Month: April 2021

DeSclafani goes six in 4-0 shutout win to sweep Rockies

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani was the winning pitcher of record going six innings against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Apr 11, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Anthony DeSclafani made a great impression before the home crowd for the San Francisco Giants.

DeSclafani, pitching at Oracle Park for the first time as a member of the Giants, pitched six strong shutout innings, allowing zero runs on eight hits, walking just one and striking out eight, as the Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies 4-0 before a crowd of 6,560 at Oracle Park.

This is the fourth straight win for the Giants and they have won five out of their last six, all over division opponents.

With the victory, the Giants completed their first sweep of the Rockies at Oracle Park for the first time since June 26-28, 2017.

Alex Dickerson gave DeSclafani instant offense in the bottom of the first inning, as he took a German Marquez pitch and put it into the center field bleachers to give the Giants a quick 1-0 lead.

The biggest play of the game will not appear in the box score, but it was a stolen base by Brandon Belt that manufactured the second run of the first inning by the Giants.

Following the Dickerson home run, Belt walked and then with Evan Longoria at the plate, Belt stole second without a throw and standing up.

On the very next pitch to Longoria, he put it into center field to score Belt with a huge second run of the inning.

After that rough first inning, where he threw 35 pitches, Marquez settled down, as he only allowed two more hits until the bottom of the sixth inning.

It was in that sixth inning, that with one out that Belt launched a solo home run onto the arcade for his first home run of the season.

LaMonte Wade, Jr. made his Giants debut and it was a memorable one, as he singled, doubled and walked in his first three at-bats before flying out in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Giants tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Evan Longoria drove in Mike Yastrzemski, who doubled with one out in the inning.

NOTES: Reyes Moronta was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right flexor strain and Wade, Jr. was recalled from the alternate site to take his spot on the roster.

Also before the game, the Giants received infielder Thairo Estrada from the New York Yankees for cash considerations. Estrada will report to the Giants alternate site, while outfielder Jaylin Davis was recalled and placed on the 60-day disabled list with left knee patella tendinitis.

Entering the game, Giants’ starting pitchers have tossed 5.0-or-more innings and allowed three-or-fewer runs in each of SF’s first eight games…only twice in the modern era have the Giants had a longer streak to begin a season (2002 & 1937)…the rotation has posted a 2.61 ERA, the third best figure in the National League behind Miami (2.01) and Milwaukee (2.08), (Stats, LLC).

Today marks the 21st anniversary of the first ever regular season game at what is now known as Oracle Park.

On April 11, 2000, Kirk Rueter threw the first pitch in what was then called Pacific Bell Park to Devon White, who singled to right field; however, it was the Kevin Elster show that day, as he hit three home runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Giants 6-5 before a sellout crowd of 40,930. Barry Bonds hit the first Giants home run in the new ballpark, as he hit a solo home run off of Chan Ho Park.

Bay Area native Ed Montague was the home plate umpire for that inaugural game.

UP NEXT: Aaron Sanchez looks for his first win of the season, as he takes for the Giants on Monday night in the opener of the three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, who will send left-hander Wade Miley to the mound, as he looks for his second win of the season.

A’s not letting early season struggles define them

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By Morris Phillips

Among the encouraging things happening with the A’s the last couple of games?

Seth Brown may finally be ready to bring his big fly game to the Major League level.

The 28-year old is well-known in minor league circles as an unrepentant slugger, the author of 92 home runs since his debut in 2015, including 37 in just 112 games for AAA Las Vegas in 2019.

That last line had the A’s hopeful Brown could elevate his game in Oakland, but in his first 36 games with the A’s over the last three seasons, Brown didn’t clear any fences…

Until Saturday night. With the A’s 6-0 lead cut in half, Brown took reliever Ryan Stanek into the upper deck, a not-high-enough fastball turned into a memory of a lifetime. So majestic was Brown’s homer, the flight of the ball on television revealed the entire Minute Maid Park scoreboard showing Brown’s numbers without a home run for the last time.

“The only thing he doesn’t have on his resume is a homer for a guy who really is a home run hitter,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I know that takes a lot of pressure off him now that he finally has a home run.”

Pressure off Brown? More succinctly, pressure off the entire Oakland roster. Brown’s shot put the finishing touches on a 7-3 win, the A’s third in four games after an 0-6 start. Not wanting to get buried in the competitive AL West two weeks in, the A’s are fighting back, and giving their 2021 season a healthier look.

In the last four games, the A’s have out-manuvered the Dodgers late, come up with some more late game magic in Houston on Friday, and set up a couple of wins with nearly identical, exemplary starts by Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas.

The key? When you don’t fall behind early–as the A’s did repeatedly in their winless start–you can pick your spots and pounce on the opposition in the later innings.

“We grind it out a little bit and stay in the game until we do something nice late,” said Mark Olson, who came up big in Friday’s win. “I think we can take this momentum and ride it out.”

A few key presences must be reclaimed from the injury list with Chad Pinder (knee), Mike Fiers (hips), Burch Smith (strained groin) and A.J. Puk (strained biceps) on the 10-day injured list, and Trevor Rosenthal on the 60-day list after surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome on Thursday.

Matt Chapman and Sean Murphy remain mired in awful slumps, but both have expressed optimism in recent days–not just for themselves, but for the team as a whole.

We’re always rotating guys and new faces, so for us, it always takes a little bit to get going,” Chapman said. “But once we get going, we’re able to really bond and really pick up steam.”

The A’s open a two-game set with the Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Monday. Familiar face Madison Bumgarner squares off against Chris Bassitt in the opener at 6:40pm.

Kings drop fourth straight this time to Jazz 128-112

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There’s no denying Utah Jazz guard Donavon Mitchell driving to the basket against the Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield on Sat Apr 10, 2021 in Salt Lake City (AP News photo)

The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Saturday night. The Kings played in Utah against the Jazz in a game that was sure to challenge the Kings. In the Kings previous game, they took on the Detroit Pistons. On Saturday, the Kings weren’t able to pull off the victory losing by the final of 128-112.

Thursday flashback: The Kings welcomed in the Detroit Pistons on Thursday in a game they Kings had circled as an easy win. However, it wouldn’t go as the Kings hoped. The Kings were embarrassingly defeated by the final of 113-101 in one of the lesser teams in the league. The Kings would need to get back on track against the Jazz to stop the bleeding.

Saturday night recap: The Kings were set to take on the Utah Jazz in Utah at 5PM PST.

In the first half, the Kings and Jazz traded buckets for the most part. In the first quarter, the Kings were out scored by the Jazz 34-31 as neither team played any defense. In the second quarter, the script was flipped. The Kings managed to outscore the Jazz 34-25. Going into halftime, the Kings took a 65-59 lead looking to get back into the win column.

In the second half, the Kings melted down. The third quarter saw the Kings be outscored 36-24 as the defense continued to be the Kings greatest weakness. The Kings would need a dramatic comeback in the fourth quarter to get the win. However, they weren’t able to mount a comeback.

The Kings were also out scored 33-23 in the final quarter to lose the game 128-112. The Kings are struggling mightily as of now and need to get back on track as soon as possible. Leading the way for the Kings in defeat was De’Aaron Fox who scored 30 points. In victory, Utah was led by Donovan Mitchell who finished with 42 points.

Up Next: The Kings will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday in New Orleans at 6 PM PST.

Kings Defeat Sharks 4-2

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The Los Angeles Kings right winger Dustin Brown (23) tries to control the puck behind the net as the San Jose Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov (71) on Sat Apr 10, 2021 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings Saturday. Kings goals were scored by Jeff Carter, Andreas Athanasiou, Alex Iafallo, and Dustin Brown. Jonathan Quick made 26 saves for the win. Sharks goals were scored by Dylan Gambrell and Timo Meier. Martin Jones made 15 saves in the first two periods and Josef Korenar made 7 saves in the third period for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Some nights, when things aren’t going your way and it’s a back-to-back situation, you simplify your game. And it didn’t look like we were ready to simplify that. We looked like we were still trying to play a skilled game and make plays through people and mismanage the puck and not take control of the game on our power play.”

He also pointed out that the team had some trouble shooting: “The biggest issue for me is we missed the net. In the second period we didn’t get a five-on-five shot on net. We had one power play shot and two short-handed shots. We had eight attempts and we missed the net on every one of them.”

The Kings struck first, with a Jeff Carter goal 11:43 into the game. Los Angeles had just successfully killed a penalty when Carter came out of the penalty box. The Kings held the Sharks up in the neutral zone and went on the attack. Mikey Anderson’s shot from the point hit Andreas Athanasiou and bounced over Martin Jones. It landed in the blue paint where Carter could nudge it across the line.

The Sharks tied it up at 16:54 with a goal from Dylan Gambrell. The Kings had killed off another Sharks power play moments before when Christian Jaros took a shot from the boards. It went off of John Leonard and Jonathan Quick thought he had it. Instead, it trickled out in front of the net and Gambrell swept it in.

The Sharks out-shot the Kings 12-6 in the first period, and had two shots in two power plays.

Athanasiou gave the Kings their lead back at 2:28 of the second period. Jeff Carter looked like he was going to carry the puck to the net from the point and instead made a pass to Anthanasiou for a deflection right in front of the net. Assists went to Carter and Olli Maatta.

Alex Iafallo made it 3-1 Kings less than two minutes later. Anze Kopitar passed the puck between Nikolai Knyzhov’s legs and Iafallo caught it on the far side of the net. Jones moved to cover the shot but Iafallo instead kept moving and used a backhand to put it around him. Assists went to Kopitar and Dustin Brown.

Dustin Brown scored a power play goal at 19:52 to give the Kings a three-goal lead. Three Sharks were in the offensive zone on a short-handed bid and had to hussle back when Brown caught the puck in the neutral zone and went the other way. He took a shot past Radim Simek to beat Jones on the short side. It was Brown’s 16th of the season.

The Kings out-shot the Sharks 13-4 in the second period, including five shots in three power plays. The Sharks had one shot in two power plays.

The Sharks changed goaltenders for the third period, putting Josef Korenar in net for his first NHL appearance. Boughner talked about putting 23-year old Josef Korinar in goal for the third period:

“I think he did great. I think good time to put him in. Our team was completely flat in the second period. You know, they got one goal late in the period there and it looked like we just needed some kind of injection of some energy. And I was hoping that, you know, kid being in his first game, we’d play a little harder around him and maybe rally around him a little bit.”

Timo Meier trimmed the Kings’ lead with a power play goal at 12:31 of the third. Brent Burns took a shot from the slot and Quick got in front of it but could not control the puck. Meier dug it out of a scramble above the crease and pushed it around the goalie for his eighth of the season.

The Sharks out-shot the Kings 12-7 in the third, including three shots on one power play. The Kings had three shots in two power plays. The Kings won 52% of the face-offs in the game. Tomas Hertl won 70% of his face-offs but he was the only Shark to take more than five draws and win more than 42%.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT.

Curry leads Warriors to win over Rockets 125-109

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Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry (30) and Draymond Green (23) share congratulations following their win over the Houston Rockets on Sat Apr 10, 2021 at the Chase Center in San Francisco (AP News photo)

What a difererence a day makes. The Golden State Warriors rebounded from a loss Friday night to the Washington Wizards to down the Houston Rockets Saturday night at the Chase Center. The Rockets, coached by Stephen Silas, are not the team that the Warriors faced from 2015 to 2019.

The Rockets’ former head coach Mike D’Antoni is now an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets. Russell Westbrook in a Washington Wizard. Clint Capela is with the Atlanta Hawks, and James Harden is a Brooklyn Net. The Rockets’ best player is John Wall. Wall did not play for two years due to injury.

He requested a trade, and the Wizards sent him to Houston. The Rockets entered the game with a record of 14-38. The Warriors added to their woes by beating them 125-109.

The Warriors did not have Kelly Oubre in the lineup Saturday night. Oubre was complaining of soreness in his wrist, and coach Steve Kerr gave him the night off. Kent Bazemore took his place in the lineup. The Warriors and the Rockets played an entertaining and competitive first quarter.

The Warriors led for most of the quarter. Rookie James Wiseman knocked down six points in the first few minutes of the game. The Warriors led by eight 32-24, but The Rockets were able to get to within two as they scored the last six points of the period to trail 32-30 after the first 12 minutes of action.

The Warriors owned the second quarter. Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole led the team on a 13-2 run to give the W’s the advantage, 47-34. The Warriors played well on defense, too. They won the quarter 33-18 to finish the first half with a 17-point lead 65-48. Andrew Wiggins had 19, Jordan Poole, 14, and Curry, 10. 

The Rockets had to play at their best to close the gap in the third and fourth quarters. They did outscore the Dubs 33-29 in the third. Curry tallied 23 of the Warriors 29 points in the third quarter. The Warriors led 94-80 heading into the final stanza.

Curry was not on the floor to start the fourth quarter. The second unit of Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, Michael Mulder, and Damion Lee kept the Rockets from cutting into the Warrior lead. The Warriors led 111-98 with 5:54 left in the game.

Steve Kerr put Curry back on the floor to finish the game. Michael Mulder and Juan Toscano-Anderson were also in the lineup. The Rockets’ John Wall heated up in the second half. Wall scored 20 points in the second half, and with D.J.Augustin, they closed the gap to 116-107 with 2:40 left. Curry and Toscano-Anderson made baskets in the final two minutes to give Golden State the win 125-109.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors are now 25-28 for the year. The Rockets are 14-39. 

Curry scored 30 or more points in a game for the sixth straight time. The last Warrior to accomplish that feat was Rick Barry. Curry has connected on 214 threes this season. He passed Sacramento’s Buddy Hield to lead the NBA in that department. Curry has scored 17,765 points in his career with the Warriors. He needs 18 points to tie the late Wilt Chamberlain for the Warriors all-time scoring record.

Curry finished Saturday night’s game with 38 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. He was 13-for-21 from the floor and connected on eight three in 15 attempts from downtown. Andrew Wiggins was second in scoring with 25. Jordan Poole, coming off the bench, had quite a night with 21 points and three threes. Mychal Mulder had 10, Kent Bazemore 9. Draymond Green’s line was two points, seven boards, and seven assists.

The Warriors shot 54 % from the floor. They made 14 threes in 35 attempts. The Warriors recorded 31 assists on 49 made field goals. The Warriors’ defense recorded 13 steals, five blocked shots, and they forced 18 Houston turnover that resulted in the Warriors putting 23 points on the board. The Warriors tallied 28 fast break points.

The Warriors’ big rookie center, James Wiseman, fell hard to the floor in the second quarter and injured his knee. he left the game and did not return. He will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.

John Wall led the Rockets with 30 points. He was 11-for 19 from the floor, and he tallied five threes in seven tries. D.J. Augustin, coming off the bench, poured in 19 points. Kelly Olynyk had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Big Christian Wood licked in with 18. 

The Warriors host the Denver Nuggets at the Chase Center Monday night. The game will start at 7 pm.

Condors rush pass Barracuda in 4-1 victory

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Bakersfield Condors right winger Tyler Benson (left) is pinned on the boards by the San Jose defenceman Barracuda Brinson Pasichnuk (right) on Sat Apr 10, 2021 at Mechanics Bank in Bakersfield (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

BAKERSFIELD, Calif—The Bakersfield Condors scored four unanswered goals en route to a 4-1 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday night at Mechanics Bank Arena.

The Condors have won two games in a row and have 29 points, good for third place in the Pacific Division. San Jose has lost two of its past three games and are in fourth place with 22 points.

San Jose (8-8-4-2) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Robbie Russo found Evan Weinger along the left boards. Weinger threaded a cross ice pass between two Condors defenders over to a wide open Maxim Letunov and he buried the puck into an empty net past Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:07 mark.

Letunov now has three goals in his two games fore the ‘Cuda.

San Jose controlled the pace of play in the opening 20 minutes as they outshot Bakersfield 9-6.

It was all Bakersfield (14-9-0-1) from the second period on as they scored two goals in the first six minutes of the middle frame.

Adam Cracknell beat Ryan Merkley to a rebound off the boards and quickly centered a backhand pass over to Seth Griffith who snapped home a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:30 mark.

Less than four minutes later the Condors gained its first lead of the game and never looked back. Luke Esposito gained the puck at the ‘Cuda blueline. He found Joe Gambardella with a backdoor feed and the veteran forward tipped home the puck between his legs past Harvey for his sixth goal of the season at the 6:13 mark.

The Condors had the ice tilted in its favor in the middle frame as they outshot the Barracuda 17-6.

Bakersfield scored an insurance goal insurance goal halfway through the third period. James Hamblin was able to skate around Branson Pasichnuk down the left wing and created a two-on-zero opportunity. Hamblin centered the puck back to Jakob Stukel who beat Harvey with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season at the 10:08 mark.

Cooper Marody put the game on ice for the Condors with an empty net goal with 1:52 left in the game. Tyler Benson received the only assist on Marody’s 16th goal of the season.

Skinner finished the evening stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced to earn the victory. Harvey made 27 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-4 on the power play. Bakersfield went 0-for-3.

‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar was called up to the San Jose Sharks earlier in the afternoon as the Sharks traded Devan Dubnyk to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a 2021 fifth round draft pick. The NHL trading deadline is on Monday.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Gambardella 2) Griffith 3) Stukel

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Ontario Reign on Sunday 4/11 at 3:00pm at the Toyota Sports Performance Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: SJ are back in Bakersfield to face tough Condors tonight; Korenar recalled by Sharks to replace Dubnyk

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San Jose Barracuda defenseman Nick DeSimone (57) congratulates goaltender Josef Korenar (32) on Wed Apr 7, 2021 after defeating the Henderson Silver Knights in San Jose (@sjbarracuda photo)

#1 It was another come back game for the San Jose Barracuda (8-7-4-2) last Wednesday night when the Barracuda hosted the Henderson Silver Knights (18-5-0-0) at Solar4America Ice down two goals to win it 4-2.

#2 The win against the Knights was a valuable one as it was San Jose’s first win in eight games against the Knights who are another battling team.

#3 Josef Korenar the Barracuda goaltender stopped 20 of 22 shots in the Wednesday win and now won five games against one. Korenar was recalled by the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon after the Sharks traded goalie Devan Dubnyk to the Colorado Avalanche.

#4 Maxim Letunov scored his fourth and fifth goals of 2021 against the Knights on Wednesday which were key goals in the first win of 2021 against the Knights.

#5 The Barracuda return to action tonight against the Bakersfield Condors (12-9-0-1) the last time the two teams met on Tue Mar 30th the Condors lost their first game to the Barracuda 4-3. Face off tonight at 6pm in Bakersfield.

Join Marko for Barracuda hockey podcasts each Saturday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Matt Harrington: Sharks deal Dubnyk to Colroado; Get 5-2 win over Kings on Friday

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Former San Jose Sharks goalie Devan Dubnyk has been traded to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft. Dubnyk is seen here defending the net on Mar 15, 2021 in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights (AP file photo)

On the podcast with Matt:

#1 Up 3-2 with just over three minutes left the San Jose Sharks (18-17-4) picked up two insurance goals in the third period and got a three goal victory over the Los Angeles Kings (15-18-6) at SAP Center in San Jose on Friday night 5-2.

#2 After the Sharks had some inconsistencies before getting on this run what would you attribute to head coach Bob Boughner and the recent turn around of the club?

#3 One of the improved things about the Sharks is the improved play of goaltender Martin Jones on Friday night against the Kings Jones made 32 out of 34 saves to hold the Kings to a three goal loss.

#4 Matt, talk about the Sharks getting goal help from Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau, Rudolfs Balcers, and Kevin LaBanc and Dylan Gambrell.

#5 The Kings and Sharks go at it again in their last five meetings the Sharks have won all five games against the Kings and they both meet again tonight at SAP Center for a 7:30p face off tell how you see this upcoming game tonight. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk was traded to the Colorado Avalanche Saturday. Dubnyk was the back up goalie for Jones and most likely will be the back up goalie for Phillip Grubauer.

Join Matt for the Sharks podcasts each Saturday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Takes Series From the Astros 7-3

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Oakland A’s hitter Ramon Laureano (right) is greeted at the plate by teammate Mark Canha (left) after hitting a two run homer in the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Sat Apr 10, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

After yesterday’s game against the Houston Astros, the Oakland A’s reclaimed the form that we have grown to expect. The form that has taken them into the post-season for quite a few years now. Beating the Astros 6-2 was a real boost for the A’s and also gave them the opportunity to win the series should they win todays game.

Oakland certainly came out in this game full of confidence and once again it was the fourth inning when the A’s began to make some noice. Ramon Laureano and Jed Lowrie scored giving the A’s a 2-0 lead. The Astros would come up empty in the fourth inning and so trailed by the score of 2-0.

The fifth inning was also a good one for the A’s extending their lead to 4-0. Laureano homered scoring Mark Canha who was on base. Frankie Montas was having a great outing through seven innings. Pitching for the A’s was starting to turn around, something that we all knew was just a matter of time.

Oakland would strike again in the seventh inning. Lowrie would hit a single and Mark Canha and Ka’ai Tom would score and the A’s were looking at a 6-0 score in the middle of the seventh. The Astros would get on the scoreboard when Kyle Tucker homered to right giving Houston their first run of the game. Houston was not done scoring two more runs. Myles Straw and Jose Altuve crossed home plate and just like that the Astros were well within striking distance. You can never count the Astros out regardless of the score.

The eighth inning was a highlight for Oakland DH Seth Brown who hit his first homer of the season giving the A’s a 7-3 lead.

It was a quiet ninth inning as the Oakland A’s took the series from the Houston Astros. The Oakland A’s have their rhythm back and now we can all look forward to some high-powered Green and Gold baseball.

Oakland will have the day off on Sunday and will be back on the field on Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks for a two game series. First pitch is at 6:40 PM.

Crawford’s heroics on stage once again; Giants edge Rockies 4-3

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San Francisco Giants hitter Brandon Crawford launches a three run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning at Oracle Park against the Colorado Rockies on Sat Apr 10, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Brandon Crawford seems to have found his hitting stroke through the first two games of the home stand.

Crawford hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies before a crowd of 6,176 at Oracle Park. This was the Giants third win in a row and have also won four out of their last five games.

It was the second game in a row that the veteran shortstop gave the Giants the lead that they refused to give up.

Alex Dickerson led off the inning with a walk, and pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores walked; however, Evan Longoria popped out for the first out and then Crawford launched a Ben Bowden pitch onto the right field arcade to give the Giants the lead for good.

Logan Webb started for the second time this season, and pitched five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out six. Webb also gave up a two-run home run to Ryan McMahon that gave the Rockies a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

Webb, who went those five innings did not fare in the decision. The same goes for Rockies starter Chi Chi Gonzalez, who also went five innings, allowing just one run, scattering four hits, walking three and striking out one and did not fare in the decision.

The Giants got to Gonzalez in the bottom of the third inning, as Tommy La Stella doubled to lead off the inning, then C.J. Cron made a great stab at first base to get Mike Yastrzemski and then Dickerson singled in La Stella.

Cron also made a great play in the bottom of the first inning, as robbed Dickerson of a base hit that would have given the Giants a lead early against Gonzalez.

The Rockies got to Webb in the top of the fifth inning, as Gonzalez helped out his own cause by singling off of Webb, then after Garrett Hampson struck out for the second out of the inning, McMahon gave the Rockies the lead when his two-run home run landed in the Rockies bullpen.

This was the second inning in a row that the Rockies scored, as they got on the board in the top of the fourth inning, Raimel Tapia singled to center field to score Charlie Blackmon from second base, as he doubled with one out in the inning.

The bullpen was huge in relief of Webb, as Caleb Baragar, Reyes Moronta, Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee combined to throw four innings, allowing no runs on just one hit, walking just one and striking out five.

Baragar gave up a walk and struck out a batter in his lone inning of work to pick up his second win of the 2021 season.

McGee pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out one on his way to picking up his second save in as many days and his fourth save of the season.

NOTES: Donovan Solano was presented with the 2020 Silver Slugger award prior to the game, as he was presented the Silver Slugger award by Hitting Coaches Donnie Ecker and Justin Viele along with Director of Hitting/Assistant Hitting Coach Dustin Lind.

UP NEXT: Anthony DeScalafini make his Oracle Park debut for the Giants, as he looks for his first win for the first win of the season, while the Rockies will send German Marquez will take the mound for the Rockies, as he also goes for his first win of the season.