Author: Sports Radio Service

2019 Mountain West Media Day: What’s in the cards for San Jose State?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State football hosted its 2019 Mountain West Media Day on Tuesday. The Spartans finished with a lowly 1-11 record in the 2018 season under second year head coach Brent Brennan. Brennan, however, has learned a lot in his first two seasons.

“In this conference, you play a lot of close games. You’ve got to find a way to finish. We’ve had a huge emphasis in practice on finishing,” Brennan told reporters on Tuesday.

So what’s in the cards for San Jose State? Check out the details below.

Game times for San Jose State University’s 2019 football season opener and the Spartans’ Homecoming game top the news coming out of Las Vegas during the Mountain West Football Preview.

San Jose State will host Northern Colorado, Thursday, August 29, 7:00 pm and San Diego State, Saturday, October 19, at 4:00 pm inside CEFCU Stadium, Home of the Spartans. Tickets for both games and for all San Jose State home contests are available at www.sjsuspartans.com/tickets.

In addition, the Spartans’ game at Hawaii on Saturday, November 9, will kick off at 6:00 pm HT/8:00 pm PT.

Game times for the September 21 non-conference contest at Arkansas and the November 30 regular-season finale at home against Fresno State will be announced at a later date.

Now, let’s get to the projected order of finish among Mountain West football teams. 21 media members covering Mountain West football picked San Jose State to finish sixth in the conference’s West Division standings this season.

Defending champion Fresno State was picked first in the division with 17 first place votes and 122 poll points. San Diego State received three votes to finish first and 106 points.  Hawaii, who was fourth in the poll with 67 points, had the other first place vote.

On the Mountain Division side, Boise State had 15 first-place votes and 120 points to finish as the favorite. Utah State, with six first-place votes, was a close second with 108 points. Air Force, the Spartans’ first conference opponent on September 27, was third with 73. Wyoming with 66, Colorado State with 52, and New Mexico with 21, round out the projected order of finish for the conference’s Mountain Division.

In other news, the Mountain West will launch a brand campaign called “At The Peak.” The Mountain West and its member institutions recently announced a new branding and marketing campaign for the conference to further define the Mountain West’s strong, energetic brand as it begins its 21st year as an NCAA Division I athletic conference.

Designed to make clearer the league’s purpose, vision and values the conference has adopted “At the Peak” as its tagline. The new high-impact moniker resonates the league’s personality and uniqueness as one of the elite conferences in NCAA athletics.

The brand platform was unveiled Tuesday in a coordinated campaign, including Mountain West member institutions and the Mountain West headquarters working together to promote the “At the Peak” brand direction. The campaign will continue throughout the academic year and beyond on multiple platforms, including social media, print, traditional advertising, television and radio.

Sandoval wins it in a Giants walk-off in the 13th

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval sent the San Francisco Giants players and fans into a frenzy with one swing of the bat.

Sandoval hit a pitch barely off the ground and over the left field wall in the bottom of the 13th inning off of Brad Brach, as the Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-4 in 13 innings before a crowd of 39,747 at Oracle Park.

That was two inches off the ground again like the ball he hit down the line yesterday and then to go to the opposite field like that in this ballpark, it’s a testament to the flight of the ball, said Cubs Manager Joe Maddon.

Brach got Buster Posey to strike out for the first out of the inning, and on the first pitch to Sandoval, the Giants won their third straight game.

It was the fifth career walk-off for Sandoval, and his first since August 9, 2018 against the Cubs, when he hit a single to left field.

This was the Giants fifth consecutive win by one run, and they are 24-10 this season in one run games, the best record in the major leagues. They are 10-2 in extra-inning games this season, including 4-0 on this current home stand.

Overall, the Giants have won three in a row, 10 out of their last 11 and 17 out of their last 20 game to move to 52-50 on the season.

The last time that the Giants won 17 out of 20 was from July 25 until August 16, 2001.

Sam Coonrod pitched a perfect 13th inning to pick-up his first win of his major-league career. Coonrod struck out Javier Baez and Kris Bryant before getting Anthony Rizzo to ground out to Joe Panik for the final out of the inning.

Things were looking good for the Giants, as they entered the top of the eighth inning with a slim 4-3 lead and the bullpen in full force.

Unfortunately, that was not the case, as Kris Bryant doubled, then went to third on a Rizzo groundout back to Reyes Moronta and after a walk to Peninsula native Daniel DeScalso, Tony Watson gave up the game-tying single to Jason Heyward. Watson was able to regroup and struck out Robel Garcia to end the threat.

I thought we battled back in the eighth inning. Anytime you play that long and hang in there I mean it’s nice to see nobody give up and still go out there and compete. It just wasn’t our night tonight, said Bryant.

Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out seven, but he did not fare in the decision.

The Cubs took the lead in the top of the first inning, as Baez doubled off of Bumgarner, then Bryant singled in Baez; however, the inning ended when Pablo Sandoval, who was playing in the shift near second base, made a great play to on a ball hit by Rizzo, as he tagged Bryant and threw to Brandon Belt to complete the double play.

That was the lead until the bottom of the second inning, as the Giants tied up the game, as Alex Dickerson doubled to lead off the inning and then slid away from the throw by Kyle Schwarber to the plate on a Yastrzemski sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately, the tie would not last long, as the Cubs retook the lead in the top of the third inning, as Bryant singled to score Baez, who singled and then stole second and third.

Dickerson got the rally started, as he hit a solo home run to left field to tie up the game, then Brandon Crawford singled, which was followed by a Mike Yastrzemski walk and then Kevin Pillar hit a Yu Darvish offering to the left-center field power alley to give the Giants the lead.

Darvish went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out six, as like Bumgarner, he did not fare in the decision. He also saw his 13.0 inning scoreless streak come to an end in the bottom of the second inning, and the four runs allowed marked his first runs since July 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

NOTES: The last time that the Giants picked up four walk-off wins in a six-game span was in the year that they moved to San Francisco in 1958. During that season, the Giants defeated the Milwaukee Braves, the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals from July 5-13, 1958.

Rizzo went 0-for-5 on the night, as his 13-game hitting streak came to an end.

UP NEXT: Tyler Beede closes out the home stand on Wednesday afternoon, as he looks for his fourth win of the season for the Giants. Jon Lester will take the Oracle Park mound for the Cubs, as he looks to get his 10th win of the season.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Pacquiao can still win at 40; Wizards trying to sign Beal; plus more Wiz

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @MPac_Foundation

On Headline Sports podcast with Barbara:

#1 Manny Pacquiao thrilled them again last Saturday night. Pacquiao won and is now with a record of 62-7-2 and 39 KOs. It was a 12-rounder won by the 40-year-old Pacquiao.

#2 The Washington Wizards have offered guard Bradley Beal a three-year deal worth $111 million. Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said he wanted to sign Beal at the first opportunity he got.

#3 Detroit Tigers outfielder Nick Castellanos says that Comerica Park in Detroit is a joke. Castellanos says that one day his hair will turn gray, it’s something you can’t control how. Castellanos said he hit a homer to center right for some 372 feet.

#4 Is Derek Carr quarterback for the Oakland Raiders playing for his job? Or is he playing for someone else? The Raiders will be looking for a quarterback that can not only get them wins, but enough of them to get to postseason?

#5 Here’s the San Francisco Giants, who were living in last place most all season, but are now just 2 1/2 games out of first place for the National League Wild Card.

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

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Astros get 3 homers off A’s Homer Bailey in 11-1 laugher

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @CincyProblems

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Before the start of Monday night’s beheading at Minute Maid Field in Houston, the A’s had won eight of 10 games and were one of the hottest teams in the show. They had a little going for them before this current series in Houston.

#2 About Monday’s 11-1 loss to the Houston Astros, the A’s starter Homer Bailey was serving up the homer to the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez, Yuli Gurriel, and JD Diaz

#3 The Astros got the bulk of their runs four in the second and seven in the third inning. That’s all they needed for the 11-1 win.

#4 The Astros’ Gerritt Cole pitched for seven innings, two hits, one run earned, and 11 strikeouts. Cole had command over a tough A’s lineup.

#5 The A’s have now lost two straight games and play game two of the series in Houston on Tuesday night. For the A’s, Mike Fiers (9-3, 3.64 ERA), and for the Astros, Wade Miley (8-4, 3.25 ERA).

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Cubs’ Garcia and Schwarber start game with 2 big flies; Twins get rare triple play against Angels; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @robelgarcia16

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

#1 The Chicago Cubs got a splash hit and a home run at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Monday night. Robel Garcia hit a tremendous drive into McCovey Cove and Kyle Schwarber hit his 22nd home run of the season.

#2 The Minnesota Twins got a 5-4-3 triple play in the first inning on Monday night when the Los Angeles Angels’ Edwin Encarnacion hit a grounder to Twins third baseman Luis Arraez, who tagged third and relayed the throw to second with the Twins’ Jonathan Schoop covering and Schoop threw to first baseman Miguel Sano for the triple play.

#3 The Houston Astros pitcher Gerritt Cole is the second fastest pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in baseball history and he did it against the Oakland A’s in a 11-1 rout. For the A’s, it was their second straight loss, and for Cole, he was in total command and showed why he reached 200 strikeouts so quickly.

#4 As the trade deadline gets closer, the San Francisco Giants; key pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith are up for grabs. There also has been talk that Giants manager Bruce Bochy has talked with team president Farhan Zaidi about possibly keeping Bumgarner and Smith. It’s possible the Giants might not move them the later it gets.

#5 Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow says with the roster, the Astros have they could win the whole thing. Luhnow said that with the four starters they have, they can win on good pitching and get deep into the postseason.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio play-by-play in the Bay Area that dates back to 1970s. The Spanish broadcast for 72 games are heard on KIQI 1010AM/990AM with studios in San Francisco, serving also the Sacramento/Stockton market and does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips and Michael Duca: Giants slowly but surely have improved the team, thanks to Zaidi

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

sports.yahoo.com file photo: San Francisco Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi is the one that holds the decision as to whether or not pitchers Madison Bumgarner or Will Smith stay or go.

On the Giants podcast with Morris and Michael:

The last time Morris and Michael recorded a podcast, the San Francisco Giants were 11 games below .500 and they went as far as 12 games as far as 35-37 and they have won 16 of their last 19 and have rescued their season. We weren’t talking about the same club the last time we spoke.

The Giants are a team that has managed to during the course of the year and they’re getting younger with almost every transaction they make and yet getting more competitive also. The whole thing about Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi — he couldn’t make a splash move, but what we’ve seen is he’s making these incremental moves and made the team slightly better each time.

Listen for more as Morris and Michael bring you the Giants podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

They Were Giants? Horace Speed and Darren Ford

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: Tony “The Tiger” Hayes

By Tony “The Tiger” Hayes

Horace Speed — PR/OF — 1975 — # 38
Darren Ford — PR/OF — 2010-11 — # 34

SAN FRANCISCO–The ignored “position” of pinch-runner hasn’t been in Vogue since the mid-1970s when Oakland’s Herb Washington — a former college track star without a baseball background — was issued an unforgettable 1975 Topps baseball card listing his position as “pinch -runner.” But like sans-a-belt pants, mutton chop side burns and flapless batting helmets, the pinch-runner has been sadly all but laughed out of baseball.

Over the years, SF has had two short lived players who’s primary lane to the playing field included slapping lead foot teammates on the butt as they took their spot on the base paths.

The aptly named Speed and Ford (think Mustang) – combined to play in 50 games with the Giants – with 31 of those appearances coming as pinch-runners.

Why Were They Giants?
The LA raised Speed, who was signed to his first pro contract by SF in 1969, made the club’s opening day roster in 1975 as a backup to the likes of Gary Matthews, Von Joshua and Bobby Murcer.

While Speed was considered a more rounded prospect – batting batting .273, 14, 83 at Triple-A Phoenix in 1974,

Ford was promoted to SF in Sept. 2010 strictly for his base path acumen, after hitting just .250 at Double-AA Richmond.

Before & After
The grandson of former big leaguer Ted Ford, Darren came up through the Brewers farm system before a 2008 trade in exchange for Ray Durham brought him to SF.

He would make it into seven games in the fall of ‘10 but never made a plate appearance.

Ford made it back to the bigs with SF again in 2011 – this time getting a few hits off the bench.

After leaving the Giants organization in 2012, Ford spent a seasons each in the Seattle and Pittsburgh organizations before returning to the Giants fold in 2014-16 – however he did receive a big league call-up the second time around.

Speed would appear in just 17 games with the Giants in ‘75, batting .133 (2-for-15) before returning to the minors for the next three seasons. He would resurface in majors with Cleveland in 1979-80 batting .217 in 96 contests.

They Never Got Their Own Bobblehead. But…
Ford may not have swung a bat never for the 2010 World Champions, but he made an unforgettable impression on Giants fans – using his speed to lead the Orange & Black to victory in his big league debut in a home game vs. Colorado (9/1/10).

Running at first base for Mike Fontenot in the bottom of the eighth with the score tied at 1-1, Ford advanced to second on a sacrifice.

With one out and a 0-2 count on Andres Torres, Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez bounced a pitch in the dirt that bound a short distance from Rox back stop Miguel Olivo. Ford daringly took the initiative to sprit to third and then he kept on running home with what would be the winning run of a 2-1 outcome when a hurried Olivo airmailed a throw into left field.

Speed appeared in eight big league games before making his first plate appearance for SF. He reached base in his first start, stroking a double off Don Gullet in a 5-4 win at Candlestick over the eventual world champion Reds (4/29/75).

Giant Footprint
In his first big league multi-hit game (he only had four of them) Speed batted 2-for-4 with 2 RBI to lead Cleveland to a 3-0 win at Toronto (6/30/78). Also collecting two knocks for the Indians that day: Tribe starting 2B Duane Kuiper.

Thirty-two years later, Kuiper was behind the mic on the Giants telecast when Ford debuted with his mad dash from second base: “Ford’s gonna go! (The throw is) into left field and the Giants take the lead! Unbelievable!”

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Mets-Giants go extra innings three times in series

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski, right, is congratulated by third base coach Ron Wotus (23) after hitting a solo home run against the New York Mets during the 12th inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, July 21, 2019.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski is having a season with on Sunday. He got a walk away home run off New York Mets pitcher  Robert Gsellman in the bottom of the 12th in a four-game series that went into extra innings three times.

#2 The game on Sunday went 12 innings, which gives you an idea how the Mets and Giants battled tooth and nail to win this series

#3 The Giants have been getting these series in the last month’s worth. They take three out four from the Mets and are just 2 1/2 games back in the NL Wild Card standings

#4 Giant outfielder Kevin Pillar got fed up with the strike calls when he got punched out by plate umpire Mark Rippenger. He argued with Rippenger, but got ran. It was Pillar’s first ejection for this season.

#5 The Giants open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. Starting pitchers for the Cubs, Alec Mills (0-0, 4.50 ERA), and for the Giants, Shaun Anderson (3-2, 4.87 ERA).

San Francisco Giants podcasts are heard right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Sunday

Giants Yastrzemski wins it 3-2 with a walk off in 12 innings

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski hits a solo home run against the New York Mets during the 12th inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, July 21, 2019.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Mike Yastrzemski ended the weekend series with one swing of the bat for the San Francisco Giants.

Yastrzemski hit a changeup off of Robert Gsellman on a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the 12th that landed in the left field bleachers giving the Giants a dramatic 3-2 victory over the New York Mets before a crowd of 35,406 at Oracle Park.

It was the first career walk-off home run for Yastrzemski and his 9th home run of the season for the rookie.

The Yastrzemski walk-off gave the Giants three wins in four games over the Mets, and they have won eight out of their last nine, 11 out of 13 and 15 out of 18.

This was also the fifth consecutive series win for the Giants since splitting the four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks from June 27-30.

Despite not faring in the decision, Connor Menes went five innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking three and striking out six in his major-league debut.

Menes got into trouble in the first inning, when J.D. Davis doubled with one out in the inning; however, Kevin Pillars defense came up huge again.

Pillar made a great running catch off a Pete Alonso hit ball, and was able to regroup to throw out Davis at third base to end the inning.

It was the team-leading sixth outfield assist for Pillar, and the MLB leading 25th outfield assists for the Giants as a team this season.

Steven Matz went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out six and like Menes, he did not fare in the decision.

Zach Green like Menes, made a great first impression for his new teammates, as he picked up two hits in his first two at-bats in the major leagues.

It was Greens double in the bottom of the fourth inning that scored Buster Posey tied up game, and that was the score until Yastrzemski’s home run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Michael Conforto got the Mets on the board in the top of the second inning, as he hit his 18th home run of the season that landed in McCovey Cove and it was the 125th Splash Hit since the Park opened in 2000 and the 47th by an opponent.

Two batters later, Michael Conforto gave the Mets a 2-0 lead, as he hit his 11th home run of the season.

After the Rosario home run in the top of the second inning, the next Mets hit did not come until there was one out in the top of the 11th inning, when Davis singled off of Mark Melancon.

Trevor Gott pitched the 12th inning to pick-up the victory, as he raises his record to 6-0 on the season.

In all, the bullpen of Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, Sam Dyson, Will Smith, Melancon and Gott went a combined seven innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, walking two and striking out eight.

NOTES: To make room for Menes and Green on the roster, Ty Blach was optioned to Sacramento and Derek Holland and Ryder Jones were both Designated for release or assignment.

Pillar was ejected by home plate umpire Mark Rippenger in the bottom of the eighth inning for arguing balls and strikes. This was Pillars first ejection as a Giant, and the second of his career.

UP NEXT: Shaun Anderson will take to the Oracle Park mound on Monday night, as the Chicago Cubs invade the Bay Area for their only trip this season. Alec Mills will take the mound for the Cbs]

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s have their eye on Giants Will Smith trying to stay away from high cost starters; A’s getting key hits in Twins series; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

yahoosports.com file photo: San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Will Smith is on the block and the Oakland A’s are interested in obtaining his services, the Milwaukee Brewers are rumored to be a frontrunner for Smith.

On the A’s podcast with Joey F:

#1 The A’s are looking to shop for an extra starter or two, the A’s will not be choosing for example the Mets Noah Syndergard or the Giants Madison Bumgarner due to the fact of their cost demands. Knowing A’s president of operations Billy Beane and manager Bob Melvin they will be looking for someone who affordable and someone who is proven. Giants reliever Will Smith is also being shopped by the A’s he could land in Oakland by or before the deadline.

#2 The A’s keep chipping away at a six game win streak and getting it snapped on Thursday night in Minnesota the A’s picked up where they left off getting a big win over the Twins 5-3. The Twins one of the best teams in the American League and very difficult to beat at Target Field took a two run loss to the A’s

#3 Marcus Semien was got a key home run his 15th of the season off Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi in Friday’s game Semien is hitting .273 and is in the lead off spot how’s his recent play at the plate.

#4 The A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt on Friday threw for five innings and gave up three runs on five hits and struck out two for his seventh win of the season.

#5 For Sunday’s starters for the A’s Daniel Mengden (5-1 ERA 4.21) for the Twins Michael Pineda (6-5 ERA 4.38) for the matinee at Target Field.

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