Author: Eric He

Quakes Blanked by Galaxy in U.S. Open Cup Round of 16

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By: Eric He

An early goal was all the Los Angeles Galaxy needed to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 in Round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup at Avaya Stadium Wednesday night.

The win came just five days after the Quakes dominated the Galaxy 3-1 in a MLS game at Stanford Stadium.

In the sixth minute, midfielder Kenny Walker lofted a perfect pass to Jose Villareal, who touched it down with his right foot and fired a rocket with his left foot past Quakes’ goalkeeper Bryan Meredith.

“I think we were a bit unaware of the danger that was happening at that present time and it is very surprising that at six minutes we gave up such an easy chance,” said Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear.

Despite doubling the Galaxy in shots (14-7), the Quakes only had three shots on goal and could not squeeze one by Galaxy goalkeeper Bryan Rowe. Rowe turned aside the Quakes, who pressured all game for the tying goal. He made a tremendous save on a header by JJ Koval off a corner kick in the 51st minute.

Kinnear praised his team for a better effort in the second half: “I thought in the first half all second balls fell to them and they obviously got some chances out of it and got some possession. Where I thought in the second half we were around the ball a heck of a lot more and that’s the reason why we were knocking on the door for as long as we were.”

The Quakes had nine corner kicks to the Galaxy’s zero, in a game played in front of 13,329 at the Quakes’ home stadium.

San Jose will now return to MLS action, as their next game will be on Sunday in Portland against the Timbers.

Quakes surge past Galaxy in California Classico

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By: Eric He

PALO ALTO — For the past several years, the annual California Classico between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy has lived up to its billing as one of the premier MLS games of the year, and this season’s match at Stanford Stadium was no exception.

In a tight contest filled with intense action in front of a sellout crowed of over 50,000 fans, the Earthquakes defeated the Galaxy 3-1 with three unanswered goals, two coming in the second half.

The Quakes came out strong to start the second half and it paid off with a goal in the 53rd minute by Goodson. Off a corner kick by Matias Perez Garcia, Goodson beat his defender to the ball and headed it past Galaxy goaltender Jaime Penedo to give the Quakes a 2-1 lead. It was Perez Garcia’s sixth assist in his last seven games.

They continued pressing, and Cordell Cato, who subbed in for Sanna Nyassi in the 60th minute, delivered a huge insurance goal just 12 minutes later. After some hard work by Shea Salinas to win the ball, Cato eluded Dan Gargan and had plenty of time to fire a hard shot past Penedo from close range.

The win gives the Earthquakes 25 points, tying them with the Portland Timbers for the final playoff spot in the West.

The first half featured highlight-reel goals for both teams – Juninho for the Galaxy and Chris Wondolowski for the Quakes.

It was Juninho who struck first in the 17th minute with a bolt from well beyond the penalty area, a shot that Quakes’ goaltender David Bingham had no chance to stop.

Wondolowski answered in the 28th minute, finishing it off after a terrific feed by Perez Garcia. Perez Garcia deked out Leonardo, creating room for the cross. It was Wondolowski who started the play to begin with, stripping Gargan of the ball and finding Perez Garcia on the right flank.

Otherwise, both goaltenders stood tall in a fast-paced half.

The Quakes nearly scored right off the bat. On the net-mouth scramble in the opening minute, Wondolowski was denied from point-blank by Penedo.

Penedo also made a strong play in the 20th minute, knocking the ball away from Salinas after the Quakes’ midfielder had a clear path from the left side.

Bingham, meanwhile, made crucial stops in consecutive minutes – in the 23rd minute he denied a free kick off the foot of Stefan Ishizaki followed by a point-blank save on Robbie Keane in the 24th minute.

Shots and possession in the first half were relatively even, as the teams went in the locker room with a goal apiece.

Notes

The Earthquakes have lost just once in their last nine MLS games. … They have also lost just once in 11 regular season games against the Galaxy at home. … The Galaxy’s road winless streak is now at 16 games. … On Friday, the Quakes traded defender Ty Harden to the Fire for forward Quincy Amarikwa. … The Quakes are 35-23-17 all-time in the month of June. … The Quakes have allowed one or fewer goals in seven of their last eight matches. … Since 2008, they have played 13 home games away from their home venue and are now 7-4-2 in those matches.

Sabercats lose first game of season in overtime stunner to KISS

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By: Eric He

SAN JOSE — In a game featuring two teams speeding in opposite directions – one toward an undefeated season and the other toward the worst record in the AFL – the latter pulled off a major upset, as the Los Angeles KISS handed the San Jose Sabercats their first loss of the season on Saturday night at SAP Center with a 48-42 overtime win.

The KISS (2-9) forced a turnover on downs on the Sabercats’ (11-1) first possession of overtime, and won it with a 16-yard touchdown catch by Demarco Sampson, who just kept his toe inbounds to pull off the victory for Los Angeles.

It was just the KISS’ second win of the season and the Sabercats’ first defeat.

“They played a great game and they made every play possible,” said defensive back Clevan Thomas. “A game like that we have to find a way to win.”

Down 42-35 in the dying seconds, the Sabercats tied the game as time expired with a four-yard touchdown catch by Reggie Gray, and the extra point by Nick Pertuit sent the game to overtime.

The KISS took their first lead of the game early in the fourth on a pick-six by Rayshaun Kizer, who intercepted a pass by Erik Meyer at the Sabercats 19-yard line and returned it untouched for the score to put the KISS up 35-28.

The Sabercats answered with a quick three-play drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown reception by Jeremy Keller with five minutes remaining, only to have the KISS come right back with a three-play drive of their own capped off by a 29-yard score by Donovan Morgan to give the KISS a 42-35 advantage.

Los Angeles hung around in the first half, and, after a stellar third quarter in which they held the Sabercats scoreless and, tied the score at 28-28 with 1:18 to play in the frame on an eight-yard reception by Morgan.

The Sabercats were held to just two touchdowns in the second half as the offense that led the league in points per game heading into the game was unrecognizable. Meyer, who finished with 312 yards on 20-of-42 passing and five touchdowns, was sacked five times and the team committed five turnovers a whole. To add insult to injury, he left the game in overtime after taking a big hit.

“We didn’t get it done offensively,” said head coach Darren Arbet. “I’m sure the guys understand that. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got to practice and get better.”

Added wide receiver Jeremy Kelley, who recorded 126 yards on six catches and a touchdown, “We’re going to bounce back from this. I don’t think we capitalized on every opportunity.”

It was a one-score game at halftime, much tighter than expected despite the Sabercats recording nearly double the amount of total yards (220 vs. 116). After the KISS tied the game at 7-7, Gray scored touchdowns on consecutive drives – the first a tough catch along the boards of the right corner of the end zone, and the second a wide-open 18-yard reception. With his second score, Gray recorded his 200th career touchdown reception.

The two teams traded touchdowns before Laron Scott delivered a 50-yard kickoff return for a score that cut the Sabercats lead to 28-21 at halftime.

The Sabercats scored first less than five minutes into the game on their opening drive. It was a 31-yard touchdown pass from Meyer to D.J. Stephens, streaking down the left side of the field to put San Jose up 7-0 early.

Both defenses held up for the remainder of the quarter – with a little luck from the left goalpost as it rejected Pertuit’s 20-yard field goal attempt – and the KISS were able to tally to start the second and tie the game on a three-yard touchdown completion from Southwick to Austin Franklin.

With the loss, the Sabercats fell just short of setting a franchise-record for consecutive wins to start a season, but to them, it’s no big deal.

Said Thomas: “It’s disappointing but the main thing when we talk about what we want is winning a championship.”

When asked to follow-up on whether this team, like 2002 squad that also fell short of a 12-0 record, could win it all, he responded, “Of course. Without a shadow of a doubt.”

Notes

Coming into Saturday, the Sabercats ranked first in the league in offense (60.6 PPG) and defense (36.8 PPG). … San Jose defeated Los Angeles in Week 2 by the score of 54-28. … The KISS have now won two straight games losing 15 in a row . … At halftime, the Sabercats paid tribute to Omarr Smith, a longtime player and current Assistant Head Coach.

Rockets force Game 5 with high-scoring win over Warriors

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By: Eric He

It was an emotional game, a chaotic game, one that saw the Warriors lose and then suddenly re-gain their leader, put up a valiant fight, only to lose in the end.

With a 128-115 win in Game 4 on Monday night, the Rockets stayed alive and forced a Game 5 back at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.

Stephen Curry left the game in the second quarter with a head injury but returned in the third quarter after an entire nation’s worth of basketball fans held their collective breaths.

The Warriors cut a 15-point lead down to six in the fourth quarter on threes from Klay Thompson and Curry. But a 104-98 advantage for the Rockets quickly went back up to 13 on a 8-0 run by James Harden with 6:39 to play.

They never recovered, unable to cut the lead down to more than eight.

Harden finished with a game-high 45 points and was 7-of-11 from three-point range, making pivotal shots that stopped more than a few Golden State runs.

With 5:52 to play in the second quarter, Curry exited the game after falling hard contesting a layup attempt by Trevor Ariza. Curry fell hard on his head and stayed down for several minutes. He was diagnosed with a head contusion and did not return.

The Warriors were down 55-36 at the time of Curry’s departure, but surprisingly picked it up without their MVP. Thompson stepped up and knocked down jumper after jumper; a three by Leandro Barbosa cut the lead down to 61-51 with 3:16 to play.

Curry finished with 23 points, even with the injury. Thompson was the Warriors’ high scorer with 24 points.

Golden State trailed 69-59 at halftime.

They trimmed the lead into single digits several times during the third quarter, but the Rockets responded with a strong close to the quarter. A three by Harden put the Rockets up 90-71, and they led 99-84 heading into the fourth.

The Warriors got off to an abysmal start, allowing the Rockets to shoot 77.3 percent from the floor in the first quarter. Houston scored the game’s first 12 points as Josh Smith knocked down two three-pointers.

A dunk by Dwight Howard capped off a 19-3 start by the Rockets, and not even Curry’s three-point prowess could counteract Houston’s dream start.

The Rockets ended the first quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 45-22 lead after one.

Warriors rout Grizzlies in Game 4

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By: Eric He

In decisive fashion, the Golden State Warriors allowed their fans to breathe a huge sigh of relief with a 101-84 blowout victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals to even up the series at two games apiece.

After struggling the last two games, Stephen Curry stepped up in MVP fashion, scoring 33 points to lead his team to victory. Four other Warriors — Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Harrison Barnes — also scored in double figures.

Up 61-44 at halftime, the Warriors maintained separation throughout the second half. Back-to-back threes by Curry and Thompson gave the Warriors a 74-49 advantage midway through the third quarter.

To underscore the importance of the game, Steve Kerr rode the starters for a majority of the second half despite the large lead. And they finished off the job, not allowing the Grizzlies to make any sort of run.

The Warriors ran away from the Grizzlies with a dominant second quarter, dropping 33 points. Up 28-20 after the first quarter, a three-pointer by Andre Iguodala gave them a 37-26 lead, their first double-digit lead since Game 1.

Then Curry took over, scoring 15 of the Warriors’ last 20 points of the half. He had 21 points in all in the first half, including a 6-0 spurt to put the Warriors up 47-33. He closed the half with a ridiculous three-point play, drawing Jeff Green in the air with a pump fake and knocking down the jumper.

A layup by David Lee, who made a positive impact on the game, sent the Warriors into halftime up 61-44.

From the start, the Warriors seemed more confident than the previous two games. Green scored eight of the Warriors’ first 10 points, and Barnes contributed early on as well. The Warriors ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run, capped off by a deep three from Curry to give the Warriors a 28-20 lead.

Mayweather trumps Pacquiao in unanimous decision

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By: Eric He

In the most anticipated fight in boxing history, the king of the hill stayed on top.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision at the MGM Grand on Saturday night.

The judges ruled it 118-110, 116-112, 116-112, all in favor of Mayweather as the welterweight champion of the world remained unbeaten, improving to 48-0 in his illustrious career.

There was not much action in the fight itself, which turned out a bit anticlimactic considering the hype and the expensive pay-per-view package. Both fighters stand to make more than $100 million from the fight, the richest in boxing history.

Mayweather, famous for his defensive strategy, eluded many of Pacquiao’s punches and made the Filipino fighter chase him around the ring. He even taunted Pacquiao at one point, shaking his head and mouthing “nope” after a flurry of ineffective punches by Pacquiao with Mayweather against the ropes.

To his credit, Pacquiao connected on a few punches, but Mayweather stood his ground defensively, dodging, ducking and counterpunching just enough to hold Pacquiao off. The aggressive Pacquiao stalked Mayweather around the ring for the majority of the fight, but never seemed to grab control away from Mayweather.

According to CompuBox, punches thrown were relatively even — 435-429 in favor of Mayweather — but Pacquiao connected on just 19 percent of them compared to 34 percent for Mayweather. Mayweather also landed 148 punches to Pacquiao’s 81, a testament to Mayweather’s defensive strategy and just how futile Pacquiao’s efforts were.

With the loss, Pacquiao drops to 57-6-2 in his career. For what it was worth, in a post-fight interview, Pacquiao believed he won the fight and that Mayweather “didn’t do nothing.”

Essentially, that was Mayweather’s strategy: doing nothing, warding off punches, and counterattacking just enough to win.

The 38-year-old Mayweather stated after the fight that his final bout will be in September and then the welterweight champion will hang up the gloves on an undefeated career.

Warriors pull away from Timberwolves late

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By: Eric He

It seemed for a minute that the Golden State Warriors were in jeopardy of losing their third home game of the season, but with the help of a late push, they won handily over the Timberwolves 110-101 at Oracle Arena on Saturday night.

The Timberwolves behind a monster 37-point outing from Zach LaVine, trimmed a 17-point fourth quarter deficit down to just one with 4:15 to play in the fourth quarter. But the Warriors responded with a 13-3 run, sparked by a corner three from Klay Thompson. On the ensuing possession, Thompson stole the ball and fed it to Stephen Curry, who finished with a layup plus the foul to put the Warriors up 105-95.

Curry led the Warriors with 34 points and was 5-of-11 on three-point attempts. His wild, buzzer-beating three at the end of the third quarter gave the Warriors an 86-69 advantage and capped off a quarter where the Warriors held the Timberwolves to just 14 points.

Thompson had 23 points, while Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green both finish with 13.

The Warriors pulled away in the third quarter after a tight first half in which the feeble Timberwolves managed to hang around against the NBA’s best team.

Golden State led 60-55 at halftime.

Notes

This is the Warriors’ franchise-record 37th home win of the season. … The Warriors swept the season series against the Timberwolves, going 4-0. They have won 18 of the last 21 games against Minnesota. … Leandro Barbosa did not play with a sore right Achilles. … Up next for the Warriors are the Grizzlies on Monday at Oracle Arena.

Warriors Can’t Escape New Orleans with Win

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By: Eric He

In a game that meant much more to the home team than the visitors, the Golden State Warriors fell just short in a 103-100 defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans on the road on Tuesday night.

After Stephen Curry tied the game at 100-100 with 35 seconds to play with a three-pointer, he missed the Warriors’ final two shots — a floater and a last-second attempt at a three to tie the game — and the Warriors dropped their second game in a row.

Down five in the final minute, the Warriors went on a 5-0 spurt with a Draymond Green layup and a contested three by Curry to even the score. But the Pelicans took the lead on a free throw by Tyreke Evans after Evans was fouled coming across midcourt by Andre Iguodala, a questionable call after replays showed Evans fell on his own.

Nevertheless, the Pelicans emerged with an important victory to take over the eighth seed in the West.

It seemed as if the Warriors had control of the game, taking a 12-point lead into half-time.

But the Pelicans got themselves back in the game with a 10-0 run to being the second half, cutting a 12-point lead down to two. Davis and Omer Asik scored all 10 points, and Andrew Bogut was forced to exit after picking up three fouls early in the half.

The Pelicans took a 79-78 lead into the fourth quarter and opened up an 88-82 advantage midway through the fourth. A 13-2 run by the Warriors, however, put them back in the driver’s seat temporarily. as Curry and Klay Thompson both made jumpers. A breakaway layup by Curry gave the Warriors a 95-92 lead.

It would prove to be not enough, as a 29-point, 10-rebound performance by Anthony Davis led the Pelicans to victory. Quincy Pondexter had 20 points, making all four of his three-point attempts.

Curry’s 25 points led the Warriors, but Green had the best all-around performance with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Thompson struggled for the second consecutive game, managing just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting and 1-of-5 from three-point range.

The Warriors opened up a 55-43 lead at half-time thanks to a barrage of threes by Curry, who had 16 points in the half. Nine of them came late in the second when he knocked down three-straight triples, his final one hitting nothing but net over two defenders as time wound down in the half.

It concluded a 14-5 run by the Warriors to end the half and extend a five-point lead to 12. The Pelicans had hung around, putting forth their best effort in a game they had to win.

Trailing 19-17 at the 3:20 mark of the first quarter, the Warriors finished the quarter on a 10-0 run, holding the Pelicans scoreless over the last three minutes thanks to terrific interior defense by Andrew Bogut.

The Warriors held Davis to just six points on 2-of-10 shooting in the first half.

Warriors Downed by Spurs on the Road Again

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By: Eric He

The Golden State Warriors haven’t won a game in San Antonio since 1997, and the streak continued on Sunday night with a 107-92 blowout by the Spurs over the NBA’ best team.

The Warriors came in having won their last 12 games, but ran into a brick wall as the Spurs dominated from the beginning and never looked back.

Stephen Curry’s 24 points kept the Warriors afloat — he trimmed a 23-point deficit down to 14 all by himself with 13 straight points in the third quarter — but received little help from his teammates. Klay Thompson had just six points, and Andrew Bogut was the only other starter to score in double figures.

Meanwhile, the Spurs were paced by 26 points from Kawhi Leonard, who also had seven steals, imposing his will on both ends of the floor.

The Warriors trailed 57-38 at halftime and the Spurs extended the lead to 89-67 at the end of the third quarter, despite Curry’s best efforts.

San Antonio received contributions all around and shot a blistering 53.0 percent from the field. Meanwhile, Golden State was held to just 42.9 percent shooting.

Notes

The Warriors were playing on the back-end of a back-to-back after beating the Mavericks the night before. … Shaun Livingston was suspended one game for a flagrant foul on Dirk Nowitzki on Saturday night. … The Spurs have beaten the Warriors twice this season, the only team to do so. … Next up for the Warriors are the Pelicans on Tuesday in New Orleans.

A’s Power Past Giants to Continue Spring Success

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By: Eric He

SAN FRANCISCO – The games don’t count, but the Oakland A’s will certainly take the wins.

The good times kept rolling on Thursday for the A’s as they beat the Giants 8-2 at AT&T Park in an exhibition game.

It was the A’s eighth straight win, improving their MLB-best record to 22-9-2.

Oakland jumped ahead with three runs in the second inning off Giants’ starter Jake Peavy.

Brett Lawrie opened with a three-bagger, hitting one into the right field gap in Triple’s Alley, and Stephen Vogt knocked him in with a sacrifice fly. Cal-product and new starting shortstop Marcus Semien followed with a home run just to the right of the left-field foul pole.

Then came the hit of the night, courtesy of Sam Fuld, who circled the bases on a triple and an error with two out in the second. Fuld smacked one high off the right field wall and the ball was mishandled in the outfield by Angel Pagan, allowing Fuld to score to make it 3-0 A’s.

Veteran southpaw Scott Kazmir got the start for the A’s in his final tune-up before the regular season and he threw six strong innings, allowing one run on four hits. He pitched out of trouble in the second and third innings, stranding a runner at second in both instances.

Kazmir’s lone blemish was a solo home run by Angel Pagan in the fourth inning that got the Giants on the board.

The A’s added more runs in the fourth inning. Back-to-back walks to lead off the inning followed by a double along the chalk down the right field line by Billy Burns gave the A’s a 4-0 lead. With one out, Craig Gentry knocked in another run with a single.

That hit knocked Peavy out of the game after 3.1 innings and 79 pitches.

But the A’s weren’t done scoring. They would take a 7-0 lead by inning’s end off new Giants’ pitcher Steven Okert on a sacrifice fly by Ben Zobrist, scoring Burns, followed by a hard single by Billy Butler that knocked in Gentry.

Butler later launched a homer in the ninth inning to close out a productive offensive evening for the A’s.

Crisp out

The A’s lineup consisted of a majority of their starters, but with one notable exception: Coco Crisp. The everyday outfielder and leadoff hitter will miss 6-8 weeks, requiring surgery to remove a bone spur in his right elbow.

Crisp will join Josh Reddick on the disabled list to start the season. Reddick has a strained right oblique and will miss at least the first five games of the regular season.

The injuries most likely solidify a roster spot for Billy Burns, who has been tearing it up this spring for the A’s. His 29 hits entering Thursday was tied for the Major League lead.

Burns went 2-for-5 against the Giants, upping his average to a blistering .397.

Melvin announces starting rotation

Bob Melvin announced the A’s starting rotation before tonight’s game, and it will consist of Sonny Gray, Jesse Hahn, Kazmir, Kendall Graveman and Drew Pomeranz. Hahn and Graveman are newcomers to the team this season. Hahn was acquired from the Padres in the Derek Norris trade and Graveman came over from the Blue Jays for Josh Donaldson.

Graveman, who had limited big league experience last season, surprised this spring recording a 0.42 ERA in Cactus League play.

Left out of the rotation is Jesse Chavez, who had a break out season last year with the A’s but will now be relegated to a bullpen role.

Switch pitcher

Switch hitters are aplenty in the majors these days, but what about switch pitchers? Meet Pat Venditte, who pitched the ninth inning on Thursday night. Venditte can indeed pitch both left-handed and right-handed, and the non-roster invitee has appeared in 11 games for the A’s this spring, holding the opponent scoreless in eight of those outings.

Friday night was not one of those outings, however, as he gave up a homer to Brandon Belt. He settled down, though, switching sides to retire the side in order and close out the win.

Other Notes

Coming into Thursday, the A’s led the majors in runs (190), doubles (86) and sacrifice flies (15). … The pitching hasn’t been too shabby either, ranking second in the Cactus League in strikeouts (241) and third in ERA (3.77) entering the night. … The A’s are 13-2 in their last 15 spring games against the Giants. … Evan Scribner and Fernando Abad each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Abad escaped a bases-loaded jam with one out unscathed in the eighth. … The first regular season game will be Monday, April 6 as the Rangers visit the Coliseum.