Author: joelami

By: Joe Lami

After two straight nightmare performances for the 49ers (1-2), things won’t get easier this week for the red and gold, as the Green Bay Packers (3-0) come to Levi’s Stadium this Sunday.

The 49ers are coming off of one of their worst performances of recent memory, as they were blown out by the Arizona Cardinals 47-7 in week three. Things went down hill fast as Colin Kaepernick was intercepted twice in the first two drives with both interceptions brought back for touchdowns.  The 49ers were trailing 14-0 within the first six minutes of the contest, and it was the first time since 1925 a game started with the quarterback throwing two pick sixes in the first two drives.

Kaepernick was intercepted four times in the contest, a career-worst and finished his day 9 of 19 for 67 yards. He also got the only touchdown on a 12-yard scamper to the left. The running game didn’t come to the rescue either, as Carlos Hyde was shut down, running for 51 yards on 15 carries.

Things didn’t get too much better for the 49ers defense either, as the secondary got lit up again. Carson Palmer threw for 311 yards going 20 of 32 for two touchdowns and throwing an easy interception to Anton Bethea. The Cardinals were also able to get the running game going, as Chris Johnson finished the day with 110 yards on 22 carries for two touchdowns.

With the horrendous performance Kaepernick had on Sunday, Niners coach Jim Tomsula reiterated his confidence in his quarterback.  He may seem to be the only person in the Bay Area with confidence in the man that finished with a quarterback rating of 16.7%.

The 49ers only hope this week comes from catching the Packers on a short week, as Green Bay defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 38-28 on Monday night.  Aaron Rodgers went off for Green Bay as he finished with an outstanding night of 333 yards and five touchdowns.  Rodgers now leads the NFL with passing scores with ten in just three contests.

Kansas City was able to shut down Eddie Lacy, as he only carried the ball ten times for 46 yards. Causing one would have to think that the Packers are going to go in with the same game plan and let the ball fly with Rodgers. His main target on the year has been Randall Cobb, who leads the Packers with 20 receptions for 245 yards and four touchdowns.

Unfortunately, it’s going to be another ugly week for San Francisco, as they are going to be embarrassed at home by Green Bay this coming Sunday. They have shown no improvement in the secondary, and an all-pro quarterback like Rodgers is geared up to have an absolute field day.

Prediction: Packers 42 49ers: 10

By: Joe Lami

San Jose, Calif.—The San Jose Earthquakes picked up three crucial points on Sunday evening, as they beat Real Salt Lake 1-0 in a must win match.  With the playoffs looming, San Jose is on the outside looking in, but the three points put them on the brink of the playoffs with a huge game next Saturday against Vancouver with only three games remaining.

The Quakes owned RSL all 90-minutes in shots but were just unlucky with finishing.  San Jose had many chances, as they outshot Salt Lake 20-6. 

“We had a lot of chances; that’s the good thing. Give Nick Rimando some credit. The one thing was we didn’t stop pushing forward. We didn’t get frustrated and put our heads down,” Quakes’ head coach, Dominic Kinnear said.

RSL keeper, Rimando, stoned the Earthquakes until the 87th minute when Matias Perez Garcia was finally able to find the back of the net.  He received a ball from Quincy Amarikwa and kicked it with his left foot right into a defender. The ball bounced off the defender to the right side of the net for the winner.

Garcia celebrated the game-winner by taking his shirt off and earned a yellow card on the play. It would mean the end of Garcia’s day, as it was his second yellow card of the match. Garcia was booked in the 77th minute on a play involving RSL star, Kyle Beckerman. Unfortunately for Garcia and the Quakes, the red card means that he will be unable to play in next’s Saturday’s match.

“It’s secondary for what was going on. Looking back on it now, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He probably at the moment didn’t realize he had a card. In the end, I’m glad we won the game, and that’s the most important thing.” Kenner added.

Garcia mentioned, “in the moment, the joy, I wasn’t thinking about the other yellow card.” Quakes captain, Chris Wondolowski, added, “sometimes the passion gets the best of you. It was a huge goal, late, the game winner. I wish we could have him Saturday, but I’m glad the ball went in the net right now”.

By: Joe Lami

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—

Giants’ pitcher Mike Leake did it all on Sunday’s 10-3 win over the San Diego Padres.  The Giants continue to roll, as the win completes the three-game sweep of the Padres. It’s the ninth sweep of the season for San Francisco.

After a shaky first two innings that saw three runs on two triples and a home run, he settled down and got into the zone. Leake finished the days pitching 6+ innings, surrendering three runs on four hits and striking out two.

Travis Jankowski hit the lone home run for the Padres, which came in second. It was his first career home run. It wasn’t a cheap one either as he hit it to the power alley in right field, over the bricks, left of the 365 mark. Jankowski was called up last month and played in 17 games entering Sunday contest.

However, it wasn’t just Leake’s pitching that led to his first win since July 28th and as a Giant, he had a great day at the plate as well, highlighted by a three-run homer in the second inning. For Leake, it’s his second homer of the year and sixth of the season. He’s also the fourth Giants’ pitcher to go yard this year, giving the pitching staff a total of eight on the year, the most by any pitching staff since the 2006 Cubs. 

Leake brought it upon himself, as he only received six runs of support in his five starts as a Giants entering, but the home run was a huge lift and turned things around for San Francisco.

“He did a really nice job and finally settled down. We know he’s a threat at the plate and helped win his own game today,” added Giants’ manager, Bruce Bochy.

The bats continued to go for the Giants, as they added to their lead, scoring two runs in each of the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings taking advantage of bad pitching and defense from San Diego.

Giants’ center fielder, Angel Pagan, had a huge day on the bases with three steals on the day.  Pagan only had six steals on the year entering Sunday but exploded with the career high. He’s the first Giant to steal three bases successfully in a game since Gregor Blanco did it on May 14th of last year against the Braves.

Bochy later added “You can really see the difference, Angel’s finally healthy”.

The Giants were unable to make up any ground on the Dodgers, as LA defeated the Diamondbacks 4-3 on Sunday. San Francisco still sits seven games back of Los Angeles in the National League West.

By: Joe Lami

SAN JOSE, Calif.—

Around 9,000 Sharks fans showed up to SAP Center at San Jose on Saturday, as the Sharks hosted their first ever rookie game at the tank. With this move, the Sharks follow suit of many of the Canadian teams that allow fans experience to the rookie games in person.

The fans went home happy, as the Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1, thanks to a great goaltending performance by undrafted Joel Rumple.  Rumple, who played his college hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers, earned the second star in the win as he was able to shut down the Ducks’ offensive bombardment.

A couple of takeaways to take from the rookie game are the Sharks have a few very promising prospects.

Joonas Donskoi stole the show for the Sharks, as he lit the lamp twice earning the first star in the process. Donskoi was one of the older players to play in the game, making it hard to call him a rookie at 23 years old going against 18, 19 and 20-year-olds. The fin started his professional career for Karpat of the Finnish league.  Last year, he finished with 49 points in just 58 games. His play reminds a lot of current Shark, Melker Karlsson. Karlsson came over from the Swedish league last season and earned 24 points in 53 games during his rookie season with San Jose. Donskoi has the best shot out of any of the rookies to make the Sharks this year and can very well be 2016′s version of Karlsson for team teal.

Rourke Chartier also had a great performance for San Jose. He scored on a wicked wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Barracuda coach, Roy Sommer, said after the game that Chartier was his favorite player on the ice. Chartier, just a 19-year old, could challenge for a roster spot this year. The fifth round pick from the 2014 draft is also eligible for one more season with Kelowna of the WHL does hurt his chances, however.  He scored 82 points in 58 games last year for the Rockets.

San Jose’s most popular prospect, Nikolay Goldobin, finished the game with an empty-net goal and an assist. His assist was a beauty, as he earned the helper on the Chartier tally. Goldobin made a play at the right side-wall and was able to make a cross-ice pass to the tape of Chartier, who fired it into the top left corner of the net. Goldobin is rumored to have one of the best chances for rookies to make the Sharks, but is still very young and has a lot to do to prove he’s NHL ready.

Goldobin is unyielding on the puck and has great pursuit of the puck.  He constantly moves in the offensive zone trying to create himself a lane to gain time for his great shot. He’s put some weight on, as he looks a lot bigger than he did at camp in July. However, the biggest hole in his game is still on the back end. Goldobin constantly over pursues the puck and is terrible when it comes to defensive position. He needs to learn how important position can be in the NHL. He needs to learn how to take away passing lanes rather than playing the puck when it’s nowhere near him. Luckily, last night the Sharks got away with a few of his mistakes but come regular season when NHL veterans are on the attack, they won’t get away with them. His offensive presence is outstanding, but it’s going to be his play in his own end that will keep him off of the Sharks’ roster to start the year. If he can prove he can improve his defensive game, there’s no doubt he will be a Shark in the near future.

Jeremy Roy, San Jose’s second-round selection in this year’s draft, was the last of the rookies that impressed me on Saturday. Roy did a great job shutting down the Ducks. He was constantly facing Nick Ritchie, the Ducks top prospect and Roy completely shut him down. There was one play that comes to mind, as Ritchie received the puck all alone at the blue line and would have been able to dance his way on net, but Roy got back and was able to poke the puck away. Roy had a few sneaky shots, as he is known as a two-way defenseman, but his strength is definitely on the back end. He reminds a lot of Marc-Edouard Vlasic with his play as he will be the pillar of the Sharks’ blue line a few years down the road. There is zero chance he makes the roster this year, as he is only 18 years old. It was announced earlier on Sunday that the Sharks and Roy have agreed on his three-year entry level deal.

By: Joe Lami

SAN JOSE, Calif.— The San Jose Earthquakes win streak ends at four, as they surrendered two goals in the last 15 minutes of the match on Saturday night losing to the Philadelphia Union 2-1.

It was a very physical match that saw over 20 combined fouls called and even more not called by referee Ismail Elfath.  There were multiple fouls that occurred in the box that weren’t called that should’ve led to penalties for each team.

The first half was fairly quiet until the 37th minute when Quakes’ defender Victor Bernardez sprained his right hamstring on an awkward play. The veteran back liner went up to head it and came straight down on his hamstring. He laid on the field for about two minutes before being subbed for JJ Koval. When asked about the injury, Quakes’ coach, Dominic Kinnear didn’t go into the extent of the injury and how long Victor could be out.

The injury to Victor ended up being crucial late in the game, as San Jose definitely missed his presence when Koval was involved in both of Philadelphia’s goals.

San Jose didn’t give up, though, as they ended the half in the 42nd minute with an outstanding chance.  Matias Perez Garcia, who was San Jose’s best player on Saturday, sent a cross from the right side almost finding Quincy Amarikwa at the back left post. Amarikwa was unable to make the acrobatic move to finish off the goal.

The physical play bled into the second half and led to San Jose’s only goal. A foul and handball in the box led to a penalty kick for the Earthquakes. Captain, Chris Wondolowski found the bottom left part of the net for his 13th goal of the season. The leading scorer on the Quakes is now tied for fifth in goals in MLS.

The lead didn’t last too long for San Jose, as Union sub, Connor Casey made an immediate impact. Casey was brought on in the 71st minute and had his first of two goals in the 74th minute. Raymon Gaddis crossed it from the right side and was flicked in between two Quakes defenders in the middle of the box to find the right corner of the net. “He’s a great player, a big force in the box, great finisher and he creates that little bit of space when he gets it,” commented Wondolowski.

Just 12 minutes later, in the 86th minute, Casey found the bottom right corner again.  On a set piece from well outside the box Tranquillo Barnetta found the top of Casey’s head as he was able to redirect it just past the diving fingertips of San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham for the eventual game winner.

“We let ourselves down tonight. We pride ourselves on set pieces on both sides of the ball. Momentary lapses cost us and that’s kind of the way the game goes sometimes,” added Bingham.

It is an upsetting way to end a dominating win streak, but it gives San Jose fire to come back next week and beat the Seattle Sounders in a huge game with playoff implications on the line.