Month: April 2022

Blame The Rain: Hot Giants cooled by Metropolitans’ slightly warmer temps and rain, rescheduled DH for Tuesday

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By Morris Phillips

The lockout and the protracted negotiations that delayed the baseball season put the Giants in a worrisome spot: just one day off through April 27, and 19 games in 20 days to start the season.

But in stepped mother nature, and the Giants have a treasured day off today, after their opener at Citi Field in New York against the Mets was canceled due to rain and the timing of the storm.

The team will hole up in a cozy Manhattan hotel and prepare for a rare, doubleheader on Tuesday with a nice caveat: staff ace Logan Webb will pitch Tuesday’s second game. The Mets made the announcement at 4:00pm in New York as the expectation of two inches of rain came into focus. Tuesday’s doubleheader will start at 3:10pm in New York with the second game 30 minutes after the first.

Alex Cobb will face the Mets’ Taylor Megill in the opener. Although the other scheduled starter, Max Scherzer could move up and pitch the opener with no confirmation from the Mets at press time.

The Giants-Mets four-game set looms as one of the early season’s best matchups with the Giants 7-2 and the Mets 7-3.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants face evenly matched Mets tonight to open three game series

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San Francisco Giants second basemen Thairo Estrada, right, is congratulated by shortstop Brandon Crawford after sweeping the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Sun Apr 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Morris, the Giants wind up getting a sweep on their first leg of this road trip against the Cleveland Guardians. Giants pitcher Alex Wood threw for over five innings giving up just four hits in the 8-1 win.

#2 Wood gave up just one run and had real good command of his pitches. In the third inning the Guardians had two runners on but Wood would get out of the inning and the Giants continued with the lead.

#3 Thairo Estrada supplied the offense in the second inning with a homer to left and with Wilmer Flores on second after hitting a double it was a 2-0 lead for San Francisco.

#4 Brandon Belt would homer in the seventh inning to extend San Francisco’s lead to 8-0. Belt would bring Austin Slater home from first.

#5 For tonight’s game opening up in New York, the Giants will start Alex Cobb (1-0 ERA 3.60) and for the New York Mets (7-2)Tyler Megill (2-0 ERA 0.00). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM PDT at Citi Park in Flushing.

Golden State Warriors podcast with Barbara Mason: Warriors go for second straight win in game 2 tonight at Chase

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In first half action at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sat Apr 16, 2022 Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole, left, is congratulated by guard Stephen Curry (30) in game one of the NBA Playoffs against the Denver Nuggets (AP News photo)

On the Warriors podcast with Barbara:

#1 Does Warrior head coach Steve Kerr really have a tough decision to make deciding to go with Stephen Curry or Jordan Poole who scored 30 in game one against the Denver Nuggets.

#2 The Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets led with 25 points on Saturday not enough to catch the Warriors who beat them by 16 points.

#3 Curry who scored 16 said that he had a good time watching Poole work his offensive magic who admired his ability to be the leading scorer.

#4 Barbara, Klay Thompson contributed with 19 points was second in scoring the Warriors had to be glad to have him healthy considering all that he’s been through before this season.

#5 Warriors host the Nuggets tonight for game 2 at Chase Center do you see this being a competitive contest and the Nuggets will really have to get up for this one or the Warriors should handle them just like they did in game one.

Join Barbara Mason for the Warriors podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Road Relevant: A’s lose 4-3 in Toronto, fall short of winning road trip to begin season

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By Morris Phillips

The A’s weren’t going to be satisfied with a .500 road trip to start the season. But after a grueling 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays, that’s what they got.

Finishing a senses-jarring, first ten games of the season with a 5-5 record isn’t earth shattering, but it’s an incredible, initial statement for the new-look A’s.

“I couldn’t be happier with the club’s energy, effort level and fight through these 10 days,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “The record may not reflect, right now, how well I feel we played on this road trip.”

Alex Manoah went six innings against Oakland, and picked up the win. The replacement guy for Toronto limited the A’s to four hits and two walks, and departed with a two-run lead. Manoah appearances have a winning effect on his club, the Blue Jays have won his last 10 starts.

“I want those guys to know that I’m giving it my all every time,” Manoah said. “I think they kind of play off that energy.”

The A’s trailed 3-0 and 4-2, but got a sacrifice fly from Seth Brown in the eighth to climb within 4-3, but they could get any closer in the ninth, making for a lengthier flight home ahead of Monday’s home opener against the Orioles at 6:40pm.

Lourdes Gurriel led the hosts with a double, single and sacrifice fly to boost a lineup that saw Vladimir Guerrero Jr. go 0 for 4.

“It’s pretty big that he gets hot,” manager Charlie Montoyo said of Gurriel. “It’s been amazing what he’s doing right now.

“Right now, he’s doing the job to make sure Vladdy sees some pitches.”

Adam Oller was lifted in the second inning in his Major League debut last Tuesday. He responded on Sunday, allowing three runs and five hits before being lifted by Kotsay in the fourth.

The 27-year old cited lack of command with breaking pitches, but acknowledged his growth as well, this time he kept the A’s attached.

Stephen Vogt hit his first home run of the season and Sean Murphy’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Cristian Pache from third base for two A’s runs.

“They were down early. We fought back. We grinded out at-bats,” Kotsay continued. “The energy was still really good for the end of a 10-day road trip. You’d look for that day off tomorrow, but I think the energy will be there tomorrow with opening day and going home.”

Sharks Lose 5-4 in OT to Wild, Bordeleau Has Assist in NHL Debut

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San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Merkley (6) skates past Minnesota Wild’s Kevin Fiala, center, and Jared Spurgeon (46) after Spurgeon scored the game winning goal in overtime at Xcel Energy Arena in St Paul on Sun Apr 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished their road trip with an overtime loss, 5-4 to the Minnesota Wild. Dmitry Kulikov, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Boldy, and Kevin Fiala scored for the Wild, with two goals from Spurgeon. Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for the win. Rudolfs Balcers, Matt Nieto, Noah Gregor and Nick Bonino scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 23 saves in the loss. With this win, the Wild clinched their playoff berth.

In this ten game losing streak, the Sharks lost six games by one goal. Two of their losses by two goals included empty net goals. That is a lot of close games. After this game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It’s crazy how close we are on a lot of nights. You know, I’ve never been through anything like this as a coach or as a player, you know, losing this many games. And I’m not sure some of those guys in the room have either, the veterans, and certainly my staff. So it’s our job to try and draw on the positives, especially with nine rookies in the lineup tonight, is trying to you know, provide a lot of teaching at this point of the season. There’s a lot of good going on and you’ll never see it in the wins a losses column right now.”

Sharks added a couple more rookies to the mix on Sunday, for a total of seven in the lineup. Forward Thomas Bordeleau had an assist, a shot and was 40% in face-offs. He had 13:14 TOI, skating at center with Noah Gregor and Rudolfs Balcers. Defenseman Santeri Hatakka had a shot, a hit and two blocked shots in 11:44 TOI, skating with Nicolas Meloche.

Of Bordeleau’s first game, Boughner said: “I thought he did a lot of good things. You know, I talked to him after the first. Of course, he was nervous and, you know, he said to me: ‘I’ll be better in the second period,’ but I thought he actually had a pretty good first period.” He went on with the analysis to say “I liked his game, I thought pretty responsible, and for a first game I thought he handled himself very well.”

Dmitry Kulikov scored the first goal of the game at 6:04 of the first period. Kevin Fiala dropped the puck to Kulikov high in the slot. Kulikov’s shot went through some traffic and past Reimer’s glove. Assists went to Fiala and Matt Boldy.

Jared Spurgeon made it 2-0 at 7:29 with a shot from the point that went through traffic and in. It seemed to change direction off of Brent Burns’ stick. Marcus Foligno got the assist.

Rudolfs Balcers got the Sharks on the board at 9:38. Thomas Bordeleau knocked the puck lose below the goal line and Balcers gathered it up and moved up high for a shot from just below the blue line. The puck went under Fleury and in. Assists went to Bordeleau and Noah Gregor.

Matt Nieto tied the game at 1:19 of the second period. Nick Bonino caught the puck after Burns knocked it away from the Wild in the Sharks’ zone. Bonino passed it across the neutral zone to a speeding Nieto who carried it the other way. He got as far as the face-off circle before taking the shot for his sixth of the season.

Matt Boldy got the lead back for the Wild at 6:37, cleaning up a rebound. Assists went to Kevin Fiala and Frederick Gaudreau.

Noah Gregor tied it back up at 11:11. Bordeleau helped out again, this time picking off a pass and getting the puck to Balcers to start the play. Burns took the shot from the point and Gregor knocked in the rebound. Burns and Balcers got the assists.

Nick Bonino scored a short-handed goal at 1:37 of the third to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead. Tomas Herlt broke the puck out and then turned to skate backwards just over the Wild blue line. Bonino went down the boards and Hertl made a pass across the ice to him. Bonino took the shot from bad angle and beat Fleury. Assists went to Hertl and Nicolas Meloche.

Keivn Fiala tied it for the Wild, redirecting a Jordie Benn shot from the point. There was some discussion of goaltender interference, as a Wild player did bump Reimer’s glove. After the game, Boughner explained that the Sharks considered challenging it but, with Reimer outside the blue paint, the call might go against them. Assists went to Benn and Gaudreau.

Jared Spurgeon scored the game winner at 1:05 of overtime with a wrist shot from just above the circle. Assists went to Fiala and Gaudreau.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:30 PM PT.

San Francisco Sweeps Cleveland 8-1; Wood gives up only four hits and Estrada homers gets four RBIs

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San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Alex Wood pitches in the first inning to the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Sun Apr 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

San Francisco Sweeps Cleveland 8-1; Wood gives up only four hits and Estrada homers and gets four RBIs

By Barbara Mason

After taking the first two games in their series against the Cleveland Guardians (4-5) the San Francisco Giants (7-2) went for the sweep Sunday afternoon defeating the Guardians by seven runs 8-1.

It was a quiet first inning for San Francisco but the second inning was anything but quiet for the Giants. Thairo Estrada homered to left and with Wilmer Flores on second after hitting a double it was a 2-0 lead for San Francisco.

The Guardians would threaten in the third inning but Alex Wood would get out of a two runners on jam and the Giants held on to their two run lead.

San Francisco would strike again in the fourth inning. Thairo Estrada grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop and Joc Pederson would score. Brandon Crawford was just behind him off a throwing error by Owen Miller. The Giants now had a 4-0 lead.

In the sixth inning the Giants would add a couple more for a 6-0 lead. Peterson would score from second off a double by Estrada. Estrada would go on to score when Duggar hit an infield single.

Brandon Belt would homer in the seventh inning to extend San Francisco’s lead to 8-0. Belt would bring Austin Slater home from first.

The Guardians got up on the scoreboard in the bottom seventh inning when Amed Rosario scored off a single from Austin Hedges. Cleveland trailed by a heap of runs and everything pointed to a San Francisco sweep. The Guardians were not able to get much going in this game.

Monday the Giants will start a four-game series with the mighty New York Mets (7-3). Starting pitcher for the Giants will be Alex Cobb (1-0 ERA 3.60) and for New York Tyler Megill (2-0 ERA 0.00). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM PDT at Citi Park in Flushing.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda begin final road trip on Wednesday night in Bakersfield

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The San Jose Barracuda defenseman Anthony Bitetto (2) has control of the puck on Fri Apr 15, 2022 against the Abbottsford Canucks at 4Solar America in San Jose in the last home game of the season for the Barracuda (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (20-39-4) in their last game of the season grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period over the Abbotsford Canucks ((35-25-1) at 4Solar America Arena in San Jose but the Barracuda couldn’t hold the lead succumbing to a 4-3 come back loss by the Canucks last Friday.

#2 Early in the game the Barracuda’s Lane Pederson showed off his handiwork by scoring those two goals with a powerplay goal and a shorthanded goal for his eighth and ninth goals of the season.

#3 It’s been a long time coming but Kyle Topping got his second goal after 22 games the goal tied the game up 3-3 and forced overtime.

#4 The Canucks Justin Dowling scored twice in the contest once in the first period and the game winning goal in the overtime stanza. Dowling is on a roll he has scored a goal in each of his last three games.

#5 The Barracuda now head to Bakersfield to face off with the Bakersfield Condors at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield (33-20-5) this Wed Apr 20th 6:30 pm PDT with a trip to Henderson on the 22nd and 23rd to close out the regular season. The last time the Cuda and Condors met was back on Wed Apr 6th in San Jose in an overtime loss for the Barracuda 3-2.

Marko did the Barracuda podcasts throughout the 2021-22 season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors open series with 123-107 win; Takes game 1 at Chase Center upon Curry return

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Stephen Curry (30) made a return performance for the Golden State Warriors in game 1 against the Denver Nuggets at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sat Apr 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

Warriors Open Series With 123-107 Win; Take game 1 at Chase Center for openers

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Golden State Warriors (53-29) took on the Denver Nuggets (48-34) in the first round of the 2021-22 playoffs. The Warriors welcomed back Stephen Curry who had missed significant time with a sprained ligament in his left foot.

A determined Curry worked hard to get back into tonight’s game apparently with limited minutes but bringing the leadership that his team relies on from him. All eyes will be on Curry as he plays his first game in over four weeks.

One of the biggest challenges for Golden State will be MVP from last year Nikola Jokic and quite possibly repeating as MVP again this year.

This was a hotly contested game as expected. After one quarter the Nuggets held a 27-26 lead. As the second quarter came to an end the Warriors had outscored Denver 32-20 and had a 58-47 half-time lead. Jokic had 14 points in the half but it was Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson with 17 and 14 points that made the difference. With 4.2 seconds left in the second quarter Curry made a 28-foot three point jumper to finish the first half in Warrior style.

Golden State had to continue to try and contain Jokic and keep his shooting to a minimum He is the heart and soul of the Nuggets and the last thing you want is for him to go on a scoring frenzy.

The Warriors continued to pour it on and after three quarters led 90-70. While this game was far from over, Golden State was playing with intensity and purpose.

The Warriors were one quarter away from taking game one in this series. Poole continued to play lights out basketball through the fourth quarter. With under three minutes left in the game the Warriors bench took it home. The final was 123-107.

Nikola Jokic finished with 25 points, ten rebounds and Will Barton had 24 points for the Nuggets. Tonight it was all Warriors from the second quarter on and there was no stopping them.

Poole finished with 30 points and was five of seven from downtown. It was a great night for Curry in his return with 16 points and he was three of six from beyond the arc.

Game two at Chase Center will tipoff at 7:00 PM on Monday night.

Sharks Fall 2-1 to Stars, Losing Streak at nine

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Dallas Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa (2) and center Joe Pavelski (16) defend against San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture (39) in real close battle at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sat Apr 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks lost their ninth in a row Thursday, 2-1 to the Dallas Stars. Tyler Seguin and Michael Raffl scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the win. Timo Meier scored for the Sharks and Kaapo Kahkonen made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner compared the game to the previous outing:

“I thought tonight we played exactly how we want to play in this building against an urgent team. We know how important this game was for Dallas, we tried to match that urgency early. I thought we did. I just thought our game was better, I thought that we played with good structure.”

The Sharks were eliminated from playoff contention after their loss to the Blackhawks on Tuesday. So it should be no surprise that a number of rookies in need of game time were in the lineup Thursday. Out of the lineup were Alexander Barabanov, Erik Karlsson and Radim Simek with injuries of varying degrees. Forward Jasper Weatherby had 8:01 TOI and won 29% of his face-offs, centering Jeffrey Viel and Scott Reedy. Viel had 7:51 TOI. Reedy had two shots, a hit and a blocked shot in 12:10 TOI. Sasha Chmelevski had three shots, two hits, and won 29% of his face-offs in 16:56 TOI, centering Noah Gregor and Matt Nieto. Defenseman Ryan Merkley had an assist, three shots, a blocked shot and a hit in 16:40 TOI, playing with Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Defenseman Nicolas Meloche had a shot, a hit and a blocked shot in 20:31 TOI, playing with Mario Ferraro.

Boughner was not unhappy with the performance of the younger players, and said:

“I thought the young guys all played well, I thought Weatherby coming in, I thought he played fine in the middle. I thought he had a little trouble in his face-offs. You know, but I thought Reedy, and Sasha, [Merkley], all those guys gave us good minutes.”

Tyler Seguin scored the first goal, at 5:55 of the first period. He redirected a shot from Jamie Benn that came across the ice to Seguin, right in front of the blue paint. Assists went to Benn and Ryan Suter.

Michael Raffl scored the second Dallas goal, short handed at 13:32 of the second period. Luke Glendening carried the puck from one o-zone to the other, two on one with Raffl. Glendening made the pass through a sliding Brent Burns to Raffl, who had a clear shot. Assists went to Glendening and Esa Lindell. It was the eleventh short-handed goal that the Sharks have given up this season.

Timo Meier scored at 19:23 of the second, his 33rd of the season. Ryan Merkley sent the puck to the middle of the slot for Meier, who took the shot through traffic. Assists went to Merkley and Mario Ferraro.

The shots were close throughout the game, with a final count of 26-24 Stars. Each team had three shots on the power play, but the Stars had three short-handed shots as well as the short-handed goal. The Sharks won 41% of their face-offs.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 2:30 PM PT in Minnesota against the Wild.

Giants win game two against Guardians 4-2 at Progressive

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The San Francisco Giants Brandon Belt connects for a fifth inning two RBI single against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Sat Apr 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

Giants Win Game Two Against Guardians 4-2

By Barbara Mason

After winning the first game against the Cleveland Guardians (4-3) Friday night the San Francisco Giants (5-2) continued their three game series Saturday. The Giants won Friday’s series opener handily 4-1 thanks to pitcher Carlos Rodon who allowed a single run through seven innings striking out nine and only giving up two hits.

That was the home opener for Cleveland at Progressive Field and not the debut as the Guardians that they were hoping for. The Giants won their second straight game in Cleveland with a 4-2 win on Saturday.

Cleveland was first on the scoreboard Saturday in the first inning. Jose Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly to allow Myles Straw to score for the early 1-0 lead.

The Giants would fight through four innings when in the fifth inning Brandon Belt singled to center and base runners Thairo Estrada and Mike Yastrzemski would both score giving San Francisco a 2-1 lead. Cleveland would score in the same inning to tie up this game. Myles Straw doubled to deep left and base runner Owen Miller scored for a 2-2 game.

Going into the eighth inning the game remained tied. With one out the Giants would load the bases and Wilmer Flores would ground into a fielders choice to second. Brandon Belt scored to break the tie and give the Giants a 3-2 lead.

San Francisco was not finished and with two outs Austin Slater would score on a wild pitch extending the Giants lead. The Giants would take the 4-2 lead into the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth Cleveland was looking at their last chance to salvage this game. Cleveland’s Josh Naylor would single and Owen Miller walked but they could not cash in and San Francisco held on for the win

Sunday the Giants will be going for the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 10:40 AM PDT. Alex Wood (0-0 ERA 4.15) will take the mound for San Francisco and for Cleveland it will be Aaron Civale (0-0 ERA 5.40).