Month: July 2021

NBA Finals podcast with Joe Hawkes: Suns rolling could they put Bucks on their backs tonight?

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The Phoenix Suns Devin Booker (right) drives on the Milwaukee Bucks Khris Middleton (left) in the first half of game 2 of the NBA Finals on Fri Jul 9, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the NBA Finals podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 Joe the Phoenix Suns got to a big jump on the Milwaukee Bucks with a 2-0 series lead what would you allude being the biggest reason for that happening.

#2 Joe, talk about the Suns big three who scored in double figures in game 2 Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, and Chris Paul they were potent in the playoffs and wasted no time getting off the dime in the first two games of the Finals.

#3 The Suns defense is also credited by keeping the Bucks at bay with the game 2, 118-108 win. The Suns have demonstrated what kind of team they’ve been from the defensive side of the ball.

#4 For Giannis Anteokounmpo he led the Bucks in scoring with 42 in game 2 it seems like when the Bucks go on offense the balls going to him but they Bucks are going to need a lot more than Giannis to try and come back and get back in these Finals.

#5 Game 3 tonight Suns up 2-0 Bucks have the home floor there will little doubt the Bucks will be fired up to try and get a win on the home floor.

Joe Hawkes does the NBA Finals podcast Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s rally for four runs in 11th to beat Rangers 8-4

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Oakland A’s Stephen Piscotty (left) and Jed Lowrie (right) forearm bash after Piscotty’s two run home run in the top of the 11th at Globe Life Park in Arlington Sat Jul 10, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Win Marathon Against Rangers 8-4

By Barbara Mason

Saturday afternoon the Oakland A’s took on the Texas Rangers in game two of their series. In game one the A’s suffered a meltdown in the sixth inning after leading 2-0 failing to score again in the game losing 3-2.

They will attempt to get back on the winning track in this second game with James Kaprielian on the mound. The Rangers started Mike Foltynewicz.

The A’s came up empty in the first inning of this game but such was not the case for the Rangers. They hit two solo home runs, one by Gallo and a second by Garcia for a 2-0 lead.

The A’s answered in the second inning with two home runs of their own. Sean Murphy hit a solo homer and Seth Brown hit a second home run to tie up the game at 2-2. It was a sight for sore eyes to see those long shots once agains.

Oakland’s Deolis Guerra came into the sixth inning to relieve Kaprielien with the A’s still in the lead 3-2. James had completed six innings to qualify for the win. The seventh inning for Oakland was a 7 pitch appearance by Yusmeiro Petit and it was on to the eighth inning.

The eighth inning was a tough one for Diekman who allowed a Jonas Heim single and two walks. The Heim single brought in White to tie up the game 3-3. Lou Trivino would close out the inning keeping the damage to a minimum.

After a non-productive ninth inning the game would go into extra innings and a marathon would ensue. The A’s would take the lead in the tenth inning 4-3 when Sean Murphy scored and Oakland would try to hang onto the slim lead. The Rangers were stubborn and tied the game once again 4-4.

The eleventh inning was golden for Oakland. The hits started coming. Olson walked, Lowrie singled and Andrus scored. Olson scored on a wild pitch, the score now 6-4. The A’s sealed the deal with a Stephen Piscotti home run bringing in Lowrie and extending their lead 8-4. Oakland fought hard in this game and it paid off handsomely. The highlights of this game were the four home runs by Murphy, Brown, Lowrie and Piscotti.

While kudos to the team for staying in this game there were still some disappointing performances. The defense as always was solid but Andrus, Olson, Chapman, Bolt and Kemp did not have a single hit all day. Hopefully they will show up for tomorrow’s game to win the series. While it is not uncommon for players to have a slow game, it is curious that all five of these guys couldn’t manage a single hit. Tomorrow is a new day and a chance for another win.

First pitch in tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 11:35.

MLB All Star Game podcast with Larry Crino: Bauer looks like he’s done; Was MLB right for moving All Star Game to Denver

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2021 MLB All Star Logo hangs at Coors Field in Denver as the mid season classic will be played on Tue Jul 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

MLB podcast with Larry:

#1 The Trevor Bauer situation hangs over the All Star Game as his administration leave extends through July 15th. Bauer could very well be done with baseball.

#1 Larry were on the eve of the MLB All Star Game the stage is set to see some of the best players in the game at the Home Run Derby on Monday and then the game itself on Tuesday night.

#2 Larry how important how big of a statement did baseball send when it moved the game out of the state of Georgia because of voter suppression laws. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said that the laws to vote were made easier baseball sees that another way.

#3 Just to mention among some of the issues baseball had with the changing of the voting laws in Georgia, allowing less people less time to order request absentee ballots, making it illegal for election officials to mail out absentee ballots to all voters, drop boxes will be almost non existent, baseball saw that this impacted minority voters and had to move the game out of Atlanta.

#4 Larry I’ll just name some of the players who are participating in the Home Run Derby you can give us your analysis on those players and more: Shohei Ohtani Angels, Pete Alsonso Mets, Trey Mancini Orioles, Salvador Perez Royals, Matt Olson A’s, to name a few.

#5 Larry I’ll let you talk about the 2021 All Star players who will be featured in this year’s All Star Game in Denver on Tuesday night.

Larry Crino does the MLB podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

DeSclafani goes six to pickup his 10th win of the season 10-4

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San Francisco Giants Brandon Crawford swings for the fences for a sixth inning solo home run at Oracle Park in San Francisco Sat Jul 10, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Despite that the fact that he won his 10th game of the season, Anthony DeSclafani is not going to the All-Star Game.

DeSclafani went six innings, allowing zero runs on just three hits, walking just one and striking out six, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 10-4 before a crowd of 25,901 at Oracle Park.

The right-hander, who improved to 10-3 on the season received immediate help from his offense in the bottom of the first inning.

Wilmer Flores got the hit parade started in the bottom of the first inning, as he walked, then Mike Yastrzemski and it looked like Jon Lester was going to get Darin Ruf on an easy fly ball to left field; however, former Giants outfielder Gerardo Parra lost the ball in the sun for an error that loaded the bases.

Following the Parra error, Donovan Solano singled in Flores, and then Brandon Crawford followed it up with a long fly out to Parra that scored Yastrzemski from second base. Joey Bart made his first appearance of the season, and came through in style, as he singled to reload the bases.

The Giants final run of the inning came off the bat of Thairo Estrada, who hit a dribbler along the third base line that Starlin Castro was unable to get in time and Ruf easily scored from third base.

Things got even worse for the Nationals in the bottom of the third inning, as the Giants broke the game wide open, when they scored five runs and chased Lester.

Crawford singled for the second time in as many at-bats to score Ruf, who doubled to lead off the inning. Bart then singled in Solano, who reached on a fielding error Castro at third base.

Estrada then singled in Crawford, and that the end of the line for Lester, who gave up eight runs (three earned) on nine hits, walking two and striking out one in just 2.1 innings of work and lost for the fourth time on the season.

It was a career day for Estrada at the plate, as he went 4-for-5 on the afternoon.

Tyler Beede made his return to a major-league game for the first time since having Tommy John surgery, as he replaced DeSclafani in the top of the seventh inning. Beede went one inning, allowing three runs on two hits and struck out two.

Crawford ended his afternoon in a way that only he can, as he hit his 18th home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning and ended the day going 3-for-3.

The Nationals finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as Alcides Escobar hit a two-run triple that just being a terrific catch by Yastrzemski that would have ended the inning; however, it brought home Parra and Tres Barrera, who led off the inning with a single and then Beede hit Barrera. Beede then regrouped to strikeout Victor Robles and Josh Harrison, but Beede gave up the triple to Escobar, who then scored on a Beede wild pitch.

Yastrzemski made a fantastic diving catch in what used to be the visiting bullpen off the bat of Castro to end the top of the sixth inning.

Jaxson Reetz came off the bench in the top of the ninth inning for the Nationals and picked up his first major league, a double to right field off of John Brebbia. Reetz scored his first major league run on a Josh Harrison ground out that forced Robles at second base.

NOTES: To make room for Bart on the roster, Logan Webb was optioned to Sacramento after he went three innings on Friday night against the Nationals.

Since he came off the injured list on June 12, Curt Casali is hitting .400 (16-for-40), with five doubles, a triple, three home runs and nine runs batted in and the Giants 23-6 in games where Casali starts this season.

There was a scary scene in the stands during the game, as a fan began to choke on her food and a gentleman immediately performed the Heimlich Maneuver on the woman. The woman was choking on three pieces of her hot dog, and the gentleman who performed the maneuver was none than Dr. Willie Ross, who is a pediatrician and also the father of current Nationals pitcher Joe Ross and former Oakland Athletics pitcher Tyson Ross, who grew up in Oakland and went to Bishop ODowd High School.

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman closes out the first half for the Giants, as he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon, while Eric Fedde will take the mound for the Nationals.

A’s lose to Texas despite early lead 3-2

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Oakland A’s pitcher Cole Irvin gives up the ball to A’s manager Bob Melvin in the sixth inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Fri Jul 9, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Lose to Texas Despite Early Lead 3-2

By Barbara Mason

Once again we saw the Oakland A’s build an early lead only to watch it disappear into a losing effort. It is happening far too often resulting in losing series. They had early leads in their series against the Houston Astros losing two of the three games. This team is really struggling right now.

Tonight the A’s seemed to have the game in hand. Cole Irvin had a nice start through five innings but it was the sixth inning that was his undoing. The Rangers Adolis Garcia hit a two-run single pushing Texas past Oakland 3-2. The early hits that the A’s had shut down after the sixth inning. What is even worse is the fact that the Astros lost to the Yankees. A lost opportunity to gain ground in the standings.

Where have the bats gone for Oakland? It has gone back to the same old pattern with a hit here, a hit there. There were no home runs for Oakland in this game and so that has gone stale. There just seems to be something about the Texas Rangers that has the A’s stymied. The Rangers have had their number all season and show no signs of letting up.

The beautiful start that Cole Irvin had through five innings crashed and burned when he allowed three runs in the sixth inning. That was all that the Rangers would need to secure this game. The A’s had the bases loaded in the seventh inning but could not take advantage of it.

The eighth and ninth innings were three up and three down for the Rangers The A’s just could not get a thing going. They will be taking on the Rangers tomorrow in game two hoping to turn this thing around. If they hope to get back into contention something has to change. The defense had a nice game with a number of double plays but ti was the offense that let the team down once agains.

First pitch in Texas will be 1:05 tomorrow afternoon.

Three home runs give Giants huge victory 5-3 over Nats

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San Francisco Giants Darin Ruf (33) belts a fifth inning solo homer against the Washington Nationals on Fri Jul 9, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

After learning that their All-Star Catcher Buster Posey was forced to go on the injured list, Gabe Kapler turned to his backup for help.

Curt Casali hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning, but the big blow came off the bat of Darin Ruf, who hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 5-3 in the opener of their three-game series at Oracle Park.

It was the second run batted in for Ruf, who drove in the first run of the night in the bottom of the first inning, when he singled in Mike Yastrzemski to give the Giants a quick 1-0 lead.

Logan Webb returned to the starting rotation, as he went three innings, allowing one hit, not walking a batter and striking out four.

Unfortunately, Jose Alvarez was unable to hold onto the lead, as he gave up three runs on two hits in the top of the fourth inning, walking one in just 1/3 of an inning. Following being pulled by Kapler, and being inspected by third base Dan Bellino, Alvarez was ejected by home plate umpire David Rackley; because, Alvarez did not agree Rackleys strike zone.

The big blow by the Nationals in the inning came off the bat of Tres Barrera, who tripled to centerfield that scored both Juan Soto and Josh Bell to get the Nationals within one run.

Former Giants outfielder Gerardo Parra came back to town and haunted his former team, as he doubled in Barrera to tie up the game.

Ruf then gave the Giants the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth, as he launched a solo home run deep into the left-center field bleachers that was estimated at 433 feet.

Wilmer Flores then gave the Giants their third home run of the game, as he hit his ninth home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that closed out the scoring for the victorious Giants.

Once again, the Giants defense came up big, as Brandon Crawford showed flashbacks of Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, as he made a nifty play when Barrera grounded into the twin killing that also retired Starlin Castro at second base.

Tyler Rogers got into a jam into a jam in the top of the top of the eighth inning, as he loaded the bases with one out; however, it was another double play that got him out of the jam and out of the inning, as Parra grounded into the inning-ending double play to Donovan Solano, who threw to Crawford to retire Josh Harrison and then Crawford threw to Ruf to just get the speedy Parra to retire the side. The Nationals did look into challenging the call at first base; however, they did not challenge.

Closer Jake McGee came on in the top of the ninth inning and got Nationals veteran Ryan Zimmerman to strike out swinging for the first out, and then Alcides Escobar flew out to Yastrzemski for the second out of the inning; however, things got dicey after the Escobar fly out.

Trea Turner picked up an opposite field single, and after a visit by Kapler, Turner advanced to second on defensive indifference and then McGee walked Soto and then Bell grounded out to Crawford for the final out of the game and McGee secured his 18th save of the season.

In all, the Giants sent seven relievers to the mound after Webb and the Giants picked up their 55th win of the season against 32 losses.

NOTES: Posey was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb contusion retroactively to July 6 after he was injured after he was hit on the glove hand at Chase Field, and Webb replaced Posey on the roster.

With the injury that will keep him out until after the All-Star break, Posey, who was elected to start for the National League in Tuesdays All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver will miss the game due to the injury and will not attend the festivities.

Since Kevin Gausman is scheduled to start for the Giants on Sunday, the Denver area native will not pitch in the game; however, it is unclear if he will join Crawford for the game.

With three more home runs tonight against the Nationals, the Giants now have 130 home runs on the season, passing the Toronto Blue Jays with 128 home runs for the most home runs in the major leagues this season.

Since moving to California in 1958, the Giants have led the major leagues in home runs at the All-Star break on two previous occasions, in 1989, when they hit 80 home runs at the break and then in their first season in San Francisco, they hit 95 home runs in 1958.

The Giants unveiled their City Connect Jersey by Nike, and will wear during the entire series against the Nationals and then every Tuesday night home game.

UP NEXT: Anthony DeSclafani will take the mound on Saturday afternoon for the Giants, as he looks for his 10th win of the season, while the Nationals will send veteran Jon Lester to the hill, in search of his third win of the season.

Aces struggle against Lynx, lose 77-67

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Photo credit: Shawn McCullough (Sports Radio Service)

By Shawn McCullough

The Aces dropped their second straight game in a 77-67 loss to the Minnesota Lynx at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay.

“That’s probably as bad as a game as we played all season,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer. “Disappointing on our end, they were not there.”

Las Vegas dropped their second game in two weeks to the Lynx after losing 90-89 in Minneapolis back on June 25th.

“They wanted it a lot more than we did,” said Laimbeer. “The effort level that we put out today was not acceptable.”

The Aces were led by guard Kelsey Plum, who came off the bench and scored 18 points.

“We have to be ready from the jump,” said Plum. “We dug ourselves a big hole and it is really hard to get back in the game.”

Olympian A’ja Wilson scored 13 points, while Dearica Hamby added 12 points and nine rebounds.

“We just got a little lazy, standing around,” said Hamby about their offense. “We want to play with pace, but we weren’t really focused and locked in.”

With the loss, the Aces dropped to 14-6 on the season and remain one game behind the first place Seattle Storm.

The Aces will have one final game on Sunday in Dallas against the Wings, before a long one-month break for the WNBA All-Star Game on July 14th and for the Olympics.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

  • The Aces shot just 35.8% from the field, while Minnesota shot 45.3%.
  • Las Vegas has used the same starting lineup for the first 19 games, until tonight since Liz Cambage is currently with the Australian National Team.  She was replaced at center by Kiah Stokes.
  • Current Lynx and former Aces guard Kayla McBride returned for the first time with her new team back to Las Vegas.  She was greeted with a scoreboard tribute during pre-game introductions.


Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 3 Riquna Williams
C – 41 Kiah Stokes
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 12 Chelsea Gray

Aces Injury Report:

Angel McCoughtry—Out, right ACL
Liz Cambage – Out, Australian Nation Team

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Webb gets the call tonight against Nats as Giants hold one game lead over LA

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San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb will be looking for his fifth win tonight against the visiting Washington Nationals at Oracle Park Fri Jul 8, 2021 (file photo from San Francisco Chronicle)

On the SF Giants podcast with Miguel:

#1 Michael the Giants are coming off a series loss to the St Louis Cardinals dropping two out of three but winning Wednesday night’s game at Oracle Park 5-2 thanks to the fine pitching of Alex Wood.

#2 The Giants go into tonight’s game against the Washington Nationals just a game in front of the second place Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park every game counts to stay in front of the Dodgers.

#3 Michael talk about Darin Ruf for a moment big night Wednesday hitting a two run homer in the eighth a crucial blast that helped the Giants win that game by two runs.

#4 Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford heads to the All Star game with 17 home runs, 55 RBIs and a .275 average and he’s had quite a first half with the glove at short. He should represent San Francisco well going into Denver on Monday.

#5 Michael starting pitchers for tonight’s game at Oracle Park for the Nationals Paolo Espino (2-2 ERA 2.48) for the Giants Logan Webb (4-3 ERA 3.86) a 6:45 pm (PDT) first pitch.

Join Michael for the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Montas’ pitching sets tone for A’s going into Texas; Irvin gets the start for A’s against Rangers tonight

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Oakland A’s starter Cole Irvin will start for the A’s in Texas against the Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Fri Jul 9, 2021 (file photo from Athletics Nation)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas pitched 6.2 innings five hits and one run quite a line against one of the best hitting line ups in the American League the Houston Astros.

#2 Jeremiah, Montas picked up his seventh win of the season against seven loses this one was a gem he really had good command and it set the tone for the team coming out of a tough place like Houston.

#3 Jeremiah, let’s talk about Montas’ strike outs he struck out ten hitters and when you strike out ten Astro hitters he got the right signals and had his velocity working.

#4 Jeremiah, real quickly on the new ball park issue side of things it was reported that the Oakland City Council was presented the entire Howard Terminal ballpark package one of the sticking points of the package was when it came to infrastructure of the tune of a $12 billion neighborhood redo the city council didn’t see any affordable housing in the A’s new residential or condos could that be a sticking point for city council vote or will David Kaval and the A’s work something out with that regard.

#5 Starting pitchers for Friday night’s game in Texas for the A’s Cole Irvin (6-7 ERA 3.56) for the Rangers Jordan Lyles (4-5 ERA 4.98) a 5:05 pm (PDT) first pitch

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

Giants Webb coming off shoulder strain; pitch count will be watched Friday night

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb throwing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sat May 29, 2021 at Dodgers Stadium Los Angeles will be the starting pitcher against the Washington Nationals on Fri Jul 9, 2021 at Oracle Park (AP file photo)

By Jessica Kwong

The San Francisco Giants had the day off on Thursday after losing two of the last three games in the series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants won 5-2 on Wednesday at Oracle Park to avoid being swept.

San Francisco (54-32) are still first in the NL West but are tied on the most wins in the league.

The Giants start a three-game series against the Washington Nationals on Friday before facing the Cardinals after the All-Star break on July 16 at State Farm Stadium. First pitch at Nationals Park is at 6:45 p.m.

San Francisco plans to start with right-handed pitcher Logan Webb on Friday. Giants manager Gabe Kapler announced on Wednesday that Webb, who has been out since May 29 due to a right shoulder strain, will come off the injured list. He did not give any indication of how many innings Webb might pitch. Webb will likely take Long’s spot in the rotation but it is unlikely he will throw more than 50 to 60.

The Giants’ pitching for the opener against Washington will likely include right-handed pitcher Tyler Beede, who was off the 60-day injured list on Tuesday. Beede had Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and completed a 12-start rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento. He finished with a 6.56 ERA.

In unfortunate news, the Giants’ director of Dominican Republic Operations, Pablo Peguero, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, the organization announced yesterday evening. He died in his home in Santo Domingo at the age of 68. Peguero was with the Giants for the past 18 years and was a ‘beloved member of the Giants family and has been synonymous with baseball in the Dominican Republic for decades,” the team’s President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said in a statement.