Month: June 2022

Shut Out On South Beach: Giants can’t solve Alcantara in 3-0 loss to the Marlins

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By Morris Phillips

The Marlins with their sub .500 records overall and at home haven’t moved the meter thus far in 2022, but the Miami pitching has. Pablo Lopez and Sandy Alcantara are the headliners with near-100 mph four-seam fastballs, and Alcantara got his chance to make an impression on the reigning NL West champion Giants on Thursday.

Let’s just say mission accomplished.

The 26-year old right hander was electric, throwing 111 pitches with the best of those coming late, in a 3-0 shutout win over the Giants. Alcantara allowed three hits, walked two, struck out eight and kept the Giants off balance by starting 17 of the 25 batters he faced with strikes, and inducing 24 swings and misses. Knowing they were entering a battle, Giants’ hitters got the majority of Alcantara’s pitches out early with several, lengthy at-bats. But the response was simple: as the game wore on, Alcantara became highly efficient, dispatching Giants’ hitters quickly and quietly.

“If it were up to me, I would have stayed until the ninth, but I respect the manager’s decision,” Alcantara said through an interpreter.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly lifted his ace after seven innings, but rightfully termed the process of Alcantara finishing better than he starts by saying, “he finally got that groove that we talk about where it’s like he’s going 75 mph on the highway.”

So ingrained is the process, Mattingly actually delivered the previous quote after Alcantara’s previous start in Atlanta in which he struck out a career-best 14 in eight innings of work.

The timing of Alcantara’s start couldn’t have been better for the Marlins, who played two games in Denver against the Rockies on Thursday before returning home. The Giants, who got an early start in Philadelphia to conclude their series with the Phillies looked like the far more sluggish team as the hosts got RBI hits from Jacob Stallings (second inning), Jesus Aguilar and Miguel Rojas (both in the sixth) to create breathing room for Alcantara.

The Giants dropped their second straight after a pair of wins in Philadelphia. Their lineup was thin with Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria dealing with bumps and bruises along with Darin Ruf away on the bereavement list following the death of his father. The Giants are also missing Lamonte Wade Jr., Brandon Belt and Austin Slater, who took batting practice and could make his way into the lineup on Friday night.

The poorly-situationed Alex Wood didn’t pitch poorly for the Giants. Wood worked into the sixth inning, allowing two runs on four hits. Wood has dropped three, consecutive starts and his record is 3-5.

“Any time you face a guy like Sandy, he’s pretty good, so there’s no going to be a whole lot of room for error,” Wood said afterwards.

The announced pitchers for the second game of the series are the Giants’ Alex Cobb and Miami’s Elieser Hernandez.

Preview of Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s series: A’s lost seven of last eight; Sox have lost five of last ten

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The Oakland A’s Chad Pinder looks relieved scoring a run after a long scoreless and hitless drought against the Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander who lost his no hitter in the bottom of the seventh on Wed Jun 1, 2022 at Ring Central Coliseum in Oakland (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s (20-33) have three games left on the ten day homestand. They lost the series with the Texas Rangers (24-26) three games to one. The Houston Astros (33-18) swept their three games with Oakland this week. The A’s are off on Thursday.

The A’s open a three-game set with the Boston Red Sox (24-27) starting Friday night. The A’s have been scuffling for a while. The A’s started the season winning ten of the first eighteen games. Since that time, they are 10-25.

With the good early start, many pundits thought their predictions for Oakland may have been wrong. However, the A’s are not playing well right now, and the same pundits are saying, we told you so.

The A’s hope that attendance will improve this weekend with Boston in town. Good-sized crowds would show up at the Coliseum to see the Red Sox in past years. This year attendance has been down for the Green and Gold.

Fans are upset about the possibility that the A’s may move to Las Vegas. The A’s have stated that they have two sites in mind in Sin City where they can relocate. In the meantime, a key committee will hold a vote on June 30th. An affirmative approval would buoy hopes that the 12 billion dollar Howard Terminal project can proceed.

The Red Sox got off to a slow start in 2022. They did not sign Kyle Schwarber to a contract. Schwarber wanted to stay in Boston, but their front office did not commit to him, and he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Red Sox traded Hunter Renfroe to the Milwaukee Brewers and got back Jackie Bradley, Jr. Renfro put up good power numbers for Boston. Bradley has rarely hit for average, and fans in Boston are still shaking their heads over this trade.

The Red Sox still have several hitters in their lineup that can cause severe damage. Their big hitters are Rafael Devers, J.D.Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Trevor Story, Alex Verdugo, and catcher Christian Vasquez. Devers is hitting .341 with 11 homers and 26 RBIs.

J.D.Martinez comes in with a .360 batting average. Trevor Story was hot last week, and he now has nine dingers and 37 runs batted in. Other players contributing are first baseman Bobby Dalbec, centerfielder Kike Hernandez, and backup second baseman Christian Arroyo.

The Red Sox will send Nate Eovaldi to the hill Friday night. Eovaldi was a key ingredient when the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 World Series. Eovaldi is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.77. Oakland will have James Kaprielian handle the pitching for the A’s. Kaprielian is 0-2 with an ERA of 5.93.

On Saturday, Nick Pivetta will go for Boston. Pivetta is 4-4 with an ERA of 3.95. The A’s will counter with Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.25. Blackburn suffered his first loss of the season last Monday to the Houston Astros.

Sunday’s finale will feature lefty Rich Hill going for the Red Sox. Hill is 42-years old and was with the A’s in 2016. The A’s traded him to the Dodgers and received Frankie Montas. Montas will start for Oakland and is 2-5 with an ERA of 3.20. Montas has pitched well but has received little run support from his teammates.

The A’s and the Red Sox have been opponents since the creation of the American League way back in 1901. Both teams have won nine World Series crowns. Both teams have had down years. After the trade that sent Babe Ruth to the Yankees, the Red Sox were not very good.

Their fortunes changed when Tom Yawkey purchased them. The Red Sox went 86 years without winning a World Series. They have won four since 2004. The A’s last appeared in the World Series in 1990. They won their last World Series Championship in 1989.

The A’s have made the playoffs several times in the last 20 years. They advanced past the first round of the playoffs just once.

The A’s would like to get back on the winning track. The Red Sox would love to sweep the three-game series to reach the .500 mark. Let’s hope the fans show up. The series between these two teams have always been fun.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants end three game win streak; SF opens four game set in Miami tonight

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Philadelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber took San Francisco Giants pitcher Jarlin Garcia (pictured) deep in the bottom of the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Wed Jun 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The Philadelphia Phillies (22-29) ended a four game losing streak to the San Francisco Giants (27-22) and the Giants ended a three game win streak on Wednesday with a 5-4 win.

#2 The Phillies Kyle Schwarber and Nick Maton both hit home runs and the Phillies picked up four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie up the ball game at 5-5. Giants bullpen just couldn’t hold it together?

#3 The Phillies had scratched star hitter Bryce Harper before the game with right forearm soreness and Jean Segura was out with a fractured index finger on his right hand. Segura will be out for three months. As it turned out the Phillies were able to scratch a win even with Harper out of the line up.

#4 Michael, talk about the Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores’ three run home run big fly but still the Giants fall one run short. Talk about the Flores home run and how he’s been seeing the ball of late?

#5 The Giants head to Miami to face off with Miami Marlins starting pitcher for the Giants Alex Wood (3-4, 4.81) and going for the Marlins Sandy Alcantara (5-2, 2.00) a 6:40 pm PDT for tonight’s game, how do you see this series and talk about Wood’s most recent performances?

Join Michael for Giant podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s look to rebound after getting swept by Astros; Open three game series with Red Sox Friday

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The Oakland A’s Elvis Andrus strokes a two run bottom of the seventh double against Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 The Houston Astros (33-18) starter Justin Verlander had all his pitches working for him as he threw no hit ball against the Oakland A’s for six innings at the Oakland Coliseum talk about his mix of pitches and what kept him in command.

#2 Jerry the A’s did wake up in the bottom of the seventh with three runs scored and took a abbreviated two run lead 3-1 after Verlander left the game.

#3 Yordan Alvarez whose been a thorn in the A’s side during the series didn’t make the third game of the set an exception as Alvarez hit a three run double in the top of the ninth contributed to the Astros four run rally to come back and edge Oakland 5-4.

#4 Jerry, the Coliseum has not been nowhere near like they used to be in years past and the A’s have been having crowds well below 8,000 per game. The team has now slipped to 20-33 and are 14 games behind the Astros. That said they do lose but they are in most of their games.

#5 The A’s have Thursday off but return to host the Boston Red Sox on Friday night at the Coliseum. Starting pitchers for the Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi (2-2 ERA 3.77) going for the A’s James Kaprielan (0-2 ERA 5.93) first pitch 6:45 pm PDT.

Join Jerry for A’s podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sixth Inning of Separation: Giants rally, and get beat in the same inning of a 6-5 loss to the struggling Phillies

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By Morris Phillips

One inning on Wednesday said it all about the Giants’ current situation. They may be the best right now at wiping out deficits late, but it appears their bullpen’s developed a leak.

Nine runs were scored in the sixth inning of the Giants’ 6-5 loss to the Phillies, but four of those–on two, big home runs–belonged to the hosts, who halted a tough string of losses in the process. The Giants saw their rally to go from down 2-0 to up 5-2 wind up as a footnote, as the Phillies quickly put up four of their own to halt a five-game losing streak.

Jarlin Garcia–arguably the most effective setup man in baseball this season (through 17 appearances) finally had a hiccup, allowing his first earned runs and home runs of the season. Nick Maton and Kyle Schwarber both connected with men on base against Garcia with Schwarber’s giving Philadelphia the lead. The cozy dimensions of Citizens Bank Park were in play with Schwarber’s home run, which probably would have been a flyball out at a lot of parks including San Francisco’s. Garcia’s poor outing also took a possible win away from starter Carlos Rodon who pitched the game’s first five innings.

Manager Gabe Kapler tried to make sense of the situation in which two of the team’s best arm talents couldn’t get it done.

“The most important thing we can do is protect our starters,” Kapler said. “Carlos is a guy we have to treat with that level of respect. When he’s super efficient … of course we’re going to give him that opportunity. Today wasn’t that day, and it wasn’t close. … You could point to any number of spots in the game where there were a couple additional pitches. Certainly we weren’t perfect on defense, and that hurt his chances to pitch deeper into the game.”

The Giants rallied in both of the previous games in the series and made it stick with a pair of victories. Their sixth inning rally in this one brought out the boo birds–predictably–but those same fans had to change their tune when three relievers shut down the Giants in the game’s final three innings.

The Phillies had dropped five in a row, and got worse news before the game when versatile infielder Jean Segura was declared out for at least two months with a broken bone in his index finger, and Bryce Harper was ruled out for the game with a forearm issue.

The Giants–experiencing issues of their own in winning ballgames–looked to pounce by sweeping the series, but it all crumbled with Maton and Schwarber’s home runs. Maton just joined the club, after a call-up from Triple A Lehigh Valley.

Aaron Nola pitched the first six innings for the Phillies, allowing all five Giants’ runs on five hits while notching five strikeouts.

“These guys have been grinding,” Phillies’ manager Joe Girardi said. “A lot of guys have played every day in this 16-day run. We get an off day and we get an off day Monday. Hopefully that refreshes our guys. But I think we really needed (a win) bad.”

The Giants open a four-game set in Miami on Thursday against the Phillies.

Astros’ ninth-inning rally enables them to sweep three-game series; A’s can’t hold lead in 5-4 loss

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Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander who pitched six plus innings of no hit baseball throws against the Oakland A’s in the first inning at Ring Central Coliseum on Wed Jun 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Houston Astros (33-18) sent their ace, Justin Verlander, to the mound to face the Oakland A’s (20-33) on Wednesday afternoon at the Ring Central Coliseum. The Astros were hoping to sweep the three-game series from the A’s.

The A’s hoped that lefty Cole Irvin could stop the Astros and salvage a win. Both pitchers pitched well on Wednesday. In his five and 2/3 inning of work, Irvin held the hard-hitting Astros to one run and six hits. Verlander was better.

Verlander held the A’s hitless until one out in the seventh inning. The fans were starting to think Verlander would pitch his fourth career no-hitter. The A’s upset Verlander’s applecart when they scored three times to take a 3-1 lead after seven complete. It became a bullpen game.

The A’s relievers had to get the last six outs of the game. They held the fort in the eighth. Things went south in the ninth as the Astros scored four times to take a 5-3 lead. Oakland scored a run in the bottom of the ninth. The Astros won the game 5-4 and swept the three-game set from the A’s.

The Astros scored the game’s first run in the top of the third inning. With two out and Alex Bregman on first, singles by Yordan Alvarez and Aledmys Diaz gave Houston a 1-0 advantage.

Cole Irvin pitched well to keep his team within striking distance. Verlander was untouchable for six innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Verlander walked Chad Pinder. Verlander struck out Seth Brown for the second out.

A’s shortstop, Elvis Andrus, swinging a hot bat, doubled to drive in Pinder with the A’s first run. The next hitter, Christian Bethancourt, took Verlander deep.

The ball went over the centerfield wall to give the A’s a 3-1 lead. For Bethancourt, it was his first home run of the season, and it was his first home run since August 12th, 2016.

In the eighth, A’s relievers A.J.Puk, and Dany Jimenez had to work out of jams to keep the Astros from scoring. Jimenez ran out of luck in the top of the ninth. Astros’ centerfielder, former San Francisco Giant Mauricio Dubon, got the rally going with a single.

Yuli Guriel, pinch-hitting for Martin Maldonado, singled to put men on at first and second with no out. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch. Jimenez walked Jose Altuve to load the bases. Jimenez struck out Kyle Tucker for the first out.

Jimenez walked Alex Bregman. Dubon scored, and the Astros trailed the A’s 3-2. Brad Ausmus, filling in for Mark Kotsay, who was tossed for giving his opinion to the home plate umpire, brought in lefty Sam Sellman to face left-handed hitter Yordan Alvarez.

Alvarez found a pitch to his liking, and his double to right-center cleared the bases to give the Astros a 5-3 lead. Astros’ manager Dusty Baker brought in Ryan Pressley to close out the game. The A’s scored a run and gave Baker some anxiety, but Oakland failed to tie the game and fell to Houston 5-4.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s are 20-33. The Astros are 33-18. The A’s are 1-6 on the homestand and are now 2-10-1 over the last thirteen series.

The line score for the A’s was four runs, four hits, and no errors. The Astros’ line was five runs, eleven hits, and one error.

The Astros’ Bryan Abreu earned the win. Pressly recorded his eleventh save of the year. Dany Jimenez took the loss and is now 2-3. Cole Irvin did not figure in the decision. Irvin’s earned run average dropped to 2.96. That may have been the A’s only bright spot.

The A’s host the Boston Red Sox for three games starting at 6:40 pm Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum starting pitcher for the Red Sox Nathan Evoaldi (2-2, 3.77) and for the A’s James Kaprielian (0-2, 5.93)

The time of the game was 3:07. 5,189 fans watched the A’s lose.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Who is the legitimate home run king?

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Former Milwaukee Brewer the late Henry Aaron is still regarded as the home run king (left) stands next to Oakland A’s Spanish play by play announcer Amaury Pi Gonzalez (right) in this 1976 photo at the Oakland Coliseum (photo from Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

Who is the Legitimate Home-run King?

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

In the history of major league baseball, nobody ended a career with more Home runs than Barry Bonds (762) and nobody won more Most Valuable player awards than Barry Bonds, a total of seven. However, Barry Bonds can no longer be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the writers (BBWAA).

Players voted by the BBWAA are considered the very best and considered the most prestigious vote for Hall of Fame election. Bonds ended his 10-year run with 66 percent of the vote, short of the minimum 75 percent required. “Today’s Game Ballot” is a new committee for a way to vote a player into Cooperstown.

Under this system, Barry Bonds might have a shot this December, but the jury is still out. It comprises a group of ex-players in the Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members. It is very similar to the “Era Committee” once called the “Veterans Committee” which inducted players such as Orlando Cepeda, among others.

Barry Bonds will be considered with others that have fallen off the ballot, most recently, like Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGuire, the “usual suspects” during the steroids era.

In 2005, these (plus other players and baseball executives) had to appear in front of the House Committee on Government Reform in an 11-hour hearing in Washington, D.C. This House Committee was to pressure baseball to toughen its policy against steroids.

2002 was the last season for Barry Bonds, who played for 22 years in the major leagues and his failure to make it during the regular Baseball Writers of America ballot has created a feeling that he is a ‘persona non-Grata ‘ and tainted for life because of the accusations.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Bonds admitted receiving the “cream and clear” substances from his personal trainer during the 2003 baseball season, however, denied he knew they were steroids during his testimony on December 4, 2003, to a federal grand jury.

Henry (Hank) Aaron played for 23 years in the major leagues and ended with a total 755 home runs, second behind Barry Bonds, holds many of baseball records, and was elected to The Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 1982 by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Aaron received 97.8 % of the vote. Aaron holds MLB records for the most career runs batted in (RBIs) 2,297, extra base hits 1,477 and total bases with 6,856 and is one of only four players to have at least 17 seasons with 150 runs batted in. Also in the top five of other hitting departments.

On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715 career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers, arguably one of the top moments in Major League Baseball.

During his last season in the majors (1976) I interviewed Hank Aaron as he came to Oakland with the Milwaukee Brewers, he was a gentleman and one of the greatest players ever, very humble and very measured when he spoke. Truly an American icon.

Hank Aaron had an unblemished and distinguished career, born in the south had to face racism since he was a boy in Mobile, Alabama all the way to the big leagues, and to this day many across the country still consider Hank Aaron the legitimate Home run King.

This year at the July 24 Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown the BBWAA electee David Ortíz will join Golden Era Committee electees Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Orestes (Minnie) Miñoso and Tony Oliva. Plus early Baseball Era Committee electees Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neill.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA Finals/Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: How stingy will Celtic defense be against the Warriors?

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Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has led one of the best defenses in the NBA can the Warriors break through their defense? Udoka is seen here coaching in game 7 against the Miami Heat on Sun May 29, 2022 at FTX Arena in Miami (AP News photo)

On the Warriors podcast with David Zizmor:

#1 Dave, just how stingy are the Celtics defense of all the NBA teams have been the toughest. Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has a seven to eight man rotation going in post season and on those defenses the Celtics are above average.

#2 The Warriors usual suspects Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the many of the other Warriors have given teams that were expected to do some damage to the Warriors offense but were beaten. Can you see the Celtics defense having any effect on the Warriors offense in this series in spite of the big three.

#3 Dave talk about any concerns regarding Andre Iguodala (neck), Gary Payton II (elbow) or Otto Porter Jr (foot). Iguodala returned to practice this week joining Payton and Porter how do you see this nucleus and are they ready to come in to take on the Celtics?

Join David Zizmor throughout the Warriors post season on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants pull out 7-4 11-inning win over Phils

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The San Francisco Giants Joc Pederson runs the bases after hitting an 11th inning two run homer against third baseman Alex Bohm (left) and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Tue May 31, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

In a game that lasted four hours and 52 minutes, San Francisco used an 11th inning rally to beat Philadelphia 7-4 at Citizens Bank Park.

Donovan Walton’s run-scoring double broke a 4-4 tie, and Joc Pederson iced it with a two-run homer, driving in Walton. Walton drove in Joey Bart, who was placed at second.

Jose Alvarez (2-1), the eighth pitcher to enter the game for the Giants, struck out two and walked two over the last 1 1/3 innings to get the win.

Andrew Bellatti (1-2) surrendered all three San Francisco runs in the top of the 11th. In the Phillies’ 11th, after Odubel Herrera was placed on second base, Johan Camargo fouled out to first, Kyle Schwarber walked, Bryson Stott struck out, and Bryce Harper was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Alvarez struck out Roman Quinn swinging to end the game.

San Francisco had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th when Wilmer Flores scored on a fielding error. The Phillies extended the game in the bottom of the 10th on a two-out RBI single by Alec Bohm.

The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run double to right by Luis Gonzalez, and Mike Yastrzemski’s sacrifice fly to center. Philadelphia came up with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 3-3. J.T. Realmuto had an run-scoring single, and Rhys Hoskins (who singled) scored when Herrera grounded into a double play.

Gonzalez was 4-for-5, leading the Giants’ 12-hit attack. San Francisco starter Jakob Junis went 4 1/3 innings, giving up an earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out three. Jarlin Garcia, John Brebbia, Jake McGee, Tyler Rogers, Dominic Leone and Camilo Duval also saw action out of the Giants’ bullpen.

Phillies starter Ranger Suarez lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out five.

Carlos Rodon (4-4, 3.60) starts for the Giants on Wednesday, facing the Phillies’ Aaron Nola (2-4, 3.56); first pitch is at 2:05 PDT.