Month: May 2018

Giants survive Coors Field with late 7-4 win over Rockies

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

It did not look good early for the Giants at all, and it looked like so many other horror shows that have been disguised as road games that the Giants play at Coors Field over the years.

However, the Giants survived the rough start and rallied for a comeback win, a much-needed 7-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies that sent them to the airport in a delightful mood as they prepare to head back home.

Nolan Arenado, who has had his share of big games against the Giants, started things off with a three-run homer off starter Derek Holland in the very first inning.

The Giants, however, didn’t take much time to respond at all, as they got two runs in their half of the second inning off Colorado Jon Gray, with Pablo Sandoval singling in a run to narrow the Rockies’ lead to one.

They eventually tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth and chased Gray from the game, when Gorkys Hernandez and Buster Posey each drew bases-loaded walks. The Giants took the lead for good in the fifth, when Evan Longoria’s triple brought in a run, and Brandon Crawford singled in a run.

Nursing a three-run lead in the ninth, Hunter Strickland had to survive a bit of a scare from the Rox, and it started after he struck out Gerardo Parra. The strikeout pitch, however, got away from catcher Buster Posey, and Parra was able to reach base, thus nullifying the out.

Two batters later, Ryan McMahon lined a two-out double, and Strickland had to deal with Arenado, who represented the tying run. However, Strickland was able to get Arenado to pop out harmlessly to second, as his team escaped with the win.

The Giants will now head home to face the Phillies for a three-game series that starts Friday night at AT&T Park. The series opener is set for 7:15 pm PST.

NHL Stanley Cup Finals Vegas Golden Knights podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh

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Photo credit: @GoldenKnights

On the Vegas Golden Knights podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 How much of a threat is the Washington Caps Alex Ovechkin? Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc Andre-Fleury allowed more than his average amount of goals in the first game.

#2 The Caps opened these finals on the road. Is this a disadvantage or it doesn’t matter that they face the Knights on their home ice?

#3 The Caps are deep in players, a roster with a team that has players that have been together for awhile.

#4 The Knights have been getting goaltending during this postseason from Fleury and he’s been the crux of the playoffs for them.

#5 The Knights-Caps go at it for Game 1 tonight. Mary Lisa tells us how she sees game two going into tonight.

Mary Lisa does the NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Finals Washington Capitals podcast with Marko Ukalovic

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On the Washington Capitals podcast with Marko:

#1 Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson’s blindside hit on the Vegas Jonathan Marchessault that Wilson didn’t get suspended for. Wilson said he watched Marchessault finish his pass and Wilson said he went to finish his check.

#2 The hit laid him out in Game 1. He went to the locker room for concussion protocol tests at 14:15 in the third period.

#3 Wlson saying that after Marchessault when Marchessault was finished admiring his pass Wilson went to finish his check. Does that sound like there was some premeditated intent there?

#4 Marchessault said that he was confident that the league would take care of Wilson for the late hit, but Marchessault was not suspended.

#5 So with all that under consideration, what happens tonight? Will there be a rumble? Will the Caps create a physical environment and try to take Vegas out of their speed skating?

Marko Ukalovic does the NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Latest updates on the Black and Blue

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the SJ Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. It just wasn’t the Quakes’ night in Carson against the Galaxy in the 1-0 shutout in the California Clasico last Saturday.

2. Quakes fans, don’t forget to vote your favorite team into the MLS All-Star Game using the MLS app.

3. The Quakes’ family four-pack is back.

4. The Quakes congratulated the Warriors on their fourth straight NBA Finals appearance.

5. The Quakes head to Chicago this weekend to take on the Fire.

Ana does the SJ Earthquakes podcasts each week for sportsradioservice.com.

 

A’s come up short in 4-3 loss to Rays

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Photo credit: @RaysBaseball

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Tampa Bay Rays edged the A’s 4-3 in the second game of the four-game series at Oakland Coliseum Tuesday night.

Rays’ starter, Blake Snell, improved his record to 7-3 as he baffled the A’s, allowing just one run, which was unearned, and two hits. He struck out seven.

A’s starter Daniel Gossett allowed three runs and eight hits. He was tagged with the loss. He gave up three consecutive home runs in the third inning.

The Rays scored three times in the third inning. Gossett struck out the first two hitters that he faced. The next three hitters, C.J. Cron (former A’s second baseman), Joey Wendle, and Rays’ catcher Wilson Ramos, all hit solo home runs.

It was the first time since August 1st, 2017 that the Rays hit back-to-back homers against the Houston Astros, and it was the first time since they hit three consecutive dingers in a game since September 21st, 2016 when they did it against the New York Yankees.

The A’s put one on the board in their half of the third. Catcher Bruce Maxwell reached on an error. Snell retired the next two hitters. Jed Lowrie, the designated hitter, doubled to left field to drive in Maxwell. The run was unearned. Rays lead 3-1 after three complete.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Rays’ pitcher Jamie Schultz made his Major League debut and had quite a debut as he struck out all the hitters he faced. Welcome to the Bigs, Rook!

The A’s had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rays’ reliever, righty Chaz Roe, walked Marcus Semien to start the inning. The next batter, Matt Chapman, had a broken bat blooper that fell in safely in right field. Semien made it third, and Chapman reached second on Carlos Gomez’ throwing error. Roe struck out Lowrie and Mark Canha and retired Chad Pinder on a routine ground ball out. The Rays still lead 3-1 as the teams head into the ninth inning.

In the ninth, Rays’ shortstop, former A’s farmhand, Daniel Robertson clobbered his sixth dinger of the year to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead. The A’s rallied to score twice. Sergio Romo, who was a closer for the San Francisco Giants, was Ray.s manager Kevin Cash’s choice to finish the game. Matt Olson singled off Romo to start the rally. Stephen Piscotty doubled down the left field line to drive in Olson. Piscotty went to third on a ground ball out and scored on Bruce Maxwell’s ground ball to first base. Romo dodged a bullet when Marcus Semien hit a long fly ball that had the distance for a home run, but the ball went foul. Romo then retired Semien for the final out of the game.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s drop to 28-27 and the Rays improve to 27-26.

The Rays’ line was four runs, 10 hits, and two errors. All four of the Rays’ runs were the result of solo homers.

The A’s line was three runs, five hits, and one error.

Time of game was two hours and 55 minutes.

A very sparse crowd of 7,521 fans were on hand to see the A’s lose.

Up Next: Wednesday night’s game will feature the A’s big lefty Sean Manaea (5-5, 3.34 ERA) pitching for Oakland and righty Nathan Eovaldi going for the Rays. Manaea has been scuffling lately, and he will be hoping to return to the form that he showed earlier in the season. Game time is set for 7:05 pm PST.

Two more pitchers injured in Giants’ 11-4 loss to Rockies; Samardzija and Rodriguez leave game due to injuries

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skgoabc7.com photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija last just an inning before leaving due to tightness in his throwing shoulder while pitching against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Tuesday night

By Jeremy Kahn

There is one or two things that the San Francisco Giants did not need with just two games remaining on their three-city, eight-game road trip.

Jeff Samardzija lasted just one inning, where he gave up two runs on three hits and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Giants 11-4 at Coors Field.

Samardzija was forced to leave the game with his tightness in his right shoulder, the same right shoulder that saw the right-hander begin the 2018 season on the disabled list for the first time in his major-league career.

With the loss of Samardzija after just one inning, the Giants turned to Dereck Rodriguez, who made his major-league debut.

Rodriguez, who is the son of hall of fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, went 3.1 innings, allowing four runs, with just one of them earned. He also drove in the Giants first run of the game, as he doubled over the head of Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez in the top of the fifth inning that cut the Rockies lead down to 5-1.

Unfortunately, Rodriguez’s debut ended on a sour note, as he took a line drive off the right calf in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Ian Desmond hit a ball up the middle.

Once again, the Giants defense was subpar, as they committed four errors on the evening, including two in the bottom of the fourth inning that saw the Rockies break the game wide open, as they scored three runs.

After Rodriguez was able to get the first outs of the inning via the strikeout, the floodgates of shoddy defense began. Kyle Freeland doubled, then Charlie Blackmon hit a ground ball to Kelby Tomlinson that he was unable to handle for his second error of the evening that allowed Freeland to scored. Blackmon went to third base on a throwing error by Brandon Belt and then both Gerardo Parra and Nolan Arenado each hit run-scoring doubles.

Tomlinson committed a third error in the bottom of the eighth inning, as his throw to Brandon Crawford on a Trevor Story groundball that pulled Crawford off of second base.

It was a good night on the mound for Freeland, as he went 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, he also did not walk a batter and struck out three. Freeland evened up his record on the season at 5-5.

Evan Longoria hit two home runs in the same game for the first time since July 17, 2016, when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. Longoria reaches 10 home runs on the season, just two months into the season, during the 2017 season, the Giants third basemen combined for eight home runs.

Buster Posey hit his third home run of the season.

NOTES: Derek Holland looks for his third win of the season, as the Giants look to end the road trip on a high note. Through the first seven games on the road trip, the Giants are 1-6. Rockies will send Jon Gray to the mound, as he looks for his first career win against the Giants. In his career, Gray is 0-2 with a 4.26 earned run average in four starts.

Madison Bumgarner will make his second rehab start on Thursday night, as he will throw between 70 and 75 pitches for class A San Jose.

Bumgarner is slated to make his season debut on June 5th at AT&T Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Rockies continue their series Wednesday at 5:40 pm PST.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s getting good pitching, they just need some offense

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mlb.com photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Daniel Mengden throwing a shutout against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Saturday May 26, 2018 at the Oakland Coliseum

Charlie O on the A’s podcast:

1) The A’s took 2 of 3 from Arizona and then lost the first game of the Tampa Bay series in an 1-0 extra inning heartbreaker. In those 4 games they scored 4 runs, what’s happening at the plate?

2) what about the pitching? How the staff perform in these games?

3) you say the A’s have some good news coming this week.

4) I have noticed on our Twitter account you have been doing some fantasy betting on A’s games? Why? And how are you doing?

Charlie O does the Oakland A’s podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: They meet again Cavs-Warriors fourth straight year; This Cavs team weaker than past ones

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Photo credit: @warriors

On the Warriors podcast with Dave:

This is the fourth consecutive time that these two teams the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors will meet for the NBA Finals and this is the first time that the same two teams meet in the NBA Finals for the most times four for the finals and it should be noted in major professional sports as well. To achieve such an accomplishment. this is a testimony to the Warriors and Cavaliers that both teams could get this far four times in row.

This is a testament about how successful how head coach Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, who contributed in that mix. This has been an amazing team that the Warriors have put together this season. They had a game plan, a system that they bought into and selflessly contributed to.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: Oakland and Tampa Bay have similar business model situations; Both teams in need of new stadiums

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Photo credit: @SFGate

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s, who opened a four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, started the series with the Rays at .500 on this current homestand. The A’s started the homestand against the Seattle Mariners, a very good team who is in second place followed by Arizona.

The M’s won two out of three from the slumping Minnesota Twins over the weekend. The A’s and Rays as far as front office organization situations are concerned are in the same boat. The attendance for both teams are low and their in two different divisions but similar at this time in history. Both teams are struggling in their current ball parks. They both are in need of getting new parks built. The A’s are looking to go to Jack London Square and build a waterfront park. The Rays want a waterfront park in Tampa Bay and want to get out of Tropicana Field in St Petersburg.

The A’s and Rays also speaking of sharing business models. It gets down to on the field and both teams also have bullpens on their home fields. They are two of three teams in MLB that have bullpens on the field, the Giants being the other. Bullpens on the field became an issue after the Giants outfielder Mac Williamson tripped on the AT&T bullpen mound and got a concussion in April.

I’m old-school. I like to see the bullpens on the field, baseball has changed. The fans still enjoy to see the bullpens and you like to see the pitchers warming up in the bullpens. When you broadcast a game, you can see whose loosening up. Some stadiums you don’t see whose warming up.

There’s more on That’s Amaury listen to Amaury’s podcast weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

What’s New? Giants experience another long, frustrating evening at Coors Field

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By Morris Phillips

For the second time in 12 days, the Giants are digesting a bitter, extra-inning loss to the Rockies.

Chris Iannetta’s base hit off Hunter Strickland in the bottom of the 10th scored Nolan Arenado to win it, but a whole bunch transpired in this one across the 314 pitches before Iannetta’s walk off single.

The Giants had an opportunity to win it in the top of the 10th when Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford delivered back-to-back base hits. But closer Bryan Shaw steadied, retiring Austin Jackson, Kelby Tomlinson and Gregor Blanco on ground balls to end the threat.  The Giants had plenty of other opportunities as they stranded 10 of the 12 baserunners they placed in scoring position.

Ultimately, the Giants blew a 2-0, first inning lead, and a 5-4 lead they carried into the eighth inning. That second lead was the first the Giants have blown after the seventh inning all season, as they fell to 21-1 when leading that late in a ballgame.

And the Giants failed to win when scoring four runs or more as well, falling to 23-5 in those situations.

“We did what we were hoping to do (which is) create those situations you like,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

Just five games into a 19-game oddysey with the rival Rockies, the Giants can’t afford to concede much more the first place Rockies, who remain a 1 1/2 games ahead of the faltering Diamondbacks, and increased their lead to four games over the Giants. The NL West has been a haven for struggling clubs over the last month with Arizona coming back to the pack, but that appears to be changing with the fourth place Dodgers playing well, and the Rockies stringing together a pair of important wins.

“This is an opponent that we respect,” Rockies manager Bud Black said of the Giants. “This is a team in our division that is made up of a lot of veteran players.  It’s a good team. It’s well run. And they’re hard fought games.”

Rookie Andrew Suarez started his first ever game at Coors Field, which afterwards he likened to a Pacific Coast League venue with its prodigious dimensions and propensity for offensive mayhem. But Suarez acquitted himself quite well outside of a hanging breaking ball served up to Trevor Story, who deposited into the left field bleachers for a three-run shot that wiped out the Giants 2-0 lead in the first inning.

But from that point, Suarez steadied, pitching five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) while striking out seven.

The game was delayed by rain for 55 minutes. When it started, both pitchers had early struggles, but Colorado’s Chad Bettis found his way out a situation that could have landed the Rockies in a huge, early hole.