Author: jeremy2878

49ers’ running backs in pain even before third preseason game against Colts

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Photo credit: @49ers

By Jeremy Harness

The 49ers will head to Indianapolis to face the Colts in their third preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday afternoon. When they get there, the 49ers will be without yet another running back.

That’s because Joe Williams, who spent his rookie season on the injured-reserve list, suffered a rib injury during Saturday’s game against the Houston Texans, and he has already been ruled out for Week 1 of the regular season.

The team is already without starter Jerick McKinnon, who suffered a calf strain during practice a week ago. However, he reportedly was doing individual conditioning work and is gearing towards returning to the lineup in time for Week 1 at Minnesota, when the 49ers face McKinnon’s former team in the Vikings.

He has already been ruled out for the rest of the preseason.

If that’s not enough, the team lost backup Matt Breida in their first preseason game, at home against the Dallas Cowboys. He has been ruled out for rest of the preseason with the separated shoulder he suffered in the second quarter against Dallas.

Just like McKinnon, however, Breida is expected to be back in the lineup when the 49ers open the regular season on Sept. 9.

If there is good news leading into Saturday’s exhibition, the team could see the first live action for cornerback Richard Sherman in a 49ers uniform. He has missed the team’s first two preseason games with a hamstring injury he suffered early on in training camp.

Meanwhile, linebacker Eli Harold can return at any point during the preseason, after he suffered a knee contusion in the preseason opener against the Cowboys. Another linebacker, Malcolm Smith, is currently nursing a hamstring injury and is looking to shake the injury bug that has seemed to have bitten him repeatedly since signing with the 49ers last offseason.

49ers lose to the Texans 16-13 and SF’s defense looks unreliable

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Photo credit: @49ers

By Jeremy Harness

In preseason games, the starters are only in the game for less than a quarter, so there’s really not much to draw from or to analyze, since these games are mostly played by guys who won’t be on the field much when it counts or won’t even make the team anyway.

So this will be mostly be about less than a quarter of action from Saturday’s game, which was won by the Houston Texans by a 16-13 score over the San Francisco 49ers at NRG Stadium. This was the 49ers’ second glorified practice of season.

Jimmy Garoppolo was in for two drives, and he completed 10 of his 12 throws for 136 yards, a touchdown and was intercepted once. While he was in the game, the offense looked sharp and ready to go for the season to start, as Garoppolo was able to extend plays and find open receivers when the protection broke down.

The 49ers’ first drive culminated with Garoppolo finding Trent Taylor in the back of the end zone to give his team a 7-0 lead.

His second drive did not end so well, but they still moved the ball very well nonetheless. Once the 49ers again crossed into the Texans’ territory, Garoppolo was a little high in his pass over the middle to rookie Dante Pettis. As a result, the ball was tipped in the air, and the ball was scooped up by Johnson Bademosi.

So overall, not a bad showing by the 49ers’ starting offense at all. However, the defense still has some concerns attached to it. Just as Garoppolo carved up the Texans’ defense, Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson did the same to the 49ers’ defense.

Watson, who was missing his star wideout in DeAndre Hopkins on Saturday, still was able to gouge the 49ers’ starting unit, and he also ended his first drive with a touchdown. He went 5-for-8 for 73 yards and that score. That was his first–and only–drive of the game, and he then made way for Brandon Weeden.

Granted, the defense was without many of its key players, including cornerback Richard Sherman, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas and linebacker Malcolm Smith. But overall, it was just not a good look for a defense that was said to have improved over the past year.

As it stands right now, expect the 49ers to score some points, but also give up quite a bit of points at the same time.

The 49ers visit the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, August 25 at 1:30 pm PDT.

Giants rookie Dereck Rodriguez to miss Friday’s start against the Reds

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Photo credit: @McCoveyChron

By Jeremy Harness

The little brouhaha between Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig and Giants catcher Nick Hundley claimed a casualty. And the Giants will feel that starting Friday night.

That’s because starter Dereck Rodriguez expected to take the mound in Friday’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ball Park, but he was hurt in Tuesday’s skirmish, as he strained his right hamstring. As a result, he will miss at least this start, and he was also placed on the 10-day disabled list.

In the meantime, righty Casey Kelly (0-1, 1.42 ERA) will start in Rodriguez’s spot, as he will go opposite Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (6-3, 4.46 ERA). DeSclafani has been on a roll lately, winning his past two starts and going seven innings each time.

He shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 3-0 win last Friday, as he gave up only three hits as he struck out nine guys and did not walk a single batter. Six days before that, he surrendered only a run on six hits in a 7-1 win over Washington.

The Giants will bring out Madison Bumgarner (4-4, 2.71 ERA) on Saturday against the Reds’ Matt Harvey (5-7).

Bumgarner has started to hit his stride these days, as he has given up a total of three runs over his last three starts. However, he has only one win out of those three to show for it, as he was stuck with a pair of no-decision in each of his past two starts.

Harvey (5-7, 5.19 ERA), on the other hand, has gone the other way, going 0-2 in his last four decisions, although he did go seven strong last Saturday and gave up only two runs in a win over Arizona. He, however, was stuck with a no-decision.

Giants can’t sweep, fall to Dodgers 4-3 in 12 innings

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The San Francisco Giants are gaining a little bit of ground on the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they couldn’t gain any on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers avoided the sweep in the 12th inning, as pinch hitter Brian Dozier’s sac fly to deep left-center brought home the winning run as they beat the Giants, 4-3, at Dodger Stadium.

In the process, the Dodgers snapped a five-game losing streak.

The good news is obvious: the Giants ended up taking two out of three from the Dodgers in this series, and their chances of making the postseason–either as a wild card or division champ–has increased because of this series.

The Giants tied the game in dramatic fashion in the eighth inning when Andrew McCutchen pounded a hanging curveball from reliever Caleb Ferguson and launched a three-run homer over the center-field wall.

However, they could not make any more headway. The closest they came to breaking through following that was in the 10th inning, when Hunter Pence led off with a single and ended up in scoring position with one out.

However, Pence ended up being stranded at third, and the Dodgers ended the game two innings later.

Lost in all of this was the outing turned in by starter Derek Holland, who pitched 4 2/3 innings and did not give up a run on six hits, walking four and striking out seven. However, he did leave with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, but Reyes Moronta came right in and retired the first batter he faced with a single pitch to get out of a major jam.

The Giants are now 5 ½ games back of the National League West, which is owned by the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 66-55 record. Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies are both a game and a half back of the top spot.

The Giants will embark on a seven-game road trip starting Friday against the Cincinnati Reds at 4:10 pm PDT.

49ers and Texans to square off Saturday

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Photo credit: 49erswebzone.com

By Jeremy Harness

In the preseason, it is commonplace in the NFL for teams to hold joint practices in the days prior to linking up on the field for an actual game.

And oftentimes, those practices end up being more interesting that the game itself.

Wednesday’s proceedings were no exception to that, and the shenanigans started from the very first rep of practice. That’s when Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins caught a short pass from quarterback Deshaun Watson, with 49ers cornerback Jimmie Ward defending.

Following the reception, Ward threw an open-handed jab at Hopkins, to which the wideout, who had his helmet knocked off even prior to the reception, responded with a shove of his own. Then Hopkins, in his infinite wisdom, decided it would be a great idea to throw a left hook at Ward, who still had his helmet on.

At that point, the only things he could have hurt were Ward’s feelings or his own hand, which a receiver sort of needs to make a living. In the process, Hopkins shamed both Houston coach Bill O’Brien and Floyd Mayweather.

Immediately following the feeble attempt of a knockout blow, Ward took the helmetless Hopkins to the turf and landed at least two more shots before the two were separated. As a result, Hopkins was sent to the locker rooms while Ward spent the rest of practice on the sideline.

As for the real game, the teams will meet in Houston on Saturday, and the 49ers are already hurting, particularly at the running back position. Matt Breida suffered a shoulder injury in last Thursday’s 24-21 win over the Dallas Cowboys, and Jerick McKinnon went down with an injury of his own during Monday’s practice.

In the meantime, the team signed former All-Pro Alfred Morris to its roster to add some depth, even if it is temporary. Tight end George Kittle and linebacker Eli Harold are also out with assorted injuries suffered in last Thursday’s game, but they are minor and are expected to miss only preseason games.

Solomon Thomas, the team’s young prized defensive lineman, suffered a head injury in the first quarter of Thursday’s game and has been ruled out for Saturday.

Ellie Mae Classic: Cone runs away with title

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Photo credit: @TPCStonebrae

By Jeremy Harness

Trevor Cone had not played very much this year and didn’t have much of a chance to make it the next level of professional golf, at least this year.

But all of that changed after Sunday afternoon’s proceedings, and now he’s one solid tournament showing away from setting foot in the major leagues.

He entered Sunday afternoon with a one-shot lead, and he built on it from that point on. Cone executed his game plan to perfection Sunday afternoon, as his bogey-free round of 64 was plenty good enough to take the title at the Ellie Mae Classic, which was held at Hayward’s TPC Stonebrae.

Cone had only played in eight tournaments in his rookie season on the Web.com Tour and started this week way down on the money list, 135th to be exact. He had previously played on the Mackenzie Tour, formerly known as the Canadian Tour. However, this win propelled him all the way to 37th on that list.

He distanced himself on the front nine, running off four birdies, and then adding two more on the back to take the title. He averaged 330 yards off the tee and hit 73 percent of his fairways, which greatly enhances one’s chances to make a good score on a hole. He also 72 percent of his greens in regulation, and when he missed a green, he got up and down for par or better 85 percent of the time, which ranked second in the field.

He also putted extremely well, as he averaged only 1.596 putts per green in regulation, for which he was also second in the field this week.

The top 25 players on the tour’s money list at the end of the season earn the right to play on the PGA Tour next season, and Cone now has a very good chance to do that. There is only one event left in the regular season, and that gets under way on Thursday, and a high finish figures to get him inside that number.

The guys who finished second and third this weekend are now in the top 25. Josh Teater fired a 67 on Sunday to finish four stroked behind the lead and shot up 13 spots to the 13th position on the money list.

Meanwhile, Chris Thompson, a graduate of Kansas University, shot a final-round 64 despite two bogeys to finish in third position at 16-under. With that finish, Thompson also slid into the top 25, jumping 34 spots into the 19th position.

The final tournament of the regular season is the WinCo Foods Portland Open, which will be held at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course in North Plains, Ore.

Ellie Mae Classic: More movement atop the leaderboard

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Photo credit: @WebDotComTour

By Jeremy Harness

Steph Curry may be gone, but there is plenty of good stuff to see, particularly from the guys who are fighting for the lead at the Ellie Mae Classic this weekend.

This tournament, which is held at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward and is part of the Web.com Tour–the minor-league affiliate of the PGA Tour–will conclude Sunday afternoon and currently features more than a handful of players who have a realistic chance to win.

On top of that leaderboard is Trevor Cone, who fired a four-under round of 66 in Saturday’s third round to take a one-stroke lead with an overall score of 17-under par.

One stroke behind him is Sebastian Cappelen, who had the second-lowest round of the day with a 64, as he recorded seven birdies against only one bogey, which he suffered on the par-four seventh, the hardest hole on the golf course.

Cappelen has immediate company as well. There are two guys that he is tied with at 16-under, and one of them has some PGA Tour experience. Josh Teater, who shot a 68 on Saturday, has been at the next level numerous times, and he is in position to get inside the top-25 on the money list at the end of the season, which would mean that he would a full year on the PGA Tour.

There is a little bit of local flavor, as Cal grad Max Homa is just four strokes behind the lead after he shot 64 in the third round. Just like Cappelen, he birdied seven times and had only one bogey, as he, too, was victimized by the seventh hole.

He also bogeyed the seventh hole on Thursday, whereas Cappelen bogeyed it in Friday’s second round.

Friday’s leader, Alex Purgh, took a backward step while everyone else appears to be moving forward. After an eye-popping round of 60 on Friday, he finished Saturday’s round with a two-over 72, thanks to six bogeys and four birdies.

There is another name that is known locally in Stanford grad Maverick McNealy, who shot a third-round 67 and is tied for 16th with an overall score of 10-under.

Ellie Mae Classic: New leaders come to the top; Steph Curry struggles

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Photo credit: pgatour.com

By Jeremy Harness

Friday’s second round saw a ton of movement at the top of the leaderboard, and one player in particular had a chance to touch a bit of history.

Alex Purgh, who is from Spokane, Wash., grabbed a two-stroke lead at the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic after an eye-popping round, and his 10-under round of 60 was only two shots shy of the tour’s single-round scoring record of 58, which was set by Stephan Jaeger in this tournament two years ago.

Two behind him is Josh Teater, a Lexington, Ky. native who has had numerous stints on the PGA Tour. Teater followed up an opening round of 64 with a round of 62.

Despite being a stroke worse than he was on Thursday, Spaniard Samuel Del Valle didn’t lose too much ground, as his second-round score of 64 put him three shots behind the lead. He is currently tied with Trevor Cone, who also recorded rounds of 63 and 64 for the first two days.

Now here comes the bad news. Let’s all take a moment…

If you waited until the weekend to see Stephen Curry up close and personal at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, unfortunately you missed your shot.

That’s because unlike what Curry’s used to on the basketball court, the Warriors’ star guard was off target a lot on Friday, and his front nine alone took him out of any chance to make the cut, which was projected at four-under at press time.

After giving himself a fighting chance on Thursday with an opening round of 71, which is good for one-over par, Curry got off on the wrong foot almost immediately. After parring the first hole, Curry bogeyed the par-3 second before the par-5 third ate him alive.

By the time Curry walked off the third green, he was forced to write a nine–a quadruple bogey–on the scorecard. It didn’t get much better on the front nine, as Curry would go on to record a bogey, a double bogey and even a triple bogey to finish the front side 11-over par.

Curry started to piece things together on the back side with a birdie at the 10th and also recorded a birdie at the par-four 14th. However, Curry was plagued with a bogey and a triple in between those birdies, but the damage was already done by this point.

When it was all said and done on Friday, Curry signed a card that read a Friday score of 86, or 16-over par. But looking at this another way, Curry didn’t become a worldwide star and a cultural icon for his golf game.

Ellie Mae Classic: Curry opens with 71, still can make cut

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Photo credit: @gswdubnation_

By Jeremy Harness

The first round of the Ellie Mae Classic is in the books, and there are some new faces on top of the leaderboard, and those guys hope to use this tournament to get–or stay–inside the top-25 of the Web.com Tour.

One of those names is Seth Reeves, who started Thursday’s play ranked 88th on the tour’s money list, and he could get inside the top-25 list with a win. He is tied for the lead after shooting an opening-round seven-under 63.

Among those also tied at the top are Adam Long, who is currently No. 23 on that list and could rise up to fourth with a win, and Spaniard Samuel Del Val, who could jump 82 spots from his current position at No. 117.

The main attraction, of course, has been Golden State Warriors’ star Stephen Curry, and he made an even bigger impression than he did in last year’s event. And, of course, he drew the much bigger crowds than the other group that took to the course on Thursday.

Starting on the 10th hole Thursday morning, Curry stumbled a bit out of the gate. He parred his first three holes but then bogeyed three of the next four holes.

However, Curry rallied very nicely on his second nine. After bogeying the second hole, he began turning things around with a birdie at the par-five third. He then got two birdies in a row at the seven and eighth to walk into the clubhouse with a first-round score of 71, which is three strokes better than his opening-round 74 from last year.

Technically, Curry can still make the cut, but he will have to have a dynamite round on Friday to do it. The cut line, which will be determined at some point Friday, figures to be at least two-under par. So, in other words, his showing has certainly improved over the past year, but he will need to do much more if the crowds that have flocked to TPC Stonebrae hope to see him through the weekend.

Ellie May Classic preview: Large crowds expected to come out for Curry

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Photo credit: @gswdubnation_

By Jeremy Harness

There is a possibility that the PGA Tour could be heading to the Bay Area–closer than Napa or Monterey–soon. In the meantime, however, the Web.com Tour–the minor-league affiliate of the PGA Tour–is here, and it is getting ready to kick off again.

The Ellie Mae Classic will commence play Thursday morning at Hayward’s TPC Stonebrae, and there will be a familiar face on the course, at least for the first two days.

Warriors’ guard Stephen Curry, who is a scratch golfer, will make his second appearance at this event. He is not expected to make the cut, but that will not stop fans from coming out on Thursday and Friday to get an up-close glimpse of the NBA star.

Curry will tee it up alongside Northern California natives Martin Trainer and Cameron Champ, who won the Utah Championship just three weeks ago. The group will begin Thursday’s first round at 9:06 am PST and will start on the 10th hole.

The group will play later on in the day on Friday, as the threesome will go off at 2:26 pm PST, as the tour gives players one morning tee time and one in the afternoon for the first two days, after which the cut line will be established.

Curry did not make the cut last year, but he did give a good account of himself after shooting a pair of 74’s.

He is playing on a sponsor’s exemption, which means that he did not have to go through local qualifying for the event. NFL Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice, on the other hand, went through local qualifying, but it did not go very well at all, as he withdrew after only 10 holes in the Monday qualifier.

Last year’s event was won by Martin Piller, who is now on the PGA Tour.