Author: joelami

By: Joe Lami

The San Jose Sharks held their third annual prospects game on Thursday night at SAP Center. It gave fans a chance to see the up and comers in the organization while helping the Sharks foundation at the same time.

Chris Tierney, Barclay Goodrow and Mirco Mueller were the veterans involved in the scrimmage and it showed as they appeared to be on a whole other level compared to most of the players participating.  However, there were a few standouts to Thursday night’s game that fans should keep tabs on moving forward.

The first of which is Jemery Roy, the Sharks’ second round pick from this year’s draft.  Roy (pronounced Wah), was taken 31st overall by San Jose after the Sharks jumped up eight spots to nab the 6-foot right handed defenseman.  Roy was said to be a two-way defenseman that can bring offense to his game. This past season in Sherbrooke proved it, as he had 43 points in 46 games played.  Fans on Thursday night didn’t see his offensive side, but saw what he could do on the backend, and it was impressive.  Roy’s performance reminded me much of the way Marc-Edouard Vlasic plays. He is great positionally and goes unnoticed, but makes some great plays.  The most memorable came in the second half, when he noticed Timo Meier in the neutral zone getting ready to receive a breakout pass that would’ve led to a breakaway, but instead Roy read the play and broke up the pass before Meier got it.  Roy was paired on the right side of Mueller, but was the better player in my book.

Nikolay Goldobin’s night started with a bang, as he helped get his team on the board first, just 22 seconds into the first half.  Goldobin started the play by driving the net, while Nikita Jevpalous was able to get it past Liam Herbst. Goldobin looks like a better, more experience forward.  He spent last year in the Finnish league, where he said that playing with the men helped him out a lot. He credits his agent, Igor Larionov, with the idea of playing in a men’s league.  This past year he scored 21 points (11 goals, 10 assist) in 38 games. He says that he needs to work on the details of his game before he makes it into the NHL.  Goldobin was also given a penalty shot as he was tripped up on a breakaway. He scored short side with a beautiful snap shot that he said after the game, “that’s my favorite move. I already knew I was going to score”.

By: Joe Lami

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Make it four straight wins for the San Francisco Giants, as they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 in a pitching duel on Tuesday night.  It was a much needed performance by Tim Hudson, who was struggling entering the game. He pitched six and a third shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out two earning the win in San Francisco’s major league best sixth shutout of the season.

“He was getting the ball down, his sinker was working tonight.  You need to locate and he did that tonight”, added Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy on Hudson’s performance.

Though Hudson did have a great outing, it started out shaky, as he gave up a double to leadoff the game.  Bay Area bred, Joe Pederson, smacked a double into center. He eventually got to third, but was stranded when Scott Van Slyke struck out to end the inning.  “The stranding in the first was huge. It allowed me to settle in,” Hudson added.

Carlos Frias was handed the loss, although he wasn’t too shabby either.  He gave up one run on seven hits in a career high, six innings.  It marks his first loss of the season, with his down fall coming in the third inning. 

Joe Panik was able to start a two out rally in the third with a single. He advanced to second base on another hit by Angel Pagan, and then Buster Posey earned his only hit of the night knocking in Panik.  The lone hit for Posey extends his hit streak to 11 games.

Hudson had a scare in the six inning when Adrian Gonzalez crushed one to right field, but Hunter Pence, in his first game back at AT&T, was able to battle the wind and come down with it at the wall. A relieved Hudson said “that ball would’ve been gone anywhere else but here, he crushed it”.

“Coming home is special,” commented Pence, after he played his first game at AT&T since game six of the World Series after battling what has been a season long injury. Bochy added “he was excited to play here”. The dugout definitely got a boost mentioned Hudson, “he gets the mojo going in the dugout”.

The Dodgers threatened to tie it again in the seventh inning.  The bases were loaded after a single and two walks, but with two outs Sergio Romo got the biggest out of the game.  Howie Kendrick hit one right back up the middle, but Romo was able to flag it down and toss it over to first to retire the side and save the lead.

San Francisco padded their lead on a few Dodgers’ errors in the eighth. Brandon Belt smacked a ball out to the track in left field, but Van Slyke had trouble with it and eventually dropped it.  Belt reached second on the error. Pence moved him to third on a ground out. Belt would make it 2-0 on a passed ball, as Yasmani Grandal couldn’t handle a Chris Hatcher pitch in the dirt.

Santiago Casilla came on in the ninth to earn his tenth save of the year.

By: Joe Lami

SAN JOSE, Calif.—The San Jose Earthquakes were victorious with a 2-nil victory over the Columbus Crew at Avaya Stadium on Saturday Night.  The Quakes can thank Mohammed Saeid for the three points, after he was given two yellow cards in the first 33 minutes and getting sent off.  The first yellow came in the 14 minute when Saeid grabbed Matias Perez Garcia from behind.  Referee, Kevin Scott, then handed Saeid his second yellow, ending in a red card, when Saeid had a nasty tackle on Shea Salinas in the 33rd minute.

San Jose coach, Dominic Kinnear, commented on the importance of making sure they use the advantage, “The red card is a red card, you got to make sure you take advantage of it. Sometimes ten men can be your own enemy, you can’t be taking your foot off of the gas”.

Columbus had the advantage in pretty much every stat in the first 33 minutes.  They were out-possessing San Jose 53-47%, which ended in the shot totals being 4-3  in favor of Columbus.  However, their numbers went down substantially after the sending off and San Jose was able to take advantage.

The Quakes jumped in front in the 55th minute, when Chris Wondolowski would give San Jose the eventual game winner.  Jordan Stewart sent in the cross from just inside the 18-yard box on the left side and it found Wondolowski’s face, where he was able to direct it past Columbus keeper Steve Clark.

It marks Wondolowski’s 99th career MLS goal. Wondolowski commented on the importance of coming close to hitting the century mark “100 is a number, but it’s a number that some of the best players to have played in this league have. It’s unbelievable that I’m so close”.  Kinnear added “99 is an incredible achievement, it’s great that all of his hard work is showing off”.

The goal also marks Wondo’s first at Avaya Stadium and his sixth of the year. He commented on getting the monkey off his back in his new home “it’s always nice to score at home, especially when it’s in front of the Ultras”.

San Jose was buzzing and extended their lead just five minutes after, when Shea Salinas found the back of the net for his first of the year.  Salinas ripped it into the back of the net with his right foot from eight yards.  The second tally came off of a give and go with the assist coming from Perez Garcia.

The Quakes up their record to 5-4-2 (17 points) on the young season, good enough for fourth in the Western Conference

By: Joe Lami

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Since 2010, the Miami Marlins have owned San Francisco at AT&T Park with a record of 15-6, the highest winning percentage in past five years.  Saturday night was no different as the fish dominated the Giants, who were sporting their new black jerseys in front of 42,258, as they defeated the orange and black 6-2.

The Giants hopes were high, sending out ace, Madison Bumgarner, to the bump.  However, his night was short lived, pitching only five innings and giving up three runs in the process.  Bumgarner’s pitch count at the end of five was 99, mostly due to his ten strikeouts. “He had good stuff, the strikeouts showed it, but there was a couple of missed spots and they took advantage,” added Giants’ manager, Bruce Bochy. It was the first time this season Bumgarner struck out at least ten.  Bumgarner commented on his high pitch count, “I got to get quicker outs, and just let the strikeouts come to me. I can’t be looking for them. That’s way too many pitches”.

Trouble started in just the third inning for Bumgarner, although he was able to avoid any damage due to a fan interference play.  With two outs in the top half of the third and Christian Yelich on first, Martin Prado hit a ball down the left field line, that ended up being interfered with by a fan near the bullpen.  If the ball wasn’t interfered with Yelich would have been able to score, but since it was, the umpire ruled it a ground-rule double forcing Yelich to stop at third with two outs.  Giancarlo Stanton was brought to the plate, but it was just not his night as Bumgarner mowed down Stanton to end the frame.  Stanton ended the evening with a total of four strikeouts, three of which came from the hand of Bumgarner.

Miami however, wouldn’t hold a gruge against the fan, as they were able to account for all three runs that Bumgarner gave up in the fourth.  The inning started ugly when Marcell Ozuna hit his second homerun of the series on a deep ball out to left center field. Ozona also went yard on Hudson on Thursday. Bumgarner would next walk J.T. Realmuto, who was brought in by Jeff Baker right after on an RBI double.  Adien Hechavarria then brought in Realmuto with another RBI double.

The Giants first run came in the fifth inning as Brandon Crawford hit in Justin Maxwell from second base, where he reached on a double. 

The Marlins were able to add three more runs in the eighth inning, as they strung together three hits and a walk off of Jean Machi.  The third run came off of an overturned video review where Hechavarria was initially called out on a bang-bang play at first, which would have ended the inning.  However, the play was challenged by the Marlins and was overturned to bring in the sixth run of the game for Miami.

San Francisco added one late in the ninth with two outs as Joe Panik roped a double down the left field line bringing in Matt Duffy to make the 6-2 loss look less severe.

The highlight of the game for the Giants came in the first inning on a bloop hit by Oduna to right field, but Maxwell came sprinting in and laying out in a Superman styled dive on superhero night to take away the base hit.

Bumgarner’s record drops to 3-2, as the Giants drop below .500 with a 15-16 record, which was much improved after San Francisco was able to string off 11 wins in 16 games entering Saturday’s game.

David Phelps earned the victory for Miami in his fifth start of the season.  He ups his record to 2-0, while bringing Miami’s overall record to 15-16.  The loss for San Francisco ensures they won’t win the series, as they look to take half of it tomorrow.  The Giants haven’t won a series with the Marlins at AT&T since 2009, and that streak will continue.

By: Joe Lami

2nd Round (46th Overall Selection) Jaquiski Tartt, Safety, Samford

The 49ers started the second day of the NFL Draft picking 46th overall in the second round.  With the pick they selected safety Jaquiski Tartt from Samford.  Once again the Niners are looking to bolster up their defense after major setbacks during the offseason, Tartt coming from a smaller school is no slouch.  He was named to the 2013 and 2014 AP All-American Teams in the FCS division.

Tartt ran a 4.47 at his pro day and is a player that will show skill and strength in Santa Clara.  He led Samford in tackles in 2012 with 94.  He also six career interceptions, two of which he returned to the house for scores,  he is more known for his play on the run and can really bring the hammer and attack the ball carrier.

The best part about Tartt is he has the size at 6’1’’ 221lbs to convert into a linebacker, and has that playing style, especially against the run.  He will be a good hybrid for a team that can choose where they want to put him.  He does have history with San Francisco, as he played behind 49ers’ safety Jimmy Ward.

Once again, he is a coachable player that won’t make an immediate impact on the 49ers and might need some help on the coverage side of things.

Draft Grade:B-

3rd Round (79th Overall Selection) Eli Harold, Defensive End, Virginia

The rebuild continues for San Francisco in the third round, as they take defensive end, Eli Harold in the third round with the 79th overall selection.  Harold, out of Virginia, shows tremendous speed off of the block and can become a great pass rusher for the red and gold. He’s had 15.5 sacks in the last two seasons, with seven coming last year.

The down side is his size, as he stands as 6’3” 247lbs, which is on the smaller, lankier side at the position, thus making him more vulnerable to power, which he will definitely see in the NFL.  However, if he is able to use his speed to his advantage, he will be amazing in San Francisco. ESPN’s Todd McShay had him rated early in the second round, making him an absolute steal at 79th.

He feels a need for the 49ers, while having an extremely high ceiling. Once again, the Niners have another player that they need to develop,  but the future looks bright for Harold in Santa Clara.

Draft Grade: A-

By: Joe Lami

With the 17th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select defensive end Arik Armstead.  The 6’7’’ Oregon Junior had been speculated to go to the Niners for a long time by the ESPN experts and they were right.

Armstead helped Oregon advance to the National Championship game where they were eventually defeated by Ohio State.  He was named a 2014 All-Pac 12 honorable mention.  He had ten tackles for loss with four of them being sacks during his 39 game career at Oregon.

Armstead fits a much needed hole on the 49ers, as they had major losses on the defensive side of the ball, with the play of Justin Smith next season still up in the air.  The only real drawback and criticism of Armsted is his consistency hasn’t been there.  He shows amazing potential, but hasn’t been consistent.  If he had been a consistent colligate player, there is no doubt that Armsted would’ve been a top ten selection.

The 49ers were supposed to select 15th overall, but right before they were on the clock they made a trade.  The trade dealt the 15th pick to the San Diego Chargers to fall back to 17th overall.  While doing so, San Francisco picks up an extra 4th round pick on Saturday and a 5th round pick in 2016.  San Diego picked Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon with the pick.

Draft Grade: B

By: Joe Lami

Newly acquired defenseman, Karl Stollery, made his San Jose Sharks debut Friday night against the Arizona Coyotes.  Stollery had been playing in the Sharks’ American League affiliate, Worcester, since the trade deadline, but was recalled on Thursday to suit up for Friday nights’s game.  The Sharks’ acquired the 27-year old defenseman from Colorado for forward, Freddie Hamilton.  Hamilton had been in the Sharks system since he was drafted in 2010, but only managed to play in 12 games for San Jose.

In his short stint in Worcester, Stollery put up nice numbers, recording five points (2g, 3a) in just 12 games.  He also earned +3, while serving eight penalty minutes.

On Friday, Stollery, known as a puck moving defenseman was paired with Brent Burns, which is a bit of a stretch for a guy getting his feet wet in San Jose, as Burns leads the team in turnovers.  However, Stollery stood tall and played well, finishing with 16:49 minutes on the ice.

Karl replaced Scott Hannan, as Hannan was a healthy scratch Friday night.  While doing so, he earned time on the second unit penalty kill, which he was very impressive.  Especially with getting in the passing lane and taking away could be chances for the Coyotes.

He had three shots, the best chance came in the first period in a transition play.  Joe Thronton had the puck in the right circle and passed it back to Stollery who caught the puck at the left point.  The left-handed slap shot was a bullet right into the chest of Arizona goalie, Louis Domingue.

Stollery finished a minus-1, as he was on the ice for the only Sharks’ goal against in their 3-1 win.  The goal came off Burns’ stick, as the cross crease pass from Coyotes’ forward Mark Arcobello found it’s way pass San Jose net minder Antti Niemi.

Stollery could have a bright future in San Jose and will continue to play for the injured Scott Hannan, who was hit in the face with the puck on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.  It should be a confidence builder for him to play this late into the season.