Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Giants try to knot up series with Diamondbacks tonight; Gruden happy with quarterbacks in camp; plus more

Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

On Headline Sports with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants Bay Bridge Series was expected to be a real Battle of the Bay since both teams are vying for a wild card birth. The Giants ended up winning the two-game series with a 10-6 win on Saturday and a 5-4 win on Sunday took a loss on Monday night in San Francisco to Arizona 6-4.

#2 The A’s had a breakdown in their bullpen in each of the two games. Frustration took hold when A’s reliever Ryan Butcher threw high and inside to Giants catcher Stephen Vogt, who hit the dirt. No warnings were drawn. Vogt hit a grand slam home-run off Butcher on Saturday and Vogt said he had his suspicions about Butcher’s pitch since he’s noted to have decent control.

#3 The Oakland Raiders quarterbacks have the confidence of Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden said starting quarterback Derek Carr, backups Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman all had good preseasons and the Raiders are expected to come out of the gate strong. The Raiders head to Century Link in Seattle for the final pre season game against the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.

#4 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a great outing in his last preseason game on Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs after having a tough preseason. Garoppolo threw for 14-20, 188 yards, and one touchdown. The 49ers host the San Diego Chargers on Thursday Night Football.

#5 Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who announced his retirement from football over the weekend, said that it was not fun anymore waking up each day to pain, rehab, and more pain. It was repeat and repeat again. He at 29 year old said it’s unlikely he will return to the NFL.

Barbara Mason does Headline Sports each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

5 SJSU Spartans honored by National Football Foundation

Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By Ana Kieu

San José State football seniors Brett Foley, Alex Galland, Chandler Hawkins, and Deano Motes, Quinn Oseland are among the 1,439 college football players from all NCAA and NAIA honored by the National Football Foundation as student-athletes with an undergraduate degree.

Foley, Hawkins and Motes earned their degrees from San Jose State. Foley and Motes are pursuing a MBA, while Hawkins is studying educational counseling.

Galland is a graduate transfer from Yale University who majored in mechanical engineering. Oseland is a graduate transfer from the University of Minnesota who majored in business and marketing education. Both are enrolled in San Jose State master’s of public administration program.

“The National Football Foundation takes great pride in its role as a leading voice in the promotion of the scholar-athlete,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. “And highlighting the 1,439 student-athletes who have not only earned their undergraduate degrees but are now pursuing additional diplomas sends a powerful message about the doors that college football opens. This list allows us to showcase those individuals who have truly taken full advantage of the opportunities created by college football.”

“Today’s release allows us to recognize a truly exceptional group of college football players,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “And it expands our efforts to highlight the integral role that college football has played in the education of millions of student-athletes over the years. It is often said that college is not about the four years on campus but the next 40 years of your career. Clearly those on this list have made the most of their college experiences, and we are extremely pleased to shine a light on their accomplishments.”

These five Spartans were featured in this preseason article.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Fans and players not big fans of the weekend uniforms; When will Brown’s helmet issues get settled?; plus more

Photo credit: foxnews.com

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 How bad were the weekend uniforms, some said the home whites looked like they were cricket players or they were selling ice cream in the stands like the concession salespeople. MLB said and made sure each player wore the proper uniform.

#2 The helmet issue of Oakland Raiders’ Antonio Brown has not yet gone away yet. Brown filed a grievance with the Players Union. Brown said the helmet that he used to use in Pittsburgh was a good-fitting helmet that did its job. The league is saying Brown needs to wear the proper helmet to protect himself from concussion and if he collides with another player.

#3 The Raiders picked up a close win in Winnipeg against the Green Bay Packers 22-21 last Thursday. It took a Daniel Carlson field goal with eight seconds left to get the Raiders the win on a rugged short field that’s normally used for Canadian Football.

#4 The A’s will try and shake off the double loss to the Giants from the weekend series and tango with the Kansas City Royals. The A’s really need this series in order to keep pace with Cleveland and Tampa Bay in the AL wild card.

#5 It’s hard to believe that former San Francisco Giant pitcher Juan Marichal is 81 years old. He’s had a storied career, most notably when he got into that ruckus with John Roseboro and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1965 in a brawl that Marichal hit Roseboro on the head with a bat. Marichal is also noted for his high leg kick and his multiple 20-win games.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the radio voice for the Oakland A’s Spanish radio on 1010 KIQI, is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Did A’s reliever really go up and in on Vogt?; Canha having his best part of the season; plus more

sfgate.com photo: Oakland Athletics’ Mark Canha, right, is congratulated by third base coach Matt Williams after hitting a solo home run against the San Francisco Giants during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Oakland.

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Did A’s reliever Ryan Butcher really go head hunting on former Athletic and Giant catcher Stephen Vogt on Sunday after Vogt hit a grand slam on Saturday off Butcher? Butcher put Vogt on his backside with an up and in fastball.

#2 How bad is the A’s bullpen after having a breakdown Saturday and Sunday? They certainly looked a lot different than they did from the Houston and New York series.

#3 Evan Longoria had a day on Sunday with a go-ahead two-run single that helped get the Giants a two-run win over the A’s. Longoria also hit for his 17th home run of the season.

#4 Despite the loss, the A’s Mark Canha hit for multi-home runs and made a spectacular catch in center field. A’s manager Bob Melvin said he’s seen him good before, but can’t recall ever seeing him be this good.

#5 The A’s are in Kansas City for four games. Charlie tells us how important this series is and can the A’s keep pace in the wild card race?

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose State football gears up for home opener Thursday night

Photo credit: mwcconnection.com

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State football is just around the corner. This means year three is likely going to be a crucial season for head coach Brent Brennan. If the third time isn’t the charm, the athletic directors, media and fans aren’t going to be as tolerant. It’s a decent season or bust.

SJSU has geared up for its football home opener vs. Northern Colorado, and yes, this includes the first press conference of the 2019 season. Check out my Q&A with Brennan in CECFU Stadium on Monday afternoon.

1. There’s a solid set of tight ends that will try to fill in the place left by Josh Oliver. Who do you think will stand out in the set?
That’s going to be interesting to watch. I think all those guys have a real place to contribute. It’s exciting to see Brett Foley who’s a guy, a local kid who played down the street at Mitty (Archbishop Mitty High School) as a high school quarterback and a linebacker when I first got him. We moved him to tight end and he’s starting to make a move last fall playing a little bit of tight end into some nice stuff. He really had an outstanding camp. Billy Humphreys has played a lot of football here. He’s a big body. He can run, he can catch, he can block. So he’s got a contribution to make. I think Derrick Deese, Jr. will be fun because he’s a great route runner and pass catcher. He does a nice job at the line of scrimmage for someone who is a converted wide receiver. The young guy, Dominick Mazzotti, has done some really good stuff in camp. So that’s a position group that we feel strongly about. Coach (Matt) Adkins did a fantastic job coaching them and coach (Kevin) McGiven has demonstrated when we have a tight end that can be effective, we’ll find a way to give them the ball like we did a year ago. So now we got three and four — if you count the freshmen — and I think you’ll see a contribution from all of them game-by-game.

2. What was the reason behind your creative playcalling late last season and will you continue to turn heads with such playcalling this season?
I think we’ll continue to be aggressive at what we do in terms of our playcalling. I think it’s really important that our players know we believe in them and believe they can execute at a high level and that we can call anything in the playbook and believe that we’ll get it done. I think that being in our second year of our scheme gives us a better chance to execute some of that stuff and I think Coach McGiven is doing a great job just kind of mixing up how we’re attacking people. Right now, we’re just going head-to-head with our defense, but I’m excited to see that play out on Thursday night.

3. What’s the status of the competition between Jay Lenard and Stan Livingstone Jr. for the free safety spot?
I think Jay Lenard over time has established himself as one of our better players on defense so Jay is ready to play. He looks great, he had a great offseason and summer. I feel really good about our defense, especially those two safeties. Tre Webb is definitely one of our leaders. Both those guys are now starters for two years, played a lot of football, so I’m excited to see them play on Thursday night.

Follow Ana Kieu on Twitter @AnaKieu.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants’ two wins in Oakland puts SF four games back in NL wild card

sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Kevin Pillar, right, slides into home to score a run next to Oakland Athletics catcher Chris Herrmann during the second inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 The Giants took two from the Oakland A’s. It was something that was not expected after the A’s had took three out of four from the Astros and swept the Yankees.

#2 With the wins, the Giants cut their games back number from six to four. Manager Bruce Bochy in the past has brought Giants teams back from the doldrums to get into postseason. Does this team have faith?

#3 Special day for San Francisco third baseman Evan Longoria, who got his 1000th career RBI — a two-run single in the top of the seventh at the Coliseum to cap the Giants’ win 5-4.

#4 Longoria was key. He hit his 17th home run of the season. The Giants won by a run and needed every bit of luck they could muster. Was it a series that showed that they’ve haven’t given up?

#5 The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the City for a three-game series with the Giants. It’s another crucial series in the Giants’ bid for the wild card. For the D-Backs, Alex Young (5-3, 4.04 ERA), and for the Giants, Tyler Beede (3-7, 5.82 ERA).

Morris is the podcast host for Giants baseball each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Longoria gets 1,000th RBI in Giants win 5-4

sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Evan Longoria hits a two-run single against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday,

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-After the game Evan Longoria wore a vintage Chris Mullin Golden State Warriors jersey from the 1980s, and it was a vintage day for the third baseman.

Longoria hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Oakland As 5-4 before a crowd of 47,321 at the Coliseum.

It was a huge day for Longoria, who tied up the game in the top of the third inning, as he hit his 17th home run of the season and it was also the 1,000th RBI of his career.

Since returning from the injured list on August 4 with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Longoria is 23-for-68 (.338) with two doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs in 17 games.

With the victory, the Giants swept the two-game series, giving them the Bay Bridge Trophy, as they won the season series three games to one.

This was the 4,000th career game for Bruce Bochy, who became the just eighth manager in major league history to join this exclusive club. All seven managers in front of Bochy are all in the Hall of Fame.

Donovan Solano went four-for-four on the afternoon, as he also reached base on a walk. It was the second four hit game of the season, as he also did it on July 17 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Giants final rally of the game began when Brandon Crawford reached on a Matt Olson fielding error to lead off the top of the seventh inning, Solano then reached for the fourth time in the game, as he walked on a 3-2 pitch. Mike Yastrzemski was then hit on the left hand to load the bases.

After an epic 11 pitch at-bat that Buster Posey strike out for the first out of the inning, Longoria singled thru the hole between second base and shortstop to score Crawford and Solano.

Unfortunately, the Giants ran themselves out of the inning, as Yastrzemski was caught stealing at third base.

Former As catcher Stephen Vogt, who hit a big three-run home run in Saturdays 10-5 victory gave the Giants a 1-0 lead, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Kevin Pillar from third base. Pillar led off the inning with a double high off the wall in left-center field.

After Brett Anderson was able to retire Austin Slater on a groundout to first base, and Pillar went to third. Vogt then hit a sacrifice fly to Mark Canha that scored Pillar from third base.

Brandon Belt then walked, then Crawford and then Solano made it 2-0, as he singled to score Belt.

Unfortunately for the Giants, that lead would not last long, as Canha took the first pitch he saw from Logan Webb over the fence for his 21st home run of the season.

Jurickson Profar then followed that up with a double, and then scored, as Corben Joseph made it three straight hits with a double of his own to tie up the game. Chad Pinder then gave the As the lead, as he was the fourth consecutive As batter to get a hit, when he singled to score Joseph.

Canha made it two home runs in as many at-bats, as he launched a solo home run over the left-center wall to give the As the lead for good.

It was a troublesome second career start for Webb, who grew up in Rocklin, as he went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, two walks and two strikeouts.

Anderson went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking three and striking out two; however, he did not fare in the decision.

It looked like the Giants won the game on a great defensive play from Pillar to Solano, when Josh Phegley was tagged out at second base; however, the call was overturned and then Will Smith was able to get Marcus Semien to ground out to Crawford to end the game.

Smith picked up his 30th save of the season, as he faced the final four batters of the game.

NOTES: Posey struck out for the second time in his career, as the first came earlier this season, when it occurred on against the New York Mets on July 18 at Oracle Park in a game that the Giants won 3-2 in 16 innings.

This was the first time that the Giants won back-to-back games at the Coliseum since September 26 and 27, 2015.

It was the also first series sweep by the Giants over the As since they swept them in three straight from July 24-26, 2015 at what was then called AT&T Park.

Once again, the Giants won a game by one run and it was their 30th win by one run on the season and are now 30-13 (.697).

UP NEXT: Tyler Beede opens up the six-game home stand on Monday night, as he faces the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park, while the Diamondbacks will send Alex Young to the mound.

MLB The Show Podcast with Matt Harrington: Giants need to sweep a lot of series to get wild card in their sights; Cervelli hooks up with Braves, feels no concussion issues; plus more

photo from sfgate.com:  Scooter Gennett #14 of the San Francisco Giants turns a double play in the fourth inning against Nicholas Castellanos #6 of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on August 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.

On the MLB podcast with Matt:

#1 Last chance for the San Francisco Giants, who open a two-game road trip to Oakland and face the A’s. The A’s are rolling they have won eight out of their last ten games and are tied for second for a wild card spot with Cleveland.

#2 The Giants’ wild card chances are becoming distant they got swept in Chicago and are six games back of second for a shot at the wild card.

#3 The Atlanta Braves in need of catching after Brian McCann was injured with a sprained left knee and picked up former Pittsburgh Pirate Francisco Cervelli at the pro-rated minimum MLB salary at the pro-rated amount of $119,000. Cervelli, who had concussion issues, caught six games with Pittsburgh Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis without any signs recurring problems.

#4 In Los Angeles on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and comedian Larry David both took in the Dodgers-Yankees game. It’s not too often you’ll see the two New Yorkers in the same place in LA, but they were the talk of the game.

#5 Can the Atlanta Brave Ronald Acuna Jr. get to 40-40? Right now, he has 30 homers and 30 steals with a month and a week left in the season. September could be an exciting month for Acuna Jr chasing down 40-40.

Matt does the MLB podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Panda out for Tommy John, will miss next season also; Astros PR use prevent defense to keep Detroit reporter out of Houston clubhouse; plus more

yahoo.sports.com file photo: San Francisco Giants utility player Pablo Sandoval will have Tommy John surgery and will miss all of this season and next.

On MLB The Show with Daniel:

1 Panda to undergo Tommy John Surgery, will miss all of next season, and the rest of this one

2 Astros defend decision to restrict Detroit Free Press reporter from entering locker room

3 Court rules that the Orioles owe nearly $100 million to the Nationals

4 MLB bans players from Venezuelan Winter League

5 The Players’ Weekend uniforms a bad marketing idea

6 RIP — Original Met Alvin Jackson

Join Daniel on the MLB The Show podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s and Giants headed in two different directions before Bay Bridge series; Bailey and Puk can be of big help down the stretch;

photo from sfgate.com: Juan Contreras of Stockton waves an Oakland A’s flag near the top of Oakland Coliseum’s Mount Davis during an MLB game between the A’s and the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, July 21, 2018, in Oakland. A’s president David Kaval has announced he will open up Mount Davis to the fans for the two game series in Oakland.

On the A’s podcast with Joey Friedman:

#1 The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants could be headed in two different directions. The A’s, who are tied for second with Cleveland for the AL wild card, have day light to get into postseason. Meanwhile, San Francisco, which came off a three-game sweep in Chicago, are now six games back in the NL wild card standings.

#2 San Francisco Giant pitcher Logan Webb got to throw to his childhood favorite former A’s catcher Stephen Vogt. Vogt caught Webb on the last road trip in Arizona on Sun., Aug. 18th and Webb faced his face his childhood favorite team, the A’s.

#3 The A’s in this brief two-game series will be starting Homer Bailey on Sunday. Bailey (11-8) is expected to pitch high performance and he could be one of the key pitchers that helps the A’s get to postseason as it’s a very tight wild card standings.

#4 How do you see A’s reliever AJ Puk coming around? He struggled against the New York Yankees in relief on Wednesday, but manager Bob Melvin has high expectations for Puk, who is presumed to be a starter at some point.

#5 The A’s past some tough tests this past week taking three out of four from the Astros and sweeping the Yankees and are tied for second in the wild card. They’re expected to at least split with the Giants.

Join Joey on the A’s podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com