The San Jose Earthquakes have been stuck in quicksand the last two matches, earning consecutive draws, the latest one being a 1-1 tie with the Montreal Impact at Avaya Stadium on Wednesday night.
Despite the Impact playing down a man for about half the game after Ambroise Oyongo tripped up Matias Perez Garcia and earned a red card, the Earthquakes failed to net more than the one goal and missed an opportunity to gain some much-needed ground in the Western Conference playoff race.
It was all good early when Chris Wondolowski struck 35 minutes into the match. Impact goalkeeper Eric Kronberg’s toss resulted in a turnover and wound up in the back of the net after a right-footed strike by Wondolowski.
The red card for the Impact’s Oyongo came in the 49th minute, but the Impact managed to equalize despite being down a man.
With his left foot, Kyle Bekker netted his first goal of the season in the 64th minute, sending a curling shot that evaded Earthquakes keeper David Bingham, who probably came too far out of the box. On a bounce, the ball skipped into the goal to even the score.
Despite late pressure from the Earthquakes, who outshot the Impact 16-8, had 11 shots on target, and out possessed the Impact 63.8 percent to 36.2 percent, the game ended in a disappointing draw.
San Jose has 40 points, one back of Portland in the West for the sixth and final playoff spot with five matches to play. Up next will be a matchup against NYCFC on Saturday in New York City.
Riding a hot streak of five wins in six matches, the San Jose Earthquakes were denied of a victory on Saturday night that would have vaulted them back into the playoff picture.
Instead, with a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders at Avaya Stadium, the Earthquakes settled for a point and remain two points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Two second half goals provided the scoring for the match — Fatai Alashe in the 70th minute for San Jose and Obafemi Martins in the 82nd minute for Seattle.
Alashe scored on a header off a free kick from the right of the box by Matias Perez Garcia. Perez Garcia’s chip found Alashe, who headed it past Stefan Frei to give the Earthquakes a temporary lead.
But Martins answered, netting home a rebound after a terrific save by David Bingham off a header by Zach Scott. Martins spoiled Bingham’s effort and evened the score at 1-1.
It would remain that way through stoppage time in a disappointing outing for an Earthquakes team hoping for a pivotal victory.
The Earthquakes held a 10-7 lead in the shot totals and possession was fairly even. San Jose also was awarded more corner kicks (7-2), but weren’t able to capitalize.
Next up for San Jose will be the Montreal Impact on Sept. 16 at Avaya Stadium.
The San Francisco Giants flew into Chicago with a 1.5 game lead on the Cubs in the second National League Wild Card spot, and will leave trailing the Cubs by 3.5 games.
It could not have gone any worse for the Giants – a sweep at the hands of the Cubs, who announced their presence onto baseball’s big stage in a grand way, putting on a clinic against the defending World Champions.
A lot of talk entering the four-game series billed it as a crucial one, more for the Cubs than the Giants. Makes sense. The Cubs were on the outside looking in on the playoff picture. They were the young, inexperienced team. They were the “Lovable Losers,” having a surprisingly good season but bound to slip and fall as they always do. The Billy Goat, The Black Cat, Steve Bartman – of course, this cursed team can’t be for real, can they?
Oh yes they are, and this four-game set proved it.
They put the pressure on the Giants, scoring in the first inning of each game and controlling play. The Giants led just once in the series – a Brandon Belt home run on Saturday that gave his team a brief 2-1 lead that was quickly erased in the bottom of the third. On Sunday, the Cubs led 2-0 after the second inning and held down the fort, silencing the Giants’ offense. Despite loading the bases with nobody out in the ninth, the Giants fell prey to three consecutive strikeouts by Cubs’ closer Hector Rondon to end the game.
The Cubs have now won 10 of 11 and are among the hottest teams in baseball along with the Blue Jays.
Now, the Giants find themselves trailing more in the Wild Card (3.5 games back of the Cubs) than the division (3 games back of the Dodgers). Interpret that however, but before worrying about other teams, the Giants must find a quick fix to their own issues.
Pitching remains the biggest concern. As has been the case all season, Madison Bumgarner remains the only reliable option. Jake Peavy, the hard-luck loser on Sunday, has actually been decent with a 2.56 ERA since July. Chris Heston, who had been on a tear, has struggled mightily in consecutive starts. Newly acquired Mike Leake is on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, and the shaky Ryan Vogelsong is far from an apt replacement. Matt Cain looks like more of a fourth or fifth starter than “the horse” that the Giants need him to be.
The Giants’ offense put up four runs on Thursday and six on Saturday, which typically should be enough for wins – if Heston and Cain had not gotten blown up.
Speaking of the offense, the Giants suddenly have a dearth of production at the top of the lineup. With Joe Panik on the disabled list, the Giants have been batting Nori Aoki second. Aoki, who himself returned on July 27 from the DL, has just a .225 average since that date, and took a scary pitch to the head on Sunday. Angel Pagan is quickly becoming a liability at the top of the lineup. He is hitting .174 in August and has seen his average slip to .258. Still with no home runs, Pagan has looked sluggish in the outfield as well.
For as much as Matt Duffy and Buster Posey are crushing hits left and right, they would mean a lot more if the top two hitters in the lineup were on base in front of them. The Giants’ identity this season has been their offense – with arguably their deepest lineup since the Bonds era – and they can ill-afford to have their production at the plate slip considering their struggling pitching staff.
And so, here we are. Less than two months of baseball remain, and the Giants must grind out some wins after being swept by the Cubs in a four-game series for the first time since 1977. Their next 22 games are against teams with winning records, and six of them are against the same Cubs and the Dodgers. By September 3rd, when they visit the 47-62 Rockies on the road, we will know whether the Giants are still a factor in the playoff picture.
Wrapping up a near-flawless regular season campaign, the San Jose Sabercats defeated the LA KISS 60-38 on the road on Saturday afternoon to finish with a 17-1 record.
That one loss came at the hands of the KISS back in Week 12, but this time, there was no doubt which team was superior.
Wide receiver Maurice Purify finished with six total touchdowns on the night — three rushing and three via the air. He notched the first score of the evening on a four-yard run, and was just getting started.
After the KISS responded to tie the game 7-7, Purify recorded four more touchdowns before halftime, single-handedly providing the Sabercats’ offense.
San Jose led 44-31 at the break, and controlled the second half, limiting the KISS to just one score while putting 23 more points on the board.
Starter Erik Meyer received some time off from the second quarter on, with the Sabercats having clinched the top record in the league and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
His backup, Nathan Stanley, threw for 175 yards and completing 13-of-24 pass attempts, two of them for touchdown.
With the regular season in the books, the Sabercats can now turn their attention to the playoffs, where they will look to cap off this dominant campaign with an AFL title.
Aug 2, 2015; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski (8, right) kicks the ball against Portland Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell (24, left) during the first half at Avaya Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
By: Eric He
SAN JOSE — While it wasn’t three points, the San Jose Earthquakes snapped their four-game MLS losing streak with a 0-0 draw with the Portland Timbers at Avaya Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The scoreless contest did not lack excitement, featuring plenty of chances and a penalty kick that went awry, but nonetheless both teams will leave with a point in hand.
“A point is better than the last month,” said Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear. “So we’re happy about that. We definitely had some chances. Obviously you’d love to have the win. I thought overall our game was better today. That should be the standard we set for the rest of the season.”
Portland opened the second half with a dangerous scoring opportunity as Fanendo Adi banged one off the left goalpost.
San Jose followed with some chances of its own. Matias-Perez Garcia created several corner kicks and crosses. A header by Victor Bernandez on a cross by Marvell Wynne sailed just wide, and a right footed bullet by Shaun Francis in the 63rd minute narrowly missed the net.
“We possessed the ball fairly well,” noted Chris Wondolowski. “We created opportunities, but we didn’t really make the keeper work. There were too many chances that we hit off target and we need to be a little more clinical in the final third.”
Added Kinnear: “At times we had good build-up play but let ourselves off the hook by rushing the shot or making the wrong decision. I thought we had our chance to be due for a goal today.”
The Quakes wound up with 55.7 percent of the possession on Sunday afternoon.
Not even a penalty kick could break the tie. Timbers’ midfielder Diego Valeri was tripped up by Francis in the box, but his penalty hit off the crossbar as the Quakes dodged a bullet.
“Luckily, it went my way,” Quakes goaltender David Bingham said. “If it was a hair lower I felt like I would’ve covered it.”
The first half was scoreless, although the Quakes held the majority of the possession and pressure.
Their best chance came early on in the seventh minute. Wondolowski had a point-blank opportunity with no one between him and Timbers goaltender Adam Kwarasey after a nice entry feed from Shea Salinas, but Wondolowski was denied at the doorstep.
The Quakes’ superstar blamed himself for not finishing it off.
“What a great ball by Shea,” Wondolowksi remarked. “Found me perfectly. My touch just got stuck under me. I tried poking it and the keeper made a good kick save. My first touch let me down.”
The 34th minute saw Salinas try to score one himself, lofting a ball on goal that went over the outstretched arms of Kwarasey but wide of the net.
Despite outshooting the Timbers 7-5 in the first half and controlling over half of the possession, the teams entered the locker room tied at halftime.
“It’s disappointing,” said Bingham. “We let them off the hook tonight. I felt like we were the better team throughout the night. Credit to them; they didn’t give up throughout the game, so they did well. If we could’ve been a little sharper here and there we should’ve gotten three points.”
Couldn’t wait for August
It was a rough July for the Quakes, who dropped all seven of their matches — four MLS, two international friendlies, and a U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 match against the Galaxy. Their four-game losing streak was the longest in MLS this season.
Most recently, San Jose dropped a 3-1 decision up at BC Place in Vancouver to the Whitecaps.
“Right now, we are playing well, but the results are going against us,” said Kinnear after the loss on July 21. “We have to go back to basic stuff and just talk about it, look at our mistakes and go back to working hard.”
More Quotables
“No one likes losing games. We need to win games if we want to get in the playoffs, especially in-conference games.”
– Midfielder Jordan Stewart
“We’ve got to stop tying games. We still have a belief we can make the playoffs. You have to put your chances away and that changes the whole dynamic of the game, especially mine in the beginning.”
– Wondolowski
“Passing the ball to the correct team was very helpful. Finding Matias [Perez Garcia’s] feet a little more. We moved the ball better…we got isolated one-on-one. Shea [Salinas] was very effective in the first half. At times we were running the ball a little too much, but I thought defensively we were better. Our commitment to defending was better and overall our attitude was better.”
– Kinnear on adjustments
“Keep encouraging them [to shoot]. Sometimes you’ve got to go where it hurts. An ugly goal can maybe open the floodgates a little bit. Sometimes it needs to be a perfect chance and sometimes it needs to be a bounce of luck. I’m not really caring too much how it goes in or who it goes in from.”
– Kinnear on how he can improve offensive production
Notes
Entering Sunday afternoon, recently acquired forward Quincy Amarikwa had scored three goals in his last two matches. … The Quakes sit at ninth in the West with 26 points, six back of a playoff spot. … When the Quakes and Timbers last played on July 5th, the Timbers scratched out a 1-0 win with a stoppage time goal over the shorthanded Quakes. … The Quakes’ next game is on the road on Aug. 8 against the Dynamo in Houston.
The Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics made the David Lee trade official on Monday, announcing the deal this morning.
Lee will be sent to the Celtics in exchange for Gerald Wallace and Chris Babb, both of whom the Warriors will likely waive.
Celtics’ President of Operations Danny Ainge said in a press release: “We are excited to welcome David as a member of the Celtics family. His proven skill set and experience on a championship team will add valuable depth to our frontcourt and a veteran presence to our locker room.”
Lee, 32, spent five seasons with the Warriors, four of which he was a consistent starter and key contributor. But his production fell off the table last season when injuries set him back to start the year, allowing Draymond Green to take his place and thrive.
Lee came off the bench instead, averaging 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds a game in limited minutes.
The writing was on the wall as to Lee’s uncertain future of the team, and trading him seems to be in the best interests of the Warriors – who have little use for Lee – and Lee, who is looking for more playing time
He will receive that in Boston as a veteran who can guide the young Celtics team.
Lee, a free agent after next season, is due $15.5 million in 2015-2016.
OAKLAND, CA – JULY 23: Russell Martin #55 of the Toronto Blue Jays rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run off of Drew Pomeranz #13 of the Oakland Athletics during the second inning at O.co Coliseum on July 23, 2015 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
By: Eric He
OAKLAND — It was a day of realization for the A’s.
Realization that their second best pitcher is gone, and others will likely follow before the trade deadline. Realization that despite a 30-22 record since May 23, it was probably too little, too late to make a playoff push.
That realization started early on Thursday with news that Scott Kazmir had been dealt to the Astros — a divisional opponent, no less — for two minor leaguers. It ended in the form a 5-2 defeat to the Blue Jays at the O.co Coliseum on Thursday afternoon as the A’s drop two out of three in the series and fall back to nine games under .500.
Russell Martin had three RBI for the Blue Jays against a scrambled A’s pitching staff.
Kazmir was scheduled to be the starting pitcher on Thursday afternoon, but with the trade, Bob Melvin had to turn to Plan B — a bullpen game.
Drew Pomeranz started the game pitched into the second inning and gave way to Dan Otero, but not before allowing the Blue Jays to jump in front. After a leadoff single by Danny Valencia in the second inning, Martin drilled a 3-2 fastball over the right center field wall to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.
A’s manager Bob Melvin said the plan is for Pomeranz to stay in the rotation, but he will need to gradually warm up to the pitch count. Pomeranz threw 44 pitches today.
“It’s going to be a progression to get him there,” said Melvin.”He hasn’t thrown over 20 pitches, and had an extended time off. 45 pitches was what were looking for today. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
Added Pomeranz, who was told he would be starting at 10am this morning: “Finding out today, there’s not really much you can do.”
The A’s responded with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Marcus Semien led off with a double, and Billy Burns singled him in with a base hit to right that was bobbled by Jose Bautista. Later in the inning, Josh Reddick evened the score with a fielder’s choice ground ball RBI.
Toronto retook the lead in the top of the fourth with back-to-back two out doubles by Martin and Chris Colabello, both landing just fair down the right field line. To add insult to injury on a depressing day for A’s fans, Josh Donaldson doubled the Blue Jays lead to 4-2 with a homer off Otero to right center.
Otero lasted three innings and allowed two runs and was relieved by Arnold Leon, just called up from Triple A Nashville to take Kazmir’s spot on the roster. A sacrifice fly by Martin in the fifth added another insurance run to push the lead to 5-2.
The Blue Jays also had to make an emergency switch at pitcher, with scheduled starter Drew Hutchinson scratched with flu-like symptoms and R.A. Dickey moving up a day to pitch in his place.
And Dickey — he of a 3-10 record and ERA over 4.50 — was masterful, going 8.1 innings on 104 pitches, allowing just the two runs while striking out six.
After the third inning, the A’s managed to get just one runner in scoring position — a one-out double by Billy Burns that was wasted in the eighth.
Kazmir traded
Hours before the game, the A’s announced they had traded Kazmir to the Houston Astros for RHP Daniel Mengden and C Jacob Nottingham. Kazmir, the A’s No. 2 man in the rotation behind Sonny Gray, was 5-5 with a 2.38 ERA in 18 starts.
Both Mengden and Nottingham are in the Astros’ Single A organization in Quad Cities, clearly making this a move toward the future. They aren’t even ranked in the Top 15 of the prospects with the Astros, but as with all Billy Beane trades, patience is a virtue.
“Obviously everybody’s sorry to see [Kazmir] go on a personal level today,” said Melvin. “But it’s our job to go out there and just focus on one particular day. If you get too far out and worry about what potentially could happen and wait for the other shoe to drop, then you’re not focused on what we’re doing today.”
Josh Reddick, now one of the longest-tenured A’s, touted Kazmir’s positive presence in the clubhouse.
“It’s never easy to deal with,” Reddick said. “Losing a good teammate and a great guy like that. Especially a guy who’s been one of our better pitchers for the year.
“No matter who gets dealt, we still have to go out here and win ball games with the personnel that we have. It may get tougher. We’ve got to get the job done no matter who’s out there.”
The A’s may not be done shipping out players. Ben Zobrist and Tyler Clippard are also primed to be on the trade block — Kazmir’s exit may just be the tip of the iceberg in what might be a painful exodus in Oakland.
More Quotables
“It shouldn’t be hard to play a baseball game. Granted, everybody talked to [Kazmir]. We’re sorry to see him go. He was a big personality in the clubhouse and certainly performance-wise was key for us, but once you get on the field that’s what you have to focus on.”
– Bob Melvin
“Look, there’s nothing we can do about this. We’re going to go out there with the same expectations, try to win today’s game and not think too far out.”
– Melvin on his message to his players
“He’s guided a lot of us that he’s gotten close to, especially as pitchers. You pick up things here and there. I actually use his same changeup grip that’s modified now. You pick up a lot of things from a guy like that who has been around.”
– Drew Pomeranz on Kazmir
What’s on Tap
The A’s will look to regenerate some momentum in the Bay Bridge series against the Giants over the weekend, beginning Friday night at AT&T Park.
When the All-Star Game gets under way in Cincinnati in a matter of hours, the Oakland A’s will be represented by a player who was destined to be there and another who no one thought would ever make it.
Sonny Gray is the player of destiny, the hotshot prospect who burst upon the scene and had immediate success in the major leagues, starting in a playoff elimination game in his very first season. Gray leads the American League with a 2.04 ERA through the first half, sporting a 10-3 record.
By all accounts and predictions, Gray is and will be a stud in the majors for a long, long time, his stock projecting nowhere but up as the 25-year-old reaches the prime of his career.
And then there’s Stephen Vogt, a stark contrast to Gray. Vogt was drafted in the 12th round in 2007 and worked his tail off for an opportunity to play in the majors, only to go 0-for-18 in his first season with the Rays and 0-for-14 with the A’s.
But, sticking to the theme, the 0-for-32 start did not deter Vogt from achieving success. The catcher had a strong 2014 in a platoon role and became a starter in 2015. He is hitting .287 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs in 85 games this season.
At 30 years of age, Vogt is already at his prime, and unlike Gray, whether he can sustain this performance in the future is uncertain.
Gray and Vogt may be opposites in every which way, but they have a few similarities: they are both All-Stars, and together, form a battery that is among the elite in baseball.
—
Despite their first half struggles, it’s way too early to count out the A’s.
They are just 41-50 and 8.5 games back in the division, but if any team can put together a miraculous stretch of wins and get back in the chase, it would be the A’s. Remember, in 2012, Oakland was eight games back of the Texas Rangers in the division at the All-Star break, and wound up winning the AL West on the season’s final day.
But it won’t work like magic. The A’s will have to rectify whatever issues they had in the first half, and fast.
The bullpen has been a concern with. With closer Sean Doolittle suffering a setback in rehab, the A’s are having trouble holding down leads for Tyler Clippard, who has done a fine job filling in for Doolittle with a 2.43 ERA, but the A’s would like to get him some more save opportunities.
Errors have also proven costly. The A’s led the majors with 82 errors in the first half, 22 more than the next highest team, and shortstop Marcus Semien has the most in the league with 28.
Defensive miscues have cost the A’s in several games this year, and it’s part of the reason why Oakland has lost 22 games this season by one run. It also explains their +44 run differential, which is fourth in the AL despite the fact that they have the worst record in the AL. That stat alone proves the A’s are fully capable of competing against any team, scoring runs and playing in tight games.
It just seems to be little mistakes here and there that derail them, turning a close win into a heartbreaking loss and a should-be winning record into a losing one.
Can the A’s reverse course on a forgettable first half and make the postseason for the fourth consecutive year? It isn’t impossible, but their work is surely cut out for them.
The A’s were held to just three hits and fell victim to a costly error in a 6-2 loss to the Yankees on the road on Thursday afternoon.
It seemed promising in the second inning when the A’s scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead. Billy Butler doubled in Josh Reddick, who scored all the way from first. Then, with two out and Butler on third, Mark Canha hit one into the gap in right center to give the A’s the lead.
But the A’s wouldn’t record a hit from that point on, as Yankees’ ace Masahiro Tanaka pitched 7.2 strong innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out six.
Meanwhile, the Yankees’ offense rallied against Jesse Chavez, scoring five unanswered to run away with the game. An RBI single by Mark Teixeira in the third evened the score, and then a line drive down the right field line in the fourth inning by Jacoby Ellsbury plated two more and gave the Yankees a 4-2 lead.
Oakland’s hopes at a comeback were made even slimmer due to a costly error in the eighth by mistake-prone shortstop Marcus Semien. With two outs in the inning and runners on second and third, Semien handled a routine ground ball off the bat of Ellsbury. but threw it wide and high of first base. Both runners scored and extended the Yankees’ lead to 6-2.
Chavez, in five innings, allowed four earned runs on seven hits.
The A’s drop two out of three to the Yankees after winning the first game of the series, and their AL-worst record falls to 39-49. They will take on the Indians on the road before the All-Star break.
Just minutes away from escaping Portland in a scoreless draw, the shorthanded San Jose Earthquakes were felled by a stoppage time goal by Jack Jewsbury in a 1-0 defeat to the Timbers.
Off a free kick by Diego Valeri from the left of the box, Jewsbury knocked redirected the deflected ball into the net, a fortuitous bounce that cost the Earthquakes a point.
It seemed like luck would favor San Jose in this game. In the 87th minute, Timbers forward Gaston Fernandez headed a cross by defenseman Alvas Powell past David Bingham, but was whistled down for a narrow offside.
The Earthquakes themselves were a victim of the referee’s decisions. Tommy Thompson was knocked down in the area in the 83rd minute after a fantastic run, but the penalty didn’t come.
Instead, San Jose, which fought and clawed enough to deserve a draw, will head home with nothing.
The Earthquakes were playing shorthanded without Chris Wondolowski and Cordell Cato (Gold Cup), Sanna Nyassi (suspension) and Matias Perez Garcia (undisclosed injury), so a draw would have been more than ideal.
A couple of controversial calls went against both teams in the first half.
In the 24th minute, a header by Quakes forward Mark Sherrod off a corner kick was deflected away off the goal line by Powell, but it appeared to be a handball that wasn’t called.
In the 40th minute, Timbers midfielder Valeri burst in and shot one past Bingham, but it was called back due to an offsides that the referee on the sideline missed.
The Timbers sustained pressure for the majority of the first half, generating chances and controlling pressure. But Bingham stood tall in net and the shorthanded Quakes were able to withstand the onslaught.
Notes
The Earthquakes were outshot 23-7, including 7-2 in shots on target. …They have never beaten the Timbers in the MLS era. … The game’s start time was delayed six hours from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM PST because of an unbearable heat wave in Portland. … The Earthquakes remain on the outside looking in on the playoff picture with 25 points. … Their next game will be on Friday at home against Houston.
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