Month: May 2018

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Pinder’s slam gets A’s third straight win over Jays; Giants’ Melancon may not close for SF; Giants Utility man Panda likely to fill in at second

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photo from sbnation.com: Chad Pinder clears the bases with this swing a grand slam that helped the A’s win three straight over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. The A’s and Jays meet again on Sunday.

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Chad Pinder hits grand slam in A’s win at Toronto.

2 Mark Melancon not likely to jump back to closer’s role with Giants; Bumgarner making progress.

3 Panda may see action at second base for Giants before Joe Panik returns.

4 Brandon Belt hears from Joe Torre for comments about umpires.

5 Twins put former MVP Joe Mauer on DL with concussion symptoms.

6 Tim Tebow having great month at Double-A, could move up.

Daniel Dullum does the MLB The Show podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland makes it three consecutive wins in Toronto beating the Jays 5-4 on Saturday

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Pinder Toronto
Chad Pinder’s first career Grand Slam Photo: @OaklandAthletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics won their third game in a row over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday by beating the home team 5-4. The A’s won for just the third time this season when trailing after the seventh inning. They did improve to 8-2 in one-run games and now own the best winning percentage in one-run games (.800) in the Major Leagues.

The A’s trailed the Jays 4-0 as they came to the plate in the top of the eighth inning. John Axford replaced Seunghwan Oh on the mound for Toronto. Matt Chapman led off the inning with a walk – never a good thing for a relief pitcher. Khris Davis singled to right moving Chapman up to third. Matt Olson went down on strikes for the first out of the inning. Stephen Piscotty then singled to right driving Chapman home and allowing Davis to advance to third. Piscottly was able to advance to second on a throwing error.

That brought a pitching change as Axford was sent to the showers and Tyler Clippard was sent to the hill to stop the A’s rally.

The first hitter Clippard faced was Dustin Fowler and he hit a fly ball for an out. Jed Lowrie then pinch hit for Jonathan Lucroy and drew a base-on-balls to load the bases. Chad Pinder then stepped into the batter’s box and hit a 1-1 pitch over the right-center field wall for a grand slam home run to give the Athletics a 5-4 lead.

That would be the end of the scoring in the contest and the Athletics would win 5-4.

The win means the A’s have won the series and they will be going for the sweep on Sunday. Oakland is now 6-3 on this road trip facing the best of the East and is 13-13 on the road this season.

In the batter’s box

Athletics

  • Chad Pinder hit his first career grand slam home run that proved to be the game-winning hit versus the Blue Jays on Saturday. This was his fourth home run of the season. Pinder is now hitting .271 with three home runs and nine RBI since coming off the 10-day Disabled List on April 17,
  • Stephen Piscotty drove in the first run of the day for Oakland and went 2-for-4 in the game making it his eighth multi-hit game of the season. Piscotty is batting .311 in day games and .215 in night contests.
  • Khris Davis went 2-for-4 in the game and hit his ninth double. 12 of Davis’ last 22 hits have gone for extra bases.
  • Shortstop Marcus Semien posted his 15th multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with a double on Saturday.

Blue Jays

Toronto smoak
Justin Smoak tries to lead the Jays past the A’s Photo: @BlueJays
  • Gio Urshela hit his first home run as a Blue Jay – a two-run shot in the fifth inning. It was also his first career home run to the opposite field.
  • Yangervis Solarte doubled twice and posted an RBI. This was his third multi-extra base hit game this season. He leads the Jays with 27 RBI.
  • Justin Smoak went 2-for-3 off Sean Manaea. He is now hitting .333 (19-for-57) versus lefties. Smoak picked up two walks in the game and is now tied for fifth in the American League in walks with 26.
  • Kevin Pillar recorded his 20th RBI with a Sacrifice Fly in the fifth inning in his 46th game of the season. He did not record his 20th RBI in 2017 until game 80.

On the hill

Oakland

  • Starter Sean Manaea allowed four runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in his 5.0-innings of work on Saturday. It matched his shortest outing of the year. Manaea has given up four runs in each of his of last four starts.
  • Emilio Pagan worked 2.0-innings of relief and earned his first win of the season.
  • Blake Treinen closed out the game for Oakland and earned his 10th save of the season for A’s.

Toronto

  • Tyler Clippard had a very, very bad day. He was charged with his first blown save of the year and picked up his first loss of the season as well.
  • The Jays used five pitchers who gave up five runs on 10 hits while allowing four walks and striking out 10.

Note: The roof at the Rogers Centre was closed.

Up Next

The final game of the series will get underway at 10:07 AM PDT with RHP Daniel Mengden (3-4, 3.75) on the mound for Oakland facing the Blue Jays RHP Joe Biagini (0-2, 7.98).

 

Earthquakes lose to D.C. United 3-1

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes welcomed D.C. United to Avaya Stadium Saturday night. San Jose looked forward to Retro Night while D.C. hoped to end their two-game losing skid.

Chris Wehan, a winger from Orange, California, made his MLS debut with the Quakes on this cool, windy evening in the South Bay. The Quakes appeared to be ready for the match, but they turned out to be unprepared. Well, at least in the first half, that is.

DC United grabbed a 1-0 lead at the 15th minute. Zoltan Stieber slipped behind the back line to get on the score sheet for the third straight game.

It wasn’t long before DC United doubled their lead. Darren Mattock scored a goal off a pass from Luciano Acosta to make it 2-0 at the 20th minute.

DC United capitalized off a Quakes’ turnover for a 3-0 lead at the 37th minute. Yamil Asad scored the third goal of the game in the midst of excess pressure.

After what appeared to be a countless number of missed shot attempts, San Jose cut its deficit to 3-1 at the 43rd minute. Danny Hoesen scored the Quakes’ first goal of the match.

Hoesen provided a necessary boost to help the Quakes avoid a shutout, but DC United proceeded to take a 3-1 lead to the locker room at the end of the first half.

Both teams returned to the field for the second half. Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski also entered the match, which excited most, if not all, fans in attendance.

Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell continued making noteworthy saves, including a flawless reaction save at the 57th minute, to fend off what could’ve been a fourth DC United goal.

The Quakes swapped Jackson Yueill in favor of Quincy Amarikwa, who made it clear that it was Quincy time.

Unfortunately, San Jose was unable to get past DC United as they kicked multiple saves that either ended up caught by the opposing goalkeeper David Ousted or just wide of the net.

The Quakes made their third and final substitution at the 82nd minute. Tommy Thompson took Vako’s spot on the field.

After a full 90 minutes plus three minutes of stoppage time, the score remained in the same and DC United defeated the Quakes 3-1.

Notes 
Quakes’ starting lineup
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D.C. United’s starting lineup
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Up Next
Quakes head to L.A. to take on the Galaxy next Friday, May 25th at 8:00 pm PST.

D.C. United also head to L.A., but to face the LAFC next Saturday, May 26th at 7:00 pm PST.

By any Justifiable means necessary: Justify just one race short of the Triple Crown

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Jeffrey F Bill Baltimore Sun photo: Jockey Mike E Smith rides Justify (7) who holds a close  lead followed by Good Magic just behind on the inside

By Matt Harrington and Joe Lami

It started out with a victory at decisive victory at the Kentucky Derby for what was to put the Preakness winner on the brink for a Triple Crown.  The gallop on Saturday at the Preakness in Maryland had Justify take the spoils for his second consecutive win in muddy foggy conditions on the Pilimco Track.

It was not for the faint of heart as Justify graced the track with a close half of length win in 1:55.93. Bravazo was runner up to Justify while Tenfold finished up in third. This was a competitive race and with the top three horses putting it to the proverbial pedal to the medal there was no surrendering but Justify was just that length better.

Champagne on Ice: Trainer Bob Baffert said it was the hardest race that Justify has ever run and was really put to the test, “It was a hard race today on him, probably the hardest race he’s had, but he’s getting fit,” Baffer said.

The muddy conditions might have the reason why the competition was so close at the Preakness. At Kentucky the odds were 2-5 for Justify, Good Magic who had 7-2 odds Good Magic was not anywhere close to Justify and for good measure no other competing horses at the Kentucky Derby had double digit odds like Justify or Good Magic.

At the Preakness there were only four horses who kept up on the muddy track and for Justify’s competitors the odds were much larger for any chance for a win. The odds for Bravazo were 15-1 and Tenfold had 25-1 odds.

PLACE HORSE
1 Justify
2 Bravazo
3 Tenfold
4 Good Magic
5 Lone Sailor
6 Sporting Chance
7 Diamond King
8 Quip

The Belmont Stakes sets the stage for the possibility for Justify to become the 13th thoroughbred to win a Triple Crown. The last winner was American Pharaoh in 2015 Baffert also was the trainer of American Pharaoh. 37 years previous to American Pharaoh’s victory in 2015 the last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed.

Next up the Belmont Stakes: The Belmont is slated for June 9, 2018 a date that could catapult Justify as the second horse in three years to win a triple crown. Baffert has trained some of the best horses and there’s that air of confidence from Baffert that Justify could just get that one more needed race.

Matt Harrington and Joe Lami are talk show hosts for Sports Talk podcasts and http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Crawford continues to swing bat well; Giants defeat Rockies 9-4

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Photo credit: @MLB_News247

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–Brandon Crawford continues to swing the bat well, and with that the San Francisco Giants broke out of their recent funk.

Crawford went 3-for-5 on the afternoon, as the Giants came back to defeat the Colorado Rockies 9-4 before a crowd of 39,195 at AT&T Park Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Giants put a stop to their modest three-game losing streak and defeated the Rockies best pitcher in the process.

After scoring just seven runs during the three-game losing streak, the Giants scored in every inning between the second and sixth innings.

Crawford got the ball rolling for the Giants in the bottom of the second inning, as they trailed the Rockies 2-0 at the end of an inning and a half.

After leading off the inning with a single, Crawford was forced out at second base on a Miguel Gomez ground out, Gorkys Hernandez continues his hot hitting, as he doubled to left field that sent Gomez to third base. Chris Stratton then helped out his own cause, as he drove in his first major league run with a ground out to Trevor Story at shortstop.

The Giants took the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning, as they loaded the bases, as Andrew McCutchen singled, Buster Posey singled, then Brandon Belt walked to load the bases. After Evan Longoria flew out for the first out of the inning, Crawford lashed a double down the left field line that scored both McCutchen and Posey.

Gomez then got in on the act, as he singled in Belt for the third run of the inning and the Giants took a 4-2 lead.

After the Rockies cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth inning, as Daniel Castro grounded into a double play that scored Desmond, the Giants came back with a run of their run in the bottom of the inning.

Gregor Blanco tripled just past the second baseman, and after both McCutchen and Posey were unable to bring in Blanco, Belt greeted reliever Chris Rusin with a single to right-center field to extend the Giants lead up to 5-3.

The Rockies would not go away, as they clawed back in it to get within one run, as Blackmon led off the inning with a single of his own. Gerardo Parra then singled Blackmon to third base.

The defensive play of the game came up next, as Story hit a single to right that scored Blackmon and McCutchen came up throwing and tried to get Parra at third base. Bruce Bochy challenged the call, as it looked like Longoria tagged Parra and after a 1:57 review, the call was reversed.

McCutchen blew the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he hit a two –run double that scored Austin Jackson, who picked up a pinch-hit single off of Rusin and Gomez, who led off the inning with a single of his own.

Crawford capped off his big day in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he hit a two-run home run off of Brooks Pounders.

Over his last 18 games, Crawford is 31-for-69 (.448) with 16 runs batted in and thru the first six games of the home stand, he is 12-for-22, a .545 clip.

Every member of the Giants starting lineup with the exception of Stratton picked up a hit, as McCutchen joined Crawford with three hits. Posey, Belt and Gomez each picked up two hits, as the Giants got 17 hits on the afternoon.

Stratton went the minimum five innings, as he allowed four runs (three earned), allowing eight hits, walking two and striking out one, as he won for the fifth time this season.

Gray, who was unable to get out of the fourth inning, allowed five runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out four and saw his record fall to 4-6 on the season.

NOTES: Ty Blach looks to end the series and the home stand on a high note, as he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon, while the Rockies will send Tyler Anderson to the mound.

Mac Williamson went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in his first rehab game on Friday for the Sacramento Rivercats against the Salt Lake Bees. Williamson last played on April 24, a span of 24 games after crashing into the wall near the Giants bullpen in left field and suffered a concussion.

Hunter Pence went 2-for-4 in the same game, as is now hitting .314 with two doubles and five runs batted in in his 13 games with the Rivercats. Over his last seven games, Pence is hitting .393, as he is 11-for-28 during that stretch.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Rockies’ series finale is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm PST.

NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals podcast with Matt Harrington: A Vegas win Sunday would make the Knights a first-time, first-year expansion team to go to the NHL Finals

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@GoldenKnights photo: The Vegas Golden Knights Reilly Smith who scored the game winning goal in the third period on Friday night at T Mobile Center in game 4 as the Knights take a 3-1 lead going back to Winnipeg

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt:

The Vegas Golden Knights, who entered their first year expansion season, were even long odds in the their hometown at 500-1 to go all the way when they were chasing the puck in September during preseason. Now those same oddsmakers have the Knights favored to go all the way to win the NHL Stanley Cup, which would be a first in any sport for a first year expansion team.

The Knights down 1-0 to the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at the T-Mobile Center got their game plan together with goals from Reilly Smith who scored on a breakaway in the latter stages of the third period. The goal put the Knights a goal in front of the Jets and later for the win 3-2.

The Knights also got offensive help with goals from William Karlsson and Tomas Nosek. The Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots by the Jets in gGame 4 and moved into ninth place for wins by a goaltender in the NHL post season.

Matt Harrington is doing analysis for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Desmond does a number on Giants in Rockies’ 6-1 win

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Photo credit: @MLB_News247

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–Ian Desmond may be getting booed at Coors Field after his slow start with the Colorado Rockies, but he loves playing at AT&T Park.

After going 0-for-4 in the first game of the four-game series against the San Francisco Giants, the new Rockies first baseman could begin to change the opinion of Rockies fans with one swing of the bat.

Desmond cranked a three-run home run off of Derek Holland in the top of the fourth inning, as the Rockies defeated the Giants 6-1 before a crowd of 40,970 at AT&T Park Friday night.

Prior to going 2-for-4 on the evening, Desmond was 30-for-89 (.337) with a home run and 13 runs batted in.

Kyle Freeland went 6.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits, while walking one and striking out five on his way to his fourth win of the season.

As for Holland, he went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking one and striking out three and his record fell to 2-5 on the season.

Holland was cruising along until the top of the third inning, when Nolan Arenado walked to lead-off the inning, then Trevor Story singled and after a Noel Cuevas strikeout, Desmond took a Holland offering and planted it into the left-center field bleachers.

Gorkys Hernandez got the Giants off to a quick start, as he hit a home run to lead-off the bottom of the first inning. It was the third home run of the season for Hernandez and his second of the week, as he hit a solo home run to the top of the fifth inning on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Desmond added another run batted in, as he doubled off of Holland to score Arenado, who doubled to lead-off the top of the sixth inning.

Charlie Blackmon put the finishing touches on the scoring for the Rockies, as he hit a Jose Valdez offering and planted it on the right-field arcade for a two-run home run. It was the 12thhome run of the season for Blackmon.

Arenado also lived up to why he is the winner of the last five Golden Gloves, as he made a diving stab at a Kelby Tomlinson groundball and threw Tomlinson out from his knees behind third base.

NOTES: Chris Stratton will look to stop the Giants three-game losing streak, as he takes the mound on Saturday afternoon, as he looks for his fifth win of the season. The Rockies will send right-hander Jon Gray to the mound, as his looks to win his fifth.

Mac Williamson began his rehab assignment today for the Sacramento Rivercats, and he went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run. Austin Slater followed up the Williamson home run one of his own, as the duo went back-to-back, as Slater also went 1-for-4 in the 7-3 Rivercats win over the Salt Lake Bees.

Hunter Pence continues his rehab assignment for the Rivercats, and he went 2-for-4 on the evening in Salt Lake City.

The hitting star of the night for the Rivercats was Chase d’Arnaud, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and three runs batted in.

This was the 500th career appearance for Rockies reliever Bryan Shaw, who came on to replace Freeland in the bottom of the seventh inning.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Rockies will face off for Game 3 Saturday afternoon at 1:05 pm PST.

A’s ‘Pen Near Perfect Despite Early Call, Oakland Beats Jays 3-1

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland A’s were forced to turn to their bullpen earlier than anticipated Friday night North of the Border, but the result wound up a surprise for the Green and Gold. Despite having starter Brett Anderson exit the game after just one inning with an apparent leg injury, the Oakland bullpen fired eight innings of one-run ball in a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays to put the A’s one game over .500. Dustin Fowler had a big night at the plate, hitting his first career homerun and adding a game-winning RBI double. Josh Phegley also knocked in a run off Toronto starter Marco Estrada to give the A’s (23-22) wins in back-to-back games in Toronto.

Anderson pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, but exited the game after taking his warm-up tosses to open the second inning. Relieve Josh Lucas came on, firing 3 2/3 innings. He would exit the game with a no-decision though.

Despite Fowler’s first career big fly, a solo homer in the top of the 3rd of starter Marco Estrada, Lucas exited the game with Oakland tied 1-1. Lucas gave up a one-out double to catcher Luke Maile and a two-out single by Gio Urshela tied the game. Manager Bob Melvin then tabbed Danny Coulombe to finish out the inning, which he did by striking out the resurgent Curtis Granderson. Coulombe (1-1, 4.96 ERA) fired a perfect sixth inning as well, putting him in line  for the win after the A’s rally in the 7th inning.

With Estrada getting two quick outs in the inning, the Jays appeared safe. Chad Pinder doubled, then Fowler and Phegley each hit two-baggers to give Oakland a 3-1 lead and knock Estrada (2-4, 5.15 ERA) out of the game. In total, three of the A’s seven hits off Estrada came in the inning.

Chris Hatcher pitched a scoreless seventh, but Yusmeiro Petit couldn’t quite get the third out when it was his turn in the eighth. Blake Treinen came in with runners on second and first, striking out Kevin Pillar to end the inning. He then went 1-2-3 in the ninth, closing the game out with back-to-back punch outs of Maile and Dwight Smith Jr. for his ninth save of the year.

Oakland can push itself further above .500 and take the weekend series Saturday with a win from ace Sean Manaea. He’ll be opposed by righty Sam Gaviglio who will be making his first start of the season. Gaviglio has appeared in two games in relief, firing 4 1/3 innings.

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Quakes settle for 2-2 draw vs. WhiteCaps and prepare for Retro Night this Saturday

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu:

1. Before the Quakes’ kickoff in Vancouver against the WhiteCaps, they gave a special shoutout to Amgen TOC’s Stage 4 winner and overall leader Tejay Van Gardern. Van Gardern was presented with a Quakes jersey as an award.

2. The Quakes settled for a 2-2 draw against the WhiteCaps at full-time. San Jose accepted their four-point road trip and will gear up for Retro Night at Avaya Stadium against D.C. United Saturday night.

3. Nick Lima commented on the Quakes’ four points out of what could’ve been a six-point road trip.

4. Former voice of the Quakes, Hal Ramey, will be on the call for Saturday’s match on KNBR 1050. Hal reflected on the 80s Quakes in an interview with his son Ted.

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

 

Rockies outlast Giants 5-3 in 12 innings

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Carlos Gonzalez has a pretty nice track record against the Giants, and that continued Thursday night.

After the Rockies used walks to load the bases in the 12th inning, Carlos Gonzalez brought in two runs with a bloop single off reliever Cory Guerrin just beyond the outstretched arm of second basemen Kelby Tomlinson to break a 3-3 tie and ultimately give Colorado a 5-3 win at AT&T Park.

The Giants put together a rally in the bottom of the 12th, putting two runners on, but the rally fell short with a popout.

The Giants got a nice outing from starter Jeff Samardzija, who went 6 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He issues three walks and struck out three, but he did not factor in the decision.

The Rockies got to Samardzija (1-2, 6.94 ERA) in the second, getting three runs off the big right-hander to race out to an early lead. The final blow of the inning came when Samardzija’s pitching counterpart, Chad Bettis, singled in a run.

In the third, however, Samardzija exacted a little revenge by lining a single off Bettis, which moved Austin Jackson to third. A sac fly by the ensuing batter, Gorkys Hernandez, brought in Jackson to narrow Colorado’s lead to 3-1.

Bettis (4-1, 3.12 ERA) went six full innings and surrendered three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out five.
The Giants then used a two-out rally in the sixth to tie it up. Buster Posey drew a walk before Brandon Belt lined one just over the brick wall in right-center.

The hit was initially ruled a double, as the ball ricocheted hard back into the field of play, but the umpiring crew got together and upon review, the ball was found to have cleared the wall and instead hit the railing just beyond it, resulting in a game-tying two-run home run.

Meanwhile, Samardzija settled down very nicely after that turbulent second inning, shutting Colorado’s bats down from that point until he left the game in the seventh. Thursday night marked his longest outing of this brief season. After starting the season on the disabled list with a strained pectoral muscle, Samardzija went 5 2/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh last Saturday.

Will Smith and Sam Dyson took over for Samardzija and did not allow a single baserunner over the ensuing inning and a third.

The Giants were down to their last out in the ninth when Brandon Crawford’s chopper was just out of the reach of Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino, which Crawford used to leg out an infield single. He then stole second, but Austin Jackson grounded out weakly to third, sending the game to extras.

The Giants and Rockies face each other again Friday night at 7:15 pm PST.