Author: bentleonard18

Ben Leonard is the head writer and Director of Business Development for Bay Area Sports Talk Association. He is also an author for Rule of Tree (SBNation), Sports Radio Service and OutsidePitchMLB, an official affiliate of the MLB. He has a passion for baseball and college football.

Another Day, Another Win: Warriors Move to 20-0

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By: Ben Leonard

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Home, sweet home.

Back in Charlotte, where he grew up watching his father Dell Curry play for the Hornets, Stephen Curry felt right at home, scoring 40 points, including 28 in the third quarter to help the undefeated Warriors beat the Charlottle Hornets 116-99. Curry played college ball at Davidson College, just 20 minutes or so from Charlotte.

Golden State’s winning streak is now at 20 games, the longest to start a season in the modern era of the four major American professional sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL). The last team to do so was the 1884 St. Louis Maroons (MLB) — there’s no question we’re watching history unfold right in front of our eyes.

After Charlotte was down just nine points at half time, Curry took it into another gear in the third. In the last 7:26 of the third quarter, he dropped 24 points on 8 of 9 shooting from the field, while knocking down all five of his three point attempts, finishing the quarter with 28 points. His fifth quarter of the season with more than 20 points helped the Warriors take a commanding 93-21 lead heading into the fourth.

And then he sat on the bench for the entire fourth quarter — he deserved the rest. In just 31 minutes, Curry drained 14 of his 18 shots, and 8 of 11 three pointers.

Klay Thompson, who is having a bit of a down year by his (lofty) standards, was the only other Warrior in double figures with 21 points, including 18 in the first half.

Charlotte had four in double figures in a losing effort, including Frank Kaminsky with 16 off the bench. Niolas Batum scored 17, but Charlotte’s other four starters combined to drop just 16. Charlotte made just 9 of 31 treys (29%) as compared to Golden State’s 47.1%, ultimately the difference in the game.

Who gets the honor (or burden) of playing Golden State next? North of border, the Toronto Raptors (11-7) will try to end the streak on Saturday. Good luck.

 

 

 

Hogan’s Veteran Performance Carries Cardinal Past Irish

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By: Ben Leonard

STANFORD, Calif. —

What a way to go out. Legendary, in fact.

Fittingly, in his last game at Stanford Stadium, senior quarterback Kevin Hogan heroically lead his ninth-ranked Stanford Cardinal with 269 passing yards and four touchdowns to a roller-coaster-ride 38-36 victory over the sixth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

With the instant classic of a victory, the Cardinal kept its distant College Football Playoff hopes alive. All head coach David Shaw had to say about it: “heck of a college football game.”

Hogan, the nation’s active leader in wins (34) engineered a brilliant drive with 30 seconds left to play to set up a last-second field goal for Conrad Ukropina, who nailed it from 45 yards out. The fifth-year senior connected with Devon Cajuste for a twenty-seven-yard pass on his last play on The Farm, putting Ukropina in position to send Stanford fans storming the field in a frenzy.

Hogan on his last night in Palo Alto at the helm of Stanford’s offense:

It was very emotional. I’m just trying to take it all in and enjoy it. I knew it was going to be that way, so I just tried to go out there and enjoy my time with the boys out there. I couldn’t have pictured it going down any better.

But it had seemed like Hogan was going to have to go out on a downer. Stanford was clinging to a 35-29 lead late in the fourth quarter, but quarterback DeShone Kizer and Notre Dame had the ball with just over six minutes left.

The Irish put together a brilliant drive of their own, silencing the sellout crowd at Stanford Stadium with a brilliant 15-play, 88-yard touchdown drive, capped by a Kizer rushing touchdown. The dual-threat quarterback flummoxed Stanford’s depleted secondary, without its two starting cornerbacks, rushing for 128 yards and passing for 234.

It had been a back-and-forth game all night long. As Hogan put it, “it was one of those games that just seemed like whoever had the ball last was going to win it.”

Stanford’s defense had struggled to contain the Irish offense all game long in space, but kept the game close by stopping them from getting in the end zone. Notre Dame pulled its best Oregon impression,  The bend-not-break defense tightened up where it mattered most — in the Notre Dame’s first four trips inside the 25-yard line, Stanford held them to three field goals and a fumble, keeping the game close.

The Irish held the edge in yards per play (8.8 vs 6.6, even with a huge downturn for the Irish in the second half) with an explosive offense, but couldn’t convert when it mattered the most. They had big plays aplenty, including a C.J. Sanders 93 yard kickoff return touchdown on the Irish’s first possession, and a 73-yard touchdown strike from Kizer to Will Fuller. Fuller ended up with six catches for 136 yards and the once score, tearing up Stanford’s paper-thin secondary.

It never felt like Stanford was in control of the game — the Irish sold out to bottle up Christian McCaffrey, holding him to just 94 rushing yards on 27 carries. With his 228 all-purpose yards, McCaffrey did end up becoming the third player in college football history to eclipse 3,000, but with this relative dip in production, Stanford’s offense had to revolve around Hogan.

Usually, that’s not a recipe for success, but it ended up working out on Saturday. Senior wide receiver Devon Cajuste was a big part of Hogan’s success, coming up with several big catches, including the one that set up the game-winning field goal.

Cajuste, also in his last game on The Farm, had been less productive than usual this season, hampered by an injury that has sapped his speed. Before his breakout performance, catching five balls for 125 yards and a touchdown, his head coach David Shaw said Cajuste had told him that he finally “felt fast again” and “felt like [himself] again.”

Notes:

Notre Dame is practically eliminated from playoff contention with the loss, while Stanford’s hopes look distant. The win over a top-six team will certainly give the committee something to think about, but the losses to Northwestern and Oregon still hurt their cause…Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly: “we were two plays away from being undefeated and the best team in the country”….When asked about how McCaffrey’s off game will affect his Heisman hopes, Shaw ‘had no idea’ since he’s “not on any award committee.” What he did know: “No one can tell me that there’s a more dynamic player in college football right now.”

 

Game Notes: Playoff Hopes On Line For Stanford, Notre Dame

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By: Ben Leonard

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STANFORD, Calif. —

Win and you’re in — with some help.

The situation is the same for both the Stanford Cardinal (9-2) and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1), who will duke it out for a right to *maybe* make the second-ever College Football Playoff at Stanford Stadium at 4:30 PST on FOX.

With two losses, Stanford needs to win out to have a chance, with help from some chaos in the Big-12. Their job got a lot easier with TCU’s victory over Baylor on Friday, and an Oklahoma State victory over Oklahoma at 5:00 PST on ESPN would give their playoff hopes a huge boost.

If Notre Dame beats the Cardinal, they have a decent chance at sliding in the last playoff spot — but it’s not guaranteed.

2015 marks the fifth straight season both the Irish and the Cardinal have been ranked when they faced off, the second-best such streak in the nation. The home team has won six out of the last seven matchup in this emerging rivalry series, and Notre Dame hasn’t won at Stanford Stadium since 2007.

The Cardinal are lead by Heisman candidate Christian McCaffrey, who has set all kinds of records this season, including the all-time Stanford high-water mark for all-purpose yards in a game Saturday, with 389 in a win against Cal.  With three games left, he is just 443 yards short of breaking Barry Sanders’ once thought untouchable single season NCAA record of 3,250 all-purpose yards.

The Irish are lead by quarterback DeShone Kizer, who was the third-stringer back in January behind Everett Gholson and Malik Zaire. Gholson is now at Florida State, and Zaire is out for the season with a broken ankle. Kizer isn’t your average third-stringer — he’s thrown for 2,362 yards and 18 touchdowns, and posted a quarterback rating of 152.5 in ten games replacing the injured Zaire.

What gets lost in all of the playoff hype is that Saturday marks Senior Night on The Farm. It will be the final game for quarterback Kevin Hogan, whose 33 career wins are the best in the nation, linebackers Blake Martinez and Kevin Anderson, guard Joshua Garnett, wide receiver Devon Cajuste, and running back Remound Wright, among many others.

It will be an emotional night for many reasons in Palo Alto. Buckle up — it’s going to be a fun ride.

 

 

 

Stanford Pulls Past Green Bay to Open Season

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By: Ben Leonard

Coming into the season, Stanford knew it was going to have some growing pains, having to replace stars like Chasson Randle and Anthony Brown with young talent.

It took a lot of aches and pains (even more than expected), but fueled by 23 points from point guard Christian Sanders, the Stanford Cardinal (1-0) finally pulled away from the Horizon League’s Green Bay Phoenix (0-1) to open their season in a 93-89 overtime win, part of the NIT Season Tipoff. Fittingly, the Cardinal ended last season with an NIT Championship  — it picked up right where they left off.

The Cardinal was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 media poll a year after tying for fifth last season, and have gotten their fair share of bad injury luck — they lost point guard Robert Cartwright for the season (broken arm), and had to play without Marcus Allen (wrist), and Grant Verhoeven (foot).

They certainly looked like a team short on players and experience in the early going. Even though they took a quick 17-13 lead, Green Bay turned it on, going on a 25-11 run in the last eleven minutes of the first half to take a 38-28 halftime lead, leading by as many as 14 points.

Head coach Johnny Dawkins tried to help his young team out as best as he could, calling timeouts to try to stop the Phoenix’s momentum, but it was to no avail. Green Bay’s full-court press simply forced Stanford to turn the ball over too much (11 TO), giving Green Bay too many easy opportunities to score (16 points off TO).

A self-described tweener, point guard/off guard Christian Sanders broke down how the press affected them: “Early on it was effective. Instead of attacking the basket to score, we seemed hesitant. When they came to trap, they left space (unlike most teams). We had to overcome that awkwardness — it’s just a growing-up kind of thing.”

Stanford had a lot of growing up to do, and fast. Sanders mentioned that the team was still “searching for [them]selves and learning about each other” in the first half. It was painfully obvious: the Cardinal also struggled mightily at the line in the first half, making just 6 of 11 from the charity stripe, and failed to make a three-point attempt on seven tries. Guards Carrington Love (10 points) and 6’7″ Turner Botz (8 pts) led the way for Green Bay, making Stanford’s defense look bad.

After all those turnovers in the first half,  Dawkins preached to his team to “value the ball.” Okay, they only kind of listened (10 TO the rest of the way), but it sure lit a fire under them. They slowly but surely started to pull back, cutting the Phoenix’s lead to six points with 11:20 left to play.

Stanford made some clear adjustments, becoming “more aggressive” according to forward Rosco Allen, who picked up his first career double-double, one of six Cardinal in double figures. They limited Green Bay to shoot just 34.4% from the field, while they found their shooting touch, making five of nine three-pointers and shooting 59.3% fro the field.

After getting the crowd back in it with their rally, the Cardinal finally pulled ahead 69-68 with just under three minutes to play on guard Dorian Pickens’ lay-up, their first lead since the early stages of the first half. Pickens combined with Sanders (filling in for Cartwright) to score 20 points in the second half, fueling the Cardinal’s resurgence.

Dawkins expressed total confidence in Sanders as his point guard: “It’s his time…. he needs to make the most of it for the team. He told me he was ready with such confidence.”

It looked like Pickens’ and Sanders’ efforts had the game on ice, up two points with two Sanders’ free-throws with just ten seconds left. But Pickens clanked his first free-throw off the iron before making the second, allowing for Green Bay’s Charles Cooper to hit an “and-one” layup to send the game into overtime.

Sanders carried the team in overtime, scoring eight points while making four clutch free-throws to help the Cardinal walk away victorious. Not bad for a guy who had only started in nine games coming into the season. Rosco Allen’s three gave Stanford a five-point lead with 28 seconds left, enough to ground the Phoenix.

Overall, Dawkins was pleased with his team’s effort against a program with a “really good tradition.” Before you doubt his honesty, Green did make their conference championship game and finish 24-9 last year.

It was a “big test” for his team, one that “still has a lot to learn…from the good and bad.” Stanford is still searching for an “identity” after losing so many players.

One thing’s for certain: Stanford won’t be able to get away with committing 21 turnovers in the coming games. After a matchup against Charleston Southern, Stanford will go on to play a great team in SMU, Saint Mary’s, and eleventh-ranked Villanova. Not too shabby of a non-conference schedule. SEC football teams, take notes.

Notes: 

Malcom Allen made a surprise return to action on Friday, after we had been told he would miss some games…Allen has been practicing for a little over a week and was ‘completely ready’ to return to action…There still is no exact date for Marcus Allen’s return, but as for Verhoeven, their returns are “getting closer”….Stanford announced plans to play Harvard in 2016 in China….Dawkins: “It’s great for our team and for our conference”…..

 

 

 

Condors Soar Past Barracuda

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By: Ben Leonard

SAN JOSE, Calif. —

Donning their new orange and black jerseys, the San Jose Barracuda (3-5-0-1) resembled the Philadelphia Flyers, but the Bakersfield Condors (4-5-0-1) were the only ones flying at the SAP Center, soaring to a 6-2 victory. Five different Condors scored while the Barracuda squandered an early lead, and then some in a crazy first period, handing the Barracuda their fifth loss in their last six games.

Before most of the announced crowd of 3,009 settled into their seats at the SAP Center, the Barracuda found themselves up 1-0, thanks to Jeremy Langlois’ second goal of the young season. For your viewing pleasure:

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However, his goal didn’t come without some suspense — it took a replay review to confirm his goal. The Barracuda were dominating the possession battle in the early going, holding the puck on the Condors’ side of the ice for most of the first five minutes. Bakersfield wasn’t able to muster their first shot until seven minutes into the contest. Head coach Frank Somner: “That’s the start we were looking for.”

However, the tide turned quickly towards the Condors after they took their first shot, even when it seemed like the tide had swamped them. They were shorthanded after forward Mitch Moroz was called for boarding ‘Cuda defender Julius Bergman at 14:24, but that didn’t phase Bakersfield, who quickly tied the game up at 1-1 after a miscue by ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell. Instead of freezing the puck, Dell tried to put the puck behind the net for his defense, but Bakersfield left-winger Ryan Hamilton came back around and put it through the wickets to light up the lamp for his fourth goal of the season.

Bakersfield would quickly add another goal to take a 2-1 lead after another turnover behind the Barracuda’s net. This time Jujhar Khaira slammed one home. Then just to add to the craziness of the first period, Barracuda captain Bryan Lerg crashed to top-shelf a rebounded shot for his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at two apiece, a lead that only held for two minutes. Bakersfield winger Matthew Ford killed the Barracuda’s momentum with *another* battle behind Dell’s net that ended up lighting the lamp, giving the Condors a 3-2 lead heading into the second period (when the Condors really started to take flight), enough to knock Dell out from behind the net.

His replacement, Troy Grosenick, didn’t get any better results the rest of the way than Dell did in the first. It’s not like his team was doing him any favors, making it easy for Bakersfield with an onslaught of penalties, giving them three separate power plays in the period. He did his best to limit the damage, saving 13 of Bakersfield’s 15 shots in the second, but he let two sneak past him. Both were scored from the left face-off circle by two players who hadn’t scored all season, first defender David Musil five minutes in, and then three minutes later, Kyle Platzer gave the Condors a comfortable 5-2 lead heading into the final period.

Sommer on his team’s lackadaisical performance:

“We just weren’t clicking on all eight cylinders….I was excited to see how they were going to come out…but I don’t think we were ready to play”

The Barracuda tried to mount a rally in the third, but couldn’t get anything going. With a 5-2 lead, the Condors could afford to play a little more conservatively, and locked down the ‘Cuda, with Khaira adding a late insurance goal, beating Grosenick for his second of the game.

The ‘Cuda outshot the Condors throughout the game (42-32), especially in the early going (21-14 with 14:45 left in second), but just couldn’t find the back of the net. Sommer said he wasn’t going to let the goaltenders “off the hook” for their performance today.  Captain Bryan Lerg maintained that change had to come from “the players,” not just their head coach.

Notes: 

SAP Center hasn’t been too kind to the ‘Cuda, who have only picked up one win in six games at home. So much for home ice advantage…Michael Haley is now on recall with the San Jose Sharks….Bryan Lerg, Nikolay Goldobin, and Mark Cundari were loaned to the ‘Cuda after the Sharks’ game on Saturday…

 

Barracuda Drop Franchise Opener to IceHogs

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By: Ben Leonard

SAN JOSE, Calif. —

Fans wearing t-shirts saying “I was there” in bold print were lining up outside the SAP Center again, but not for the Sharks. Why, might you ask?

The new kids on the block, the San Jose Barracuda, gave their fans a chance to witness history on Friday night, writing the first page of their franchise history book while falling 4-2 to the Rockford IceHogs. Tanner Kero and Jeremy Morin each had three points for Rockford in the victory.

Formerly the Worcester Sharks of the AHL and the Sharks’ highest minor league affiliate, the Barracuda moved to San Jose after last season as part of a flurry of AHL relocations.

Watch these games closely, Sharks fans — you’re witnessing the future. Last season the Sharks had 27 players on their roster who played for Worcester in the American Hockey League, including Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, and Tomas Hertl.

But in the early going, they didn’t look much like the squad that went 41-29-4-2 and finished seventh in the Eastern Conference. Penalties, miscues, and sloppy play put the Barracuda in a hole while most fans were still finding their seats. Tanner Kero scored the first goal of the Icehogs’ season after just 61 seconds, beating Barracuda goalie Troy Groesnick on his glove side.

Penalties plagued San Jose, getting called for three penalties in the first eleven minutes, including a high-stick, hooking, and a cross-check. However with plenty of practice, the Barracuda did a good job on the penalty kill, neutralizing Rockford’s advantage all three times — but not stopping them when they had full strength. Kero assisted Dennis Rasmussen in beating Groesnick again, this time going shortside, giving Rockford a 2-0 advantage after just 14:43 in the first period.

Left winger Micheal Haley on what went wrong in the first period:

It was the first time we had seen some of these teams. We have a lot to work on, but we’re going to get better from here. In this league, there’s always some young guys who just became pros with some nerves.”

But San Jose didn’t give up, wanting to give their fans something to cheer about in their first-ever game, storming back to tie up the game with two power play goals just twelves minutes later. Haley was the first to light up the lamp for the Barracuda, going up the five hole of Rockford goalie Michael Leighton, assisted by right winger Nikita Jevpalovs and center Scott Timmins just 12.1 seconds before the end of the first period. After he had a good chance on a penalty kill that he missed, Haley thought it felt really “good to bounce back” with the goal.

Fittingly, emotional leader, 2014-15 team MVP, and captain Bryan Lerg tied up the game with a goal of his own just six minutes later, assisted by Mirco Mueller and Haley, who picked up his second point of the night with the assist. Lerg took the media through the goal, quick to laud his teammates: “I got a good pass, and their guy was in the shooting lane so I kind of shot off the side a little bit. Haley set a good screen up front, so that’s the most important thing. If he doesn’t do that, it doesn’t go in.”

Lerg, who led Worcester with 41 points in 68 games last season, had the fans chanting “BARRACUDA, BARRACUDA” for the first time. Haley lauded the “great” crowd, noting how “they got behind us and lifted us up during the game.”

But the energy didn’t last long. Their comeback was eventually to no avail, as the IceHogs looked comfortable on the shoddy ice, taking a 4-2 lead after 8:47 in the third. Kero just added to his stellar night with a second goal, right in front of Groesnick with 15 minutes left in the third period, and Morin became the second IceHog with three points on the night with another wide open goal, effectively sealing the Barracuda’s fate.

Overall, the Barracuda was very good on the power play, converting on two of their four attempts and killing all five of the IceHogs’ power plays, but as Lerg said, “five-on-five, [they’ve] got some shaping up to do.” They struggled to get quality shots off at times, getting out-shot 41-32.

Coach Tom Sommer also chalked up the loss to the hype surrounding the home opener: I don’t see anyone really winning home openers.I think there’s a lot of anxiety….it’s almost better to start off on the road.”

Another reason the Barracuda didn’t look anything close to cohesive on Friday night: they haven’t played together much before. With the rookie games and exhibition games, Sommer noted that the other players were still up.

Notes: The ice was noticeably wet after Chuck-a-Puck took too long in between the second and third periods, not leaving sufficient time for it to dry….With the loss, the 17-year veteran Barracuda coach Sommer remained 19 wins shy of tying all-time AHL coaching wins leader Fred “Bun” Cook, sitting at 617…

 

 

Duffy Powers Giants to Fourth Straight Victory

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By: Ben Leonard

SAN FRANCISCO —

Matt Duffy had two doubles, Tim Hudson gritted through pain, and Brandon Belt drove in a pair of runs and saved a few with his glove to give the Giants a 5-3 win over the Reds, their fourth straight victory.

The Giants got to Cincinnati starter Keyvius Sampson early, knocking him for two runs before most fans were even in their seats. After Angel Pagan singled to lead off the bottom of the first and Alejandro De Aza reached on an error, Duffy added his first double, roping a liner down the right field line. De Aza only scored because Jay Bruce had trouble holding onto the ball once he fielded it, giving the Giants a free run.

They added on two more in the third inning, Sampson’s last in an outing cut short by the Giants’ offensive success. Ehire Adrianza walked after launching a towering splash hit that went just foul on the previous pitch, and later moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt and a fly-out. Duffy followed with his second double of the game, a line shot down the left-field line. With 26, Duffy now has the second-most doubles for a Giants’ rookie since 1986, when Will Clark and Robby Thompson both had 27.

The big thumpers behind Duffy, Brandon Belt and Marlon Byrd, followed with a booming triple and a just as booming double, respectively. After three extra-base hits in the third, the Giants found themselves holding a comfortable 4-0 lead heading into the fifth, when it almost unraveled.

Bruce Bochy lauded Duffy after the game, praising his grit and determination:

“This kid has had a terrific year. He hasn’t had a day off in ninety-something games, and he just goes out there and looks the same every day. You’d think he’d show some wear and tear at this point. Even when he had a bad ankle there for a few days, he played through it — he’s a tremendous kid. I know there’s been a couple other guys with big rookie years, but he’s right there in the mix. He’s a pleasure to manage.”

 

With Duffy giving the Giants such a big cushion, Tim Hudson had been cruising, giving up hits only to one player, Ramon Cabrera (Who went 4 for 4, and is 6 of his last 9), until there was one out in the fifth. Hudson explained that his hip had been ‘barking at him’ since the second inning, and he seemed to lose his stamina as the game went along. But he insisted that the injury wouldn’t affect his next start, and was just “one of things that [he] has to deal with from time to time. It’s something we’ll just treat and take care of.”

Regardless of why, Reds’ hitters starting getting to Hudson better the second time through the lineup, loading the bases with one out after a single, double, and walk. So with two ‘big lefties’ in Jay Bruce and Joey Votto coming up next and lefty specialist Javier Lopez warm in the pen, the decision to yank Hudson after just 70 pitches wasn’t about his hip, but rather, “the matchup,” in Hudson’s eyes at least.

Lopez did his job at first, inducing Bruce to ground out, with Belt making a great play ranging to his left on a soft grounder to nail the runner at the dish. Even though Bochy thought it was a ‘terrific play,’ Belt surprised “all of [them] in the dugout” with his decision to throw home.

One person wasn’t surprised at all: Buster Posey. He had told Belt to go home on a slow roller instead of turning two during the mound visit that replaced Hudson, and go home he did. It probably ended up saving the Giants a run, which could have changed the outcome of the game.

Lopez ended up walking Votto on four pitches with the bases loaded to give the Reds their first run, but George Kontos slammed the door by getting Brandon Phillips to ground out to end the inning.

After that, the Reds only added four more hits, including Jay Bruce’s two-run homer to make it interesting, cutting the Giants’ lead to 4-3. Belt added an insurance run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly, extending the Giants’ lead to 5-3, a figure that would hold, despite a shaky ninth from Santiago Casilla. The right-handed closer gave up two hits to start the frame, and had to throw 27 pitches, but eventually the Reds folded.

Notes: 

Even though the Giants won, they remain 7.5 games back of Los Angeles after their win over Colorado on Monday….The Giants moved to 4-1 against the Reds on the season….Reds’ center fielder Billy Hamilton had to leave the game with a sore right shoulder….The Giants have won 20 of their last 25 home games….Chris Heston (11-10, 3.55) will take the hill tomorrow in the series finale, facing left-hander John Lamb (1-3, 5.18)….

 

 

Giants vs. Reds: Lineups, News, and Notes

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By: Ben Leonard

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Monday night, the San Francisco Giants (75-68) will take on the Cincinnati Reds (60-82) to open up a quick two-game series between the two clubs at AT&T Park.

7.5 games back and desperate for wins, the Giants can’t lose very many games if they want to catch up to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West — but they’re sending a guy to the hill who has gotten a lot of them over his storied 20-year career: Tim Hudson.

In what very well could be his last career start, the 40-year old Hudson (7-8, 4.51) looks to help the Giants, coming off a sweep of the Padres, continue their recent winning ways. In his last start, the veteran right-hander went six strong innings, giving up just one run and  hitting a home run himself. 

Over Hudson’s last four appearances (2 GS), he has posted a 2.70 ERA — and has enjoyed recent success against Cincinnati. Over his last four starts against the Reds, Hudson has dealt to the tune of a 2.48 ERA. 

The Reds counter with right-hander Keyvius Sampson (2-4, 6.94), who is making just his tenth Major League appearance for a rebuilding squad. A 2009 fourth-round pick by the San Diego Padres, Sampson has never faced the Giants. 

The Giants’ pitching staff will have to face MVP candidate Joey Votto, who has been red-hot (Pun intended) since the All-Star Break. Currently, his .561 OBP since the break has been the eighth highest in Major League history, behind five Barry Bonds and two Ted Williams seasons. Pretty nice company.

The Giants’ offense has also been red-hot as of late, outscoring the Padres 27-4 over the weekend, fueled by a lineup that hit .340, including .400 with RISP.

They’ve been doing it even without five key regulars, including Joe Panik, who received an MRI on his back and is unlikely to play again this season. The same might be true for Hunter Pence, who took dry swings today but might be shut down given the Giants’ place in the standings. There was better news regarding Brandon Crawford, who is nearing a return after fielding grounders and hitting in the cage.

LINEUPS:

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Stanford Overcomes Sluggish Start to Beat UCF

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By: Ben Leonard

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It wasn’t pretty in the early going, but ultimately the Stanford Cardinal found a way to win, riding a lockdown defensive performance and career days for Kevin Hogan and Bryce Love to a 31-7 win over the UCF Knights.

After nearly six whole quarters of play this season, Stanford had scored just six points — and no touchdowns. The offensive woes from last week’s 16-6 loss to Northwestern carried over in the first half, even though Stanford gained 201 yards in the period. Penalties, dropped passes, and poor execution plagued the Cardinal for the first 25 minutes, stalling many a promising drive. Big holes were open for Christian McCaffrey, but six penalties for 66 yards in the first quarter kept a bagel on the scoreboard for Stanford.

The most frustrating thing for the Cardinal was that they were getting a standout performance from their defense, albeit with UCF’s third-string quarterback Bo Schneider at the helm. Starting quarterback Justin Holman had to leave the game after just one series with a broken finger.

The Cardinal nearly forced three straight three-and-outs to start the game, and would have had three, had Aziz Shittu had not been flagged for a targeting call on third and seven. As a result, Shittu was ejected from the game, but won’t be suspended for next weekend’s marquee matchup against USC because the penalty occurred in the first half. Shittu’s injury left a major void on the defensive line, leaving just one reserve defensive lineman with real game experience.

But in the end, the void didn’t really matter all that much, as the defense shutout the Knights until the very end, holding them to just a measly 30 yards rushing on 29 carries. The momentum shifted late in the second with the score still knotted at zero, when Dallas Lloyd forced a fumble that Brennan Scarlett recovered. Stanford recovered and immediately scored on a 53-yard flea-flicker, with Hogan connecting with receiver Michael Rector for the score.  The cornerbacks were up playing aggressively, something that Shaw noted and exploited. After that, the game never felt in jeopardy.

For as dominant the defense was against UCF’s run game, they weren’t any worse against the pass, holding the third-stringer Schneider, who played the overwhelming majority of the snaps, to just 46 yards passing, allowing him to complete just seven of his nineteen passes. The listed backup Tyler Harris finally picked it up for UCF, throwing for 105 yards, albeit when the Cardinal had a plethora of backups in when game was well out of hand.

As head coach David Shaw put it, the defense “played well throughout the entire game…Our guys played really hard…What I loved about them was that even though the offense sputtered early on, there was no division on our sidelines…100% support of the offensive guys by the defense…Once we got in a rhythm, it was fun to watch.”

But it took awhile to bust out of that slump, scaring many Stanford fans. Trigger-happy officials may have been partially to blame, as although Shaw didn’t take questions about the officiating, he acknowledged that he was ‘frustrated’ by some calls, which lead the meager crowd at Stanford Stadium to shower the Pac-12 refs with boos.

Another subject Shaw didn’t want the media to ask him about: his conservative punting philosophy. With the score tied in the first, he elected to punt from the 33-yard line. Last week, he decided to punt from the 37. He gave the media a glimpse into his thinking:

“When the score is tied, and you’re looking at a 51-yard field goal, you punt it. When you’re up, you take a shot. I wanted eveyone to know that there’s thinking behind this… it’s smart football. This is a field position game, and this will not change.”

But all in all, Shaw thought it was a “great bounceback win” for the team. Hogan keyed the W, throwing for a career-high 341 yards and three touchdowns. Love, the true freshman running back, made Hogan’s job a lot easier, showing off his shifty running on two big plays, one for 42 yards and one a 93-yard touchdown pass on a screen play, taking it to the house untouched. Love was quick to credit his teammates for the play, citing the “really good blocking, play design, and [throw].” The freshman was obviously just being modest — his blazing speed keyed the play, too.

Shaw spoke on Love’s role going forward:

“You know how we do things around here. We brought Kevin [Hogan] along slowly and spoon fed him — we did the same thing with Ty Montgomery and Andrus Peat as a true freshman. That’s how we feel about Bryce: Even though he’s not ready for the entire gameplan, we’re going to pick spots for him, both as a decoy and a primary guy to get the ball.”

Looking ahead at the elephant in the room, Stanford will travel to Los Angeles on Saturday to play USC at the L.A. Coliseum. Shaw was excited that he’ll “have Aziz [Shittu] back, and have a better rotation to keep guys fresh.” Shaw’s Cardinal will need to do a lot of things better against the eighth-ranked Trojans — they can’t afford another sluggish start.

 

 

 

 

 

Stanford vs. UCF: Pregame Notes and Stats to Know

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By: Ben Leonard

After a disappointing opening loss to Northwestern, the Stanford Cardinal (0-1) look to rebound against the UCF Knights (0-1) to open their home slate.

Stanford’s offense was held in check last week against Northwestern, struggling especially with running the ball (85 yards, 3.1 YPC), a hallmark of their brand of football. However, they shouldn’t have trouble running the ball, on paper at least: UCF’s defense struggled to stop the run in their season opener against lowly FIU, yielding 132 yards (4.2 YPC).

The Cardinal will need fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan to step up in his first home game of the season if they want to get back on track.Hogan ranks in the top 10 among active NCAA quarterbacks in efficiency, touchdowns, and yards. Historically, he’s been a much better signal-caller at the friendly confines of Stanford Stadium, posting a 163.97 quarterback rating at home as compared to 130.13 on the road.

Unlike Hogan, UCF quarterback Justin Holman didn’t struggle last week, throwing for 249 yards on 23 of 34 passing, with a depleted receiving corps that didn’t do him any favors. Before Saturday, no one on the roster had caught a touchdown pass. Look for Holman to throw to 6’3″, 237-pound wideout Tre’Quan Smith, who hauled in nine catches for 104 yards and a touchdown in UCF’s opener.

Both squads are unranked — an unfamiliar position for the Cardinal, who dropped out of the Top 25 after last week’s lost. Under current head coach David Shaw, the Cardinal are 27-4 against unranked teams, and 10-1 following a loss.

Saturday marks the Knights’ first game at Stanford — and in California — in program history. It’s only the Knights’ second contest against a Pac-12 team — their first was all the way back in 2002 against Arizona State.. The Cardinal are scheduled to return to play UCF just over four years from now, on September 14th, 2019.