jed Lowrie, Stephen Piscotty, Matt Chapman and Bruce Maxwell had the other Oakland hits.

The Athletics host Milwaukee on Saturday before heading back to Oakland on March 25 for the opening game of the annual Bay Bridge Series.

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Oakland Athletics,Cactus League,Sports Radio Service

Protestors knock on arena doors, but Kings down Hawks 105-90

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Photo credit: nba.com/kings

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —  It was a very interesting turn of events going into the game against the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks on Thursday evening. Instead of Kings basketball being center stage on Thursday, the Black Lives Matter movement in conjunction with the recent death of Stephan Clark was at the forefront. Clark, who was shot at with 20 bullets last Sunday outside his grandparents home, was featured on countless signs and banners being tended to by protesters. Clark was fatally shot after police believed the cell phone he was holding was a firearm. Chants of “Cell phones, don’t shoot!” and “Justice for Stephan Clark!” filled the concourse around all of the Golden 1 Center entrances.

In light of these protests, the Golden 1 Center was on lockdown. Therefore, only a few fans were able to attend the game inside since they entered before the arena entered lockdown status. Nonetheless, the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks played basketball.

So, after the turn of events preceding game time, the Kings took the floor. Sacramento jumped out to a quick lead early on in this game. Following a foul that sent De’Aaron Fox to the free throw line, the Kings were up 5-0 with 10:37 to play.

However, the Hawks responded by jumping out to a lead of their own. The Hawks took the lead by a 18-11 margin with 5:22 to go in the first quarter. The first quarter would continue to be a dogfight with the Kings ultimately pulling within three with a 28-25 disadvantage.

Going into the second, the Kings knew that they had some work to do. With the help of Vince Carter, Skal Labissiere, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Frank Mason, the Kings took a 41-38 lead with 3:25 left to play in the first half. The Kings added eight more points, and the Hawks added six to send the Kings to halftime with a 49-45 lead.

The Kings entered the third quarter up by five. Justin Jackson put the first points on the board in the third for the Kings by sinking a two-pointer to make it a 51-46 Kings lead. Jackson had a total of 11 points with 11:20 to play in the third quarter.

The Hawks battled through, and at one point, got within two points of the Kings, thanks to a triple. The third quarter had 8:48 to go and the game was 59-57 Kings.  Justin Jackson continued his hot shooting to compile 19 points with 2:13 left to play in the third and also gave the Kings a 70-67 lead. The third quarter ended with the Kings on top 80-71.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Kings looked as if they were unstoppable. The game bounced around for a good six minutes in the fourth with the Kings leading 93-82 with six minutes to play.

Neither team, up to this point, made any significant ground on the other. Kosta Koufos, Buddy Hield, and Frank Mason all had 12 points at this point in the game. From this point on in the game, the Kings were unable to commit wrongdoing. Some of the players were able to pad the stats, and the Kings came out victorious with a 105-90 win. It was a nice win for the Kings as the city and its fans has had to face some adversity in the last week.

Up Next: The Kings stay home to face the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 3 pm PST. The Hawks take a trip to the Bay Area to face the Warriors Friday at 7:30 pm PST.

Couture helps Sharks take 2-1 OT win over Golden Knights

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Photo credit: @TheSpearSJSU

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks welcomed the Pacific Division-leading Las Vegas Golden Knights to their home ice at SAP Center Thursday night. The Sharks brought a five-game win streak into Thursday’s game compared the Golden Knights’ two-game streak, but the biggest storyline was that the Knights had a chance to clinch a playoff berth that night.

The Knights got down to business when Tomas Tatar fired the puck past Sharks goalie Martin Jones for an early 1-0 lead at the 16:13 mark of the first period. Assists went to Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore.

Shots were 13-11 in favor of the Sharks, but they trailed the Knights 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

The Sharks tied the game at one apiece when Brent Burns fired a slap shot that went past traffic and into the net, beating Knights goalie Malcolm Subban for his 11th goal of the season at the 16:33 mark of the second period. Assists went to Paul Martin and Jannik Hansen.

Sharks rookie Kevin Labanc put some of his offensive skills on display, but he gave the puck to a Knights player and missed out of a chance that might’ve led to a scoring opportunity for San Jose.

The score was tied at one apiece after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 31-15 in favor of San Jose.

The score remained tied at one apiece after 60 minutes of play. Shots were 43-22 in favor of San Jose.

Logan Couture scored the game-winning goal, his 31st of the season, just 39 seconds into the overtime period to lift the Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Knights. Jones finished with 24 saves for San Jose. Subban made 42 saves in a losing effort for Vegas.

Regardless of the outcome, Vegas made history as an expansion team after hitting the 100-point mark as the game went into overtime.

Notes
Sharks’ starting lineup: 
Evander Kane – Joe Pavelski – Melker Karlsson
Tomas Hertl – Logan Couture – Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier – Chris Tierney – Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow – Eric Fehr – Jannik Hansen

Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Dylan DeMelo

Martin Jones

Aaron Dell

Scratches: Tim Heed, Joel Ward, Joonas Donskoi and Marcus Sorensen.

Knights’ starting lineup: 
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Tomas Tatar
David Perron – Erik Haula – James Neal
Ryan Carpenter – Cody Eakin – Alex Tuch
Tomas Nosek – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmidt
Shea Theadore – Deryk Engelland
Jon Merrill – Colin Miller

Malcolm Subban

Oscar Dansk

Scratches: Brad Hunt, Oscar Lindberg and Zach Whitecloud.

 

Up Next
The Sharks host the Calgary Flames this Saturday at 1:00 pm PST.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Golden One Center remained locked down throughout Kings and Hawks game due to Black Lives Matter protest

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@SeanCunningham photo: Sacramento Kings attendee Sean Cunningham took this photo of the fans who were able to get into the building before Golden One Center was locked down due to safety concerns on Thursday night. Cunningham tweeted that the upper deck of the arena was empty

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The NBA Commissioner’s office decided with Sacramento Police to keep the doors at Golden One Center on lockdown meaning that anyone who needed to go to work would be excused for the night and anyone trying to leave the arena would not be permitted to leave the building because of strict security regarding the Black Lives Matter protest over the shooting of Stephen Clark, who was shot at least 20 times, after neighbors reported that he had been breaking windows into cars in the 29th Street neighborhood in Sacramento.

Protesters who arrived between 6:00 pm and 6:30 pm in the thousands with Kings fans waiting to get into the building were outside of the building as late as 8:30 pm on Thursday night. After the release of the video of Clark’s shooting by police that aired on Sacramento TV station KCRA TV 3 Black Lives Matters put their plans of a protest into action outside the most visible and high profile spot in Sacramento the Golden One Center one hour before a game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Kings.

Rather than cancel the game the NBA decided to play the game while the doors of the arena remained on lockdown. SWAT officers were on the Golden One Concourse as protesters and police exchanged words outside. The game is expected to end at 10 pm when fans who got there early before the lockdown will try to leave.

Jeremiah Salmonson is a Sacramento Kings reporter for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sacramento Kings podcast report: Black Lives Matter protest locks down Golden One Center; Swat units present after gun threat; protest over black suspect shot over 20 times by cops

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@largesteve on twitter photo: Black Lives Matter protesters locked arms at Golden One Center entrances preventing the remaining fans who wanted to see the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings contest on Thursday night from entering the building. It was reported two fights broke out on the arena concourse.

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The game between the Sacramento Kings and the Atlanta Hawks had been delayed since 6:00PM when protesters from Black Lives Matters arrived at Golden One Center as of 7:30pm thousands of protesters and Kings fans are on the concourse of Golden Center. The protest is over Sacramento cops killing Stephen Clark who was breaking into windows in the neighborhood of 29th Street.

KCRA TV 3 obtained video of the shooting of cops chasing Clark and told him to stop several times and yelled “gun, gun, gun, gun, gun” and then shooting Clark over 20 times. Protesters showed up at the arena between 6:00PM anad 6:30PM one hour before Atlanta and Sacramento were to tip off. Once protesters were on property SWAT was called in because of “a threat of gun violence” according to sources at the arena.

This is part one of coverage from Golden One Center of the Black Lives Matter protesters we have part two posted.

Jeremiah Salmonson is a Sacramento Kings reporter and was on scene at Golden One Center on Thursday night for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

Sports Headlines podcast with Tony Renteria: How Tony did with his March Madness brackets; With four big injuries, how that worked for Warriors; Giants’ Samardzija struggling this spring and more

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Photo credit: @marchmadness

On the Sports Headlines podcast with Tony:

#1 Are all of Tony’s brackets broken? Tony talks about his prediction in the Sweet 16 and who’ll be the last team standing.

#2 What benefits do you see to having injuries to Golden State Warriors? Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Green and Curry are expected to come back on Friday against the Atlanta Hawks.

#3 Pitcher Jeff Samardzija has given up three homers in one inning twice in two games and is struggling to have a decent spring outing. He’ll be in the rotation for the regular season, but what is happening with Samardzija and giving up the long ball?

#4 A’s pitcher AJ Puk has gone down with biceps soreness and has no major structural damage. He’s listed as day-to-day.

#5 The Giants certainly have the offense coming into the season with big boppers like Evan Longoria, Andrew McCutchen, Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, and Pablo Sandoval, just to name a few. But the Giants’ pitching staff is still a concern coming into the season.

Tony Renteria does the Sports Headlines podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Pagan will be an effective reliever; Mengden will be in A’s rotation; plus more A’s news

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 Emillio Pagan, who came to the A’s in the Ryon Healy deal from the Seattle Mariners, has been effective in the Cactus League and A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said that Pagan has the passion. Emerson also likes his work ethic and says Pagan is not afraid to try new things and it’s proving to work out.

#2 Pagan’s numbers were impressive with 50 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings last season. He’s the A’s best kept secret and they gave up a lot, trading Healy to Seattle to get Pagan.

#3 Daniel Mengden passed the audition during spring training, allowing five hits, a walk, two runs in 6 1/3 innings of work and struck out three. Also, Mengden threw 85 pitches this spring.

#4 Section 332 will be the A’s charity section every Wednesday starting April 4th, where fans can pay from $1 and up. All proceeds go to an A’s charity.

#5 The A’s signed right-handed pitcher Trevor Cahill. Brett Anderson is signed to a minor league deal. Anderson formerly pitched for the A’s.

Jerry Feitelberg does the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Barracuda end three-game losing streak with thrilling 4-3 OT victory over Roadrunners

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

With the San Jose Barracuda’s (27-24-4-3) playoff hopes hanging by a thread, Jacob Middleton gave his team a glimmer of hope with the game-winning goal on the power play in overtime to defeat the Tuscon Roadrunners (35-18-5-1) by a score of 4-3 on Tuesday evening at the Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

San Jose salvaged the last game on their four-game road trip, where they went 1-2-1 and snapped their three-game losing streak.

Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (19-13-3) started the rush when he outraced a Tuscon attacker to the puck after the puck was cleared out of the Roadrunner zone. Bibeau’s outlet pass went to Brandon Mashinter, who skated back into the zone and passed it over to Middleton, who fired a shot inside the right post past Roadrunner goalie Adin Hill (16-10-4) for the game-winning goal. The defenseman’s fourth goal of the season came at the 2:07 mark of overtime.

San Jose would draw first blood in the first period. Colby McAuley pounded home a rebound for his third goal on the season after a wraparound attempt by Rourke Chartier was saved by Hill at the 8:16 mark of the first period. Zach Frye received the secondary assist.

Mashinster would quickly make it 2-0 just 31 seconds later. Alex True sent over a pass to Mashinter down in the low slot and the veteran winger fired a spinning back-hander past Hill for his ninth goal on the season at the 8:47 mark. McAuley received the secondary assist for his first multi-point game of his career.

San Jose had a close call late in the first period when a shot from Tuscon’s Mike Sislo hit off the cross-bar, pinballed off of Bibeau that was rolling back toward the net until defensman Radim Simek rescued the puck out of danger before it crossed the goal line to keep Tuscon off the board heading into the first intermission.

Tuscon would cut the lead in half early in the second period. Dakota Mermis sent a pass to Sislo, who skated down the left side of the boards and was able to bury a shot just inside the right post past Bibeau’s short side. Sislo’s team-leading 23rd goal on the season came at the 3:18 mark.

The Cuda regained their two-goal lead back on the power play. Mashinter crashed the net putting a shot on goal that bounced off Hill. Manny Wiederer pounced on the loose puck and slammed home the rebound for his sixth goal on the season for the rookie forward at the nine-minute mark of the second period. Nick DeSimone received the secondary assist.

Joel Hanley cut the lead down to one goal early in the third period. Michael Bunting won a battle inside the Cuda zone, fed the puck over to Hanley who fired a shot past Bibeau for his first goal (and first goal in 93 games) on the season at the 4:42 mark.

The Roadrunners would get the equalizer when Carter Camper went coast to coast from his own zone, skated through the Cuda defense and snapped a shot past Bibeau with 1:17 left in the third period. It was his 15th goal on the season, including his 14th point in nine games since being acquired by Tuscon from the Cleveland Monsters at the trade deadline.

Bibeau responded with a nice bounce back game, making 31 saves on 34 shots.

Hill suffered his first regulation loss since the All-Star break, making 14 saves on 18 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/5 on the power play while Tuscon went 0/3

Captain John McCarthy missed the game due to an upper body. Calvan Fitzgerald and Jeremy Roy were also injury scratches.

Mashinter hit the post on a breakaway shot seconds after Sislo’s goal.

Tuscon’s rookie sensation Nick Merkley was an injury scratch. Merkley leads the team with 11 power play goals.

Bunting now has eight points in seven games played against the Barracuda this season – (6G, 2A).

With the loss, the Roadrunners four-game winning streak, tied for their longest win streak of the season, was snapped.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home for a two-game weekend series starting on Saturday, March 24 as they play their final game of the season against the Ontario Reign at SAP Center at 5:30 pm PST.

Marshawn Lynch restructures contract with Raiders

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Photo credit: raiderswire.usatoday.com

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — Marshawn Lynch will be back in uniform for the Oakland Raiders in 2018, agreeing to a restructured contract with the team as reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero Wednesday.

Pelissero reported that Lynch restructured his contract on Saturday before his $1 million roster bonus was due. The move lowered his base value in 2018 to $5.5 million, which is $500k less than before. Instead of having zero guaranteed dollars, Lynch is essentially guaranteed $4.5 million, per Pelissero.

In total, Lynch can earn up to $9.25 million total with incentives in 2018.

After the Raiders signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin during free agency, rumors swirled that Lynch’s days as the featured back in Oakland were numbered.

Not so fast.

Expect “Beast Mode” to remain Oakland’s top ball-carrier this upcoming season, and rightfully so as he enters his 11th season in the NFL.

Lynch was Oakland’s best running back in 2017, rushing for 891 yards on 207 carries (4.3 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns.

Oakland finished 6-10 in Lynch’s first season after coming out of retirement following the 2015 season after six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Be very careful, Vegas is coming to SAP Center with the conference’s best record

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

The New Jersey Devils who paid the San Jose Sharks a visit on Tuesday night were caught off guard, getting crushed 6-2. You can’t take the Sharks for granted against the Sharks you have to play steady and play a good defensive game that what the Sharks really need. If they get into one of these 11-goal games, it’s going to be a fun game to watch, but that’s a little too risky. Defense is the Sharks’ key to success. Last night’s game was a good model, but we don’t know if the Devils were all they can be.

As a model, the Sharks have to play a good defensive game and shooting every time they stand in range of the net is a good idea. The Vegas Golden Knights, who lead the Western Conference, are eight points ahead of the Sharks, who are in second place, and it’s a question of whether or not the Sharks can catch them. It’s certainly worth trying. It’s better than losing points. The only goal in front of the Sharks right now is catch Vegas.

Mary Lisa Walsh does the San Jose Sharks podcast each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com