Month: May 2018

Mariners win rubber match 4-1 over the A’s on same night Ichiro Suzuki shifts from field to front office

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Photo credit: @Mariners

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Seattle Mariners removed future Hall of Fame player Ichiro Suzuki from the active roster and moved him into a front office job with the club. The 44-year old Ichiro has amassed almost 3,100 hits in his MLB career and well over 4,000 when his hits in the Japanese League are added to the total. It was a very emotional night for Ichiro, the Seattle players and the entire city of Seattle.

Now for the Oakland A’s story of the game: The A’s ace, Sean Manaea, who was named as the American League Pitcher of the Month, had his worst outing of the year as the Mariners won the game 4-1. Manaea was done in by the Mariners’ Dee Gordon, Robinson Cano, and Nelson Cruz. Gordon was channeling his inner Rickey Henderson Thursday night as he finished the night 3-for-4, two stolen bases, and two runs scored. Gordon led off the bottom of the first with an infield single. Gordon promptly stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Jean Segura. Second baseman Robinson Cano singled to drive in Gordon.

The Mariners’ believed that history repeats itself as Gordon double down the right-field line. Stephen Piscotty made a valiant effort to get to the ball. He could not get to the ball in time as it landed near the foul line and Gordon, who is very speedy, made it into second base handily. Segura laid down another sacrifice bunt to move Gordon to third. Cano singled to make it 2-0. Manaea now had to deal with Mariners’ slugger Nelson Cruz. Cruz, who has tormented the A’s over the years, sent Manaea’s pitch over the left-centerfield wall to put the Mariners ahead 4-0.

The A’s Stephen Piscotty hit his second homer of the year off reliever Chason Bradford in the top of the fifth to make it 4-1.

The Mariners did not score after the third, and the A’s were done after the fifth. Manaea’s line was six innings pitched, six hits, and four runs. Lou Trivino pitched one inning and gave up a hit. Casilla also went an inning and did not allow a hit. The Mariners’ starter, lefty Wade LeBlanc who was filling in for the injured Erasmo Ramirez, was lifted after four innings of work. LeBlanc allowed just three hits and no runs. Chason Bradford went 2 1/3 innings and picked up his third win of the year. James Pazos, Juan Nicasio, and Edwin Diaz closed out the game for Seattle.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Mariners improved to 18-12 and find themselves just a 1/2 game behind the Los Angeles Angels (19-12) and the Houston Astros (20-13) for first place in the AL West. The A’s are 15-16 and are four games back of the Angels and Astros. The Angels moved into the first-place tie with Houston after sweeping the three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, and the Astros had their problems with the New York Yankees, who beat the Astros three out of four.

Up Next: The A’s return home Friday night to face the woeful Baltimore Orioles for three games. The Orioles’ record is 8-23, and the team has been floundering. Hopefully, the A’s can make some hay this weekend as they have to face four top teams in the next two weeks. The schedule has them playing the Astros for three at home then they are off to New York, Boston, and Toronto.  Not an easy task.

Daniel Mengden (2-3, 4.68) starts Friday night for the A’s. Mengden was pounded by the Astros last week in Houston, but he is 2-1 in his last three starts. Mengden has never faced the Orioles. Andrew Cashner will take the ball for the Orioles. Cashner is 1-4 with an ERA of 4.76. Cashner is 1-0 lifetime against Oakland, Game time is at 7:05 pm PT.

San Jose State to host Indiana State in Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State University will be one of 10 Mountain West schools participating in the eighth annual Mountain West-Missouri Valley Men’s Basketball Challenge Series during
the 2018-19 non-conference season.

The Spartans will host Indiana State University on Wednesday, November 28, at The Event Center. The game time and television assignment will be announced at a later date.

“We’re excited to be a part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Men’s Basketball Challenge Series this season and are looking forward to hosting Indiana State at The Event Center,” says SJSU head coach Jean Prioleau.

Indiana State was sixth in the Missouri Valley last season with an 8-10 conference record. The Sycamores were 13-18 overall.

This non-conference home game will be the second time these schools are facing each other in men’s basketball. These two teams faced each other in the 1948 NAIB Championship Tournament (now the NAIA Championship) in Kansas City, Missouri. Coached by the legendary John Wooden, Indiana State pulled out a 59-52 win in the quarterfinal round of the 32-team tournament.

The Challenge Series consists of each conference hosting five games each season. This year’s series runs from November 27 through December 1. Matchups are based on the previous season’s records and RPI rankings and projections for the upcoming season. Games from the previous year’s Challenge series aren’t returned.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony the Tiger Hayes: Caps’ Wilson suspended three games for head hitting; Could the Warriors sweep the Pelicans?; Gruden–Could he become CEO/GM too?

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Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese suffered a broken jaw and concussion on a hit to the head from Washington’s Tom Wilson.(Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP)

On the Headlines Sports podcast with Tony the Tiger Hayes:

#1 Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson was suspended three games in the playoffs for a hit to the head on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Zach Aston-Reese during Game 3, which says the NHL has zero tolerance of deliberate head injuries.

#2 The Golden State Warriors in the first two games of their playoffs with the New Orleans Pelicans have dominated particularly in Game 2 when Stephen Curry made his return on Tuesday night.

#3 Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who is signed up for $100 million, 10 years might also start earning more than his money’s worth according to Bleacher Report. Gruden could tabbed the team’s general manager and team CEO as well as head coach, which might send current GM Reggie McKenzie packing. It might be more than Gruden can bite off or can he handle it and make the Raiders a team of excellence again?

#4 During the NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen got a little braggadocious after he was selected 10th in the draft, saying, “I was pretty pissed off as I saw teams passing on me there were nine mistakes ahead of me.” The Cardinals’ coaching staff is expected to put Rosen’s draft thought process into prospective, but soon.

#5 San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto goes on the 10-day DL for an elbow injury as San Francisco’s injury list is swelling with Joe Panik out on the 10-day DL with a thumb injury, Madison Bumgarner has taken to the mound and is rehabbing, the Giants’ Mark Melancon out for the rest of the season and Jeff Samardjiza who came back from a pectoral injury is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.27.

Tony the Tiger filled in for Tony Renteria this week  Tony R does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s rely heavily on pitching corp to get out of current rut; Oak A’s Manaea takes the stain off bad pitching starts Thursday

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Photo credit @Athletics: Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea gets ready to face Wade LaBlanc and the Seattle Mariners tonight at Safeco Field for the get away game catch on the coverage tonight with Jerry at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 The Oakland A’s pitching corp are trying to get things together it was another tough night for A’s starter Andrew Triggs, who went four innings, six hits, four runs, three walks and four strikeouts in the 6-3 loss to the Mariners Tuesday night.

#2 The A’s face Seattle in the getaway game on Thursday night. A’s starter Sean Manaea (4-2) gets the call for the A’s and he’ll face Mariners starter Wade LaBlanc (0-0). Manaea has had great command since he pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in April.

#3 Wednesday, the A’s started Brett Anderson. Anderson made his first appearance for Oakland since September 28, 2013. Anderson last started a game for the A’s in April of that year.

#4 A’s pitcher Trevor Cahill has kept the A’s in ball games since he’s been up with the team and A’s manager Bob Melvin has been happy with the way Cahill has helped out.

#5 The A’s, after playing their series in Seattle, head back to the Oakland Coliseum to open a three-game series with the last place Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles, who have also been struggling, are last and 13 games back in the AL East

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

 

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Quakes host Timbers Saturday; Reno 1868 player earns spot on USL’s Team of the Week; plus more news

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. The San Jose Earthquakes fell 2-1 to the Columbus Crew SC last Saturday. Talk about the positives and negatives of that match.

2. The Earthquakes kicked off their MOVEment week this week. Tell us more about this special week.

3. The Quakes host the Portland Timbers this Saturday. Give us your three keys to the match.

4. Reno 1868 FC player and Sparks, Nevada, native Kevin Partida earned a spot on the United Soccer League’s Team of the Week.

5. Nick Lima knows that the Quakes have a lot of work to do as the Timbers come to town this Saturday.

Catch Ana Kieu each week on the San Jose Earthquakes podcast at SportsRadioService.com

Fun in the Finale: Giants close home stand with a win over the Padres

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants welcomed back an important guy to the roster after his surgery and recovery took a full year. They could have lost another guy nicked up in Wednesday’s game, but thankfully didn’t. And despite frustrating news regarding two other guys and their injuries, the team pounced on the Padres, 9-4.

That’s a tough existence, but one that only a resurgent group from San Francisco could appreciate. After surviving a brutal, season-beginning schedule, and dealing with numerous injuries to key performers, the Giants can point to a winning record with pride. Manager Bruce Bochy saw the significance, knowing his team could have struggled and disappeared.

“We could have gotten buried,” Bochy said. “It could have easily gotten away from us. But we played with a lot of heart.”

Narrow, late inning wins. The return of a power component to the offense. A pitching rotation ripped apart by injuries found credible stand-ins. And baseball’s toughest division didn’t swallow the Giants.

Now, after surviving April, the Giants take on May, starting with a road trip against three teams with unexpected, winning records. Like the Giants, little was expected of the Phillies, Braves and Pirates. Now, all four will see if they can continue their winning ways. For that matter, ten National League clubs currently have winning records, and two that don’t–the Dodgers and Nationals–won division titles in 2017. So something has to shake out.

So far, the Giants are in the mix. And people like Derek Holland, Will Smith and Nick Hundley–Wednesday’s heroes–are the reason.

Holland got the start, throwing five innings to earn his first win as a Giant, in his sixth start. Holland had a difficult inning in the third, but escaped when Eric Hosmer was thrown out at third trying to stretch his two-run double into a triple. Holland allowed one other run in the fifth, but the Giants had gifted the former Rangers pitcher with a 7-2 cushion at that point.

Five Giant relievers followed, including Will Smith, in his first appearance since the 2016 NLDS. Smith entered to applause and retired the Padres in the seventh, three in a row after issuing an inning-beginning walk.

Hundley was the unquestioned star in the series-deciding win, clubbing a home run in the fourth off losing pitcher Clayton Richard, and adding two doubles and a single in his 4 for 5 afternoon.

Austin Jackson, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt each contributed two hits to the Giants 14-hit attack.

Andrew McCutchen got plunked in the elbow by a Richard pitch in the third, and left the game for precautionary reasons. But McCutchen checked out during in-game tests, and could return to the starting lineup on Friday.

The Giants didn’t get encouraging news regarding Johnny Cueto and Joe Panik this week in the injury report. Cueto landed on the disabled list for the second time this season. Panik is now expected to miss more than the six to eight weeks that was part of his original assessment.

The Giants open their 10-game trip in Atlanta, Friday night with Chris Stratton getting the starting assignment.

 

 

Mariners’ James Paxton dominates, but the A’s come back to win a thriller 3-2

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s evened the series with the Seattle Mariners at one apiece Wednesday night. The A’s Brett Anderson, who was making his first start since being recalled from the Nashville Sounds, gave the team a quality start as he went 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs and five hits. Anderson struck out four and walked one.

Anderson’s opponent, James Paxton, was dominant. Paxton struck out 16 A’s hitters, which was a Major League-high so far this year, and the A’s could not touch him. Paxton went seven innings and allowed no runs and five hits. Paxton walked just one hitter and struck out 16. Paxton was taken out of the game as he reached the 100-pitch limit. Yet, neither pitcher figured in the decision as the Mariners’ bullpen blew the save and the A’s bats woke up to win a thriller 3-2 at Safeco Field.

The Mariners scored twice in the bottom of the third. Former A’s third baseman, Ryon Healy, led off the inning with his fourth home run of the season. Anderson walked the ageless Ichiro Suzuki. The next hitter, Dee Gordon, grounded out 1-3. Ichiro was running on the pitch and Anderson’s only play was to get Gordon at first. Mariners’ shortstop Jean Segura lined a ball to left to drive in Ichiro with the second run of the inning. Segura was out trying to stretch the hit into a double.

Both Anderson and Paxton continued to pitch well. Anderson left the game in the top of the seventh with one out. Anderson had given up singles to Mitch Haniger and Kyle Seager. Bob Melvin had seen enough and brought in Ryan Dull to pitch. Dull did his job as he retired the next to hitters and the score remained 2-0 in favor of Seattle.

The Mariners brought in Juan Nicasio to pitch the eighth. Nicasio retired the first hitter. Melvin sent in Matt Joyce to pinch-hit for Chad Pinder. Joyce came through with a double to right-centerfield. Nicasio then had to pitch to Jed Lowrie. Lowrie, hitting from the left side, blasted his eighth big fly of the year to tie the game for Oakland. Lowrie now has 30 RBIs and leads the AL in that department.

A’s closer Blake Treinen was brought in to pitch the eighth and ninth. The Mariners loaded the bases with one out. Dee Gordon reached on an infield single. Segura lined a ball that hit the left-field wall on one bounce. Segura was called out at second, but the call was overturned. The A’s gave Robinson Cano an intentional walk to load the bases. Treinen reached back and struck out Nelson Cruz and Mitch Haniger to end the threat.

The A’s took the lead for good when Mark Canha slammed his fourth dinger of the season off Mariners’ closer, Edwin Diaz. Diaz retired the next three hitters. In the bottom of the ninth, Treinen had to walk the tightrope one more time. With one out, Mariners’ catcher Mike Zunino walked. Ryon Healy singled to put men on at first and second. Treinen struck out Ichiro for the second out.Dee Gordon reached on an infield single to load the bases. Gordon was called out but the Mariners challenged, and the call was overturned. Treinen had to find a way to retire Segura. His sinker was working, and he grounded out to end the game. The A’s win 3-2.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the A’s evened their season record at 15-15. The Mariners dropped to 17-12, but did not lose ground as the Yankees beat the Houston Astros again 4-0. The Angels beat the Orioles and picked up a game on both the Astros and Mariners. The A’s remain in fourth place in the AL West.

Blake Treinen recorded the win and the Mariners’ closer Edwin Diaz took the loss. Nicasio was charged with a blown save.

The three-game series concluded Thursday night in Seattle. It will again be a battle of two left-handed pitchers. Sean Manaea, who was named AL pitcher of the month, will go for Oakland. Manaea is 4-2 with an ERA of just 1.03. His opponent will be Wade LeBlanc. LeBlanc is 0-0 with an ERA of 4.61. Erasmo Ramirez was supposed to start, but he is out with an injury.

Time of game was two hours and 25 minutes.

11,603 fans attended the game.

Up Next: Game 3 between these two teams will be at 7:10 pm PT.

Jones Shuts Out Golden Knights 4-0; Sharks Even Series 2-2

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Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks turned their best-of-seven series against the Vegas Golden Knights into a best-of-three, beating the visitors 4-0 Wednesday night at the SAP Center to even the series 2-2. Martin Jones authored a 34-save shutout, his second of the playoffs, while helping San Jose’s penalty kill go 5-for-5.

Tomas Hertl scored his team-best fifth goal of the playoffs, Joonas Donskoi lit the lamp in his return to the lineup after a one-game layoff and Marcus Sorensen scored the game-winner. Joe Pavelski broke out of his mini-slump with his first goal since Game 3 of the Anaheim Ducks series and Logan Couture dished a pair of assists.

The spring of Sorensen continued, with the Swede forward scoring his fourth goal of the playoffs 15:37 into the first period in a superhuman effort. Sorensen circled the Vegas net, working his way back into the slot before losing his balance on a Colin Miller trip to Fleury’s right. He still managed to fire the puck mid-fall à la Bobby Orr top-shelf before the Golden Knights’ keeper could ever make his push across the net for a 1-0 San Jose lead.

“It was huge,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on the game-opening strike. “We’ve been chasing the lead the whole series. We talked about it, but it’s easier said than done. We’ve had chances in the last two games to get out front but [Marc-Andre] Fleury’s been exceptional early in games in order to keep us off the board. It’s nice that we stuck with it. Hopefully, we see some cracks.”

The Sharks looked like they were going to head to the locker room with a one-goal lead, but another fantastic individual effort from a San Jose forward led to a 2-0 cushion with just six seconds left in the first. Joonas Donskoi, absent from the lineup in Game 3, went coast-to-coast before beating Fleury over his glove with Vegas’ Brayden McNabb and Nate Schmidt trying to close in on him in the slot. Brenden Dillon picked up his second assist of the game after serving up a helper on Sorensen’s strike as well.

Tomas Hertl had arguably his best game of the series, firing three shots on net over 18:58 minutes while being a force around and behind the Vegas net. The Sharks forward scored his team-leading fifth goal of the postseason after parking himself in front of Fleury and shoveling a loose puck past through the scrambling netminder 5:35 into the second. Mikkel Boedker picked up an assist after firing the initial shot and Logan Couture had a secondary assist with the Sharks leading 3-0.

Joe Pavelski scored his first goal of the series, just his second of the playoffs, on the powerplay late in the third period after Fleury challenged Pavelski on the edge of the crease. Pavelski jammed at the puck till it flipped around Fleury’s left pad for a 4-0 lead with 8:17 in regulation. Couture drew his second assist on the goal while Brent Burns picked up a helper as well.

“They won the netfront battle at both ends,” said Vegas coach Gerard Gallant. “When you do that you win the game.”

Vegas vented its frustration in the final minutes, collecting a pair of penalties to put the Sharks on a 5-on-3 man advantage as time expired, but Team Teal couldn’t convert. In total, Vegas committed 22 minutes worth of penalties, with post-season hits leader William Carrier drawing a 10-minute misconduct to go with a roughing double-minor with 1:52 left in regulation.

The Sharks lineup remained a mystery up till puck drop, with Evander Kane missing the morning skate and Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow flanking Joe Pavelski on the top line at the morning practice. Ultimately, the only lineup change besides the return of Donskoi was the insertion of Joakim Ryan in Paul Martin’s place at defense. Martin was victimized most notably on William Karlsson’s overtime winner in Game 3 while Ryan showed promise in Game 4, including covering for Brent Burns to breakup a breakaway in the first period. Ryan finished the night with one blocked shot over 11:55 of ice time in his first career postseason contest.

“He did a good job,” said DeBoer of Ryan. “We didn’t win tonight because of Ryan, we didn’t lose last time because of Paul Martin. Our team game the last three games has been really good. The difference tonight was they were 0-5 on the power play and we snuck some goals in.”

The series shifts to Vegas Friday night, but the Sharks victory assures at least one more home game. If the Sharks were to win Game 5 in Vegas, they’d have a chance to finish out the series on home ice Sunday. The best guess will be that DeBoer rides the same 18 skaters for Friday’s tilt.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Can Sharks even it up tonight?; Jets lead Preds 2-1; Caps grab game 3 win lead Pens 2-1; No giving up on Bruins or Bolts series is tied 1-1

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Photo credit: @Capitals

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast, Marko takes a look at each NHL Playoff series:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights lead the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in their best of seven series with Game 4 slated for tonight in San Jose.

#2 Nashville and Winnipeg go at it again with Game 4 Thursday night. The Predators and Jets played game 3 on Tuesday night with Winnipeg getting the win 7-4 to take the lead in the series 2-1

#3 The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins play Game 4 Thursday night at the Igloo in Pittsburgh. The Caps came away with the win in game 3 with a one goal win 4-3 to take a series 2-1 lead.

#4 The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lighting are even at one apiece and face off tonight at TD Garden for Game 3.

Marko Ukalovic covers the NHL for Sportstalk radio at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: DeBoer preparing club for their biggest game of the season so far tonight

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Photo credit: @AVNNewsFeed

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 After dropping Game 3 in San Jose on Monday night, what team do you expect to come out tonight? The fiery team that won in double overtime on Saturday in Vegas or the team that battles in overtime, but somehow the Knights find the back end of the net to win it?

#2 Talk about some of the powerhouses on the Knights: William Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fluery, Tomas Tatar, Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin, and David Perron. It’s like you can choose any player from any line and the Knights have a flawless team.

#3 How much has injuries played a role in the playoffs for the Sharks with Joe Thornton and Brent Burns has shined, but has also been playing hurt at times; Evander Kane with the suspension, and Joonas Donskoi listed as injured.

#4 Has this series boiled down to who is the fastest team and how has speed played a role in beating the Sharks in two of the last three games?

#5 Peter DeBoer has had the skaters do some intense speed skating in the morning skate the option to keep up with the Knights. It will be intense if the Sharks aim to tie the series up tonight.

Mary Lisa Walsh does the SJ Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com