Month: July 2021

San Francisco Giants Report: Giants have more draft picks than last year; Select Will Bednar College World Series MVP

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Mississippi State Bulldogs pitcher Will Bednar was selected along with the San Francisco Giants 14th overall pick. Bednar was the MVP in the College World Series seen here hoisting the MVP Trophy (file photo from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

By Jessica Kwong

The San Francisco Giants are heading into the All-Star break on a good note after sweeping the Washington Nationals in a three-game series that wrapped up on Sunday. The Giants (57-32) have maintained their spot at the top of the NL West.

Meanwhile, the biggest news for the Giants during the break is the 2021 MLB Draft. San Francisco has 20 picks this year which include one on Sunday, nine on Monday and 10 on Tuesday. That is far more than last season when they had just seven picks.

The Giants picked nine straight pitchers to start the draft. They selected Will Bednar, the College World Series MVP, with the No. 14 overall pick in the first round, and eight more pitchers after that. It was just what the organization — with many hitting prospects and not as many pitching options — wanted to do.

“We’re super excited about what we were able to do,” said Giants Director of Amateur Scouting Michael Holmes after the draft. “To be honest with you, yeah, we went on a nice little run of pitching there. I wouldn’t say it was primarily our focus when we started the day, it just started to kind of play out that way.”

Holmes said the Giants felt the draft had a lot to offer pitching-wise.

“Although there were a lot of position players that we had extensive talks about and we were in play in different parts of today’s draft, it really kind of fell by the way of the pitcher,” Holmes said. “We’re really excited about the group of arms and the one position player at the end that we were able to add.”

That position player is outfielder Vaunt Brown.

All attention on Tuesday for the Giants will be on the other half of their draft picks.

The Giants will be back to the regular swing of things on Friday to start a three-game series against the St Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Super Slugger: Mets’ Alonso wins the Home Run Derby again while outshining the star-studded competition

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By Morris Phillips

DENVER–The greatest Home Run Derby ever? This one had all the elements.

Powerful hitters? Start with Pete Alonso, the defending champion with the tree trunk lower base and Popeye forearms. His first round of the night just turned out to be the biggest round ever with 35 home runs hit.

Exhausted hitters? For Sho… Shohei Ohtani looked gassed one minute into his first round, no doubt due to all the buildup surrounding his record-breaking exploits, not to mention having to be the last of the eight participants to hit. Ohtani was bested Juan Soto in round one, but that just means he’ll be better prepared for tomorrow’s starting pitching assignment and his spot leading off in the American League batting order. And no Ohtani didn’t flame out, he finished with a bang, pumping out 28 homers in his round, most of those in the final minute.

Hitters with amazing stories? Trey Mancini didn’t even play in the major leagues in 2020. Instead, the 27-year old successfully battled colon cancer and returned to action this season. His inclusion in the Derby was supposed to be a feel good story, but his first round elimination of Oakland’s Matt Olson was all in the swing. Mancini sent balls all over the yard, winning the duel 24-23. And the Orioles’ slugger followed that up by ousting hometown favorite Trevor Story, 13-12 proving that it’s always better to go last and not hit even one more home run than necessary to advance.

Of course, the setting of the contest–Coors Field in Denver–had a major impact on the quality of the contest. From the mile high locale to the baseballs not being run through the well-known humidor, the stage was set for a record-breaking event. The Rockpile beware! Here come the bombs!

The longest HR of the evening? Only by a couple of feet, that distinction went to Washington’s Juan Soto, whose longest blast traveled 520 feet. Ohtani and Alonso put themselves in this competition with shots that each traveled 513 feet. Soto’s homer reached the second deck in right center and was greeted by a section of wildly delighted–and disbelieving–fans.

Hey don’t forget about me! I’m exhausted too! Mets bench coach Dave Jauss, 64-years old and high-minded courtesy of his Amherst education, pitched gopher balls to Alonso through three rounds, and based on the prodigious totals, did an incredible job. Jauss is the son of Bill Jauss, the well-known sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He’s also an older, but successful, parent: his son, D.J. was drafted in the MLB Draft in 2014.

And the winner? Alonso made it back-to-back titles hitting 23 homers in the final round to best Mancini. Alonso thoroughly enjoyed the moment, spinning his gaudy Derby Champ necklace presented by Ken Griffey Jr. and pounding his chest until he was heartily greeted by Mancini. Alonso became only the fourth contestant to win the Derby twice. Yoenis Cespedes was the last to win back-to-back in 2015.

Oakland A’s Mid-Season analysis for first half 2021 season

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American League slugger Matt Olson representing the Oakland A’s watches the flight of the ball he hit during the first round of the Home Run Derby at Coors Field on Mon Jul 12, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are off for the next four days as MLB holds its annual All-star game festivities this week. Monday night’s activities include the annual Home Run Derby. A’s first baseman, Matt Olson, will compete against seven other sluggers for the crown.

He will have to beat the likes of Shohei Ohtani, who leads MLB with 33 dingers, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero, Jr, and San Diego’s Fernando Tatis. It will not be easy, but the contest will be fun. The A’s best pitcher, Chris Bassitt, will also be in Denver as part of the American League’s pitching staff.

The rest of the A’s will be at home getting a well-deserved four-day rest. The baseball season, as fans know, is a grueling, grinding marathon for six months. There are not very many off-days throughout the season. The four days give the players to rest their weary bodies.

The A’s season did not start well. They lost the first six games of the season. Fans were concerned the team would not be able to overcome the poor start. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, would have liked the team to get off to a fast start, but that didn’t happen.

What made matters worse was the first four losses were to their main division rivals, the Houston Astros. The A’s then lost two more games to the LA Dodgers.

Things improved when they beat the Dodgers for their first win. The A’s got back on track with an amazing 13-game winning streak. The A’s were able to continue to play winning baseball. They found themselves in first place in the AL Western Division.

After the first 70 games of the year, they owned a two-game advantage over the Astros. However, they were 8-13 since then and now trail the Astros by three and 1/2 games. Their problems started when they went on a 4-6 on a ten-game road trip to New York, Dallas, and San Francisco.

They came home to face the Rangers and the Red Sox for a short six-game homestand. They went 2-4. They placed the next six games on the road against the Astros and Rangers. Houston took two out three and owned a 9-4 record against Oakland with six games left to play late in the season.

The A’s lost the first game of the three-game set to the Rangers last Friday night. They outlasted the Rangers 8-4 in eleven innings on Saturday and beat Texas 4-1 on Sunday to finish with a 50-42 record.

What are the takeaways for the season? At this point, the A’s have to be very pleased with the pitching staff’s performance. Chris Bassitt has been their ace. Bassitt has a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 3.28. He has gone seven innings in several of his last ten starts and leads the A’s with 118 pitched.

Being able to go seven innings has allowed the A’s to keep the bullpen fresh. Sean Manaea has pitched well. The Big lefty’s record is 6-6 and has an ERA of 3.19. Frankie Montas is 8-7, and his ERA is 4.41. Montas has pitched, but a couple of rocky starts has pushed his ERA to over four runs per game.

Lefty Cole Irvin has been a pleasant surprise. Irvin is 6-8 with an ERA of 3.65. The A’s hitters failed to give him support in some of the games that he lost. Righty James Kaprielian has been another find. The big righty who pitched his collegiate ball at UCLA is 4-3 with an ERA of 2.90. Kaprielian came to Oakland in the trade that sent Sonny Gray to New York in 2017.

Kaprielian was sidelined with injuries, and he is now showing the A’s why the Yankees made him a number one draft pick several years ago.

Bob Melvin has to be pleased with the A’s bullpen’s performance. The A’s lost their All-Star closer, Liam Hendriks, to free agency last winter. They signed Trevor Rosenthal to a one-year $11 million contract to replace Hendriks. Rosenthal injured his shoulder in spring training and, hopefully, will return in August. Bob Melvin decided to use lefty Jake Diekman and righty Lou Trivino as the closer.

Diekman had a wonderful 2020 season. He was lights out. Not so much this season. He still has done well and has recorded seven saves. Lou Trivino, a sensation in 2018, struggled the last two seasons. Trivino worked to improve, and Sweet Lou has responded to the challenge. Trivino has 14 saves and an ERA of 1.84 for Oakland. Yusmeiro Petit has been good again. J.B. Wendelken, Deolis Guerra, Sergio Romo all have come through for Oakland.

The A’s offense has been a work in progress. The A’s lineup on Sunday had just two players hitting over .250. Matt Olson leads the A’s with a .282 batting average with 23 home runs and 59 RBIs. Jed Lowrie was second on the team with a .263 average.

Lowrie, who hadn’t played in the last two years as a New York Met, returned to Oakland the third time. Jed can still swing the bat. Ramon Laureano and Tony Kemp are hitting about .240. Laureano has some pop in his bat with 13 dingers and 31 RBIs.

Kemp was hitting about.280 a couple of weeks ago, but his bat went cold. Sean Murphy and Matt Chapman are at the .220 mark. Murphy homered in the last two games against Texas.

Chapman missed the last part of last season with a hip injury. He had surgery. Matt struggled early in the season. He has been doing better lately. Elvis Andrus arrived via a trade with the Rangers. The A’s needed to replace Marcus Semien, who left to play second base with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Semien is having a terrific season and made the All-Star team. Andrus struggled early in the season. He has been hitting well the last six weeks, and his average is about .238. Mitch Moreland is currently on the 10-day IL. It is the second time this season for Moreland.

The A’s need his bat back in the lineup. Stephen Piscotty’s average is slightly above the Mendoza line. Piscotty has been injured a couple of times and has not returned to the player that he can be. He did have a huge pinch-hit home run to help win the game last Saturday against Texas.

Billy Beane and David Forst will have to make some decisions regarding the team before the July 30th trade deadline. Rumors are floating around that they are interested in acquiring slugger Nelson Cruz from the Minnesota Twins to fill the DH slot.

Another possibility is trading for Texas Rangers’ outfielder Joey Gallo. Gallo has one year of arbitration left and will be a free agent after the 2022 season. The Rangers are paying him 6.2 million dollars. The A’s could handle his salary easily.

Those two big bats would put a lot more power into the A’s lineup. Right now, the only consistent power hitter in the A’s lineup is Matt Olson. The A’s may also be looking to acquire help either for the starting rotation or the bullpen.

The A’s want to win the division. If the season ended today, the A’s would be the second Wild Card. They would have to travel to St. Petersburg to face the Tampa Bay Rays.

The A’s hitters need to improve if they want to make the playoffs and win the pennant. Right now, the team has not been able to hit with men in scoring position.

The team, as a whole, strikes out too much. They need to put the bat on the ball. In the past few years, the A’s have played better in the second half of the season. Let’s hope the A’s will do well. The fans in the Bay Area would love to see another World Series between the A’s and the San Francisco Giants. It could happen.

Jerry Feitelberg covers Oakland A’s road games for the 2021 season for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Crawford and Gausman looking forward to All Star Game; Posey looking forward to resting thumb

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San Francisco Giants catch Buster Posey leaves the field after getting hit in the thumb against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the bottom of the sixth at Chase Field in Phoenix (AP file photo)

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Catcher Buster Posey’s thumb has landed him on the ten day Injured List he’ll take the All Star break and then some the timing of the All Star break couldn’t have come at a better time.

#2 Posey is one of the notable players at the All Star game hitting a first half, .328, 12 homers, 28 RBIs in 58 games a decent first half.

#3 Posey was all set to go to the All Star game in Denver but said the thumb injury won’t allow him to hit or catch and his kids who were coming on the trip were disappointed.

#4 San Francisco starting pitcher Kevin Gausman has had a terrific first half (9-3 ERA 1.73) he’s also had a successful number of strikeouts at 124.

#5 Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford has had a great first half with the bat and glove hitting .282, 48 runs, 74 hits and 18 home runs.

Join Morris for the Giants podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: All Star picks Oakland gets no love; Bassitt lone representative of second place team

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Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt seen pitching against the Texas Rangers on Wed Jun 30, 2021 will be the A’s lone representative at the 2021 All Star Game in Denver on Tue Jul 13, 2021 (AP file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 If your Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt (10-2 ERA 3.28) you had to work you tail off to get some attention in order to be selected by Tampa Bay and American League manager Kevin Cash as Bassitt is the lone A’s representative at the All Star game.

#2 Bassitt has had such a outstanding year losing only two games and winning ten he’s had some strong outings this season.

#3 Although he’s has a 3.28 ERA in the last seven games he’s got a 12.46 ERA so his earned run production has been elevated a little.

#4 In Bassitt’s last loss turned out to be against the Houston Astros 9-6 on Tue Jul 6th at Minute Maid Field. Bassitt doesn’t want to have a second half where his ERA get too inflated.

#5 Oakland A’s slugger Matt Olson will be representing the A’s in the home run derby on Monday. Olson is hitting .282, 23 home runs and 59 RBIs it should be a competitive contest for Olson.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s New Ballpark July 20 might Not be the Day you Expect

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An artist rendering of the Oakland A’s gondola that is expected to take fans from the 12th Street BART station in downtown Oakland to Howard Terminal (photo from Athletics Nation)

A’s New Ballpark July 20 might Not be the Day you Expect

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The Oakland Athletics last champions of the American League Western Division go into the All Star Break with a winning record for the third consecutive season and in second place 3 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros. July 20 will mark an important vote by the Oakland City Council to open the way for the construction of the Howard Terminal park.

Here are some key points:

1-The A’s committed to $450 million construction for the ballpark. However, the overall project on the table is in the billions.

2- The A’s will commit to a 20-year non-relocation agreement, but the City of Oakland wants a deal that will keep the team in Oakland for 45 years.

s3-City of Oakland, under the law, requires developers include affordable housing in projects, the A’s want an exemption. The team want future taxes to take care of that, Oakland City Council has a big problem with that.

4-Oakland taxpayers are still ‘not over’ on past leases/deals with the Raiders and Warriors and they are on the hook for millions of dollars after both teams left. This has nothing to do with the City or the A’s, but figures greatly in the minds of residents and voters.

5-Chinatown is less than one mile from the proposed site of the Howard Terminal Park. Traffic and parking will present a challenge. The amount of parking spaces (the team proposed 2,000 parking spaces) at the ballpark for the 35,000 seat ballpark and would affect the Chinatown neighborhood and their financial future.

It is more than just the building of the new baseball park. There are many moving pieces here that the City of Oakland and the Oakland A’s still will have to agree on. The Jack London Square/Port of Oakland area where the Howard Terminal is to be built is a busy place. Amtrak trains go-by right there in the streets of Oakland and that could be problematic during game-day crowds, walking from BART station at 12th street, as fans will have to cross train tracks.

Other modes of transportation for the one-mile walk, like Gondolas have been proposed, but more than likely bridges for people crossing would have to be build, infrastructure is key for safety of the people attending a baseball game.

In conclusion: This July 20 the Oakland City Council vote might not be the last one or decisive that many believe it will be; they already have said they might need more time to analyze the financial impact and we might have to wait at least until September. In the meantime Las Vegas looms as A’s officials have already made a few “scouting” trips to Sin City.

The Oakland City Council has a full plate these days and some issues that believe it or not, are more important than keeping the A’s in Oakland. Amid a recent spike in homicides and crime in general, the Oakland City Council voted to defund the police as they diverted $18 million from the police department into community prevention programs, prompting Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong to strongly voice his displeasure with such policy as he said “This will make it tougher having less officers on the field, particularly for marginalized communities like deep East Oakland” and added “We see clearly that crime is out of control in the City of Oakland, and our response was for less police resources”. According to all official stats, homicides, shootings, robberies and carjackings are up at alarming pace in Oakland.

I want the Athletics to stay in Oakland, where they belong. but Las Vegas doesn’t present any of the hurdles the team encounters at the proposed site in the City of Oakland. The construction of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, home of the Raiders took less than three years to be built. The Athletics and the City of Oakland cannot stop time, the clock keeps ticking.

The best option still remains. If there was a plan to keep the A’s and build in the current location, that would be an asset. I challenge anybody to tell me another pro-sports facility in the Bay Area with better access than the Oakland Coliseum.

Highway 880 to the west and BART station a 10-15 minute walk from the Coliseum, to the east. Plus an Amtrak, Capitol Corridor train, with scheduled stop at the Coliseum, those trains travel between San José and Sacranmento. where fans also come to watch A’s baseball.

There is plenty of land to re-develop that area, around the Coliseum. Mr. Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Baseball doesn’t support that idea and that is why he told the A’s to look for another location, or say Adiós to the Bay Area.

And so it goes. The Athletics return home for their first home-stand post-All Star Break on Friday July 16 for the first of 3 games against the Cleveland Indians then a quick 2-game set vs. the divisional rivals Los Angeles Angels.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead Spanish play by play announcer for the Oakland A’s on flagship station 1010 KIQI LeGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB All Star Game Report: Housekeepers’ sharp eyes stop sharpshooters in Denver hotel

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A vehicle in front of the Maven Hotel located just a block away from Coors Field home of the 2021 All Star Game where thousands were to attend the mid summer classic Monday and Tuesday. Police seized a huge amount of weapons and ammo on the eighth floor of the hotel on Friday Jul 9, 2021 arresting four suspects (AP News photo Denver)

By Morris Phillips

DENVER–Thanks to a housekeeper working at a nearby hotel near Coors Field in downtown Denver just a block from Coors Field home of the 2021 All Star game four suspects were arrested after the housekeeper spotted ammunition, dozens of long arm rifles, dozens of weapons and thousands of rounds in one of two rooms where suspects were staying.

The tip from the housekeeper might have save thousands of lives of fans, workers, employees and baseball personnel from injury or death. The housekeeper made the discovery at the Maven hotel on the eighth floor on Friday while doing cleaning duties. For some a flashback to what happened at the Las Vegas hotel that took place at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the 32nd floor on October 1, 2017 which killed 60 when suspect Stephen Paddock took shots from that floor. Paddock later killed himself inside the hotel room.

It’s mind boggling to think how many lives that housekeeper could have saved after making such a discovery. Denver police removed 16 long guns, body armor, and thousands of rounds of bullets. Major League Baseball moved the All Star game from Atlanta to Denver because of voter suppression laws that were passed in Georgia which restricted voters particularly minorities and people of color’s access to vote in Georgia and that was questioned as a motivating factor for the suspects. Police noted however that one of the suspects had posted a message on Facebook that he was recently divorced and said on his page that he wanted to go out in a big way.

Police are still investigating what the actual intent of the suspects were. It was reported that one of the suspects had a child, a long criminal history, and worked construction. The suspects rooms were located on the eighth floor at the Maven Hotel. The Maven was closed as police combed through the hotel and it was reported by a witness that he saw a car being put on a flatbed. Police concluded there is no further threat to the public.

Morris Phillips is a San Francisco Giants beat writer and is covering the 2021 All Star Game in Denver for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Derby Prep: Olson goes deep twice in All-Star Break finale win over the Rangers

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By Morris Phillips

Matt Olson got into the swing of things–Home Run Derby style–by homering twice in the A’s 4-1 win over the Rangers on Sunday. But Olson wasn’t the only one swinging for the fences.

Jed Lowrie and Sean Murphy homered back-to-back in the second inning.

With Chris Bassitt on a career-best roll, winning his 10th consecutive decision with seven innings of near flawless pitching, the A’s finished the first half of the season with a pair of wins after dropping 13 of their previous 19 contests.

Not surprisingly, Olson slumped as the team did: the slugging first baseman had just one homer in his previous 18 games coming into Sunday. Now he settles into his role as an All-Star and Home Run Derby participant with 23 bombs on the season.

“In the past we’ve been a home run-hitting team,” Olson said. “It was good to get back and see some leave the yard.”

The A’s have hit 115 home runs in their 92 games thus far, putting them well above the league average of 106, and among the top ten home run hitting clubs in MLB. Still, their offense has been spotty, surprisingly more so at home in the Coliseum, but the starting pitching has been exemplary, and the bullpen has been above average despite the absence of closer Trevor Rosenthal.

“Obviously we’d like to be in first place in the division and we’re not, but hopefully we come out and whatever that second half magic is we’ve had in the past, we keep it going,” Olson said.

The A’s trail the division-leading Astros by 3 1/2 games heading into the break after leading the division for 60 days, and now trailing the Astros for 20 days.

Bassitt improved to 10-2 on the season by pitching far better than he did in his start at Houston, in which he allowed six runs but somehow avoided a loss in a game the team lost 9-6. This time, Bassitt allowed an RBI double to Nick Solak and only four hits in total.

Rangers starter Koby Allard not only needs a break, he needs a break from the A’s specifically as he lost to Oakland for the third time in the last 18 days, and has dropped five, consecutive starts to the A’s. Allard allowed all four A’s home runs, and three of the four traveled over 400 feet.

The A’s open the second half at home against Cleveland and the Angels, but the homestand only spans five games before the team hits the road for a three-city, 10-game trip.

Gausman solid in helping Giants in sweep of Nationals 3-1 at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Kevin Gausman throws to the Washington Nationals line up on Sun Jul 11, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco in the first inning. The contest was the finale of the three game series. (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Kevin Gausman may not have been able to pitch in the All-Star Game in hometown of Denver, but what a showing he put on in his final start of the first half.

Gausman went six innings, allowing one run on four hits, walking three and striking out nine and the San Francisco Giants completed a three-game sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals before a crowd of 26,639 at Oracle Park. With the victory, Gausman raised his record up to 9-3 on the season and lowered his earned run average from 1.74 to 1.65.

All the offense that the Giants needed came on one swing from Curt Casali, who launched a three-run home run into the Garden area beyond the center field wall in the bottom of the second inning.

Casali took a Erick Fedde pitch and planted it into the netting for his fourth home run of the season, and the Giants went into the All-Star break with the best record in baseball for the first time since the 2016 season and it is seventh time in team history that they have reached the All-Star break with the best record in the majors.

Since coming off the injured list last month, Casali is now 17-for-42 (.404) with four home runs during that stretch.

Brandon Crawford led off the inning with a single, and after Donovan Solano struck out for the first out of the inning, then Steven Duggar singled and then Casali hit his three-run home run.

Crawford continues to swing the bat well, as he went 3-for-4 on the afternoon, and picked up his fifth three plus game in his last eight games.

Fedde, who allowed the three runs in the bottom of the second inning, ended up going five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out and saw his record fall to 4-6 on the season.

The Nationals knocked Gausman out of the game in the top of the seventh inning, as both Juan Soto and Josh Bell walked to lead off the inning, then Starlin Castro singled to load the bases and Castro was the last batter that Gausman would face.

Dominic Leone came on to replace Gausman and got Josh Harrison to ground into a force play that scored Soto, but Leone then got pinch-hitter Ryan Zimmerman to fly out to Duggar in centerfield for the second out and then got out of the inning, when he got Victor Robles to strikeout for the final out of the inning.

Asides from scoring those three runs in the Giants wasted ample opportunities, as they put the first two runners of the inning on base in the bottom of the first inning and then again in the bottom of the third inning; however, Fedde was able to get out of the inning unscathed.

Tyler Rogers came on in the top of the eighth inning to replace Leone, and continues to be one of the best relievers in the National League during the first half, as he retired the Nationals in order.

Closer Jake McGee replaced Rogers in the top of the ninth inning, and picked up his 19th save, tying his career high that he obtained with the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2014 season.

McGee gave up a two-out double to Castro, but then got Harrison to line out to Solano to end the game.

NOTES: Caleb Baragar was recalled from Sacramento, while Tyler Beede was optioned back to Sacramento.

The Giants have now hit 132 home runs on the season, the most in the majors and lead the Toronto Blue Jays by two home runs, as they have hit 130 home runs on the season. This is just the third time since moving to San Francisco in 1958 that the Giants have led the majors in home runs at the All-Star break, they also led the majors in 1958 with 95 and then in 1989, when they went into the All-Star break with 80 home runs.

UP NEXT: Following the All-Star break, the Giants will fly to St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium that begins at Busch Stadium on Friday night. After the three-games in St. Louis, the Giants will head to Los Angeles, where they will face the Dodgers for a four-game series and this will be the final time that the Giants travel to Dodger Stadium during the 2021 regular season.

Aces have that championship look in 95-79 win over Dallas preceding the Olympic break

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By Morris Phillips

ARLINGTON, TX–What’s not to like? The Las Vegas Aces were the trendy title pick before the WNBA season started, and entering the Olympic break, they still are.

“We’re a super talented team,” Dearica Hamby said. “Really one through 12. Talented, talented roster.”

The Aces were flawless even without Liz Cambage, who has already joined the Australian national team in Vegas of all hot places. Without her, A’ja Wilson dominated in the paint, scoring 22 points as her shiftier teammates spread the floor and moved the ball in a fast moving attack.

Hamby added 22 points, Jackie Young had 17, and Kelsey Plum 16 as the Aces broke open a close game after halftime and led by double digits for the majority of the second half. The key may have been eschewing 3-point attempts and attacking the Wings in the paint with their quickness and passing ability despite Dallas’ advantage in size. The Aces attempted just eight shots from distance, making three while going 31 for 59 from two, and 24 of 30 from the free throw stripe.

The Wings, a surprise with their presence in the postseason chase, fell to 9-12, and they appeared to lose focus offensively after the break, missing 17 3-pointers in all, and allowing too many transition opportunities to their opponent. Three Wings–Satou Sabally, Tyasha Harris and Marina Mabrey–failed to make a shot, combining to go 0 for 17 and 0 for 5 from three. Dallas’ leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale was pestered throughout by Riquna Williams and finished 4 of 19 shooting for 10 points.

Moriah Jefferson and Allisha Gray each had 14 points to pace the Wings.

The Aces will see five of their players depart for the Tokyo Olympics, and with a 15-6 record trailing only Seattle at 16-5, health will be the primary concern for the team over the month long break. Cambage, Wilson, Plum, Chelsea Gray and Ji Sun Park have earned the distinction of being 2021 Olympians.

“We got through the first half healthy, and that’s a huge bonus for our basketball team that we have a full roster,” Coach Bill Laimbeer said.