Month: July 2019

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Despite loss to Astros, A’s had competitive road trip

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Photo credit: @sbgglobal

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Oakland A’s dropped their second game of the three-game series 4-2 to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Field in a Wednesday matinee.

#2 The A’s went 3-4 on the road trip, splitting a four game series with the Twins and losing two out of three with the Astros. The record reflects how competitive the A’s are.

#3 The Astros’ Justin Verlander improved his record to 13-4 and pitched six innings, two hits, two walks, and 11 strikeouts.

#4 The Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt went six innings with five hits and four runs. Although he got the loss, Bassitt had a decent outing.

#5 The A’s host the Texas Rangers starting Thursday night at the Oakland Coliseum. The Rangers will start Ariel Jurado (5-6, 4.92 ERA), and for the A’s, Brett Anderson (9-5, 3.82 ERA).

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

Heavy Trumps Hot: Streaking Giants cooled by the Cubs’ home run bats, 4-1

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Now that the Giants have achieved some level of competency by surpassing the .500 mark in 2019, know that these two statistical numbers weigh heavily on the mind of GM Farhan Zaidi as the July 31 trade deadline fast approaches.

The Giants have hit 108 home runs this season, 30 fewer than the Major League average, 65 fewer than the Dodgers, and 83 fewer than the Twins, who are threatening to smash the major league record for home runs in a season and become the first team to hit 300.

Entering play Wednesday afternoon, the Giants had won 17 of 20, becoming only the second team to win so frequently over a 20-game stretch in 2019 (Dodgers). And what has that hot stretch earned the scrappy, upwardly-mobile Giants?

According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Giants have just a 13 percent chance to qualify for the playoffs, despite passing six NL clubs during their hot streak.

Disbelieving of what you just read? Believe this: the Giants winning ways were interrupted Wednesday in a 4-1 loss to the Cubs, as Chicago sluggers went deep three times off San Francisco starter Tyler Beede in the first four innings.

And the Giants’ offense? You had to ask.

Leadoff batter Brandon Belt, who’s not really a leadoff batter, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. Tuesday night’s hero, Pablo Sandoval was 0 for 3 with a walk, and the Giants managed just five hits, no home runs and one run against fill-in starter Tyler Chatwood and a pair of Cubs relievers. Alex Dickerson, the Giants’ preferred cleanup hitter was out of the starting lineup for the second time in three games, dealing with back issues.

“They’ve got to be running on fumes,” said manager Bruce Bochy, referencing his Giants’ grueling schedule that saw them conclude a stretch of 14 games in 13 days on Wednesday. “They were doing all they could to get this one. We just came up short but the fight was there.”

Throw all that information into your baseball diamond-calibrated computer, and what spits out?

Buy or sell?

Sell is the smart move.

Of course, it’s buy.

In reality, it’s complicated like a personal profile on Facebook. The Giants are red-hot, but it might not much matter if they don’t tear it up in San Diego over the weekend, then fill up on the Phillies next week in Philadelphia.

Simply, it’s an four-game schedule, and the 2019 Giants will be defined by what they do in the first half of the upcoming road swing. Lose, three of four, fall below .500 and it would be prudent for the club to sell. Win three of four, and the front office and the team put all their focus on catching the Cardinals, Brewers and Phillies.

“Everyone wants to win, whether it’s players, coaches or the front office,” said Stephen Vogt. “I think everybody in this building wants to win, and we’re going to do everything it takes.”

One last statistical snap shot of the completed home stand: the Giants won 5 of 7, but were outscored 27-22.

On Friday, Jeff Samardzija takes the hill for the Giants at Petco Park. At presstime, the Padres had not named a starter for any of the three games in the series.

Verlander, Springer, and Altuve lead the Astros to another win over the A’s, 4-2

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Photo credit: @lasvegasbetting

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s finished their seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record. They split the four-game series with the AL Central leader, the Minnesota Twins, and lost two out of three to the AL West leading Houston Astros. The Astros, behind their ace Justin Verlander beat the A’s 4-2 at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday afternoon.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the first inning. Marcus Semien reached on a throwing error by Astros’ third baseman Alex Bregman. He scored on a Matt Olson single to right field. Josh Reddick committed a rare mistake, and that allowed Semien to score.

A’s starter Chris Bassitt was sharp as he retired the first seven hitters he faced. He struck out the last five. Astros catcher Robinson Chirons, who had tormented the A’s over the years, broke the spell with a double. He came around to score when George Springer blasted his 23rd of the year to put Houston ahead 2-1.

In the fifth, Bassitt plunked Chirinos on the hand to start the frame. Chirinos scored again when Jose Altuve hit his 15th of the season over the fence in center field. The Astros led 4-0.

The A’ added their second run of the game in the top of the ninth. Astros’ closer Roberto Osuna gave up a run. The A’s failed to score, and the game was over. Houston won 4-2.

Game Notes: Chris Bassitt gave the A’s six innings of work. He allowed five hits and four runs. Bassitt is now 7-5 for the year. Lou Trivino and Blake Treinen each worked an inning and did not allow Houston to put any runs on the board.

Verlander, who probably will go into the Baseball Hall of Fame when he is finished playing, improved to 13-4. His line was six innings, two hits, one unearned run, two walks, and 11 strikeouts.

The A’s drop to 58-45 and trail the Astros by 7 1/2 games in the division. The Astros improved to 66-38.  The Astros continue to dominate the A’s as they lead the season series 9-2.

Up Next: The A’s return home to face the Texas Rangers for four games starting Thursday night. Brett Anderson (9-5, 3.82 ERA) will go for Oakland. Game time will be at 7:07 pm.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Giants play their 4th extra inning game in 6 games; A’s come back on Astros for 1-run win; plus more

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 If you like extra innings, the San Francisco Giants have played four extra inning games in their last six. On Tuesday night, the Giants were down by two runs, but came back to tie the game and force extra innings against the NL Central first place Cubs. This team has a lot of fight in them.

#2 The Houston Astros, one of baseball’s toughest nemesis, a team that has given the Oakland A’s fits all season long. The A’s battled with the Astros to an 11-inning duel. The Astros opened up the game with two runs and the A’s came right back with three runs in the top of the ninth and the Astros came right back and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. The A’s got the game-winner in extra innings in the top of the 11th to break the deadlock for the 4-3 win to even the series at Minute Maid Field on Tuesday night.

#3 Hard work pays off the Oakland Raiders. Antonio Brown is reportedly working his hardest where some coaches say his work ethic is as hard as former Raider Jerry Rice. He was seen tossing a brick from hand to hand while moving side to side during drills.

#4 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been rehabbing well since tearing his ACL last season in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Garoppolo said he was able to do pretty much everything and it was a rigorous process to come back.

#5 The San Jose Earthquakes continue to plow on through. They have gone undefeated in their last four games, which included a friendly, and defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in their most recent game last Saturday. They’ll host the Colorado Rapids (5-5-11). The Rapids have struggled of late, they have not won a game in four tries, including a friendly against the Arsenal.

London Marq does Headline Sports each Wednesday and is a beat writer for the San Jose Earthquakes at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Quakes are on a roll, but can they keep up?

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. The Quakes beat Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-1 last Saturday.

2. The Quakes acquired Targeted Allocation Money in a trade with Columbus Crew SC last Thursday.

3. The Quakes return home to Avaya Stadium to host the Colorado Rapids this Saturday.

4. Was the ability to believe the key to the Quakes’ recent success?

5. Once again, Vako was named to the MLS Team of the Week.

Ana Kieu does the San Jose Earthquakes podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

2019 Mountain West Media Day: What’s in the cards for San Jose State?

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State football hosted its 2019 Mountain West Media Day on Tuesday. The Spartans finished with a lowly 1-11 record in the 2018 season under second year head coach Brent Brennan. Brennan, however, has learned a lot in his first two seasons.

“In this conference, you play a lot of close games. You’ve got to find a way to finish. We’ve had a huge emphasis in practice on finishing,” Brennan told reporters on Tuesday.

So what’s in the cards for San Jose State? Check out the details below.

Game times for San Jose State University’s 2019 football season opener and the Spartans’ Homecoming game top the news coming out of Las Vegas during the Mountain West Football Preview.

San Jose State will host Northern Colorado, Thursday, August 29, 7:00 pm and San Diego State, Saturday, October 19, at 4:00 pm inside CEFCU Stadium, Home of the Spartans. Tickets for both games and for all San Jose State home contests are available at www.sjsuspartans.com/tickets.

In addition, the Spartans’ game at Hawaii on Saturday, November 9, will kick off at 6:00 pm HT/8:00 pm PT.

Game times for the September 21 non-conference contest at Arkansas and the November 30 regular-season finale at home against Fresno State will be announced at a later date.

Now, let’s get to the projected order of finish among Mountain West football teams. 21 media members covering Mountain West football picked San Jose State to finish sixth in the conference’s West Division standings this season.

Defending champion Fresno State was picked first in the division with 17 first place votes and 122 poll points. San Diego State received three votes to finish first and 106 points.  Hawaii, who was fourth in the poll with 67 points, had the other first place vote.

On the Mountain Division side, Boise State had 15 first-place votes and 120 points to finish as the favorite. Utah State, with six first-place votes, was a close second with 108 points. Air Force, the Spartans’ first conference opponent on September 27, was third with 73. Wyoming with 66, Colorado State with 52, and New Mexico with 21, round out the projected order of finish for the conference’s Mountain Division.

In other news, the Mountain West will launch a brand campaign called “At The Peak.” The Mountain West and its member institutions recently announced a new branding and marketing campaign for the conference to further define the Mountain West’s strong, energetic brand as it begins its 21st year as an NCAA Division I athletic conference.

Designed to make clearer the league’s purpose, vision and values the conference has adopted “At the Peak” as its tagline. The new high-impact moniker resonates the league’s personality and uniqueness as one of the elite conferences in NCAA athletics.

The brand platform was unveiled Tuesday in a coordinated campaign, including Mountain West member institutions and the Mountain West headquarters working together to promote the “At the Peak” brand direction. The campaign will continue throughout the academic year and beyond on multiple platforms, including social media, print, traditional advertising, television and radio.

Aces head into All-Star Break with win over Storm, 79-62

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20190602 - Dearica Hamby 01

Photo credit: Shawn McCullough/Sports Radio Service

By Shawn McCullough

Getting rest during the All-Star Break could be good for the Aces, but it could be bad with how well they are playing right now.

The Aces have won seven of their last eight games with a 79-62 win over the Seattle Storm at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

“There’s nothing better than going into All-Star break with a win,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer.  “Any time before an All-Star break you never know how it’s going to go.  We got it.”

The Aces were led by forward Dearica Hamby with 24 points, who is starting in place of injured forward A’ja Wilson.  Liz Cambage recorded her third straight double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Aces held the Storm to just 35% from the field and forced 18 turnovers.

“Just playing hard and helping each other out,” said Hamby on their defensive effort.  “When we take care of the ball our defense is great.”

The Aces head into the All-Star Break with a 13-6 record and sit atop the WNBA standings.

Three Aces were elected as starters in the All-Star Game: Liz Cambage, Kayla McBride and A’ja Wilson (who will not play due to an ankle injury).

Wilson is an All-Star Game captain along with Washington Mercury’s Elena Delle Donne, who did a school yard draft to set the teams for Saturday’s All-Star Game in Las Vegas.

Wilson drafted Los Angeles Sparks’ Chelsea Gray with her first pick, Aces’ forward Kayla McBride with her second pick and Aces’ center Liz Cambage with her third pick.

“Oh, okay, I see how it is,” said Cambage jokingly on being picked third by Wilson.  “She clearly doesn’t love me like I thought she did, so I’m gonna have a heart-to-heart with her. It is what it is. At the end of the day, it’s just All-Star, I don’t actually really care that she chose me third.”

Aces head coach Bill Laimbeer with coach Wilson’s team.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

  • Liz Cambage scored in double figures for the 50th straight time, which is the longest active streak in the WNBA (15 points).
  • All five of the Aces starters scored in double figures, outscoring the Storm starters, 75-43.
  • The Aces only got 4 points off the bench.
  • Rookie Jackie Young scored a career-high 13 points.

Game Starters:

F – 5 Dearica Hamby
F – 21 Kayla McBride
C – 8 Liz Cambage
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 10 Kelsey Plum

Sandoval wins it in a Giants walk-off in the 13th

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval sent the San Francisco Giants players and fans into a frenzy with one swing of the bat.

Sandoval hit a pitch barely off the ground and over the left field wall in the bottom of the 13th inning off of Brad Brach, as the Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-4 in 13 innings before a crowd of 39,747 at Oracle Park.

That was two inches off the ground again like the ball he hit down the line yesterday and then to go to the opposite field like that in this ballpark, it’s a testament to the flight of the ball, said Cubs Manager Joe Maddon.

Brach got Buster Posey to strike out for the first out of the inning, and on the first pitch to Sandoval, the Giants won their third straight game.

It was the fifth career walk-off for Sandoval, and his first since August 9, 2018 against the Cubs, when he hit a single to left field.

This was the Giants fifth consecutive win by one run, and they are 24-10 this season in one run games, the best record in the major leagues. They are 10-2 in extra-inning games this season, including 4-0 on this current home stand.

Overall, the Giants have won three in a row, 10 out of their last 11 and 17 out of their last 20 game to move to 52-50 on the season.

The last time that the Giants won 17 out of 20 was from July 25 until August 16, 2001.

Sam Coonrod pitched a perfect 13th inning to pick-up his first win of his major-league career. Coonrod struck out Javier Baez and Kris Bryant before getting Anthony Rizzo to ground out to Joe Panik for the final out of the inning.

Things were looking good for the Giants, as they entered the top of the eighth inning with a slim 4-3 lead and the bullpen in full force.

Unfortunately, that was not the case, as Kris Bryant doubled, then went to third on a Rizzo groundout back to Reyes Moronta and after a walk to Peninsula native Daniel DeScalso, Tony Watson gave up the game-tying single to Jason Heyward. Watson was able to regroup and struck out Robel Garcia to end the threat.

I thought we battled back in the eighth inning. Anytime you play that long and hang in there I mean it’s nice to see nobody give up and still go out there and compete. It just wasn’t our night tonight, said Bryant.

Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out seven, but he did not fare in the decision.

The Cubs took the lead in the top of the first inning, as Baez doubled off of Bumgarner, then Bryant singled in Baez; however, the inning ended when Pablo Sandoval, who was playing in the shift near second base, made a great play to on a ball hit by Rizzo, as he tagged Bryant and threw to Brandon Belt to complete the double play.

That was the lead until the bottom of the second inning, as the Giants tied up the game, as Alex Dickerson doubled to lead off the inning and then slid away from the throw by Kyle Schwarber to the plate on a Yastrzemski sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately, the tie would not last long, as the Cubs retook the lead in the top of the third inning, as Bryant singled to score Baez, who singled and then stole second and third.

Dickerson got the rally started, as he hit a solo home run to left field to tie up the game, then Brandon Crawford singled, which was followed by a Mike Yastrzemski walk and then Kevin Pillar hit a Yu Darvish offering to the left-center field power alley to give the Giants the lead.

Darvish went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out six, as like Bumgarner, he did not fare in the decision. He also saw his 13.0 inning scoreless streak come to an end in the bottom of the second inning, and the four runs allowed marked his first runs since July 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

NOTES: The last time that the Giants picked up four walk-off wins in a six-game span was in the year that they moved to San Francisco in 1958. During that season, the Giants defeated the Milwaukee Braves, the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals from July 5-13, 1958.

Rizzo went 0-for-5 on the night, as his 13-game hitting streak came to an end.

UP NEXT: Tyler Beede closes out the home stand on Wednesday afternoon, as he looks for his fourth win of the season for the Giants. Jon Lester will take the Oracle Park mound for the Cubs, as he looks to get his 10th win of the season.

A’s rally late to beat the Astros 4-3

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s stymied by Wade Miley’s slants for eight-plus innings. Miley was masterful all evening long. He retired the first 16 A’s hitters he faced. The A’s ace Mike Fiers had a rough second inning, but settled down and kept the Astros from scoring. Neither starter had a decision. The A’s grabbed the lead for the first time in the top of the ninth. The Astros tied the game at three. The A’s scored a run in the 11th, and Yusmeiro Petit retired the Astros to secure the win for Oakland 4-3.

The Astros put two on the board in the second inning. Houston’s left fielder Michel Brantley singled to start the rally. He went to second on a ground out. Yuli Guriel, playing third base for Houston, hit a line shot to center. Ramon Laureano decided to go for a shoestring catch. The only problem with that decision was this: If you don’t catch the ball and it gets by you, it will be an inside-the-park home run. Fiers may have been a bit rattled, but he settled down and retired the Astros with no further damage. Houston leads 2-0 after two.

The A’s broke up the perfect game with one out in the sixth when Chad Pinder singled. The A’s could do nothing against Mylie until the top of the ninth. In the meantime, Fiers kept his former team off-balance until Bob Melvin removed him from the game with two outs. Melvin brought in lefty Ryan Buchhaler to face Michael Brantley. Brantley struck out to end the threat.

With one out in the ninth, the top of the A’s order came through. Marcus Semien started the rally with a walk. He went to second on Matt Chapman’s single. Astros manager A.J. Hinch brought in his closer Roberto Osuna to pitch. The Astros do not have a lefty in the bullpen, and that cost them the lead. How so? Olson blasted his 21st homer of the year to plate three runs and put the A’s ahead. The Astros did not quit. They came back to tie the score in their half of the ninth. Joakim Soria was trying to close out the game for Oakland. With one out singles by Guriel and Josh Reddick, men were on at first and third. Guriel scored on an Aledmys Diaz’ sacrifice fly to right. The game went to extra innings.

The A’s broke through in the 11th. Collin McHugh was now pitching for Houston. McHugh is known for his sweeping curveballs, and he retired the first hitter he faced. Matt Olson singled, and Mark Canha walked. Ramon Laureano, who was the AL Player of the Week and a former Astro prospect, doubled down the left-field line. Olson scored. Canha also crossed the plate, and the A’s appeared to have a 5-3 lead. The ball got stuck under the wall in left-field, and the Astros claimed that the ball was dead and Canha should be sent back to third base. After an umpires’ review, the call was reversed, and Canha went back to third.  The A’s Yusmeiro Petit, working his second inning of relief retired the Astros in order to secure the win for Oakland.

Game Notes- It was the first win in Houston for the A’s this season. They are now 2-8 against the division leaders.

Fiers’ line was 7 2/3 inning of work, and he allowed six hits and two runs. Miley went eight-plus innings, and he allowed four hits and two runs.

Petit was the winning pitcher, and McHugh took the loss.

Time of game was three hours and 14 minutes.  39,204 went home unhappy as their hometown team lost 4-3.

Up Next: The A’s finish the three-game series Wednesday at 11:00 am PT. Chris Bassitt (7-4) will go for Oakland, and the A’s will be facing the very tough Justin Verlander (12-4).

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Pacquiao can still win at 40; Wizards trying to sign Beal; plus more Wiz

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Photo credit: @MPac_Foundation

On Headline Sports podcast with Barbara:

#1 Manny Pacquiao thrilled them again last Saturday night. Pacquiao won and is now with a record of 62-7-2 and 39 KOs. It was a 12-rounder won by the 40-year-old Pacquiao.

#2 The Washington Wizards have offered guard Bradley Beal a three-year deal worth $111 million. Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said he wanted to sign Beal at the first opportunity he got.

#3 Detroit Tigers outfielder Nick Castellanos says that Comerica Park in Detroit is a joke. Castellanos says that one day his hair will turn gray, it’s something you can’t control how. Castellanos said he hit a homer to center right for some 372 feet.

#4 Is Derek Carr quarterback for the Oakland Raiders playing for his job? Or is he playing for someone else? The Raiders will be looking for a quarterback that can not only get them wins, but enough of them to get to postseason?

#5 Here’s the San Francisco Giants, who were living in last place most all season, but are now just 2 1/2 games out of first place for the National League Wild Card.

Barbara Mason does Headline Sports each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com